Hawaiian Adventures

I'm baaaack! Just got home a few days ago from a 10 day trip to Hawaii - Oahu to be exact! I was so excited to go because I've never been. As a matter of fact, I've never flown over the Pacific. It was great to relax on a real vacation and do nothing but play. Well, okay I did some work, but for the most part I played.

It was great to experience all the touristy places in Oahu but also to find the little holes in the wall to eat our meals. Thank goodness for Yelp. By the third day, we were getting a bit tired of plate lunches and mac salad. Mac salad is only good if it has teriyaki sauce poured over it. :S

Anyway, I took a ton of pictures and wanted to share some with you. Don't worry, I'm not here to overwhelm you. Kendra told me about Picasa, a neat program that takes your pictures and dumps them into a collage. Sounds fancy, I know. So here are my little vignettes of our adventures in Oahu!

First stop was Pearl Harbor:


We were able to tour the USS Missouri. I love battleships and war planes! It probably took us 2 hours to go through the ship and read about the history - it being the last battleship built, where Japan officially surrendered during WWII, how a kamikaze plane took out the upper main deck. It was a privilege to be standing on that ship. Now I must figure out a way to board that air craft carrier!

Next stop was the Dole Plantation. It was sprinkling by this time - otherwise David and I would have tried the maze. I tried the Dole Whip but we agreed that Nubi still reigns supreme in the pineapple yogurt department.



Everything else is kinda out of order from this point on!

We were able to visit a lot of beaches and quickly found some favorites. We went to Kailua where the waters were turquoise and fairly calm. There were a few fisherman with lines set up nearby and one guy pulled up a baby hammerhead shark. What a way to begin my snorkeling lesson...


We also hit up Kailua on a kayak excursion to the twin Mokulua Islands:

The trek was about 3 miles round trip but it was worth every row. Around the island were tidepools, birds, and a small hiking trail. My guns...i mean arms were super sore at this point but rowing home was much easier because we were going with the current. I also gave myself a goal of getting shave ice if I didn't stop. And I got my Island Snow!

Okay, last picture for tonight and then I'm off to bed. Food!

David and I visited Leonard's about 4 days in a row. You know me and donuts. Now you know me and malasadas. These cousins of donuts are soft, pillowy bites of sugar crusted dough. You can get them filled with custard, fruit (mango was the flavor of the month), or chocolate. The chocolate filled was almost like a bizarro chocolate glazed donut - with the icing in the center but at a softer consistency. We also checked out Agnes Portuguese Bake Shop in Kailua. It was good but was shaped and tasted like a standard donut. Some say this is more traditional. I won't complain either way.

L-R going clockwise: Agnes Portugese Bake Shop Malasada and a cute milkglass vase, Leonard's chocolate filled malasada, grilled fish tacos with slaw and crispy fries from South Shore Grill, green tea and pog flavored shave ice from Waiola (ice had a nice creamy texture), Rainbow Drive-In - known for their combo mixed plate, assorted goods at 7-11, Rainbow Drive-In's mixed plate (which was just okay), a mango filled malasada from Leonard's, and the candy aisle at Safeway.

More adventures to come tomorrow!