Awake at 4 AM. Haha. At sunrise we walked down to the beautiful beach and over to the Sunrise Shack (appropriate), where we had the most delicious papaya breakfast bowls with banana, blueberries, peanut butter, honey, goji berries, homemade granola, and coconut flakes. Oh my God. Plus some mini ube flavored donuts – they were awesome!
We stopped at a few convenience stores for supplies and then I hung out at the hotel pool while Hans ran a few errands.
The rest of the day was a bit of here, there, and everywhere in Waikiki. A city bus took us a couple of miles northeast to a neighborhood with shops and restaurants. We had an excellent lunch of udon noodles at a small place (Udon Gama-Dashi) that made us feel like were right back in Japan (in terms of quality and price). Our next stop was at the well-known Leonard’s Bakery, for their famous malasadas, a Portuguese filled doughnut. We tried their macadamia nut and guava filled ones and they were incredible! Hans spied some house-made guava muffins and we purchased a couple to have the next morning. After a sad stop at Safeway (I was very disappointed in their cut fruit selection) we walked to Snorkel Bob’s swim shop.
Tomorrow we are going to a premier snorkeling location and it’s far cheaper to rent equipment here in town rather than on-site at Hanauma Bay. We found out that renting here was actually really helpful for Hans because Snorkel Bob’s also has prescription lens inserts for their snorkel masks. The employee at the shop was so kind and helpful for getting Hans situated with a good mask and appropriate lenses.
Diamond Head - I was blown away by how clear the skies were from downtown
When we were done with these errands we took the bus back to Waikiki and dropped our stuff at the hotel. For the rest of the afternoon Hans relaxed in the room while watching some World Cup matches while I enjoyed the pool area, but not the “pool party”. The hotel staff were serving passed appetizers and a DJ was providing the atmosphere. As the afternoon wore on it felt like the musical selections were being chosen for the express purpose of driving everyone away, aggressively.
Maybe I’m just getting old.
For dinner we walked quite a way to Maguro Brothers Poke, which was good but underwhelming to me. I did not realize that their style is very much Japanese, which is very very fresh seafood but it is prepared in a very simple manner. I’m looking forward to some Hawaiian-style poke with a bit more panache.
I was pretty exhausted by the time we were finished eating but I requested a stop at Waikiki Beach since the sun was setting. The sky was absolutely beautiful and it made me understand why so many people come here for their “paradise” experience.
At dark it became apparent that the Hilton Hotel was for some reason not doing their usual 8 pm Friday fireworks show. The shoreline began to empty but if you observed the southern horizon you could easily see Alpha Centauri and the Southern Cross despite the urban light pollution. I’m quite the star nerd these days. It was another exhausted return to bed later.
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