Finally found a spare moment to post a trip report after unpiling my desk at work and sorting my laundry! I will try to get this done between loads!
I want to thank everyone who takes the time to answer questions and post reports because it really is helpful to many people. I can't count the times that I said "I heard about this place on Fodor's." This trip was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and we had a fabulous time!
Day 1: Left LAX at 6pm for Honolulu on Hawaiian Air, used miles for 1st class which was a treat for me. Sipped a glass of champagne and watched the sunset go on forever as I got into a relaxed Hawaiian frame of mind. Picked up our rental car, one of those new Chrysler 300's. Wow if you are looking for a car with legroom check it out, DH is 6'6" and he actually had to move the seat up to reach the pedals! We got to out hotel, the Marriott Waikiki and DH was surprised when the desk clerk said "Happy Anniversary Mr & Mrs G we have an upgraded room ready for you" I booked partial ocean view on the Marriott website, DH is rewards member. I later called direct to all the hotels we booked and confirmed the reservations and made sure I mentioned it was a special trip. I am glad I did because it paid off! This hotel upgraded us to an ocean view in the Kealohilani tower on the 11th floor. It was a pretty large room and faced west. We really got a full appreciation of the view the next morning when we woke up and from our bed we could see the reflection of the sunrise on the high rise hotels, surfers already in the waves and a cruise ship sailing past. I love Oahu and Waikiki no matter what the haters say! We stayed on Pacific time which was great, we usually waste our mornings sleeping in. We ate breakfast in the hotel and decided to hang around the pool since DH was having some "digestive" problems to put it nicely... The pools at the Marriott are nothing special but had plenty of chairs available even though the hotel was at 95% occupancy due to the Aloha festivals. I ate lunch by the pool and had a great Mahi Mahi sandwich. We walked to the Banyan Tree Bar at the Moana for sunset drinks. This is my fav hotel in Waikiki, takes you back in time. The bartender poured a really stiff drink which I didn't realize until I stood up to leave...We then walked to a restaurant we discovered several years ago that is in the Royal Hawaiian shopping center. If you want to feel like you are in Osaka instead of Oahu, try this place. It is called Okonomiyaki Chibo and the food is great. Okonomiyaki is a cross between an omlete, quiche and pizza. It has a batter made from eggs, flour, shredded cabbage and whatever other ingredients you choose to add. You sit at a bar in front of a large griddle, and the chef prepares your food there in front of you. After they flip the pancake they spread teriyaki and mayonaise on the top. I chose chicen & vegetables, DH had the special which was squid and a couple of other seafood items. We washed it down with cold sake. I wish this dish would catch on in the US. The atmosphere in the place isn't anything special, other than it being a very authentic Japanese place. I think we were the only non-Japanese in the place.
Day 2 - DH decided to mix business with pleasure and stopped to see two of his customers in Honolulu. I tried hard to act like this was a hardship and managed to spend some time at the pool and then make my way to the Ala Moana shopping center. I picked up souveniers and ate at the food court. There are tons of places to get lunch and I was surprised to see no Carls,Burger Kings or McDonalds. Lots of Asian places. I was trying to be true to my Weight Watchers so I stuck to a sandwich. Late that afternoon we went to the beach in front of the Moana, and went back to the Banyan Tree for a drink. We cleaned up and went to dinner at Furosato which is in front of the Hyatt. We sat at the sushi bar and enjoyed the different ways the sushi chef prepared our selections. He added his twist to everything.

I'm loving this, Mary! Don't stay away too long........... I agree with you that Oahu and Waikiki are quite loveable!

Hello Mary, like both your reports. Just a question regarding Okonomiyaki Chibo, could you give an approx. price range ? Sounds like a place to try out when we're there pretty soon on our 30+ anniv. trip. Thanks.

The bill including tip and a sake for me and a couple of beers for my husband was about $75.00. I think the sake I had was one of the pricier selections. Each of the meals was about 17.00 that was without salad or soup, but it was very filling! I hope you go and enjoy it! Happy Anniversary!

I LOVE HAWAII:

ADVERTISING?

Oh, most definitely advertising! This is like the 3rd thread the exact same post exists!

Steve there are 22 of ILOVEHAWAII's identical posts andall of them are dated today! hmmmmmmmm

you can write the editors at [email protected] and report these people. They'll remove the posts

I am confused...I posted this trip report and it's legit...what is the advertising reference? I never got around to finishing the rest of my report so I came back with that intention but now I am wondering what these posters mean???

Mary, there was someone on here earlier today, going by the screen name ILOVEHAWAII, who posted the same advertisement on about 20 different threads, including yours. It looks like those posts have been removed now.

Looking forward to the rest of your report, by the way.