Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka! That is right, Matt and I went to Hawaii for Christmas with my family. No, Blake didn't go, so we had a vacation all to ourselves! We have been planning and saving since last christmas because that was one of our presents from last year. My dad flew us over, and paid for a condo on the beach in Kauai. It was so much fun!
Day 1: (after the 7 hour flight there!) We went to our hotel (ye old holiday inn) and then we went to the Ala Moana Mall in Waikiki. The mall is not something you would find in utah. First of all, it is open air, and second of all, it is full of stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Hugo Boss.... you know the really expensive ones that wouldn't survive in Utah. It was late, so we pretty much just relaxed the rest of the night.
Day 2: Polynesian Cultural Center: After paying $16 for two muffins and two drinks--ouch! We hopped a shuttle to the PCC. Our shuttle was full of offensive smells what with the smokers that had that smoke smell, a woman who literally bathed in her perfume, and the burger king breakfast someone brought. Needless to say... by the time we reached our destination, we were both kind of sick. That feeling didn't go away until about 4:00. (Oh--on the way there we saw where they filmed 50 First Dates. That was kinda cool...) We really did have a good time there, considering. We were exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel. 10:30 there, 1:30 here. Our bodies had not quite gotten used to the time diffence.
Day 3: Bumming around Oahu. Our plans were as follows: First, go to the valley of the tempes to see the Byodo-in temple--a replica of one built in Japan. Second, go to the Dole Pineapple plantation to get a dole whip (the absolute best stuff in the world) and go on the tour, and Third drive by the North shore to see if there was any good surfing to watch. Well. we eventually did all of those things, after getting really lost and misplaced on the freeways there. Evidently if you get on H3 (their newest freeway through the mountain) you really can't get off for about 20 minutes which takes you right back to Honolulu and right back to where we started! So about 3 hours later, we got back on schedule...
Byodo-in Temple...
Feeding the Koi at the Byodo-in temple...
At the Dole Plantation:
By the way, if you are wanting pictures of the north shore... too bad. The ocean was literally glass and there was no one there. So that was stupid, but beautiful.
Day 3: China Town/Arrive in Kauai:
We went to chinatown. I was expecting the China town from San francisco that is mostly for tourists. Um, no. China town was full of gross smells from the many fish and meat markets, and lots of things I didn't recognize. We did get Matt a few trinkets. But other than that, it was pretty nasty. We were on our way to the airport to fly to Kauai anyway, so we didn't stay long.
In Kauai, we stayed at the Waiohai Marriot resort on Poipu beach. To give you an idea of this place, Pierce Brosnan was there the same week, but we didn't see him. These are pictures of our room...
And this was our view... true it was the public side of the beach, but still beautiful.
And the private beach belonging to the resort...
Okay, so now, Blake wants me, so I will have to finish our vacation later. I will post again when he goes down for his nap!
2 comments:
You guys look like you had so much fun--we are jealous! I have always wanted to go to Hawaii--maybe one of these days!
You went to all my old stomping grounds! I worked at PCC one summer and lived up on the North Shore. SO MUCH FUN. I can't wait to hear more stories!
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