Oahu is one of the 8 Hawaiian Islands. It is not the biggest, but two-thirds of 1.4 million people of the State of Hawaii live in Oahu. Honolulu is the capital and the biggest city(population: 350,000.) No other city in this state has a population over 50,000.

I lived in Honolulu for 7 years in my teens and 20’s, thus, visiting Honolulu feels more like going home. When I return to the city, I pay a visit to certain places, such as the Pali Lookout and Tantalus Lookout, to confirm my local connection in my own way. Let’s get into the mood: This music brings me back to Honolulu every time.

You can easily travel in and around Honolulu by the much-praised city bus system, and Waikiki or the downtown area can be explored on foot. Having a car can be a headache because parking is tight in the major hotel areas like Waikiki or Ala Moana. But renting a car for the day to go further out east, north, or west can make sense. Another option is renting a car for the whole duration of stay and then stay at an Airbnb place in residential areas, such as Makiki, Kahala, Kaimuki, Hawaii Kai etc.

To me, a picnic at the beach is a very Hawaiian experience. You usually bring a little portable grill called ”hibachi” and a bag of charcoals, to a beach park and barbeque meat and fish. If you want a quick lunch break, you go to one of the takeout plate lunch places and get a plate of BBQ meat + two scoops of rice + a scoop of macaroni salad or green salad. Then go to a park & have a mini picnic.

Other local favorites are:

• saimin noodle soup: I am sure it came from China, but you don’t find it anywhere in China. It is something like a ramen in al dente state in clear broth.

• shave ice: literally, you shave a block of ice & put the shavings in a cone-shaped cup, then splash flavored syrups of all colors. Adding cooked/sweetened Adzuki beans is a popular way of upping the ante. If you say “shaved ice”, the locals will know you are not from Hawaii.

• manapua: BBQ pork buns(Chinese style)

• kalua pork: Wikipedia says…
• poke: I would call it a marinated sashimi. Nowadays, pokes appear on the menu at various restaurants around the globe. But poke tastes better in Hawaii – it requires Hawaiian air and water, maybe!

• Hulihuli Chicken: Wikipedia
• malasadas: Portuguese style donut. The most famous ones are sold at Leonard’s Bakery in Honolulu.

Telling Directions: You will notice the words like Ewa (toward Ewa Beach- meaning west), Koko Head (for heading east), Mauka (toward mountains), Makai (toward ocean) used a lot. If you look at the map of Oahu, you will see that this actually makes sense. You will also see/hear the words winward and leeward a lot. Just remember “win”ward is north/east, and “lee”ward is south/west in Hawaii.

Tour One(Go East): hike up to Diamond Head Crater → drive east along the coast to Waialae Beach Park to admire the ocean view → get plate lunch at Zippy’s Kahala  → drive to Hanauma Bay & picnic → continue on to the blowhole lookout → visit Sea Life Park, if you like dolphins → continue on to Sandy Beach and/or Waimanalo Beach, both local favorites → then you can just turn around & drive back the way you came or keep going & visit Kailua Beach, then take Pali Highway(#61) back to Honolulu. From Diamond Head to Waimanalo Beach is under 20 miles, but you should take time at each spot to do this tour to fully appreciate the beauty of the places.

Tour Two(Downtown & West): visit Punchbowl National Cemetery (a great view)→ visit Iolani Palace and the State Capitol in downtown → have lunch in downtown/Chinatown  (Duc’s Bistro or The Pig and the Lady is always reliable) or pack a lunch from one of the restaurants and picnic at Foster Botanical Garden near downtown → go to Nuuanu Pali Lookout to experience the power of wind → visit Bishop Museum to learn about the people of Hawaii → drive out west to catch Makaha Beach sunset. From Honolulu to Makaha is 40 miles.

If you have time for a short hike in town, try Manoa Falls trail.

