I flew in from Sydney (domestic transfer from Brisbane) into Honolulu at around 6:45am. Before I even start about Hawaii, let me tell you about Jetstar. Buyer beware. It's a bare bones airline. No entertainment, no meals, not even a blanket. Nothing... on a transocean flight. I wasn't even familiar with Jetstar before this trip. The pilots sound and look Aussie. The flight attendants look "Singaporean." I just know it's affiliated with Qantas. Virgin Australia is so much better. Just wanted to mention that.
Anyway, I arrived bloody early in the morning. There's no around. I'm obviously hungry because of the excellent Jetstar meals. I buy a frappacino and a croissant. Pardon me, it's been awhile since I purchased something from Starbucks, so I forgot it was a cold drink. Still tasted good though.
Felice's flight wasn't coming in until 11:45-ish in the morning. So, I'm pretty much bored for the next 5 hours. I would love to have said I waited at the beach, but that isn't going to happen at the airport. Plus, embarassingly, I have not a single US dollar to my name. I found a nice bench of two and laid on my carry ons and basked in the blue sky, the coconut/palm trees, and remembered again. Hawaii is a lovely place. It's awesome. I fell asleep a couple times until it was close to picking up Felice. Each time I woke up, I thought, "oh snap, I'm in Hawaii... oh wait, I'm sleeping on a bench like a hobo."
I stood outside waiting for awhile for Felice coming in from San Jose on Alaska Airlines (totally ironic) with a "name" sign. She was late coming out, so I got a bit worried for a little, but everything was okay. I was glad to see her. :)
We took TheBus into Waikiki. It's cramped, there are dodgy people, but it's only $2.50 a head as long as you don't have major check-in baggage. Both of us only brought carry-ons so we were good. I kind of felt bad about the bus being very... unsexy. But I still believe it's a great deal. Shuttles and whatnot cost at least $11-12 up, although admittedly provide better comfort and time flexibility.
Since we were both famished, we quickly dropped out bags off and changed at the Seaside Hotel Waikiki (now 1 week later known as Shoreline Hotel Waikiki).
Let me tell you. It was nice. Small as are most hotel rooms in Waikiki, but nice. Nice sheets, nice furniture. Tasteful. Good bathroom. We got a great price, too. $118 a night, tax and fees included. It's a 1.5 block walking distance to the main Waikiki street, Kalakaua Ave. It's across from Ross, which I'll get to in a minute, and up the road from the Royal Hawaiian, which sits on the beach. Walking to the beach is 5 minutes tops. I've stayed in probably 5 different low price hotels to date in Waikiki. Hotel rooms are generally just more expensive here or you get less for your money. But this place, it was priced right without compromises. It's my place to return to next time. Hands down.
Anyway, we were a bit peckish. We walked down Waikiki, taking in the sights, the weather, and just "hell yeah, we're in Hawaii" sort of thing. We came across Cheeseburger Waikiki. It's a nice place. Very "Hawaiian." Felice has big eyes, but not a big stomach, so we ordered a Loco Moco with the garden patty and some cheese fries. Loco Moco is usually a beef patty with egg on rice with gravy. Not very healthy. Yum.
Weather wasn't flash, but this is about as bad as it gets in Hawaii. This is considered a bad day. Think about that for a second.
Remember when I mentioned Ross? Dress for less? There are some things that I knew a person needs in Hawaii that most people may not think of. There are also some things that I learned even from this trip. First, sandals. And I mean nice comfy sandals. Don't go investing in Birkenstocks. I'm not a big fan of the plastic foot straps, so I wish I had bought a pair of thicker soled sandals with cloth straps earlier in the trip. You do a lot of walking around Waikiki in sandals, which is great, but only with the right kind of sandals. I ended up buying a fair one nice and cheap from Walmart, but I saw many at Ross, too.
Second, umbrella. Yeah, I know. Weird, right? It's a tropical island. Which means it'll randomly tropically rain on you. It usually won't last long, but it can go downpour for a good 3-4 minutes before letting up. It's a good idea. Either BYOU or buy a cheap one. I brought mine which I purchased in China 5-6 years ago. Getto plaid, manual, but it still works.
Third, reef shoes. Seriously, get this early. Hawaiian beaches aren't the kind you imagine in the Caribbean. It's coarse sand and there are a lot of rocks and shells in the sand and water. It can hurt. Buy it on day one. Felice got hers from Walmart later in the trip. At Walmart, it was easily less than $8 for a decent pair. I brought mine, but stupidly left them in the hotel a couple times. If you might go into the water, bring reef shoes.
Lastly, take the bus on a trip to Ala Moana Center (bus 8, 19, 20 usually) early in the trip and walk across the street along Keaaumoku to the nearby Walmart there to pick up snorkels. Even on your first day. It's probably a good idea. If you can hop back on the bus within 2 hours, it'll only cost you $2.50 each as this also includes a free "transfer" aka round trip. An inexpensive set is about $10-15 there. If you need prescription, you might go for a rental from Snokel Bob's at the other end of Waikiki on Kapahulu and Date St. I think in retrospect it's a good idea to get it earlier. The reason is even in Waikiki, there are snorkel opportunities. There are snorkel opportunities almost everywhere. Granted, Waikiki beach is not a good snorkel place because you'll spend most of your time dodgy noob surfers. But if you walk on Kalakaua beyond Kapahulu at the east end of Waikiki, you'll come across the War Memorial, Queen's beach, and Sans Souci. There are less people, but there's a reef out there. If the waters are calm, you could be snorkeling on day one. How awesome is that?!? Snorkelers beware. Don't stand on the reef and damage any coral or the marine environment. Make sure you're a decent swimmer. Go out with a buddy. And fins, while not mandatory, do make life a bit easier and less tiring.
The evening caught up to us pretty quickly. I wanted to hook Felice up with some Lava Flow. That's one good tropical drink. It's basically coconut syrup, pineapple, and strawberry syrup with crushed ice and a touch of rum. It's so good. For non-alcoholic drinkers like us, there's virgin Lava Flow or Volcano as it's call at Duke's. They make them well there. It's so good. I like Duke's, which is named in tribute to Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing. It's got a Hawaiian vibe atmosphere, too. Tiki torches included. Note, there are two Duke's. The indoor restaurant and the outdoor Barefoot Bar. Go for the Barefoot Bar. It's cheaper, outside sitting, and access to the drinks and desserts.
Lava Flow was really good. Tropical smoothie (left) was okay, too, but I don't think it was what I would call "unique."
Too bad we didn't take more pictures, but day one was a great day and a pretty good start to the trip.
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