Oahu
October 25, 2008
Our much needed trip to Hawaii this time was a journey of contrast. Over the 8 day 10 night trip we went from one extreme to another. We visited Oahu island, our second visit after our wedding at Waikiki and then we explored Hawaii island to just do something new on this trip.
I can’t believe how much I wrote already about this trip. It was much too long for one update so I’ll split it up. First off, Oahu!
Oahu
We spent the first four days in Honolulu and in retrospect we probably should’ve explored other parts of Oahu island. The north shore has always been reported to be more beautiful and we were unable to visit Hanauma Bay on the eastern part of the island.
Our first day was just for relaxing and some light shopping because getting from Japan to Hawaii is more like time traveling without sleep. We left Saturday evening at around 10pm and we arrive Saturday morning at around 10am. Go figure that one out. I have a terrible time sleeping on airplanes so I essentially went two days without sleep. The sunny and warm weather helped keep my mind awake and the sheer excitement of traveling also helped as well.
Food
I really missed good old fashioned western food. The grease, the volume, the instant spike in calories ‘it’s all good. We visited this wicked place called the Rainbow Drive-In and had Hawaiian food at its best: fried meat on rice and macaroni salad. I barely finished my gravy drenched fried chicken. The Woman stood no chance with her mixed grill platter. Take out is a lot more accepted here than it is in Japan so I was munching on her leftovers later that night.
Although far away from Philadelphia, I had about three Philly cheesesteaks here. This is definitely one food item I would request for for my last meal.
We were disappointed with the Cheesecake Factory. I remember having a nice meal with friends here when I got married and the food was alright even though the waiter sucked ass. This time was even worse. We waited about 40 minutes and during our wait, a lot of smoke came pouring out of the kitchen after some guy opened the door. I heard people talking about the vents being busted. When we were finally seated we were told that the only food they could serve were soups, salads, and sandwiches. Couldn’t they have told the 80 people waiting outside this BEFORE they waited? Ass.
As a substitute, we went to PF Chang’s. It was my first time to one of these places. It was really good! Lemon Chicken and Mongolian Beef were soothing.
The Wedding
Dan and Aya’s wedding took place the next day and it was fantastic. The ceremony took place without any hitches and the reception was just awesome. We met Dan and Aya’s families and friends and everyone was really friendly and fun, an indication of Dan and Aya themselves. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my own wedding a little under three years ago.
They put in a lot of time and planning, much more than we had done for the reception. They had a live band and a hula girl that really pinned “Hawaii” on everything. They even had M&Ms with their names printed on! How awesome is that?
Shopping and Touristy Areas
We divided up the next two days on Oahu with shopping and enjoying the outdoors. The Ala Moana shopping center is the biggest mall in Hawaii and had the kind of stores one would expect. Being in Japan for so long, I truly enjoy each “real” shopping mall experience because malls in Japan are uncommon and quite different. My favorites: Borders and the food court. I really miss big giant bookstores and crappy, but varied fast food. I also went to The Game Shop to try to pick up a video game. The store was 90% console and I only managed to snag Age of Mythology, a game I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. Unfortunately the 30 minute wait in line really ruined the store for me. When there are more than a dozen people in line, the two store clerks should not be making general chit chat with people. It’s just idiotic. The Woman enjoyed clothing shopping and my bored face in clothing stores.
It wasn’t very busy this time of year in Oahu but there were still a lot of tourists. This time around, we noticed the gaudy and overdone tourist areas a lot more than our first visit. We just didn’t have enough time last time to notice I guess. But anyway, we got rather sick of the tourist areas. Also, service everywhere sucked a lot more too. I always expect places like Burger King to have crap service but even department stores now were losing any sort of customer service. People were rude, cold, and often ignored customers. Taxi drivers were the worst. Most didn’t speak English enough to be able to have a conversation. One guy was just rude when we made him wait a little while. The ONLY taxi driver that was nice was a guy from Chicago who had started driving a taxi three weeks earlier. He was a gentleman and gave us good advice on what to do on the Big Island.
While kind of on the topic of asses, we saw a fight break up between some poser guy who thought he was a gangster and some waiter, still in his uniform. Not sure what the gangster poser did but the waiter was quite steamed up and started pushing and shoving this guy around. He gave him a really good shove that sent the poser flying. The poser got up and started, well, posing ‘as if he were going to hit him back but the waiter was about twice his size and twice as pissed off. Anyway, seeing this kind of ruined the mood for us. It’s funny watching people who don’t know how to fight fight. The waiter guy did a headlock around poser guy and walked him off somewhere, presumably to the police station or to a back alley for more beats. If anyone head locks you and walks you by the side, they’ve exposed basically everything on their torso to you. A few good elbows to the ribs should break them and turn them into balloons with holes.
Chinatown
I wanted to visit the two martial arts stores here to buy stuff I can’t get in Japan or to get stuff cheaper. One store was gone. The other had a sign that said they moved next door, to the second floor. When we went to the new location, the door was locked. Thanks for nothing. And, why is it that Chinatowns always attract the dirtiest, nastiest sort of riff raff? We passed by this Korean café just as the door was opening and we heard a blood curdling, bone chilling scream from some man inside. Either he just lost a sports bet or he just got his fingers smashed in. Who knows. A lot of poser guys in really busted up clothes kept staring at us in a menacing sort of way.
I remember the shit service in one of the restaurants when I visited with my family here so we avoided eating here as well. The food wasn’t very good anyway.
Almost Hanauma Bay / Diamond Head Crater
We had originally planned to visit Hanauma Bay, a very beautiful coral preserve on our last full day in Oahu. As luck would have it, we planned this visit for Tuesday and they close on Tuesdays, of all days. We called up Dan and Aya and quickly rearranged a hike up to Diamond Head Crater instead. It turned out great ‘it’s a short hike up the side of a crater and gives a great view of Waikiki beach and the crater itself. It was a good break from the stores and touristy places.
Even the girls managed to get up the crater without difficulty. We bumped into two of Dan’s friends at the top and descended together. At the foot of the crater, I realized shaved ice can be godsend, especially after sweating enough to fill the crater.
Summary
All in all, Oahu was not as fun as it was the first time. We spent some time poolside at our hotel and didn’t even visit a beach here. It was just too touristy. I think we’re both done with Waikiki and Honolulu and would choose other destinations instead in the future.
Bad
People were just not very friendly and service was shit. Prices were practically on par with Japan for many items. There were too many tourist traps that sold nothing but crap. 5 t-shirts for $10? You know you’re buying crap. There was too much pretense on this island.
As I said, people are rude here.
Good
The beaches are very beautiful when there aren’t a billion people there. The hike up Diamond Head Crater is a nice stroll and quite relaxing. Food that clogs the arteries is sometimes great. The rare friendly person who helps you out or has a conversation with you really stands out and becomes memorable. That’s about it.
