Prologue: Planning the vacation

Thoughts of visiting the exotic Hawaiian Islands had been floating in our heads from a long time ago. We had also thought about flying through Hawaii during the India trip in 2005.

Shashi had gone through several vacation packages over the last few months. But it all began to materialize when he received an eye catching Hawaii trip offer through Skyauction-a popular travel site. He won the bid for a whooping $602/person. The deal was valid for 5 days/nights stay for 2-8 people. Chandan and Payal, were the enthusiastic couple on board. We locked in on the deal and booked the package for the Thanksgiving week which would also include the wedding anniversary celebration for Shashi and I. The package deal was for “Oahu” the commercial Hawaiian Island. It included Roundtrip airfare from San Francisco to Honolulu and stay at a good hotel in Waikiki Beach.

A week before the trip we got together at Chandan-Payal’s to plan the trip. Chandan did most of the ground work to coordinate and plan the activities during our visit there. As for the others, we just sat there cozily after the sumptuous meal by Payal. While we chit-chatted and fantasized about our upcoming Hawaiian dream vacation, Chandan after several clicks and a few phone calls, booked us packages starting from submarine adventure, evening dinner cruise and Luau (A Festive gathering elaborately illustrating Hawaiian customs especially the Hula dance). The super organized planner also created structured itinerary for a week’s worth on Excel.

Now just the count down to our long awaited trip. A week before the trip we were busy shopping. We exchanged emails with Chandan, got all the required paperwork for the trip and he took charge thence.

Getting There

It was already the day of the journey’s commence. I had a list of personal errands to run. One of them was grooming at the beauty salon. I had wanted to always try out something new with my hair and decided to go for a perm. Well the story isn’t all that exciting, to make it short I spent long three and half hours at the parlor teeth gritting to the insane brain numbing odor of the chemicals dripping from my scalp by my ear lobes. The tingling nauseating effects were least pleasing. To my dismay the end product wasn’t fruitful either. I can’t blame my beautician as she put a lot of energy and time in setting each curl. Miscommunication perhaps! She explaining in her Philippine’s accent how well the long perm will suit my hair and me nodding expecting something totally different. Anyways it looks like I will be stuck with this hair do for a quarter, so a bad hair day for long long time [Smile] [Sigh]. After the entire parlor episode I rushed back home to find Kannan gone. He had left after a long wait outside my house entrance as I was nowhere to be seen. Mom had cooked me a feast and was supposed to be picked up so that Kannan could meet at our place for lunch. I ended up stuffing my stomach with all I could as I had to rush back home to finish packing. Time leapt away and it was already time for us to leave for the airport.

Shashi’s colleague Fred gave us a drop to the local railway station (BART). We caught a train and got to the airport. We met Chandan Payal at the airport and to our despair learned that our flight had been delayed by four hours. The 6:45 pm flight was now departing at 10:45 p.m. The time seemed to be dragging; we tried finding ways to kill time. We played Uno for about 45 minutes. We used up the courtesy food coupons (provided by the airlines for flight delay) at the airport café for food and drinks. We were able to kill an hour there. Payal and I were loitering around window shopping. The last few minutes of wait were the most exhausting. Finally we got to board around 11 p.m. 15 minutes later than actual delayed departure time. Well misery wasn’t over yet; there was another half hour of delay due to some technical problem with the flights air conditioning. Finally the plane took off and we reached Hawaii safe and sound. We were tired from the long wait and journey and to add to our fatigue was the humid sultry weather. Our rental car office was closed. Chandan quickly suggested to go for a different rental company. We took the hertz car rental shuttle and in a few minutes the guys got us a Rental car. We drove to the hotel and luckily were checked in. The hotel where we stayed “Coconut Plaza” is located near Waikiki beach and is very decent. We wanted to crash in our beds and have a long sleepy session.

So the agenda was to meet next day at the lobby for breakfast and then start of sight seeing.

Day 1: Pearl Harbor

The day began quite well. We were fresh and energized after a good breakfast. Chandan was ready with the schedule. We drove to Pearl Harbor which is significant for the severe blasts of American Naval fleets bombed by Japanese in 1941. After these blasts the Unites States had made its entry into WW II. Several Huge Submarines and Fleets were badly damaged and several men lost. There are memorial created for lost men especially from USS Arizona fleet which was incorrigibly damaged and thousands of men dead. It is called the Arizona Memorial. For more details about Pearl Harbor and Arizona memorial visit

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

http://www.nps.gov/usar/

http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/

We visited the Bowfin Submarine looked through the periscopes. We clicked a bunch of pictures in front of Torpedoes and the submarine. However to access the submarine there is an admission ticket. We preferred staying out and taking pictures. Later we saw the documentary on Attack on Pearl Harbor and took a ferry to the Arizona Memorial that is constructed over the sunken ship in tribute to the warriors who lost their life during the attack. Admission to the documentary and ferry are free of cost and the shows run every half hour during the operational hours of the museum. You can also take a paid tour to the Missouri memorial which is a 1-1/2 hour tour. We skipped the latter.