Tour Three(Circle Island): drive west toward Pearl Harbor & visit Arizona Memorial → if you want to buy a few second-hand Aloha shirts at a bargain price, try Goodwill Thrifty Shop nearby → follow H2 Freeway to Wahiawa & stop at the Dole Pineapple Plantation; sample free pineapple juice → continue on to Haleiwa town & stop for the best known shave ice concoction in Hawaii at Matsumoto Shave Ice → continue north toward Kahuku & stop at Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp truck & get your lunch packed → backtrack a few miles to Kawela Bay(a.k.a. Turtle Bay) and picnic sitting next to green turtles & admiring them → continue on NE to Laie & you will arrive at the Polynesian Culture Center. Visit the Center & learn about the cultures of Polynesian people, catch their dinner show. Visiting the Mormon Church, which operates the Center, is free, but the Polynesian Culture Center is rather pricey. → continue SE toward Kaneohe → get on Pali Highway(#61) & back to Honolulu. From Honolulu to Turtle Bay is about 48 miles.

For a nighttime scenic view: try driving up to Tantalus Lookout

Can you do all or any of these trips using the bus? This article may help you with planning.

Plate lunch options: the major chains such as Zippy’s and L&L are all pretty good, but there are tons of mom&pop operations as well all over the island. Zippy’s is well-known for their fancier version of saimin called Zip Min, and the high calory lunch pack – complete with grilled Spam – Zip Pac is popular with locals. Caution: portions are h-u-g-e!

Ala Moana Food Court: the biggest shopping mall in Hawaii, Ala Moana Center, has a huge food court area on the ground floor. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Filippino, and other ethnic foods as well as  Phillie Steaks, fried chicken, sandwiches and others are all represented there. Grab something you like & go across the street (Ala Moana Blvd.) to Ala Moana Beach Park and picnic. If you like Japanese food, you will love the food court at Shirokiya Japan Village Walk at Ala Moana Center. They have all kinds of bento boxes you ever imagined. So much so that you may well be overwhelmed. But, unless you make a quick decision, you will be holding up the line. Life is hard at times!

Culinary School Special Lunch: Kapiolani Community College has a highly regarded culinary program, and you can sample the students’ creations for weekday lunch while school is in session.

Hawaiian Super Chefs in Honolulu: Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi are the granddaddies of Hawaiian gourmet meals. A dinner at Alan Wong’s on S. King St. or at the very first Roy’s Restaurant in Hawaii Kai is well worth the effort.

Waikiki Beach-Side Dining: If you want to sit by the beach and eat without breaking the bank, try Duke’s bar food menu, happy hour (“Bar Bites”) at Kaimana Beach Hotel, or sip a tropical drink or two at Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s outdoor bar.

Hawaiian words: aloha(hello, love, peace, compassion), mahalo(thank you), bambai(later), wikiwiki(speedy, hurry), kamaaina(local), haole(non-native white people) “Likelike,” a name you see often, is NOT pronounced “like like.” It is “li-ke-li-ke.”

Lodging: Hotels on the beachside of Waikiki are all well over $250/night, and most others are still well over $150/night. One decent deal right across from Waikiki Beach and Kapiolani Park is  Queen Kapiolani Hotel, which, sometimes, offers an under $100 deal on Groupon. Condo hotels are frequently better deals because rooms tend to be more spacious, and having a kitchen can help save money on meals. We used Pacific Monarch Hotel on several different occasions, and we liked the size of the rooms and their parking lot. There are many different local condo rental sites and services, and we found good rates on Alii Beach Rentals site. On Airbnb, you can find some decent rooms for under $100.

If the map doesn’t appear below, click MAP LINK

December 2017

Celebrity Millenium Southeast Asia cruise started in Singapore, where supposedly live 5.6 million happy people, with one overnight stay at the port. We had been to Singapore before, but this time we had two friends traveling with us for whom it was the very first trip to Asia. We tried to give them an overview of Singapore in this 1N/2D tour.

