Summer Adventure #2

June 25- July 4, 2012: HAWAII BABY! 

Well throughout the whole year, I was trying to get a group of friends to do a Mediterranean cruise with me but when it came down to it nothing was working out with that trip so Monica and I decided to do a trip to Hawaii instead. I am so glad that we did. We planned it the last day of school and I found us flights and a hotel while I was down in Roswell. Hawaii was awesome! I loved every minute of it. I would love to move there. I loved the fresh fruit (Mango was my favorite) and being around polys was a highlight. I also loved the chillness of the people and the lifestyle. I can't wait to go back!

Monday June 25th: Flying into Oahu was a sight to see, the island was smaller that I thought it would be but the water was more beautiful that I imagined. It is crazy to be so far away from the mainland. We got there in the afternoon, so we had some time to play after getting checked into our hotel in Waikiki. The weather was perfect. We went to the beach, and then ate at california pizza kitchen . We met Isaac that night and he got me to buy a facial exfoliate. He was a fun guy and we saw him almost everyday we were there. Lucky guy!

Tuesday June 26th: We walked 3 miles to Diamond head today. It was fun to get out of Waikiki and explore. It rained off and on but it was still warm so I didn't even care. On our way to Diamond head, we stopped at a cafe for breakfast to get out of the pouring rain for a few minutes. We got an avacoado and swiss omelette and a mango acacia smoothie. It was so delicious. On our adventure, we saw lots of beautiful trees and flowers. Diamond head was really cool. We hiked to the top and had a great view. We hopped on the bus and headed to walmart. We had a little bit of a hard time finding it but by the time we finally found Monica was so excited. haha. We found the biggest tree I have ever seen on our walk. We then headed back to the beach. We had fun playing on our floaties in the ocean. After, we went to the farmers market and bought some fruit. We both decided that papaya was not as good as we had hoped, but the mangos and cherries were really good. Monica got some lychees, which is a very interesting fruit. I didn't like the texture of it but it tasted good. We hit up Roys for a chocolate souffle, which was delicious. Then I got a beach taco from the food court which turned out to be one of my favorite things to eat. By our hotel, there was entertainment every night. We watched a few people play music on these big metal lids. We met a lady that was eating this weird ice cream stuff, mochi, and she told us were to find it. 

Wednesday June 27th: Today, we went to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium. I bought myself a ukulele and a few other souvenirs. Monica bought a coconut which was fun to try. I was not a fan of the water but the meat was pretty good. We got our first snow cone of the trip, which was pretty good. After the swap meet, we headed back to Waikiki. We ate at Jimmy buffets and then hit up the beach. After we went and found the mochi ice cream. It was so good! We then watched some Hawaiian dancing by our place. 

Thursday June 28th: We took the bus to Hunamu bay. I was nervous and excited to go snorkeling for the first time. It is such a beautiful bay. The water is so blue and snorkeling was awesome! We saw lots of tropical fish. I was hoping to see a turtle but that didn't happen. This was one of my favorite things that I did in Hawaii. We went back to the hotel and cleaned up and went and did some up scale shopping. I got another beach taco and we went and got some more mochi. Monica's uncle Judd came and picked us up to take us up to Laie for the weekend. On our way to the other side of the island, we stopped at Pali lookout, which was a beautiful view looking down into Honolulu. We ate at l&l's, which was a pretty good local place. It was fun to drive on the coast of oahu. It is crazy that the road is so close to the ocean. He lived right next to the temple. It truly is a beautiful temple, especially at night. 

Friday June 29th: Judd let us take the car for the day, so we headed up to the Dole pineapple plantation. I must confess that I had no idea that pineapples grew on a bush. It was so crazy to see fields and fields of pineapple plants. We did the train and garden tour which was great. The pineapple ice cream is to die for, seriously the best ice cream I have ever had. After, we headed out to north shore and ate at Stortos, which is a delicious sandwich shop that our shuttle driver told us about. The papaya seed dressing was delicious. We then headed to the PCC. This is such a cool place. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I love polys! need I say more. It was cool to learn about all the islands. We ate at the Luau which was really good. I was so excited to finally try out the poi that Jared had told me that I had to try. I put a huge glob on my plate because it must be good right.... NO, it was disgusting. Come to find out Jared just wanted me to have the same experience that he did. How rude! We also saw the night show. It was so amazing and cool to see how they tied in some church stuff without people really knowing. 

Saturday June 30th: We started the day out by eating breakfast at the Hukulua cafe, which is the cafe on 50 first dates. It was really good. Then we headed up to the north shore for the rest of the day. We ate delicious burgers at Kia aina'a and got snow cones at Matsumoto's. The best shaved ice I have ever had! Ice cream, sweet and condense milk, guava & pina colada flavoring, need I say more. We went back and cooked enchiladas for Judd and played games. 

Sunday July 1st: We went to church today. It was so great to hear Aloha every time someone got up and have the congregation say it back. We walked around the temple, and then Judd took us to town to meet up with my buddy Tyler. We ate at Blazin stakes which is Tyler's brother Alex's favorite. Tyler then took us to see the pirates of the Caribbean ship, which was super cool. We hung out at Tyler's house for awhile and then Tyler took us back to our hotel by way of Leonard's for some amazing Malasada's. It was really fun to hang out with Tyler in Hawaii. 

Monday July 2nd: Today, we went to the sea life park. It was fun to see different animals. My favorite were the dolphins. They have a whalphin which is a mix of whale and dolphin, kind of weird. We then went back to the beach so that I could try surfing. I rented a surf board and Monica rented a boogie board. I failed miserably but it was still fun to try. We ate tacos for dinner! Yum!

Tuesday July 3rd: We went to the beach for a little bit and then headed out to pearl harbor to do the USS arizona tour. I am so glad that we did this. It was awesome and emotional. I really enjoyed the movie that they showed before. I learned a lot about the history of it all. It was such a tragic day and so many life's were lost. We headed back and I got some mango and a malasada to enjoy for the last time. We had a red eye and it felt like it took us forever to get home. 

Diamond Head

Swap Meet

Hunamu Bay

Poly's at the PCC

Best Shaved Ice Ever!!

Pirates of the Caribbean Ship

Pineapple ice cream, Yum!

PCC

This is before I tried the Poi

pearl harbor