Although we did nothing major we were exhausted from the heat and humidity (just taking time to get used to the amazing bright weather). We decided to go for lunch to a Chinese restaurant near Waikiki beach. To our surprise the food was cheap also tasty. We decided to take day 1 light and crash back at the hotel until dawn. After an hour nap we freshened up and took a walk to the beach. Our hotel was located at a walking distance from the beach. We were engrossed in all the colorful displays of Leis, and shell ornaments in the so many stores lining the street. We walked in and out of a bunch of stores and we shopped for some ornaments (also for the men [wink]). In all the fun and excitement we missed the sunset, but the beach was nice and breezy (not at all chilly). The Hawaii state tourism organizes Hula program in the evening by the Waikiki beach shore. We were in time to watch two pretty hula dancers teach hula to the tourists. We didn’t step forward to volunteer although it was fun to watch people try to learn the art of hula. On the walk back to the hotel we found a few more stores, Chandan instantly named it Burma bazaar of Waikiki. (Burma bazaar is term used for market of tiny road side shops selling trinkets and some non-authentic goods) BTW if you wish to shop in such stores do carry some cash with you, as bargain shopping is mostly cash transactions. Also the most popular stores you will come across very often are some chains called “ABC stores” “E-Z Stores” and “123 Stores” these are tiny groceries and beverage stores like 7-Eleven. We had a fruitful evening and were back in our hotel room. Payal and I stayed back while the guys went out to get dinner. They brought Thai food from “Phuket Thai” nose/eye watering spicy but awesome Thai food. We had enough food left for lunch next day. That was end of day one in Hawa Hawaii.

Day 2: Submarine

Just like the day before we met down at the lobby for breakfast. Shashi browsed through the newspaper to find the headlines stating that the “ABC Store” owner had passed away. We sighed as the previous night we were curious to learn about the ABC stores as we found so many of them every other block. After a moment we continued with our breakfast. Bread, Butter, Jam, Muffins, Danish, Freshly brewed Hawaiian Kona Coffee, Sliced Oranges & Pineapple. After filling our stomach we went up to our rooms. At the hotel that morning Shashi lay down on the bed for a while as I was refreshing myself in the bathroom. Suddenly he yells “Did you feel that jolt?” Well! Since I felt nothing I obviously nodded no. Shashi explained as if he had felt a mild tremor certainly I disagreed. We drove to Hilton Hawaiian village where we were asked to check in for the submarine ride. On the drive to Hilton Chandan was mentioning that his brother Charan had called to enquire about tremors. He had heard about it in the news. He said that there were some mild tremors in the big island. Shashi boasted of his experience and was unfortunately cornered to a failed claim as none of us had felt a thing. The moment passed and it was now time for fun. We had arrived early for the submarine ride and had some time to kill. We went around Hilton you get some good photo spots. After several click clicks we headed back to the Atlantis submarine ride. We boarded a ferry that took us to the submarine. The ferry was fun too, breezy and refreshing. The weather was sunny, bright and all you can ask for, a wonderful day for outing. After a while our submarine emerged out from the middle of the sea. We were transferred from the ferry. Everyone got to sit by a peep window. As the submarine attained depth, pressure set in and made us feel a hint of sea sickness. Also various colors were absorbed by the water and it all appeared mostly blue including the sea life. So if you are expecting to see colorful fishes you’ll be in for a surprise. Otherwise the overall experience was interesting and the best if one can’t swim well. Once done the ferry picked us back and drop us at Hilton. We went back to our hotel for lunch. Had the left over Thai food from the previous night and went down to the pool. After some pool time went back to our rooms to get dressed for the Luau.

Luau and After

Luau
Luau is a Hawaiian tradition which is a festive celebration with feast and entertainment.

To learn more about luau visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luau

Chandan had booked for “Paradise cove Luau” in advance. This is supposed to be one of the best Luau’s in Oahu. We were all ready for the Luau and started decently early. However we were mislead by the GPS’s choices of luau attractions. The navigation system showed us two list of attractions both similar names. One was “Paradise Cove Luau” and the other “Paradise Cove”. The first was closer to us than the other. Since the first list name was so appropriate we chose it. But it turned out to be the wrong one. After cruising though the killing evening traffic and tail hugging sluggish pace we got to the correct luau a little later than actually scheduled.

