My Hawaii Trip Day 3: Shopping Spree

One thing good about staying in Ohana Waikiki East Hotel is the distance to Waikiki Beach. By foot it is just less than 5 minutes walk, approximately 200 meters.

For Day 3, we will going to have our full day shopping spree at Waikele Premier Outlet and also Ala Moana Shopping Mall. According to the weather forecast, we are going to have a very terrible wet day and also warning flash flood announced through local news. While the sun still good to us during the day, we went to Waikiki Beach for some fun and sunbathing.

We booked for our Shuttle to Waikele Premier Outlet from our Hotel Bell Desk a day before the trip. Previously we were quite uncertain if we should book the shuttle in advance because of the ever changing weather forecast. Later we came to an agreement to make this an optional. Lucky enough our hotel do provide such call services.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/waikele/stores

The trip from hotel to Waikele took about 1 hour. We reached the outlet roughly around 11am and we have a total of 4 hours in our pocket. By 3pm, the same shuttle will come and pick us up back to the hotel. To be honest, there is nothing much that caught my attention in Outlet except few brand like Adidas, Coach, Skechers and Ralph Lauren. Even so, we spent quite a decent amount of items.

Half day gone and our next stop is to Ala Moana Shopping Mall for second wave of spending. To take the Pink trolley, just show your Ohana access card to the driver to enjoy unlimited ride.

https://www.alamoanacenter.com/en.html

We didn't really have a good stroll here as we are running out of time. If possible, try to allocate more time here as this mall is massive with a lot of shops and restaurants. As for dinner, we just simply had our meal inside Makai Market Food Court to ease our hunger.

There's nothing much to share for day 3. To sum up, it's just a rainy day that's perfect for shopping spree.

Click here to check out the breakdown summary of our spending in Hawaii.
Click here to check out Day 1 Itinerary.
Click here to check out Day 2 Itinerary.

My Hawaii Trip Day 2: Oahu Scenic Drive

Day 2 is all about driving experience in Oahu, Hawaii. Before I start to share my route, few things I would like to take note:

1. 1. In US, you will be driving in right-hand side of the road, and driver sits on the left-hand side of the car.
2. 2. For fellow Malaysian, Internationl Driving License is not required if you are using New Driving License (with both Bahasa and English)
3. 3. In US, there are using different unit reading such as:
1. KMH VS MPH
2. Celsius VS Fahrenheit
3. Litre VS Gallon
4. 4. US they have quarter dollar coin which worth 25cents

Our itinerary start at 5.45am as we need to pick up our car at The Hertz by 7am.

Hertz located inside Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa. There is a door at the back of the building which you can access directly to Hyatt. It is just 4 minutes walking distance if you follow my route as instructed. You will need to take escalator one level up to find Hertz office. We went out from our hotel around 6.45am hope to be the first customer to queue up for registration. Yes, typical kiasu style but to my surprise! there are more than 10 people already standing in front the office waiting for the staff to open the gate!

The whole registration process took about 10 minutes. GPS will be handed to you as well. (GPS is an external device, not car in built ). Next, they will give you a mini instruction where to pick up your car. Follow and get to the basement. Check with the staff once again and they will bring you to the vehicle. Make sure to check the manual and you clearly understand your car.

Alright, its driving time!

First destination: Leonard's Bakery (GPS: 21.284907, -157.813254)


We are here because of their famous freshly baked Malasadas! It is actually a Portuguese Doughnut.

We bought 1 Original (sugar) and 1 Cinnamon coating with 1.15 each plus tax.

2nd Destination: Hanauma Bay (GPS: 21.2736123,-157.6956305)


If you a fan of snorkeling, this is the place that you should not miss no matter what. The natural is well preserve.

Parking fee 1USD
Entrance to the bay cost you 7.5USD per pax.
Closed on Tuesday

There a limited parking slot. So please be here before 9am otherwise you will be disappointed.




3rd Destination: Lanai Lookout Point (GPS: 21.2763662,-157.6860092)



Amazing Weather with great blue sky & Deep blue sea!

4th Destination: Halona Blowhole Lookout Point (GPS: 21.28239,-157.6775942)

Just 5 minutes drive you will reach Halona Blowhole




5th Destination: Lanikai Beach (GPS: 21.393062,-157.7159812)


Nothing special here. I will suggest you to skip this to save up some time for other location.

6th Destination: Nu'uanu Pali Lookout (GPS: 21.367198,-157.7953097)




This lookout point is breathtaking and its awesome. Strongly recommended to stop by.

7th Destination: Byodo-In Temple (GPS: 21.430724,-157.8344487)



Entrance Fee 5USD per pax.

This temple is an exact replica of Byodo-In Temple in Kyoto, Japan. You can opt to skip this one if you plan to visit Kyoto near future.



8th Destination: Kualoa Ranch & Zipline and Chinaman Hat (GPS: 21.520675,-157.8378072)


Chinaman Hat is just located opposite Kualoa Ranch. You need to make a right turn into Kualoa Regional Park to find the hat. For me, it look more like wizard hat from Final Fantasy



Due to extremely hot weather, we decided to give up this attraction spot and hence there is nothing much to share here.

9th Destination: La'ie Point State Wayside (GPS: 21.64854,-157.9166467)


Seriously, this lookout point is superb! My friend once told I am a cliff guy and I admit, I am really into it. The wind here is breezing and the splash sound feel so great. So don't miss your journey and I promise it will never disappoint you.








10th Destination: Sunset Beach Park (GPS: 21.670958,-158.0475297)


Stop here just for 5 minutes. Its already 3pm and we yet to take any lunch. So we are going to hunt for food on our next destination.

