Oahu and Kauai

Flew out on United Airlines to Honolulu. On this trip, I'm combining timeshare and regular hotel stays on this trip. Checked into the Moana Surfrider. I've seen the property over the years and have always wanted to stay. With the timeshare mix, I splurged and stayed on this Waikiki resort. I found the hotel charming and, not surprisingly, the hotel rooms a bit small. On the first night, I was checked into a regular standard room. I had a confirmed upgraded room earlier in the week but a last minute change in hotel rates lost the confirmation. Next time, I will opt to contact the hotel to change the rate rather than lose the confirmed upgrade. The front desk was nice enough to mention trying the next day to see if the room can be changed.

Since it was late, grabbed light dinner at Buho Cocina Y Cantina down the street. Ordered an assortment of appetizers of fries, nachos, guacamole, and flautas. I enjoyed my ginger lilikoi margarita. Not a common combination but it was very tasty.

Lulu's Stuffed French Toast

The next day, went out to Lulu's for breakfast. This trip I travelled with a newbie to Hawaii and the plan is to hit all the major attractions. For breakfast, I enjoyed my stuffed French toast but it was a lot of food. I couldn't finish more than half of the plate. Walked along the main boulevard in Waikiki after breakfast. The area has continued its high end conversion with the international market disappearing and more chains and brand name stores on the block. Staying at the Moana Surfrider is a very different feel than my normal haunt at the Doubletree. It may seem weird but being in the heart of Waikiki and on the beach changes my experience in being in Waikiki.

Moana Surfrider Living Room Suite

Moana Surfrider King Bed Suite

Moana Surfrider Balcony View Suite

In the afternoon, wandered back to the hotel and was given a ocean view suite. It was nice to have the space and the only drawback was the AC didn't seem to maintain a cool temperature in the suite. The suite did come with a washer, two balconies, and a large closet space inside the master bathroom. The lounge also offers nice appetizers in the evening. I didn't stay too long in the lounge as guests were $50 per person.

For dinner, I made reservations at Alan Wong. I had recommended the restaurant to my siblings when they went to Hawaii even though I had never been myself. Well reviewed and rated on most restaurant review websites, I found Alan Wong's an excellent restaurant. It surpasses Roy's in my opinion. The location is rather non-descript but the interior is nice. It is still a little cramped but the service was top notch. I ordered the Hawaiian ceviche and it was super tasty. I had the opakapaka with vegetables. Also excellent. Finishing the meal, I enjoyed the Waialua Chocolate Crunch Bars. I was too full to eat it all and I took it home. Several days later, I had some and even though it melted all around, it was still delicious.

Alan Wong's Waialua Chocolate Crunch Bars

Coconut Sorbet

The next day, hiked on Diamondhead. After walking up and down the mountain, my friends wanted to have authentic loco mocos and went to Rainbow Drive In. I also wandered next door to Hawaii's Favorite Kitchen. It is a partnership between another drive in with Rainbow and a huli chicken vendor. What caught my eye was the waffle dog. I'm not usually a fan of corn dogs but waffle sounds way better.

With hiking and breakfast done, went back to the hotel and hang out on the beach. Grabbed a lava flow from The Beach Bar at the Moana Surfrider before heading into the lounge. I wanted to catch a football game before dinner and the lounge was a nice hangout to watch the game.

For dinner, wandered over to Teddy's Burgers. It is similar to a FatBurger's or Johnny Rockets. I thought the burger was tasty.

The next day, my friends wanted to have musubis and we went to Musubi Café Iyasume. We ordered a variety of musubis to eat and to take for lunch later that day. Having lost my favorite musubi place, this Café hits the spot. After breakfast, went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Spent all day visiting the park and even met a veteran from the Pearl Harbor attack. I also walked away with a WWII Monopoly set that was even cheaper than what was listed on Amazon. Ironically, both gift shops do not price the same item the same price. The gift shop closer to the submarine is a little cheaper than the one near the front gates. If you haven't been to the memorial park, they have upgraded some of the facilities. On this trip I checked out the submarine since I had not visited before. In addition, they have a collection of planes and tanks.


Pearl Harbor Survivor

Pan America Airlines Throwback Souvenirs

Plane collection at Pearl Harbor

No trip to Hawaii is complete without a stop at McDonald's. The current seasonal fried pie was coconut which is one of my favorite flavors. I also stopped off at Costco and a supermarket to make dinner. Left the Moana Surfrider and checked into the Grand Waikikian at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for the timeshare. I was able to confirm a 2 bedroom suite for the rest of my stay in Waikiki. With most timeshare facilities, the suite is equipped with a full kitchen and we utilized it to make dinner and stayed in. I also bumped into an old colleague and invited her to dinner. We had plenty of kalbi from Costco.

Banyan Tree near Waikiki Beach

The next day, we stayed on resort. Made a quick breakfast of Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice. Wandered around the hotel and did some shopping inside the Hilton complex and spent the day at the pool. I've always liked the Hilton Hawaiian Village and they have made some improvements since last in Oahu. There is now a man made lagoon between the timeshare towers and the regular hotel room towers. The timeshare pools are separate from the main hotel pools. We were able to walk around and be in both pool locations. The main difference is that the timeshare pools were family oriented. We did break the day up by going to Waiola Shave Ice and getting shave ice. Afterwards, went out to a late lunch at Shirokiya inside the Ala Moana Mall. We wanted to check out the Microsoft store and look at the Surface Pro 4 and saw that there was a traditional Japanese Department store. I call it a department store because it had multiple vendors inside selling various items and a food court level but it isn't a mall itself. We found a variety of food options and I settled for katsu bowl.

