Oahu is the most populated Island of Hawaii state! It is where Pearl Harbor is located and has the world famous Waikiki Beach! There are direct flights going from Portland to Honolulu with 2 different airlines. The 2 airlines are Alaska Airline and Hawaiian Airline. This time we took Alaska Airline to Honolulu.
When we arrived at Honolulu, we could start feeling the humidity in the air and it was already getting very hot for us! We got off the plane and entered the terminal and felt disappointed. The Honolulu Airport looks quite large on the map, but the building is quite old and did not offer free WIFI! Anyway, we walked towards the car rental counter and rented a Chevrolet Cruz from Hertz. The car we got was bright red!
For this vacation, we are staying at Sheraton Waikiki this time. The hotel is located at the heart of Waikiki. Going from Honolulu Airport to Sheraton Waikiki was straight forward. It only took us 25 minutes to get there and traffic was not too bad in the morning. When we checked in to the hotel, we were given a small gift card where we can use at the gift shop store at Sheraton Hotel. We went to the gift shop and were given a paper bag. Then we can fill as much stuff as we want into the paper bag and everything in the bag would be free! That was awesome! When we got the the hotel room, the view was stunning from the balcony! We could see the entire Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head Crater!
On day 1, we pretty much walked around Waikiki and shopped around. There were so many Japanese descendants and many Japanese tourists as well! We also saw many luxurious brand name stores such as Prada and Burberry along the street. Waikiki was like New York City that offered various shopping options. On day 2, we went to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling in the morning. This was the best place to do snorkeling on the island of Oahu. Then we drove all the way to Haleiwa and had lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, which offered amazing grilled shrimp. After lunch, we went to Laniakea Beach to enjoy the sunset and trying our luck to see if we could find any sea turtles. Unfortunately the sea turtles were only swimming in the ocean. When we got back to Waikiki in the evening, we had dinner at Marukame Udon. Marukame Udon is a must try place when you go to Oahu!
On day 3, we went to Diamond Head Crater for a short hike in the early morning. The view from the top was amazing during the sun rise. After that, we went for a hike to the summit of Koko Crater. Koko Crater hike was quite difficult but the view from the top was stunning! After 2 hike with 1 that was extremely difficult, we were really hungry and went to an authentic Hawaiian barbecue at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. In the afternoon, we did some more shopping at Waikiki and had dinner at Ramen Nakamura.
On day 4, we went to Dole Plantation in the morning. We loved Dole Plantation as the maze was so much fun and the pineapple ice cream was just amazing! In the afternoon, we drove all the way to the West side of Oahu to go to this hidden small beach. This beach is Aki's Beach and it was the best place to see sea turtles! For dinner, we went to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin for delicious Tonkatsu Don and Tonkatsu curry. On day 5, we went to Pearl Harbor to pay a visit to 1 of the most significant events in World War 2 history. Afterwards, we had dessert at Waiola Shave Ice. This shave ice place is quite authentic. In the afternoon, we drove to the North of Oahu to Byodo-In Temple for a change of scenery.
On day 6, we went to Waimanalo Bay. This was an amazing place with beautiful white sand beach. Not many tourists know of this place and it was not very crowded. We enjoyed the whole morning here. Then we went back to Waikiki and had lunch at Jinroku Teppan Grill for a taste of Okinomiyaki. In the afternoon, we did more shopping at Waikiki before we head back to Portland. Overall, Oahu vacation was pretty amazing. Some downsides however, such as the roads were not well paved and the buildings on the island look quite old and dated. This was still an amazing vacation nevertheless, we just wish we could have stayed here for longer!
Jinroku Teppan Grill and Bar is a Japanese Teriyaki styled restaurant located in Waikiki. It is just a block North of where Waikiki is. Its menu offers lunch special menu items and it got additional items for dinner. It also offers Okonomiyaki, which is like Japanese styled pancake. We have not seen many restaurants outside of Japan offering Okonomiyaki. However, during the lunch time, it only offers one type of Okonomiyaki on the menu. Its dinner menu has more selections of Okonomiyakis.
