Aloha! Part 1: Oahu

Camille at Lanikai Beach

Just got back from Hawaii, so I'm still pretty fried at the moment, operating on Hawaii time (which is three hours behind from PST. We visited Oahu and Maui, and had a fun time. All-in-all, 12 days just isn't enough time to completely relax and enjoy those two islands. But we sure did try!

Hanauma Bay

What I liked about Oahu:
1. Hanauma Bay. Beautiful nature preserve, very calm and shallow waters. In fact, it's a bit too shallow, especially early in the morning, so snorkeling is a bit difficult. You have to try and avoid stepping on coral, and that's difficult when you can't really swim without gashing yourself on coral since it's so shallow. It got better later in the morning, just before we left (naturally). The Halona Blowhole a mile or so down the road was also cool.
2. The drive around North Shore, especially La'ie point. The scenery was surreal. Oh, and it was fun seeing the "sets" they used for Lost, especially the "Shrimp Shack" one in "Sydney".
3. The H3 highway. Driving through that tunnel, through the mountain...wow.
4. Pearl Harbor. I've visited it the last time I was in Oahu, and the experience still gets to me. I think it was Meryl Streep narrating that very touching film, right?
5. The view from Diamond Head. But the hike sucks, especially carrying the kids at one point or another. The shaved ice after the hike made up for it, though.

View from the top of Diamond Head

What I didn't like about Oahu:
1. The speed limit. It's a bit disconcerting, coming from California where people flash their lights when you're driving 5 miles over the speed limit. Then you get stuck driving 25 miles an hour.
2. The crowds in Waikiki. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, which was beautiful, but the Waikiki area just had so many people. And this was the low season.
3. The streets of Honolulu. Oahu Revealed mentioned that the person who designed the road system in Honolulu was not all there. He was telling the truth. Trying to get to H1 East? Well, it's easy to find H1 West, but finding the onramp to H1 East was a nightmare.
4. This one Vietnamese restaurant near Legend Seafood. I think it was called "Old Saigon Restaurant" or something over at Kuhio Ave. Overpriced, and the service is rude. First, they tell us to leave our strollers outside, so we fold the strollers. Then we try to move the table since it was so close to the wall that we couldn't squeeze in. Can't move it, the boss will get mad. Then they served mediocre food starting from $10 up (better food can be had at the Internation Marketplace Food Court, for crying out loud). Then they tack on 15% gratuity even though it wasn't mentioned anywhere. Do NOT eat here. Go across the street to Legend Seafood, where the place was sparkling, the service was great, and the food was exceptional for the price.

La'ie Point

But hey, I'm reaching. Oahu was still fun, and we especially enjoyed our road trip around the island.