With all the cheap flights to Hawaii, it isn't hard to keep coming back. On this trip, it was a quick weekend stay made a little shorter by some food poisoning.
Hopped onto a
Southwest flight to
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Lodging for this trip is the
Hilton Hawaiian Village Kalia Tower. With the travel surge hitting Oahu, I was able to see first hand the tourist traffic. With international arrivals halted (Japan has strict quarantine rules), the make up of the traditional Hawaiian tourist has changed. I was seeing plenty of mainlanders and typical frat like behaviors around the streets of Waikiki. I suspect that there were also a lot of first time visitors as well.
Since it was a short trip, mostly stayed on resort and in Waikiki proper. I've been to this Hilton many many times but this is the first time I've stayed in the Kalia tower. This particular tower is at the edge of the resort property similar to Grand Islander. The rooms are larger, the one bedroom suites are almost 1000 sq. ft. In general, I enjoyed my time in this location within the property. If you want close access to beach or to the lagoon, this tower isn't nearly as convenient to the others. I did like it because I tend to walk around Waikiki and even Ala Moana Mall and I like the street access more.
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| Hilton Waikoloa Village Kalia Tower One Bedroom Suite |
Activities
I did rent a
Hui vehicle to get to the northeast side of the island and make a trek up to Waimanalo Beach and Kailua Bay besides hanging out on Waikiki Beach. With the shortage of traditional rental vehicles, finding a Hui location in Waikiki was not to be. So I grabbed a taxi to
Leonard's, saw the astronomical lines, forwent the malasadas and went to the Safeway plaza and grabbed the Hui vehicle.
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| Waikiki Beach |
Waimanalo Beach was easy to get to but the waves were pretty rough for my partner. So we headed north to the more popular Kailua Bay. It was tougher to find parking but I was able to snag a spot and hung out for a few hours. I did decide that if I could, I'd like to retire to this neighborhood. (I think I need to win the lottery too.)
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| Waimanalo Beach |
Dining
Paia Fish Market - Landing into Oahu in the middle of the day isn't common for me. Our room wasn't ready and I was hungry enough to walk towards the center of Waikiki. Of the eateries open, the options were either reservations made in advance or long lines for walk ins. Unfortunately, the wait was long at Paia due to a customer being indecisive for 10 minutes. Otherwise, things were good and the food was fine. I ordered an Ono burger with fries.
Kona Purveyors - If it wasn't for the food poisoning, I would have stopped at Kona Purveyors more than once on this trip. Alas, it was only meant for one time and I was lucky enough to get some kouign amann (guava, regular, and black sesame) and the salted chocolate chip cookie.
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| B. Patisserie Guava Kouign Amann |
Spitfire - The only place I've found so far that sells mochi malasadas. I tried the honey boba on this trip and if you are a fan of the ice cream bars, you'd like this malasada. Otherwise, I'd stick with the other flavors.
Musubi Iyasume - On this trip I went by the Waikiki and Ala Moana locations. I am noticing that the portions are getting smaller which I attribute to increasing costs and pandemic expenses.
Waiola Shave Ice - Since I was in the area returning the Hui car and had an extra 30 minutes still on the time, made a pit stop for some shaved ice. I still like the original location more than the second location. Something is just not the same to me.
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| Waiola Shave Ice |
Nanding's Bakery - Down the street from Waiola Shave Ice is Nanding's Bakery on 3210 Martha St Honolulu, HI 96815. I was interested in trying ensaymadas and pandesals. Both were good and it was pretty inexpensive.
Eggs n Things - Walked over from the Hilton to Ala Moana Mall and this restaurant is outside the mall but on the block of the mall. On the way to Eggs n Things, I could see how the mall has changed over the years and there is even a Foodland market within the mall. There is a Yelp checkin available and I suggest clicking on the waitlist before heading over to the restaurant. I enjoyed the pancakes and eggs ordered. You just can't beat the macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. Not too many pancake places outside of Hawaii will do the mac nut pancakes.
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| Eggs N Things MacNut Pancakes |
Purve Donuts - While waiting for our table at Eggs n Things, I went over to pick up some doughnuts. The doughnuts are tasty (all are cake doughnuts) and the flavors are interesting.
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| Purve Donuts |
Leonard's Mobile Truck - The irony of no lines at the food truck versus the three block line at the brick and mortar location got me to stop and pick up some malasadas. It was probably faster to drive to the food truck and get malasadas then to wait in that early Sunday morning line of tourists.
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| Leonard's mobile truck in Hawaii Kai |
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| Leonard's Bakery line at the brick and mortar location |
Uncle Clay's House of Aloha - Despite the insane amount of positive reviews, I will never come back. I never had a case of such strong food poisoning as I did with the shave ice from here. The syrup had a gritty taste (pineapple) and I felt sick within hours of consumption. My partner and I shared everything food wise that day except for the shave ice. Since I was the only one affected, I had to assume whatever I ordered differently was the cause of my discomfort. It was strong enough that I considered not getting on my flight the next day.
McDonald's - I hit a few locations and had to be outside of Waikiki to find a McDonald's that had haupia pies in stock. The tourists don't care for pies and I think the franchisees makes sure the local population has more in stock.
Alley Restaurant - a friend drove me and my partner to the restaurant and we indulged in tasty chicken, salmon, and pumpkin chiffon squares. The restaurant seems to be operating back to normal and people were even bowling.
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| Leftovers from Alley Restaurant |
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