Fortunately we didn’t miss the Luau celebrations but just missed a few fun games prior to the celebrations. We were welcomed with complementary Mai Tai drink and lei (flower garland). We caught the sunset, a javelin toss game which btw none of us hit the bulls eye. There was the hukilau ceremony, which is pulling of fish nets and fisherman dance after the catch.

Learn the hula and hukilau

http://www.geocities.com/fildancomtl/Instructions.html

We used our drink coupons on cocktails mostly maitai and margaritas. We then watched the hula dance and digging out of the kalua pig feast called Imu ceremony. There was an introduction to Luau feast and its significance. A unique dish is the “Poi” which is taro root extracts paste. Traditionally you are supposed to dip your index and middle finger into the sauce and suck on your fingers to relish it. It is meant to be a delicacy, but trust me it was pretty bland and tasteless. And as Shashi commented it felt a lot like gum paste/glue.

To learn more about poi visit

http://www.poico.com/artman/publish/article_4.php

We had purchased the Royal Ali package which was the middle one. We had decent seating and were served food at the table. The other dishes were salad greens, cold pasta salad, fried chicken, fish and for dessert coconut cake, freshly sliced piece of pineapple. As we relished our food we were entertained by hula dancers, songs and fire tricks. Overall it was a fun experience and a must see for the first time visitors.

The Luau evening came to an end and we were back on the drive. Being the very enthusiastic couples we wanted to add more fun by adding an Indian traditional touch to the evening. So the spouses exchanged garlands (leis) sentimentally reassuring our marriage.

Chandan decided to take us on a long drive to a vista point from were you can see the city below. The view from the top was spectacular; we could see the well lit city down below. The houses on the drive were so amazing. Shashi couldn’t resist himself from plucking mangoes from a tree laden with mangoes. The sour raw mangoes and the windy drive made us a little woozy so we headed back to our hotel and crashed in our beds. We were downbeat and done for the day.

Day 3: Happy Anniversary & Thanksgiving

Happy sixth wedding Anniversary to us and Happy Thanksgiving. I got up a little earlier than Shashi checked sms and voice messages all wishing us a Happy Anniversary. I showered and got ready to wake Shashi with anniversary wishes. Shashi as usual grabbed the newspaper left by our door to browse through the headlines. He jumped up in delight saying that though tremors were biggest on the big island a mild aftershock was felt in all the islands. Lucky for us phew just a mild aftershock. We all later gathered down for breakfast. We met a sweet French couple who were nice to talk to. Later Chandan and Payal met us back in our room to surprise us with Luau photographs from the previous night. They had sneaked out last night and purchased photos to gift us. A thoughtful gift indeed! The day’s agenda was to visit a north shore beach, stop at Waimea Falls park, visit Dole plantations and then get back to hotel. Later in the evening leave for the dinner cruise. We packed our bags with some swimwear, beach towels and flip-flops. The day was bright and shiny was best for outdoorsy stuffs. We drove to a north shore, there were so many surfers getting ready to catch the big waves. I believe there was some surfing world tournament due that week, was not sure as have never been a water sporty gal. There were some Almond and Macadamia trees by the shore. I got to pick a few fallen almond fruits and found a rock to break open them to see if I could find some nuts. Not a great tool for busting open almonds, a big disappointment and an effort in vain.

Anyhoo! Payal and I found a nice rock formation to stand on to experience the waves. It was so exciting for us, sure the surfers fighting big waves must have felt, what a dare? boo hoo. But that’s all the dare we may ever gather to do [hee hee]. The waves were big and swept the rocks and touched our feet it was a lot of fun. After the wave catching we headed to waimea falls. It was around a mile and a half round trip hike to and back from falls. The nature around was splendid, lots of tropical trees just like ones we would find in India. We were trying to recall most of names with the little botanical knowledge we had. The waterfall was beautiful. Not the great swimmers that we were, we changed to our suits and got life jackets for protection. The water felt chilly at first but once we were in was fun. None of us dared to swim to the falls as we were warned it got as deep as 30 feet close to the falls. Not exactly the dare devils we kept ourselves to the shore. We were booed by a bunch of people who swam past us, but we held our heads high not bothered and had our fun [sharam kis bath ki LOL]. I bounced around for a while and realized my feet no longer touched the surface, I tried hard not to panic and held my breath and asked Chandan for help. Luckily I hadn’t floated away much and he pulled me to shallow waters. Later payal and I literally kept to the "hardly any water" zone. We later dried ourselves and dressed up to hike back. We had our lunch at the Waimea Café, some Taro bread burgers & Fries. For drinks we got iced tea that hardly had any flavor. We spotted some peacocks and peahens which were a treat to watch.

