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.