1st destination: Hanauma Bay
Went snorkeling- I kept breathing in water through the snorkel tube so I gave up after a while. Really windy and strong tides that day. Friends had near-death experience from swimming out to far.
#2 Diamond Head Trail: hiked up along the mountains, great view. Lots of stairs near the top, but overall wasn't a super strenuous hike.Fairly easy hike and amazing view at the top? That I like :)
Strolling along Waikiki at night- the sunset was beautiful~
Next day, we went to the botanical garden. I didn't expect it to be amazing, but it turned out to be one of my favorite places in the whole trip. There were so many interesting tropical plants I haven't seen before, and the garden was huge! At the parking lot, we saw massive mountains in the distance covered with a heavy layer of white fog. Quite a beautiful scene. I'm a sucker for big trees and natural places like this :)
It was so quiet and peaceful here..
Waikiki beach at night~ so many ABC stores (convenience store) around Waikiki! There was
always at least 1 on every block..
Went to the Paradise Cove luau to be touristy- Loved the fire show at the end, but everything else was just alright.
It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, but the food wasn't that amazing.
For some real Hawaiian food, go to Ono's Hawaiian Food....
Real Hawaiian food is incredible! (I need more positive adjectives to describe delicious food)I really liked the baked taro leaf and pork (that green thing in the picture). I tried poi (purple stuff you dip things in- made from taro) for the first time and it was really good.
So many different flavors were playing in my mouth~
There was a lot of food though...it was kind of hard to finish even though we loved the food so much.
We also discovered a food truck somewhere in Waikiki..it didn't really have a specific name, but the steak, shrimp, rice..everything..! It was heaven on a plate. Food trucks are the way to go.
Got to go to Turtle Beach, where we saw a sea turtle very up close!
I forgot to mention that it felt a bit like I was back in Japan when I walked around Waikiki. So many Japanese people..and Japanese stores!
And a torii?!
It's like a mini Japan!
This was a torii Hiroshima gave to Honolulu.
So Hawaii really is how I thought it would be.. Beautiful sunny blue skies, so many rainbows, lot of Japanese people/things, slow and relaxing atmosphere, gorgeous beaches, sea turtles....I have to live here someday!!
Cons: People here CAN'T DRIVE. Damn. and cockroaches in the summer...