Post lunch we made a pit stop at Dole plantations, some click-click here and click-click there and were back on the road to the Hotel. It was soon evening and time for Dinner Cruise. We drove to Aloha Towers where we were supposed to board the Altantis Cruise. We had some time to kill so took a walk in the Aloha Tower Marketplace. After a while it was time to board the cruise. We were seated in the lower deck and served cocktail drinks. Chandan & Shashi went for the blue Hawaiian and I took the Pinacolada. We went to the upper deck to catch the evening breeze and sunset. After a while we came back down for the dinner buffet. The menu was salad greens, mashed potatoes with herbs, buns, butter, cooked vegetables, mahi-mahi, chicken and pineapple cake, sliced fruits for dessert. For entertainment there was a live orchestra and hula dancers. Shashi and Chandan were invited and escorted to perform with the Hula dancers. We had loads of fun. After all the gala we went out and sat to enjoy the view of the city and the evening breeze. We got back to the shore, drove back to the hotel and retired early that night. It was a splendid end to our sixth anniversary.

Day 4: South East Oahu

Day 4:

Black Friday!!! This time it was a different start to the day after thanksgiving. No rushing to stores for deals. It was rather slow start but a bright day as usual for outdoor activities and fun. The agenda was to visit the south east shore of Oahu and stop at some attractions. First stop was Diamond Head State Park. It is significant for the Diamond Head Crater which was a result of volcanic eruption several thousands of years ago.

For more information on Diamond Head Crater visit

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/diamond_head.html

The entrance to the crater is through a narrow tunnel. The parking lot of the park is located in the crater. You have to park and hike to the summit to view the crater from above. The hike is about 1.6 miles roundtrip. It is steep climb, has a few feet long tunnel and stair climbing but its all worth when you get to the peak. The view is breath taking. After admiring the surrounding view, we hiked back down. We had to skip Haunama Bay in our agenda as its parking lot was full. If you intend to snorkel Haunama Bay is a good place for it. Since we had a submarine experience we weren’t sad to miss the bay watch. So we drove to Halona Blow Hole which is significant for blow hole in the rocks. When the waves are forceful water gushes in through the hole and spouts up. It is nature’s fountain, extraordinary to watch as the waves come in variations and produces varied heights of water shoots.

For more information about Halona Blow Hole visit

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/sites_to_see/halona_blow_hole.htm

Next stop was Sandy Beach. Many surfers were paddling to get on big waves. It was a delight to watch them swim so swiftly against the waves and jump on their surf board when they get on a big wave. Some succeeded while the others fell and were swept to the shore. Shashi expressed his inferiority complex as he saw young surfers having fun. We were the ones who stayed on the shore. This makes me feel the need to know swimming. After being watchful spectators and few minutes of beach fun, we took off to Sea Life Park our next stop. It is similar to Sea-World but slightly smaller with fewer shows. But all the shows were fun to watch. Sea-Lions, Turtles, Dolphins and Penguins are cute sea creatures. We were done by around two-ish and headed for lunch. We found a small Chinese food joint. We ordered some chow mein and fried rice. Shashi challenged me to do some shrimp tasting. He offered me two thousand bucks for taking a bite of shrimp. Well! What the hell! Money’s money, I accepted the challenge and took a bite. I liked the taste and ate the entire shrimp but for the tail. Was fun lunch! We headed back to the hotel and got some afternoon nap. Later that evening there was a Thanksgiving Parade as a tribute to the Pearl Harbor Survivors on Kalakaua Ave. We took a walk towards the beach did some window shopping and later laid down our mats on the lawn by the roadside to watch the parade. Lots of people had gathered and the cops cleared the road for the procession to commence. We wooed the veterans and cheered the school bands. It was enthusiastic and fun parade. We walked back to the hotel around 8:30. Shashi & Chandan went to get some dinner. Payal & I sat in the room watching TV. We chose South Indian food for us girls and the guys were getting tandoori for themselves. The Idli’s or was it? The worst idli I have ever tasted. The dosa was O.K. but not really good. And you don’t want to know about the samosas. The only thing that was good was the masala from the masala dosa. So consider this a warning, if you ever plan to visit Oahu never ever dine at India Café. Shashi & Chandan were lucky they got Tandoori from a different restaurant Café Maharani. Post Dinner was the end of day four.