The first day, we met our friends at the cafeteria of the ship for lunch after checking in. Once we were cleared to go to our staterooms, we left our things in the room and ventured out in light rain. From the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal, we took a cab to Chinatown, which was a 5-10 minute ride(under $10 USD). Last time we were on the exact same cruise 4 years prior, we first went to see the Merlion(the symbol of Singapore) on the bay and walked into the old colonial downtown area from there. However, one of our friends with us had difficulty with long walks, thus, we tried to keep walking at the minimum.

We started the Chinatown tour at Thian Hock Keng Temple, one of the oldest temples, which is on one of the oldest streets in Singapore, Telok Ayer Street. From there, we took a short walk to a Hindu temple, Sri Mariamman. After admiring the ornate towers and architecture, we walked onto Pagoda Street right around the corner. That alleyway was filled with little shops selling all sorts of trinkets, handicrafts, and Made-in-China bargains. There were outdoor food stalls emanating enticing smell and steam, but we were not hungry enough to stop to sample.

We took a taxi to Asian Civilisations Museum, and a free guided tour was about to start as we purchased our tickets. According to Wikipedia, “It is one of the pioneering museums in the region to specialize in pan-Asian cultures and civilizations. The museum specializes in the material history of China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia, from which the diverse ethnic groups of Singapore trace their ancestry.”

Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot from him. I will elaborate when my memory brings back the new information I was so thrilled to gain.  After the tour, we got thirsty and hungry, so we went to the museum cafe to try their wonderful looking pastries and drinks.

For dinner, we were to meet our local friend, Kristy, and her parents at an  Italian restaurant in Robertson Quay. It started raining harder as we left the museum, and cabs were hard to find on empty downtown streets on a rainy Sunday. We finally got to the restaurant a few minutes later than the appointed time. Singapore is not cheap, and one of the most popular spots in town that we were eating at was not trying to save us money. They provided quality, and we forked over about $65/head with some wine.

The next morning, we took a cab to Singapore Botanical Garden from the cruise terminal(20-25 minutes, about $20 USD) and met with Kristy’s gang. We were taking out time walking around the beautiful garden, and their orchid area was quite impressive. Our lunch was at Halia restaurant in the complex, and their menu was quite inventive and delicious. We sat among a wedding party, and we got a glimpse of local life just by sitting there.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Kristy and her parents and took a cab to the Indian town area. There were lots of little shops lining the streets and alleys in this area, but they all seemed to sell cheap imported goods that were not terribly appealing. I bought a plastic watch that I liked for $3.50, though. I was still happy about this purchase even after finding the same kind of watch selling for 10 yuan($1.50) in Guangzhou, China.  Mustafa Center, their version of Target or Walmart, was interesting to browse. Their candy/cookie department had any and everything imaginable from around the globe, and there were traditional Indian textile stalls in the basement.

We took a cab back to our ship to begin our seafaring journey.

MAP LINK

August 2019  [by Bill]

Here’s Bill’s experience in Singapore:

• architecture

• Gardens by the Bay

May 2014

 

Three of us took a train from Hamburg, Germany to Arhus, Denmark, to begin this 2N/3D journey.

Day 1: Train from Hamburg Central Station to Arhus. 4 hours and 29 Euros per person. Spent the night at an Airbnb apartment in Arhus. Walked around town.

Day 2: Picked up a rental car and drove out to Aalborg, 120 Km north. Had lunch and walked around town. Then drove another 110 Km north to Skagen, the land’s end. Walked around town. Drove down 40 Km south to Frederikshavn. Got on the ferry to Gothenburg, Sweden. We reserved on aferry.com 4 months in advance, and the whole price for the car and 3 adults was 68 Euros. Spent the night in Gothenburg at an Airbnb apartment. Drove around town. Walked around town.

Day 3: Drove 3 hours down south to Lund, a university town. Had lunch and walked around. Drove 20 minutes west to Malmo. Drove around. It was raining, thus, we could not walk around much. Drove across the Øresund Bridge, the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe. The toll was around 40 Euros at the time. Spent next three nights in Copenhagen. Returned the rental car on Day 4 in Copenhagen.