We went to Jinroku for lunch and there were barely anyone in the restaurant. We ordered a salmon teriyaki and a pork bacon Okonomiyaki. We were told that Okonomiyaki would take 15 minutes to make, but we were fine with that. While we were waiting, there was a homeless person walking by the patio and started to talk weird stuff. Not exactly sure what he was saying and the restaurant staffs were shocked and did not know what to do. Luckily, he left after talking to himself for two minutes or so.
15 minutes later, our food has arrived! The salmon teriyaki looks really good! The salmon was crispy and tender. It was juicy and well cooked. Unlike salmon teriyaki in many other restaurants, the salmon teriyaki at Jinroku is one whole piece of salmon that still has skin attached. We actually liked that. The Okonomiyaki looked very interesting. It has the sweet teriyaki on top and it was sliced into four pieces. We were given a small "shovel" to cut it into pieces. There are tons of vegetables in there and it even has fried noodles in there. It was our first time trying Okonomiyaki and we found it quite interesting. We really like the crunchy texture of it. If we could, we would come back to Jinroku for dinner just to try other styles of Okonomiyaki.
Byodo-In Temple is a hidden gem on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu! This temple is hidden deep in the valley and most tourists are not aware of this place. The temple is located on the North side of the island, near the town of Kaneohe. The location of Byodo-In Temple is about an hour of drive from Waikiki. To get there, first is to enter the Valley of Temples. Valley of Temples is a large cemetery and there are many churches and temples inside the Valley of Temples. The entrance of Valley of Temples is right across from McDonald's. Valley of Temples do not require any admission fees, but you will see a booth at the entrance selling fresh flowers to people.
We drove up the road deep into the Valley of Temples, and eventually got to Byodo-In Temple. The parking lot at Byodo-In Temple is not large, but since not many tourists know about this place, we were able to find parking space easily. The entrance fee to Byodo-In Temple is $3 per person. Once we walked across the bridge, Byodo-In Temple shows up right in front of us. It is a beautiful temple and it felt so calm and zen there. We could feel the breeze of the wind and the weather was no longer that hot.
In the pond in front of the temple, we could see many beautiful Koi fish in there. The little convenient stores on the side were selling fish food for people to feed the fish. There were also 2 black swans swimming around in the pond and they did look pretty aggressive. We would not recommend people to go near them. We were also told by the locals that there are peacocks around the area, but we did not see any.
There is a bell hut just beside the temple. Many people like to make a wish and the hit the bell. We were also allowed to enter the temple. Before entering the temple, make sure to take off your shoes to keep the place clean. In side the temple, there is a giant bronze buddha statue. This bronze buddha statue is an exact replica of the one in Japan. Overall, this is a nice place to visit when visiting Oahu. It's a change of scenery from ocean and beach. We would recommend people to pay a visit when you can.
Waiola Shave Ice is a local shave ice store located on the island of Oahu. It is located in Honolulu, just a bit North of Waikiki. The store is right across from Safeway. Unlike many other shave ice store in Waikiki, Waiola Shave Ice offers an authentic experience of shave ice that you can find in Japan. We highly recommend you to try shave ice from Waiola instead of trying the ones in Waikiki.
Waiola Shave Ice is some distance away from Waikiki, so it is better to drive to there. There are few parking spots in front of the store and also few parking spots on the side of the store. When we got there, there were not many people. We ordered a red bean shave ice and it is about $5. The cost of shave ice is a bit more pricy than what we expected, but then again, everything is expensive in Hawaii. The cheapest shave ice you can find in Waikiki already cost $8. Thus this is considered to be cheap!
After placing our order, we watched the store employee making shave ice out of a huge chunk of ice cube. Then she started pouring condense milk onto the shave ice! This is awesome! We love condense milk! After that, she poured lots and lots of red beans on top of the shave ice. When we thought that she was done, she started to pour more condense milk onto it! We just could not wait to try it! We finally got our order and it simply tasted amazing. The condense milk just adds sweetness to the shave ice. The shave ice is shaved so thin that it just melts right away in our mouth. The red bean is cooked perfectly to be very soft and can be swallowed easily. We highly recommend this place when visiting Oahu!
