Oahu

Before heading home, we stopped in Oahu for a few days. Compared to Maui, Waikiki was busy and bustling! It was almost overwhelming with all the people and city life, but it was also fun to see so many tourists and go shopping.

As loyal SPG customers, we stayed at the Westin Moana Surfider. Compared to our sprawling two bedroom villa in Maui, we had to squeeze into a tiny hotel room with two double beds. Man was it rough. The pool was just a small regular pool, nothing fancy like the resort in Maui. However, it was steps from Waikiki Beach where we spent hours each day.

Waikiki Beach was a lot busier but we loved it. The sand was powdery soft, the water was so warm it was like taking a bath, and it was shallow enough that we could go way far out and still stand up in some places. 

Also the most random thing happened in the middle of Waikiki Beach. We bumped into my school friend Sienna and her family! With dozens of hotels lining the beach and hundreds of tourists, what are the chances that we would run into someone we knew? The timing couldn't have been more perfect, and we got to spend a few hours on the beach together - it was like a vacation play date!

We also took a shuttle bus to Ala Moana Center, this giant outdoor shopping mall. The bus ride itself was fun, since we sat on the upper deck of a double decker.

At the mall there was this kiosk where you can create your own flip flops. You pick the color of the base, the straps, and all the decorations. Total tourist trap, but this kinda thing was right up my alley so of course I had to make a pair.

They advertised flip flops starting at $18, so how did this end up costing $36??

The next day we rented a car and drove around the island, doing all the things that tourists do. Our first stop: the Dole Plantation. We took the tram tour through the pineapple fields, then enjoyed the famous Dole Whip and Dole Whip Float.

I fell for yet another tourist trap - the infamous pearl in the oyster. The clever salespeople inside the gift store handed us keys to try to open a treasure chest. Whoever held the lucky key that unlocked the chest would get some special prize. Everyone else got a coupon for a you-pick pearl. Way to rope us in! Lucky for me, the oyster I picked had two pearls inside!

We also drove to the North Shore of the island, stopping at Turtle Bay Resort to look for sea turtles laying out on the beach. We didn't see any this time and ended up exploring a little bit before moving on.

Finally, we made a stop in Haleiwa for a snack, then to Leonard's to pick up some famous malasadas before heading back to catch our last Hawaiian sunset.

We loved Oahu! Still more on Waikiki food to come!

More Maui Food

We always need to do a separate post about Maui food! Mommy just needs an outlet for all the food photos she took. Most of the places we visited were the same as last time, but we also discovered a few new favorites.

Joey's Kitchen: A new find at Whaler's Village. After playing in the fountain, we didn't feel like waiting an hour for sit-down dining, so headed to the food court for a quick bite. While Colin and I ended up at the pizza stall, Mommy opted for the Filipino-influenced local cuisine, which also had rave reviews on Yelp. It did not disappoint - the braised beef short rib plate was amazing!

Paia Fish Market: An extension of the original Paia Fish Market in Paia (north end of Maui), which Mommy and Daddy visited long time ago (on their babymoon before they had me!). They were happy to see that a second location opened up in downtown Lahaina, much closer to where we were staying. It was dee-licious! Fast, casual, and so fresh. The fish tacos were awesome, and Colin and I inhaled the seafood pasta.

Joey's Kitchen Napili: Mommy and Daddy liked Joey's Kitchen at Whaler's Village so much, that they found another restaurant by the same owner, appropriately also named Joey's Kitchen. This one was in Napili, about ten minutes north of where we were staying. The food was made fresh to order, and it really felt like we were getting a home-cooked Filipino meal. From prawns to crispy pata (pork leg) to chicken chow fun and Filipino fried rice, everything had a unique flavor and we left stuffed.

Aloha Mixed Plate: Food with a view. It's not a trip to Maui without a visit to Aloha Mixed Plate!

Slappycakes: Oh yeah, and can't forget Slappycakes, the place where we create and cook our own pancakes. 

Heart of Te'fiti and Maui hook pancakes

Ululani's Shave Ice: Yet another visit.

Zippy's: Always our last stop before the airport.

Breakfast of champions

All these places were good and all, but nothing beats eating Lunchables in the comfort of our own kitchen!

More food photos from the Oahu part of our trip to come!

Maui!

Yup, another vacation in Maui. It was less than a year since our last trip, but Mommy and Daddy received a special promotion from Starwood for their newest resort, the Westin Nanea Ocean Villas. It was such a great deal they couldn't turn it down. We're glad we went! Since half the resort wasn't yet complete we got upgraded to a two bedroom ocean-view villa. Colin and I got our own room with a king sized bed and bathroom, and our own TV! Hopefully we don't come to expect these amenities every time we travel.

Our first stop after arriving in Maui: Ululani's shaved ice. Our second stop: Target(!) to pick up some toiletries and provisions for the week.

View from our room.

I took this picture of Mommy and Daddy in our living room.

Since we saved so much on airfare and lodging, we splurged and upgraded our rental car to a Jeep!

This was inside the sales office where they try to sucker us in to buying a timeshare. Fortunately, we were able to get out of attending one of their presentations.

The resort was definitely built with families in mind. There was a huge swimming pool connected to all these smaller pool areas - kids splash pads, wading pools, a zero entry beach pool, water slide, hot tubs - something for everyone! We spent hours down there everyday, and probably spent more time at the pool than at the beach.

Mommy's favorite part of the pool: hanging out on the warm "beach" and watching us entertain ourselves.

I tried snorkeling a few times but didn't seem to enjoy it as much as last time. I couldn't stand the taste of the salt water every time I put my face in.

We even walked to the other Westin resort next door to use their pirate ship pool. Colin had a blast!

Since we had visited Maui not too long ago, there was no pressure to try to do everything and check things off our list. We took it easy, hung out at the pools, and went on outings when we felt like it. 

Shaved ice everywhere we went.

Cooling off at Whaler's Village. I had been wearing regular clothes but then got soaked in the fountain. Conveniently, we were in a shopping center with plenty of stores that sold overpriced kids clothing so I ended up with a new rashguard set that I immediately changed into. Colin got a new pair of shorts too.

We also went on a submarine ride! We had looked into going last time but Colin wasn't tall enough yet. It was a neat experience and definitely worth doing once.

To get to the submarine we also had to take a short boat ride. This by itself was already fun for us!

View of the island from our boat.

Approaching the submarine.

The submarine took us 100 ft down, through a coral reef, and to a shipwreck. We saw lots of different fishies and some bigger ones even came right up to our porthole. It was very cool!

It was nice to take it easy on this trip and also try something new. If we could get a fantastic deal on the Westin Nanea again, we would go in a heartbeat!