Not the nicest part of Oahu, but still worth a drive because it is so different. Not tropical, not green, not lush…in other words, just like home!
We visited the new Target store, it is only the 2nd store on the island and is exactly like the ones at home. No big surprise there.

For lunch, we had something very un-hawaiian – crepes! They were SOOOOOO good, everyone finished everything, including two dessert crepes. The owners have ties to Tahiti, which has ties to France, so I guess it all works out. I think my students will get a kick out of seeing that crepes are more widespread than they thought.

In the afternoon, the girls and I went to the beach for some evening fun. It was windy so there are lots of kitesurfers here. It’s also the time of the month when the Portugeuse man of war washes up, so no swimming.

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We started the day with an early breakfast at Boots & Kimo’s. They are famous for pancakes with macadamia nut sauce; even Obama eats here. So our expectations were pretty high. They turned out to be OK, but the sauce was a bit too sweet – all of us were feeling a little queasy when we’d only eaten half of our breakfast. So we brought some home for Grace to enjoy, since she wanted to sleep in instead of going out for breakfast.

After that, we all went to downtown Honolulu to visit the Aloha tower. It used to greet every ship that came into Honolulu, which meant that every visitor to Honolulu would see it. Now, it’s kind of old and not a huge attraction. But the view from the top is beautiful, and it doesn’t cost anything to go up. And you have the added bonus of seeing an old fashioned elevator with the little arrow showing what floor the car is on. What we really thought was amazing is the clearness of the water in the harbor – it is so blue and clear that you can see the coral, the fish and the crabs moving around! There were hundreds of fish swimming around, and you could even identify the different types.

For lunch, we went to that Hawaiian favorite – Sam’s club. We’ve found that no matter where you are, you can get a quick, filling and cheap meal at Sam’s – the whole family can eat for less than $20. While other things in Hawaii can be very expensive, a whole pizza at Sam’s is only $1 more than on the mainland. They also have some island things -plate lunches and musubi. But we stuck with the “safe” thing and every last bit got eaten, so I guess that was the smart choice.

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The husband has been feeling icky for a couple of days – his allergies are really acting up – so we left him alone to wallow in his misery this morning while we went out and had fun. It’s been a rainy day here – well, at least the early morning and this evening have been rainy. We drove through the Pali while it was still covered with clouds, giving the kids a chance to see something they rarely see at home – fog! We went to the Aloha Stadium to do some shopping at the Swap Meet. It was like kids in a candy store – the kids were amazed and thrilled to go shopping there. They got tee shirts, jewelry and a few other things. We got an ice cold coconut (yum!) and some pickled mango (not so yum, look at Adam’s face). Then we went to Chinatown, where we saw the dragons and a LOT of cops. It turns out they were doing a special campaign to cut down on jaywalking, and that’s a real problem in Chinatown. We went shopping and saw live fish flopping around in a cooler – one jumped out and was flopping on the floor, but the vendor just picked it up and tossed it back in the cooler. We saw all sorts of fruits and vegetables that we had never seen before. Then, we went to a noodle place for some lunch. The kids got a quick lesson in how to use chopsticks, but they weren’t all that successful at it.

Next stop, punchbowl cemetery. Lots of people are buried here – about 49,000. We found the grave of one of the Challenger astronauts, then went on to see the beautiful view of Honolulu overlooking the cemetery. Finally, we came home and spent some relaxing time getting a shave ice (new flavors I tried – lilikoi and mango, very tasty) and playing around at the beach.

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No pictures from yesterday (at least not taken by me!). But today we took a ride up the coast, stopping at Waimea bay for a little bit, then going to Turtle beach and finally to Hailewa. We had an excellent lunch at the Grass Skirt Grill – yummy FRESH fish and veggies, probably the best thing we’ve tried so far on Oahu. On our way back, we stopped at the Dole Plantation so Marie could get something pineapple themed and some ice cream. Then, a very Hawaiian place- Costco! They do have different items there than on the mainland, including a 3 pound bag of Haupia mix. Haupia is a yummy coconut pudding, served at luaus and other celebrations.

Today we took a ride up the coast a bit and visited the Buddhist temple. It’s got a huge wooden statue of the Buddha and lots of peaceful gardens. The ponds are full of huge koi, and if you hold out fish food sometimes the birds will land and eat out of your hand as well.

We went further up to Lai’e and saw the rock with a huge hole in it. Not really a huge tourist destination, but an interesting story – a tsuanmi punched a hole right through the rock a while back! Then we stopped for lunch at a chop suey restaurant where we had the pleasant surprise of seeing abalone on the menu.

On the way back we stopped at a little macadamia nut farm and Marie took a nap in a very interesting position. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled knowing her picture of her sleeping face is all over the net!