The Alley Bakery Case

The Alley chocolate cake and lemon crunch cake

I wanted to meet up with some friends who lived locally and suggested having dinner at The Alley Bar and Grill inside Aiea Bowl. Only in Hawaii can a great diner and bakery exist inside a bowling alley. The fried chicken is awesome and the Mama Miya's Chocolate Cake would get me to come back. The diner was featured on Diners Dives and Drive Ins and the clip was on continuous loop on the TV. I did make a late night dash to Lappert's Ice Cream inside the Hilton Hawaiian Village for some ice cream.

The next day, drove out to the Dole Plantation after our in-room breakfast of spam and eggs. Walked around the Plantation and enjoyed a Dole whip before continuing north to North Shore. On the way to North Shore, stopped at Matsumoto Shave Ice. Boy has the area changed. Gone is the small grocery market selling shave ice. The lot has changed to a gourmet market plaza and Matsumoto's is now only a shave ice shop. The tourist dollars has changed the entire feel of Matsumoto and it is very clear they cater to tourists.

We continued onto North Shore and hung out at a beach until sundown. On the way back to Waikiki, we did some souvenir shopping in Haleiwa and made another pit stop at Costco. The Costcos here were selling Cazadores for a really good price and we were knocking the bottles out pretty quickly.

Stopped at The Alley Bar and Grill on the way back in. I had the fried pork this time around. I was not able to get the scones to try and will have to hit this place at breakfast time one day. Went back to the Grand Waikikian to kill the rest of our perishable food as we were moving on to Kauai the next day.

Grand Waikikian Balcony View

Grand Waikikian Bedroom

Flew on Hawaiian Airlines to Lihue the next day. Since there is no Star Alliance carrier, I was faced with luggage fees. If you sign up to their frequent flier account, there is a $10 discount on the luggage fees. I would recommend creating the account at least the night before so the system will recognize your account and give you the discount when you check in. After a small snafu at the Dollar Rental Company, I was given a mini van. I actually requested if I could have a mini van given the number of people and luggage on hand. The Sheraton Kauai rate I had included a car rental. The hotel didn't give them the right dates and our reservation was not in their system.

We arrived at the Sheraton Kauai in the afternoon and was upgraded to ocean view rooms. I haven't been to the hotel for almost a decade. The hotel has held up well and the facilities was as nice as I remembered.

One of the few things my newbie friend wanted to try was Puka Dog. He had seen the restaurant on a TV show and had asked me to try it on of my previous visits to Hawaii. I had told him it was good and he now had an opportunity to try it himself. This time around, Puka Dog was no longer inside one of the suites inside the plaza but sits outside as an outdoor café. The workers said it was nicer since they didn't have to deal with the heat. After some light shopping, went back to the hotel and hang out at the pool.

Eating House Fried Snapper

Eating House Kamameshi

Eating House Malasadas

For dinner, we went to Eating House 1849 which is a Roy's offshoot. The Roy's closed down and the Eating House was the only Roy's affiliated restaurant on the island. For the price, the food was good but I don't think I'd come back. I had the crispy thai snapper which is a small whole fish fried. For dessert, I ordered the malasadas. Overall a good meal but not something I would want seconds.


Black Dog Farms Sauces not easy to find

The next day, had the breakfast buffet at Lava's inside the Sheraton. There was a killer local hot sauce, Black Dog Kauai, that will send me on a task to find and bring back home. The buffet is not worth the retail price but my stay included a bogo buffet breakfast so it worked out.

After breakfast, spent the day driving to the western side of the island. Headed out to Waimea Canyon State Park and took some leisurely walks to view the Na Pali Coast. Afterwards, made a pit stop at Koloa Fish Market at 5482 Koloa Rd, Koloa, HI 96756 and picked up some poke. I also had a haupia taro pie. It was good but I don't think I need another one.

For dinner, went to Merriman's Gourmet Pizza and Burgers and ordered the lamb burger. The service was slow and the restaurant was half full. When you slap on gourmet in your name, I suppose you have to expect high prices and long wait times.

On our last day on Kauai, drove to the eastern side of the island. After grabbing breakfast and checking out of the Sheraton, drove into town and stopped at a local Wal-Mart for supplies and the Koloa Rum Factory. The tasting room hostess was a hoot and convinced me to purchase a few bottles of rum and the rum cake.

Having had a taste of the Black Dog Kauai hot sauces, we decided to make an expedition to the north eastern side of the island in hopes we can find them in the local grocery stores. After checking their website, we went to all the markets in Kilauea and Hanalei and was able to find four bottles of the spicy mango hot sauce. We did make a pit stop at the Kilauea Lighthouse but they are not open on Sundays. I also hit McDonald's for the last time and bought a few fried haupia pies.

Before heading to the airport, hung out at Rob's Good Time Grill. Grabbed a bowl of saimen and lilikoi chiffon pie at Hamura's Saimen at 2956 Kress Street, Lihue, HI 96766. Cheap eats is what this place is known for and not its ambiance or customer service.

Given the red eye flight out of Hawaii, I opted to check in at the Four Points Los Angeles Airport. After the number of stays I made last year, I found it amusing I was upgraded to a suite on this stay.

Four Points Los Angeles Airport Junior Suite