Oahu: These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Where the other post was my feelings about my trip, this one is about what we did. Oahu was not only beautiful, it was full of fun things to do and places to see. And we did and saw lots of fun things.

It's hard to answer when we are asked, "What was your favorite thing?" because the whole trip was our favorite. It's easier to say what our favorite thing each day was. So, here are our daily favorite things:

Sunday, March 11th:

We were so glad we actually made it to Hawaii. Our plane connections were tight and one of them was late, but luckily, we made it to Oahu at around 8:30 p.m. We checked into our hotel, walked around a bit, and ate some dinner. By this time, it was about 2:00 a.m. to our bodies, because Hawaii is 5 hours earlier than Texas. So when we sat down to dinner, we had lost all powers of speech. We were, of course, happy to be in Hawaii, but we were SO bone tired from traveling all day and the late hour that we didn't have the energy or ability to put together coherent sentences. So, I'd have to say that our favorite thing that day was the bed that we fell into and the soft pillows we were out cold on, after we dragged ourselves back to our hotel room.

Monday, March 12th:

Thanks to the time difference, we woke up bright and early. Being a geography dude, Chad wanted to get the lay of the land, so we drove around the perimeter of the island, which pretty much hugged the ocean the entire way, and thus, was amazing. We also took a scenic drive up switchback after switchback to Pu'u Ulaka'a (try saying that five times fast) park. You could see a 25 mile wide swath of Honolulu and Waikiki.



What a view! Seriously. It started raining a little bit so we didn't stay long, but wow! That was my favorite part about Monday.

Tuesday, March 13th:

We went to Pearl Harbor and took tours of the USS Bowfin, WW II submarine, and USS Arizona Memorial. Being on the Arizona Memorial was very moving.





That's the USS Missouri in the background- where the war officially ended. That's part of why Pearl Harbor is so neat- it symbolizes the beginning and end of the war.


Wednesday, March 14th:

The highlight of the day was Hanauma Bay for snorkeling.





I was a little intimidated about jumping into the ocean and keeping myself submerged while breathing through a little tube to see some fish. But it actually tuned out to be pretty cool. It wasn't too busy and apparently the fish see enough people that they aren't really scared and you can get really close to them. There were lots of colorful fish I'd never seen before. It was windy that day and eventually I got so cold I was shivering while paddling around so I got out and Chad kept going for a while before he got out too. After a picnic lunch we went to the nearby Halona Blowhole, which we had driven past on Monday and wanted to go back to. When we got there, it was SO crowded with people, which I thought was unusual- I mean, it's a cool blowhole but it had been empty on Monday. There was security people there too so we asked one what was going on and come to find out famous rapper Nicki Minaj was shooting a video right in the cove by the Halona Blowhole.

(she's right down there, with the green hair, under the umbrella)


This was the blowhole.


Also, while waiting for the blowhole, we saw whales jumping! It was so magical. We ended up seeing them 2 other times during our trip and only was able to catch them on camera this one time, and you don't even see the whale, just the splash.



But it jumped all the way out of the water and splashed back down, just like you see on TV.

Thursday, March 15th:

We headed up to the North Shore. Waikiki was so fun, but it's the hustle and bustle, crowded beach kind of place, whereas the North Shore is more like the Hawaiian vacation you stereotype about... walking along a secluded beach, watching the waves roll in. We loved the North Shore.

We spent all day Thursday at the Polynesian Cultural Center, learning how to make fire, do the hula, weave ti leaves to make shapes, and shake our hips like those Tahitian girl dancers. Normally, I would feel self conscious and embarrassed, but nobody knew me and so, I shook away. And I have to admit. It's fun.


We ate there too and watched the night show. The food- prime rib and crab legs and other fancy stuff, was yummy, and Ha, Breath of Life (the show) was amazing. So many talented dancers and performers. One thing that I became aware of is how beautiful the island people are. And by people, I mean the men. :-) Just kidding. Chad and I agreed that I could have a crush on some of those tall, dark, and handsome, shirtless men if he could have a crush on the girls that shake their hips so hypnotically fast. The girls are beautiful too. And the whole day and the night show featured both of them in abundance. The PCC was our favorite place on Thursday.

The only thing that ties the PCC experience for awesomeness was finding out our Hawaiian names. There are shops set up at almost every tourist place we went who will tell you your Hawaiian name so you can get it engraved on a bracelet. At the PCC, the dude was a little BYU Hawaii student and was super enthusiastic as he was flipping through the pages of the book with the names. He found mine, and then he looked for "Chad." He found it and his upbeat face faltered just for a second. As he tried to remain upbeat, he told Chad his Hawaiian name was... Kaka. There was a brief awkward moment and then we all burst out laughing. He tried to make Chad feel better by telling him they're all spelled phonetically, and anyway, Hawaiian only has like 5 consonants, but the damage was done. I don't know which one was better: finding out Chad's name was Kaka or seeing the look on the guy's face when he tried to put a positive spin on the situation. Thinking about it still makes me laugh. Needless to say, Chad did not get it engraved on a bracelet.

Friday, March 16th:

We had heard about this place, Ted's...


...so we went there to pick up breakfast and then sat on the beach to eat it and watch surfers.



Then we walked along the beach for about thirty minutes in one direction and it was totally secluded. It was just me, Chad, and the ocean. We saw whales jumping again. I'm not prone to swoony-ness, but I can't help but say it was all romantic and lovely.

Later that day we ate at a shrimp truck called Giovanni's which was delicious.



Chad would like to recommend the Shrimp Scampi.



Saturday, March 17th:

We snorkeled again. Here we are, snorkeling buddies.



I think the main differences between Hanauma Bay and the North Shore are: the water is a little more clear up north, and also, the fish are a little more skittish- they actually act like fish and swim away instead of sidling up next to you like they want to be scratched behind the ears. We saw an octopus and a whole school of fish at the North Shore, plus lots of other fish and creatures we didn't see in Hanauma Bay.

Saturday evening we went to have dinner with our brother from India, Suman, and his wife Asha, and their daughter Mishty.

(We're not really related, obviously.) They fixed us some authentic Indian cuisine and introduced us to Haupia ice cream. Haupia ice cream was to. die. for. We ate the haupia pie from Ted's but the ice cream... Mmmm...

Sunday, March 18th:

Sunday we went to church with Suman and Asha at their student ward and visited the Laie Hawaii temple grounds and visitor's center. The flowers growing on the temple grounds were gorgeous.





That night we watched the sun set over the ocean while drinking raspberry pina coladas by the pool. How awesome is that? We had the ocean, a sun set, a swimming pool, and pina coladas. All at the same time.



To top it all off, we then watched a fire knife show.



Monday, March 19th:

I woke up and cried. Just kidding. It was our last day. But it, too, was magical. Oahu was giving us a big sendoff. While eating breakfast overlooking the ocean, we saw whales again. Then, when we went snorkeling, we saw an octopus. A real, live octopus. That was SO awesome. Then we went to the Dole Plantation.



We ate some Dole Whip: Pineapple soft serve. SO delicious, we actually ate it twice.


(you see, eating it was a JOY).

And who knew pineapples grew on a little bush? This was news to me. Some of them were teeny, tiny, like, 6 inches tall.



We went back down to Honolulu and walked along the beach one last time. We thought about all the wonderful things we did and saw. We decided it was a vacation like no other.

Aside from the things I already said, here's some other things I liked about Hawaii:









Oahu, we love you.