Pearl Harbor marks the starting point of the war between US and Japan in World War 2. This is the place where Japan orchestrated a risky but organized attack at US and this is when US starts to commit to World War 2. Pearl Harbor is located at the island of Oahu and it is where the majority of US Pacific Fleet is at. In current days, the original Pearl Harbor that was attacked during World War 2 has became a historic sites for people to visit. Each year, it has attracted thousands of visitors.
Pearl Harbor is on the West of Honolulu and it is about 30 minutes of drive from Waikiki. We got to Pearl Harbor around 9:30AM and the main visitor parking lot is already full. We had to drive down the road a bit more and there are more parking spaces available. It is just that we had to walk back, which is not a big deal. When entering Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, you cannot carry any bag. Not even hand bag is allowed! There are storage place for you to check in your bags and you can get them back afterwards. So make sure you wear pants with pockets to carry keys and wallets!
From the harbor, we can see Arizona Memorial from afar. There are boat tours that take people to Arizona Memorial and you have to line up to get tickets. We did not line up to get tickets however, because we were not that interested in it. There are many memorial theaters that talk about how World War 2 started and the progress of the war between Japan and US. There are also model ships exhibited in the theater that looks exactly like the battle ship in World War 2. The theater also shows the exactly replica of the torpedoes used in World War 2.
Another things is that the theater has a map that shows the progression of the war. We were excited to see it as we are the type of people that love to see maps. It was interesting to see the territory controlled by Japan and how US pushed the war front towards Japan within few years.
Outside of the memorial theater, there is a real submarine docked at the harbor. People can get tickets to go on the submarine and even go into the submarine. The ticket is about $7 per person and free for veterans. We did not get the ticket to go into the submarine because we figure it must be very hot in there! Besides, we could see the submarine clearly from the outside. Overall, it is a good place to go visit while you are in Oahu. It helps you to learn the history of World War 2. When we were heading back to Waikiki, we accidentally went on the ramp that goes to the actual Pearl Harbor military base. That was quite embarrassing. Luckily, we were able to talk our way out and turn back in time.
Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin offers amazing Japanese Tonkatsu. It is probably the best Tonkatsu we have ever had! Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin is located at Beach Walk of Waikiki. It has been in operation since 1927, before World War 2! The restaurant serves mainly Tonktasu related meals such as pork Tonkatsu, chicken Tonkatsu, and tuna Tonkatsu. For people who don't know what Tonkatsu is, it is like tempura fried meat.
We got to the restaurant around 6PM and all the tables were taken. We had to wait for 15 minutes for our table to be ready. We got seats at the bar, where we can see the chefs making Tonkatsu. At the bar, there are also magazines talking about this restaurant and manga (Japanese comic) that talks about Tonkatsu. We don't understand Japanese but we could kind of guess that it is saying how amazing Tonkatsu is.
This time we ordered pork Tonkatsu Don and curry Tonkatsu. Before our main meal arrives, we were served with Japanese style salad and Miso soup. The Miso soup is like the Miso soup from other restaurant. The salad however, came with 2 different type of dressings. The 2 type of dressings are sesame dressing and soy dressing. I have never seen sesame dressings before and it was quite tasty. It was not sour, just a little sweet. In addition, you can ask for any much salad and soup as you want! After 10 minutes, our main meal have arrived! The Tonkatsus look so amazing! For the curry Tonkatsu, we poured curry onto the Tonkatsu. The Tonkatsu did not lose its crispiness. It was still so crispy and have sweet taste! The batter around the meat is very different from the ones seen in other restaurants! Tonkatsu Don was amazing as well. The yolk of the egg on the top was still in tact and not broken yet. We loved to see the egg yolk flow through the Tonkatsu. The rice was hot enough to slowly cook the egg yolk. The egg yolk adds additional smoothness texture to the rice and Tonkatsu! Overall, it was an amazing meal! We were surprised that there weren't many people waiting in line when we finished our dinner around 7PM.
