Happy New Years everyone! To end 2020, I want to share my most recent and latest trip of Hawaii back in February during peak season. It’s crazy to see how fast time has flew by through these hard times in the middle of the pandemic, but man do I miss traveling! Thankfully, I was lucky enough to leave for a vacation right before the pandemic struck. I know that all of ya’ll miss going out to do so many fun activities and having a great time. But don’t you worry though, sit tight and hang in there! We’ll definitely have the good times back and have other destinations checked off in no time.
The weather really threw a wrench in our travel plans at first! We had to change our flight stops from Denver to San Francisco because of the bad weather. And to make matters worse, our flight was delayed because the plane needed more fuel. It seemed like every stop had some sort of delay, but thankfully, we made it to Hawaii just in time for our arrival!
Hawaii is absolutely breathtaking! It’s been my dream vacation for a while, so I was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to explore. I highly recommend visiting the places I went to if you ever get the chance. And waking up to a stunning hotel view the next morning is truly unbeatable!
My first trip to Hawaii was absolutely unforgettable! I went to Oahu Island with my aunt to celebrate our birthday month and my late graduation gift. As much as I was excited for the vacation, I couldn’t stand getting sick right on the day I left to Hawaii. It was hard for me to enjoy the food without blowing my nose or sneezing every 5 minutes! No I did not have COVID haha. Even though I was sick, that didn’t stop me from having a blast in Hawaii. We’ve only stayed in Hawaii for 4 nights and 5 days at the Luana Waikiki Hotel. Our first stop was dinner at Tommy Bahama restaurant.
Day 1: Tommy Bahama restaurant
After we arrived at the hotel, we took some time to rest before getting ready to go to the restaurant. We didn’t need a taxi or a driver to take us to places, because we could just walk anywhere downtown. We’ve walked all the way to the restaurant that probably took us more than 10 minutes, but it wasn’t too bad. The restaurant was connected through a shopping store upstairs.
The restaurant looked really cool and a great place to hang out with your friends and family. I tried a couple of dishes from the menu that caught my eye. Since I’m a big fan of sashimi and meat, I went for the ahi poke dip appetizer and the wagyu burger with fries. The appetizer was decent, but it didn’t really blow me away. However, the wagyu burger was absolutely amazing! It was unlike any burger I’ve ever had because wagyu beef is so special and hard to find where I live. And the buns were on point too!
Day 2: Diamond Head Crater & Sunset Cruise
The view from where we hiked in Hawaii was absolutely breathtaking! I mean, seriously, it was like stepping into a whole new world. The nature was so beautiful, with all those trees surrounding us. And when we reached the top, the view of the houses and buildings was unreal. It felt like we were on top of the world! We stuck with the tourist guide the whole time, but we had a close call when we almost got lost. Luckily, we caught up with everyone else in the end. Such an epic adventure!
So, check this out: that hiking area used to be an active volcano, which is both scary and amazingly cool, right?! It was quite a trek to the top, but totally worth it. They warned us about the rough and steep steps, and unfortunately, I had a little accident and scraped my knee pretty badly. I was just too busy admiring the gorgeous view! But thank goodness I was okay and kept going, even if I was limping a bit. The tourist guide was a real lifesaver and gave me a bandaid. So grateful for their help!
The Sunset Cruise was without a doubt, an amazing experience. Before going on the boat, everyone had to walk barefooted so that there’s no dirt and sand on the ride. The best part was when you can see the whole view of Waikiki on the shoreline. If you’re the type of person to just want to hangout and relax while listening to music, then this vacation spot is perfect for you! There were music and drinks where you can enjoy the vibes around you. I couldn’t have any alcohol because I still had another year left of becoming legal enough to drink, but they made me a drink with no alcohol and it was refreshing!
Day 3: Polynesian Cultural Center
Another amazing experience! I promise you won’t regret it if you ever come here. We had to take a bus to get to the Polynesian Center, and it took about almost an hour to get there. The Polynesian Center lasted for literally a whole day and it was so worth it since there were so much things to see and do. There were so many cool shows with lots of talented performers that blew me away. I was deeply impressed and entertained with some of the volunteers and artists. I learned how to use sticks, make a fish out of banana leaves, and how to hula dance. I really enjoyed walking around and exploring what the culture has to offer. A big shoutout to the Filipino tourist guide! We also had lunch before starting a long, big day.
This was such a perfect balanced dish between healthy, sweet, and savory. If you’re vegetarian or maybe vegan, then this dish might just be for you and it’s great! I was glad to have my stomach filled up first before going to do all that fun and big stuff ahead of us, then having dinner afterwards. For dinner, I had beef stew and chicken with this Hawaiian dish called poi. It’s not the best dish I’ve tried in Hawaii, but it was definitely not bad! Overall, it was still a nice dinner.
Day 4: 1831 Ala Moana Blvd
We didn’t have any specific plans, so we just wandered around the shopping center and went to the ABC stores. We even got to try some boba tea samples, and of course, we couldn’t resist grabbing some souvenirs and t-shirts to remember the day. Hawaii is really expensive for those that wish to live there. You have to pay at least 13 cents or so for a bag to put in your groceries, and the cost of living is unbelievably high. Hawaii also has a high Japanese population, so there’s plenty of Japanese restaurants and places. We all decided to stop by a Japanese restaurant and ate some delicious ramen.
Having matcha ice cream for dessert after a long meal was probably the best part of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the ramen, but the matcha ice cream was the goat here. It was so rich and creamy! I just wanted to keep having more and more scoops of it.
Day 5: Last day- free time
On our last day, we’ve roamed around downtown to kill some time and went for a quick swim at the beach. I’ve never wanted to leave Hawaii and wished we’ve stayed even longer, but I’m very grateful to have experienced this trip so far. Next time I come back, I’ma definitely stay much longer and visit more places! Hawaii has such a great culture with great people. If you ever ask me what my favorite part of the whole trip was, I would say the whole trip.
Can’t forget about the Loco Moco dish that I’ve always wanted to try, so we stopped for lunch first before our flight back home. This Hawaiian dish was super delicious with a dash of hot sauce. The beef, the gravy, and the sunny side up eggs with rice on the bottom—French kiss! It’s one of the best things that I also recommend everyone else to try while you’re in Hawaii.
No matter how depressing it was to leave Hawaii, I’m still in complete awe that I’ve been given this opportunity to experience something like this in a lifetime. Every new year will always have those moments that you can cherish forever through the good and bad times. So, let’s continue to appreciate the good times once they’re around. Remember to be blessed that you’ve gotten to see another year, because not everyone will always make it to see the next year. Happy 2021 and many more years to come!
~Mahalo~
Journey of Colourful Moments 