Hawaii Trip

I just returned from my week’s trip to Hawaii! The week went by so fast but it was one of the best vacations I have ever gotten to take! We stayed on the island of Oahu in the Waikiki area of Honolulu. We went surfing, sailed, went on a snorkeling adventure and a waterfall hike, relaxed by the beach and had some awesome meals. I ate my heart out with the fresh seafood and I got to try some local dishes that I’ve never had before. Here are some of the highlights:

Taking shade from the hot sun under some palm trees at the Waikiki Beach

Image

The beautiful Hanauma Bay where we went snorkeling

Image

Our sail trip. We saw some dolphins and sea turtles and took a dip in the middle of the ocean

Image

Monoa Falls Hike

Image

This blended coffee was called the Kona Mocha and had coconut and hazelnut blended into it. This was the first thing I had in Hawaii and I went back three times to get it again.

Image

Tuna Poke was one of the best foods I ate in Hawaii. The fish was really fresh and delicious that I ended up ordering it four different times! I think my favorite was the first one shown below that we got as an appetizer at a sushi restaurant called Daraku Sushi.

Image

 

Image

Image

Another local dish that I tried was the Acia Bowl that had blended and frozen acia berries, granola and fresh fruit. I ate this on the beach for breakfast on my last day and regretted not trying it earlier!

Image

Another great breakfast we had was at a local diner. We got the Coconut Pancake special which was tasty and tropical and quite filling.

Image

 The purple yam tempura that we got at Suntory Sushi was something I hadn’t seen before and was delish.

Image

Another great meal was the fish quesadillas with fruit salsa that we got from a Mexican place called Cha Cha Cha. The place had a wall of hot sauce that I was obviously intrigued by considering my large obsession with the condiment.

Image

But by far my favorite meal was the amazing Udon we had for lunch at Marakume Udon. This place had a line out the door everyday so we knew it had to be a must try. It was a little cafeteria style restaurant that served various hot and cold Udon noodle dishes. You could even watch the fresh noodles being made while standing in line. The dish that I ordered was called Ontama Udon and was served in a hot broth with a poached egg, scallions and tempura bits. We also got a variety of different tempura to go along with it.  We got the asparagus, sweet potato, pumpkin and mashed potato tempura and was served with a sweet dipping sauce. The place was also very cheap; the noodles were only $5.25. A must go if you are ever in Waikiki!

Image

Image

And finally I have to pay homage to the tropical drinks we enjoyed. From the top left: Blue Hawaiian, Sea Breeze, Mai Tai and Lava FlowImage

Hawaii was such a great trip!! I cannot wait to go back one day in the future!