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.