11th Destination: Haleiwa Town

Basically we are here for 3 MUST EAT FOOD in Hawaii. There are:
Famous Giovanni Shrimp (GPS: 21.580738,-158.1069957)


It taste so good. They are so generous that each plate comes with 12 shrimp. Bad side, too oily.

Matsumoto Shave Ice (GPS: 21.591145,-158.1034172)

Next, Matsumoto Shave Ice, topping with extra mochi.

Kua Aina's Avocado Burger (GPS: 21.58902,-158.1032502)


Avocado Beef Burger. Great combination. Fresh and smooth avocado, Juicy Beef Patty. Really a mouthful of joy.

The time is already 5.30pm and we have to drive back to Waikiki before the sky turning dark.

Final Destination: Back to Hertz (GPS: 21.276258,-157.8259402)

From Kua Aina to Hertz takes about 50 minutes drive, depending on the traffic.

You have to fill up the petrol tank before sending back the car. Below is the nearest petrol station that we went in to filling up the gasoline.

Petrol Station: Aloha Island Mart (GPS: 21.28403, -157.83223)

Overall the driving experience was good and the weather was good to me as well. The direction can be confusing when driving in town especially Waikiki. Once exited from town, the road is pretty linear and there is nothing to worry. Road condition was good too.

For Dinner, we went to Sheraton RumFire.

Pina Colada for her, and Big Wave Golden ale draft beer for myself. Cheers


Kalua Pork Nachos


Koean Fried Chicken Wings

This is all for our Day 2 itinerary, it was a tiring day but pack of fun and excitement.

Scenic / Attractions that we gave up due to short of time:

• Makapuu Point Lighthouse Trail 
• Polynesian Cultural Center
• Dole Plantation

I plotted all the scenic spot and attractions for your reference and I hope you'll find it useful for your upcoming trip.

My Hawaii Trip Day 1: Arrival, Free and Easy

Our flight scheduled to depart sharp at 2pm and the whole journey going to take us a total of 16 hours and 30 minutes to reach Honolulu Airport. In between, we stopped at Kansai Airport for 2 hours transit. Unlike our usual trip, we actually gained the lost hour as we are flying the globe backward. The time we landed at Honolulu Airport it is still on Saturday, 21st of October 11.50am. To my surprise, we landed at the airport 40 minutes earlier than expected.

There is nothing fancy in the airport, we are pretty lucky to collect our baggage immediately after the immigration gate. So we proceed to the International Arrival Exit and look for our pre-book Shuttle Van. As instructed, you will find the staff with Polynesian red natural fern aloha attire waiting for you outside. We report for our arrival, check the name list, and then he will ask you to stand aside next to the pillar and notify us when they are ready. What the heck! We waited for more than 30 minutes just because they are still awaiting for other passenger to arrive. All the extra time that we gained so far is now lost in vain because of this bloody hell reason.



For the Shuttle Van, you can either book from Ohana website or directly from SpeediShuttle website. It doesn't matter because the price is the same. Alternatively, you can reach the Hotel by Bus No. 19 or No. 20 (EastBound). Bus is good for those who are on tight budget as 1 trip only cost you 2.5USD per pax. Please take note, there is a baggage size restriction (22″x14″x9″) for those who wish to ride the Bus.

As I mentioned before, tipping is a culture in US as long as you are using their services. Yes it is unpleasant but you just have to pay for it. But some services can be avoided if it is unnecessary.

Travel time from Airport to Ohana Waikiki East Hotel is just approximately 1 hour. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by Ohana friendly staff. My piece of advise, quickly get out from the shuttle and handle your own baggage. This will save you few bucks.
Check In time is 3pm and we are requested to return back to Hotel anytime after 3pm. They have storage room to keep our luggage secure.

Day 1 is pretty much free and easy mode where most of the time just strolling around Waikiki main street and of course searching for our lunch. It is around 2pm when we finally settle down.

Our first destination is to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.



Here is what we ordered:

Grilled Pork Chop. Just long bean. Not asparagus :)


Da Vincci Pasta. Strongly recommended! We never had such a delicious pasta before. The flavor is totally new to us.


Original Cheesecake. How can we miss the main item :)

We have been warned that the meal size in US is ridiculously huge yet we ended up ordered 2 main course and one dessert. We regretted for ignoring the warning and that's make us both ultra full.


Too many varieties.

International Market Place is just opposite the street.


We then headed straight up and take a left turn to Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Next to it is Sheraton Hotel.

They have a private event tonight.


Breathtaking view. The vast pacific ocean.

Over here you can take a good shot of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach.



Multi-million dollar view.

The weather is damn hot and hence we decided to check in and take some rest. Just around 5pm we went out again to Waikiki Beach for golden sunset.















Exactly at 7pm the sun vanish from your very eye and is time for Dinner. Initially plan for Duke's Canoe Club Waikiki but the queue was super long. 

On the spot change of plan and went to Hula Grill instead which is just one stair above. Waiting time is shorter but still took us 45min waiting time.


Dinner selection for the night. Grilled and Pan Seared Ahi with Rice


Pineapple Coconut Creme Brulee

That's overall sum up our first day in Oahu, Hawaii. There's nothing much worth mentioning but we managed to catch such an amazing sunset. Life is so great.

That all for day 1. We have to sleep early as we are going for a ride for Day 2!

Click here to check out the breakdown summary of our spending in Hawaii.
Click here to check out Day 2 Itinerary.
Click here to check out Day 3 Itinerary.