Hawaii

My friend Dolly and I found really cheap flights to Hawaii a few months ago so we bought them. It's been on my top 5 list for about 5 years(listed on the right hand side of this blog). NOW seemed like as good a time as any to cross it off my bucket list.

Waiting at LAX to board our plane to Honolulu. That guy's floral shirt was genius, why didn't I buy one!?First item of business upon landing in Hawaii: the aloha market and snowcones!

the first hotel we stayed in was so nice. We liked having a big clean bed to ourselves.

Classic.

Fresh Mango-Pineapple-Coconut Bingsha with Boba.
Best $5 I spent each day!

Our first night there we walked along the beach in Waikiki. Apparently the swelling was the highest it had been in 20 or so years so everyone was body boarding, surfing, throwing themselves in the wild waves. We didn't know it was out of the ordinary until the next day, but we certainly had fun watching everyone scuff and throw themselves into the water!

I could not have predicted this. Nearly everyday people made comments about Dolly and I being lesbians. I never even thought about it, but I guess Hawaii is more of a lovers destination.
But I dare say, we do look pretty darling together!

Jumpshots in Waikiki!

Scuba diving. Sounds fun, right? Worst decision we made.
We couldn't have predicted it would've taken ALLLL day and that dolly would get sick and barf on the boat or that I wouldn't be able to equalize my ears. But this group that took us was painfully slow and I literally saw nothing in the water.

Dolly, right after she barfed.
She immediately felt better.

Loving my saltwater curls after scuba diving!

The locals fishing for anchovy-like fish.

The West coast of Oahu=very dry. Reminded me of Utah.

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This was the best meal we had there: Taiwanese hot pot.
Sweet Home Cafe made us wait 1.5 hours for a table but it was worth it!

For dessert, they brought us the best bing!
I have no idea what that green jello was on top, but it was divine.


I was waiting to hop on our catamaran with a few families.
This adorable kid made me realize that the most important thing is being comfortable in your body. Who cares if it's perfect!?

Really relaxing catamaran on Waikiki Beach.

Dolly and I hustled to switch hotels and then we went on the most beautiful hike to Manoa Falls.

150 ft waterfall--Manoa Falls.

This hike was about 1.5 hours from the road.
We rode a bus there, which took forever but saved us $$ in the long run.

Doesn't this look like footage from Jurassic Park!?

Coolest Tree Roots!

On Saturday, we rented a car and drove along the east coast up to Laie.
These mountains were breathtaking.

Getting some advice from some locals who took our picture.

The grounds at the Byodo-In Temple.


The Byodo In Temple is next to a collection of other temples and churches of different faiths.
All these holy houses are surrounded by various cemeteries.

It was so green and humid.
This was the hawaii we'd been searching for all week!

Byodo-In Temple. Cost like $3 to get in, so we just shot some photos from the perimeter (budget alert!)

Beach on the East Coast. The locals call these rabbit and turtle islands.

Such a darling couple! jkjkjk!

Shockah!!

Hukilau Cafe from 50 first dates.
They stop taking orders at 11:15, we pulled up around 11:20.
Maybe if we weren't haoli's, they would've given us some pancakes :(

This beach was between Shark's Cove and Waimea Beach.
This was my favorite beach because it wasn't covered in sand, they were mini little pebbles.

Dolly and I jumped off this rock. Granted Dolly jumped infinity times and I jumped twice.
I'm a bit of a chicken:)

The Hawaii LDS Temple.

Our view from our hike of Diamond Head Crater (which is kinda ugly. view=amazing. crater=ugly death)

Sunday we hit up the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites. We watched a really good video and took a water taxi over to the USS Arizona memorial. What an incredible story!

I didn't realize the ship was left right where it sank.

This memorial is a bit like battleship, where they have placed smaller memorials where the other ships were bombed.

Loved this photo, it made me think of my sister in law Jen who likes lighthouses.

Hiking up to Diamond Head Crater. Kind of a cool hike.

Digging on cool cemeteries lately.

King's Statue across from the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu.

Can't remember what this place was called...Arlington Cemetery of Hawaii!? :)

We spent a lot of our time on Waikiki Beach. The sunsets were pretty incredible.

Saying our last goodbyes to the Ocean/Beach.

My friend from my time in Taiwan, Connie, met us at the beach, took us to dinner and then dropped us off at the airport. Pays to have cool friends that live in even cooler places.

My only regret is that I wish we would've had time to go to Kauai and Maui.
Maybe next time-Goodbye for now, Hawaii.