Aki's beach is located on the West side of Oahu island. Unlike other beaches on Oahu, Aki's beach is a small beach at the corner of a small neighborhood. If you are looking for green sea turtles on Oahu, this is the place to go and it is guaranteed that you will find sea turtles lying on the beach. If you go to the so called "Turtle Beach" at Laniakea beach on the North shore, you will barely see any sea turtles. It all depends on your luck. Aki's Beach is the one you should go to find sea turtles.
So we head to Aki's Beach in the afternoon. The beach is quite far from Waikiki. It took us an hour to drive to there. Aki's Beach is North of Makaha. Once we passed Makaha, we made a left turn to drive into the neighborhood. We had to find a good spot to park the car on the street because many houses indicated "Beware of Dog" on the wall. So we did not want to park the car there. We ended up parking the car further down the street and walk back.
The path to the beach is in between two houses. Once we walked through the path, the first thing we saw are 2 big sea turtles! The sea turtles look lazy and relaxing! They were enjoying the glaring sun so much! The sea turtles were also trying to get the hot sand on their body! We stood about 15 feet away from them so that we don't scare them or surprise them. Of course, I brought my zoom lens just for taking photos of them! There were also other people enjoying the time at the beach as well! After watching the turtle doing sun bath for about 30 minutes, one of the turtle started moving towards the ocean! Looks like he was getting too hot! The turtle was moving very slowly towards the ocean. It took him 2 minutes to get into the ocean and swim away! Overall, this is a nice and tidy beach to enjoy a good afternoon sun! Just make sure you stay enough distance away from the turtles.
Dole Plantation is one of the most popular tourist attraction on the Hawaii island of Oahu. It is located on Kamehameha Highway and it is about an hour drive from Waikiki. It attracts thousands of visitor each year and parking lot fills up very quickly. So it is important to go there early.
We left Waikiki around 8:30AM and got to Dole Plantation at around 9:30AM since it opens at 9:30AM. When we got there, the parking lot is already 75% full, we were glad to find parking space to park our car. The location of Dole Plantation is really easy to find as well, so there is no way that you will miss it.
When we got there, the first thing is to purchase tickets. There were 3 different activities to choose from. The first was the train ride. The activity required you to ride the train and the train will go around the plantation farm and show you how pineapple is being planted. It also shows you how pineapple juice is made. The train ride is on first come first serve basis, so it will be the best to take the train ride first if you are going for this activity.
The second activity is the Pineapple Garden Maze. We were not quite sure why it is called Pineapple Garden Maze since we did not find a single pineapple in there! The maze activity involves you to find 8 hidden stations in the maze. Once you have located the stations, slide the game card under metal plate and stencil the shape of the figure on the game card. Once you find all 8 stations, rush back to the exit and find out how long it took you to complete. This was quite fun and challenging! We had a lot of fun doing this. Dole Plantation did provide a map of the maze indicating where all 8 stations are so that people can find them easily. Obviously, if you like the challenge, you can ignore the map and try to find all 8 stations yourself. We saw several kids and people ignoring the rules and taking short cuts under the trees. We recommend not to do that since it defeats the purpose of the maze.
The third activity is the Garden Walk. There is this nice small tropical garden at Dole Plantation. The garden has many different tropical flowers and trees planted very nicely around the pond. The pond has a lot of purple lily flowers in it. We found this to be interesting as well since we are from the great white North. We are used to see pine trees and pine cones, but have not experienced any tropical gardens ourselves. The garden is quite small though, so that is the down side of this. After visiting all the activities, there are also several pineapple plants along the outside of the garden. It was just interesting to see how pineapples are grown.
Later we went into the food building to get some food for lunch. The first thing is pineapple ice cream of course! The ice cream is just so good! Unlike other ice creams that we have tried, this pineapple ice cream is not creamy at all. It had a very fresh taste of pineapple and we think it is non-dairy. Other than the ice cream, we ordered a pineapple pulled pork sandwich, which is very ordinary. Nothing really special about the sandwich. We were disappointed that there wasn't any pineapple juice available on that day and thus we could not try some. On the way out, we grabbed few bags of dried mango and it was amazing! First, we love mango. Second, this dry mango is so sweet and refreshing! We loved it! Overall, Dole Plantation is a must visit place for people visiting Oahu and pineapple ice cream is a must try here!
