Babymoon Part II- Oahu, Hawaii

Before I begin, let me just briefly give an overview of how many islands Hawaii has.

There are 8 islands, however one of them is not accessible to public (sebab ada banyak buried bom).Our friends in Davis had actually been to Oahu and Big Island (also known as Hawaii or Kona). Oahu is where most of the famous tourist attractions are such as Pearl Harbor and Waikiki Beach. If you are into nature or beach activities, you could either go to Big Island, Maui or Kauai. I'm not really sure about Molokai and Lanai but they are pretty quiet island like Maui and Kauai and perfect for honeymooners.

Due to the fact that Jai gets free stay at any Hyatt in the world because he has been Hyatt employee for over a year now, we can scratch off accomodation in our budget. The only limitation is we can only stay for 3 nights max at each hotel, so rather than paying another 3 nights in an island, we chose to hop to another island and get another free stays. But mind you, the only way to hop to another island is by air, there's no inter-island boat. So, we switched the cost of paying another hotel to paying flight tickets and we get to go to 2 islands!

At first, we have booked to go to Kauai and Maui but considering the activities we could do ie: no sightseeing, we decided to go to Oahu and Kauai. At that time, hotel dekat Maui dah fully booked so Kauai is the only option. Oklah, intro pun dah panjang, belum lagi masuk cerita utama :P

Day 1

Our flight was at 9.30am, left home at 6.30am to the airport. Everyone boarded the same plane already wore their beachwear attire. Kitorang siap pakai winter coat lagi, but it was a good choice cos the plane was supercold. This time I had to give away my window seat to Jai cos I need to pee and walk every hour. The flight took about 5 hr+ to reach Hawaii. We reached Honolulu International Airport at about 1 pm, the time difference with California is 2 hrs, so we actually gain 2 hrs worth of time.

I booked Roberts Hawaii airport shuttle which costed $15/person round trip. Taking a taxi is much more expensive but dorangnye shuttle sabar jelah. Kalau tak sabar, memang kena naik taxi. The road in Hawaii is mostly one way so everytime they dropped off  passengers to a hotel (sampai depan pintu), they had to take another turn walaupun the next hotel sekangkang kera kat depan. Dahlah lapar gila time tuh. Dari kul 1.45pm naik bus, kul 3.30pm baru sampai hotel, boleh? Sebab kitorang the last hotel yang dorang pergi. Luckily, I brought nasi goreng and sambal ikan bilis kentang as bekal, lepas checked-in terus makan. Then, lepas solat, kemas beg semua, we headed down for a walk along downtown Waikiki. Oh, our hotel is situated at Waikiki which is the place for shopping and mandi pantai. But the beach is a bit crowded so if you want a more private beach, had to take a bus or rent a car. Anyway, Waikiki is a heaven of shopping. Ada banyak flea market jual accessories, nak beli branded items such as Burberry, Coach, Louis Vuitton semua ada kat sini. Their tax is not as much as California ie: 4.75% which is not too bad. 

 International Market Place, my heaven =) You have to bargain at least 50% of the original price!

Then, around 7pm lepas penat berjalan satu Waikiki, we headed to Kak Sharima's place, which is a Malaysian student in Uni. of Hawaii. We have never met before and was introduced by a friend via FB. She helped me plan my itinerary so cam senang sikit sebab tau tempat mana must visit. Anyway, sampai dorm Kak Sharima about 8pm and she made Mee Jawa for us =) Alhamdulillah, rezeki baby kan, so aku tambah 2 kali.. Hahaha :P Oh, she invited Clare, a Malaysian that studied at the same place. Keciknye dunia nih, Clare duduk kat taman belakang rumah kat Ipoh and we went to the same shop to buy groceries. Oh, Kak Sharima pun orang Ipoh jugak. So, jadik reunion Ipoh sekejap. 

 Kak Sharima and Clare, Ipoh girls!!

We headed back to hotel about 10pm, waited the bus until 10.45pm sampai hotel dalam 11 lebih. Oh, we only rented a car in Oahu for one day cos the bus was convenient (but not so efficient, selalu tak on-time) or you can rent a Moped  (a 500cc scooter, tapi kena ride sorang2).

Day 2

Oh, the other advantage of having a husband working with Hyatt is we get to use Hyatt Regency Club (depending on the availability) that provides free breakfast, high-tea and free flow of drinks. Cakap je nak ape, soda, juices, cappucino. So, we got up early, had breakfast (tapi takdelah cam buffet hotel kat Malaysia ada nasi lemak kan) then headed down for our tour bus to come. We booked a Grand Circle Island Tour by Pakcik Robert (lagi!). Seperti biasa, bila ada kaitan dengan bus, memang confirm tak on-time. Anyway, we took off about 8.30am then they took us to lotsa places around the island. That includes Diamond Head, Pali Lookout, Dole Plantation, Macadamia Factory Shop, Sunset Beach etc. etc. Ada 4-5 places (scenic stop) yang dia stopped about 5-10 minutes to allow us taking pictures. 

Us @ Hanauma Bay

Sunset Beach. The waves were high! So, it is suitable for surfing

 Dole's Plantation

 

Actually Kak Sharima suggested to just rent a car and then tour the island instead of taking the Grand tour but because there are many stops to make and we're too lazy to drive and stop at many different places. So, if you're to lazy to drive like us and had limited time, you can book this tour. There are many companies offer this kind of tour but according to our friend that had been to Oahu, this is among the cheapest tour you could get. We got back to our hotel about 3.30pm. Rested for a while and then apa lagi?? Shopping barang souvenir siap2 dan seangkatan waktu dengannya, had dinner at one of the food courts. Some of the shopping malls offer free Hawaiian shows so you can always hangout or eat your dinner while enjoying the show.Oh, finding a place to eat is not that difficult cos there's lot of restaurants or small shops that sell seafood but there's only 2 halal restaurant in Oahu, but we chose just to eat vegetarian/seafood. 