Day 5: Finale

As usual had our breakfast but was time to check out of the hotel as or vacation was coming to a close. Chandan’s colleague/friend Lloyd who is originally from Hawaii joined us for the sight seeing. We first went to Pali lookout. It is significant for its scenic cliffs. It is known for legend of an ancient ruler Kamehameha who defeated his enemies by driving them to cliffs and pushing them over it.

For more information on Pali Lookout visit

http://www.hawaiiweb.com/oahu/sites_to_see/pali_lookout.htm

I was awestruck by the view. The green hills around and the blue water of the beaches far in sight were enthralling. The day was bright to add to the riveting landscape. After nature admiration we went to the Valley of Temples. We had to drive through a cemetery to get to the valley of temples. Shashi’s keen observation brought to our notice that food and drinks were left by some gravestones. It made us wonder why someone would leave drinks and food by the tomb. The Japanese Zen Temple was captivating and its backdrop was far more enchanting. Peace and quiet filled the valley. There were brooks and ponds with fishes and swans. There was a temple gong and each of us took turns to sound it. We bought some food to feed the fish. The serene aura of the valley brought a kind of calm to our minds. We sat down for a while to enjoy the tranquility.

It was soon lunch time and Shashi wanted Italian. He found a restaurant through GPS listings that was around a mile or so from the temple. Shashi’s intuition about the place was apt. Café Satino served some delicious Italian food with freshly baked bread and good soup. After a nice lunch we went to Kualoa Ranch one of Oahu's largest and oldest ranches. On the way we stopped by to finally taste Hawaiian coconut water. A local was selling it in his front yard. It was chilled and tasted great. At Kualoa Ranch we had arrived late for horse back riding or the tours. So just went around and visited the gift shop. Later we stopped at a Macadamia farm to see what they had. There were lot of Macademia nut trees and a mill for extracting nuts. At dawn we visited the University of Hawaii Manoa. Lloyd showed us around the place. Then he took us on a drive close to the university which had beautiful houses. It was evening and we went to the beach to catch the last sunset of our trip. Chandan decided to take a dip in the calming evening waves. We sat there enjoying the serenity, saw the sun set behind the sea and watched the sky as stars appeared. Dinner time was already there. We went to Café Maharani a small Indian restaurant close to the university area. They serve one of the cheapest and best tasting Biryani. The size of one biryani can easily satisfy three people. We packed off the left over food for Lloyd. We dropped Lloyd and headed to the airport. We caught final glimpses of the city as we said our goodbye Alohas. We returned the car and got to our terminal. Time flew by quickly as we waited for departure. It was now time to return home back to our daily routine. It was one hell of a journey, a truly memorable experience.

Travel tips for Oahu to make it Oh wow!

Travel Tips to Oahu, Hawaii:

Do

1. Carry a portable GPS navigation system
2. Have a map of the place you are visiting, though GPS is awesome a map goes a long way helping you to key in places to visit.
3. Book your tours and cruises ahead of time
4. Book your rental car ahead of time. Preferably Hertz if you are flying red eye.
5. Carry list of restaurants you like if your Navigation system doesn’t list food places
6. Carry a lot of cotton garments, Ts, shorts and a hiking boot
7. Bottle of sunscreen
8. Carry a swimwear, beach towel, pair of thongs (flip-flops)
9. Conditioner/Moose for your hair if it can get frizzy in humid weather.

Don’t

1. Carry warm clothes, trust me you will regret
2. Carry food. Lots of food joints. Food is available at pretty reasonable price.
3. Get back unpackaged food like vegetables or plants. They will discard those at the airport.
4. Ever dine at India Café.

FYI

• Most road side stores charge cash, so it is good to carry some cash if you intend to shop there.
• Pearl Harbor museum doesn’t permit to carry backpacks, bags etc inside.
• If you intend to take a submarine ride make sure you eat light, high pressure can make you nauseous.
• If you intend to drive to Luau and it is located away from your hotel, start well ahead of time. Traffic in the city can be a bottleneck.
• Drink plenty of fluids before you head on a hike.
• If you do not eat meat or hate sea food, Dinner cruise is a sheer waste of money.
• Local restaurants can serve surprisingly delicious food. Fancy restaurants are for connoisseurs, gourmet food isn’t for everyone’s palate.
• Try to catch the sunset at the beach, it is soothing and romantic.
• You can buy use and throw beach mats for as cheap as 99¢