Day 3

The last day in Oahu. We decided to rent a car so that we could actually go to the places that is not included in the Grand Island tour. The first place is Pearl Harbor. Initially, I was afraid of going to Oahu/Honolulu cos of the presence of military bases and Jai didn't really agree with my idea of going to Oahu because of that. He just doesn't want the same incident in Seattle happen to me again considering now I'm emotionally fragile. But, you know what, they are more open-minded than the one in Seattle, most probably because they lived with different ethnicity of people all this while. I guess what people say were right, those who live at Midwest and certain states yang 'tengkuk merah'. The rest were just okay. 

Pearl Harbor

So, admission to Pearl Harbor is free, but the ticket is limited. If you come during peak season, you might want to come early to get the free tickets. So, the free ticket is only for admission to USS Arizona Memorial Center (which lies beneath it is USS Arizona which had sunken down during the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor). If you want to pay a visit inside a submarine, a battleship and aircraft museum, you have to pay. I've been on Malaysian battleship before but I've never been into a submarine. Jai had been into neither. So, we decided to take the USS Bowfin submarine and USS Missouri battleship package. It was interesting having to tour inside a submarine. To tell the truth, I don't know how people can actually stayed inside a submarine for months. Sempit gila, kalau kentut, confirm satu corridor bau. We spent about 4 hours in Pearl Harbor, but if you're only visiting USS Arizona, I think 2 hrs should be enough.

Background: USS Bowfin submarine

Inside the USS Bowfin submarine

We left Pearl Harbor about 1 pm, hungry! But we had to travel about 40 minutes away to try the Shrimp truck on the way to our next pitstop. Based on Kak Sharima's recommendation, the shrimp trucks that offers good food are either Macky or Fumi's, situated at Haleiwa Hstorical Town. So, the first shrimp truck we saw was Macky so we stopped by to have our lunch. I chose Hot&Spicy Shrimp which tasted like Sambal Udang extra Pedas and hubby picked Garlic Shrimp. All the orders came with rice and salad. Oklah, sedap cuma after I was pregnant, I don't really like to eat shrimp. But, sebab satu pinggan $12, habiskan gak udang2 tuh =) Then, we headed off to get some dessert ie. Shave Ice! So, the famous place for Shave Ice is Matsumoto's Shave Ice, line panjang tak hengat. Heaven gila makan ais kacang tengah2 panas ok.

Hot & Spicy Shrimp @ Macky's shrimp truck

Shave Ice Yummeh!

The last pitstop of the day was Polynesian Cultural Center. We were already late actually, the center opens at 12pm and the last show was at 5.30pm. It is best to get here before 2.30pm cos the canoe pageant is held at 2.30pm everyday (depending on the weather). We arrived at 3.30pm and we already missed the show. Anyway, there are 6 cultural villages inside PCC, ie: Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Aerotoa (New Zealand), Hawaii and Tahiti. They offer cultural show at each village and you have to refer to the schedule to plan your walk around the center. I think we skipped Tahiti and Tonga's show cos we didn't have enough time, but the best show (and funniest) ever was at Samoa's. The guy was damn funny and I couldn't stop laughing until after the show ended. 

 He is such a damn funny Samoan!

At 5.30pm, we went to a buffet dinner which was included in the package. The cheapest package is $60 which includes admission to PCC, buffet dinner and Lu'au Show. If nak makan best sikit, dapat seat depan sikit for the show and get a tour guide, leh lah upgrade the package. The show started at 7.30pm and supposed to end at 9.30pm, it was interesting but cos I was too tired and hubby looked bored, we left at about 8.30pm. Sampai Waikiki about 9.20 pm, just in time to return the rental car back. Another setback of renting a car in Hawaii is the expensive parking. Our hotel charged $24 per night, but you can find cheaper parking lot ranging around $9-15 around Waikiki. Oh, the rental cos per day is expensive too, usually we could get $20-30 in California but in Hawaii, it is usually $50-60 per day.

Tengok show ngantuk kan? But as soon as we reached Waikiki, mata terus segar bugar tengok kedai2. Hahaha. So, after returning the car, we went for a last-minute shopping at Waikiki. Most of the shops at Waikiki closed between 10-11pm, so memang best!! We went to Hard Rock Cafe as I'm a collector of HRC t-shirt, then nampak celebrity Malaysia, tapi sampai sekarang tak ingat nama dia. I'm really sure she is a Malaysian celebrity cos Jai saw her face too and said, itu artis Malaysia kan. Oh, Jai bukannye kenal artis sangat so kalau die cakap memang pernah nampak, yelah tuh. Then, jalan2 beli souvenir lagi pastuh balik hotel.

Day 4

I woke up early to packed up all the things cos I was too tired to do anything the night before. I was just finished packing when Kak Sharima arrived at 8 o'clock and brought us nasi lemak! Mula2 dia ajak makan tepi pantai, but then, we were afraid of missing the airport shuttle at 10am, so we decided to just eat at our hotel room's balcony. It feels good having to eat Malaysian food while travelling. That's the thing I miss the most when travelling. Then, later at 10am, we bid each other goodbye and then, off we're to Kauai!! This time, Pakcik Robert bawak kitorang naik van so on-time lah sampai airport. Hehehe.

Happy dapat makan nasi lemak =)

Kauai, Hawaii - To be continued!