The best part of working at a college by far is summer break. I already spent a few weeks with my family in Colorado (along with a week in Arizona) and plan to return there for a few more weeks towards the end of the summer. The original plan was to spend the rest of the time in Japan working on a tour book. Unfortunately, that didn't work (though I'm aiming for next year) so I went with my backup plan.
When I visited Honolulu over winter break, I mentioned that my parents were looking at some real estate. As it happens, they ended up getting a vacation condo (as I said back then, they've always had an attachment to Hawaii since it's where they lived when they first met). So I had a free place to stay in Honolulu. In addition, I could use the points I'd been saving on my credit card to pay for nearly the entire plane ticket, which means that, other than food, it would pretty much be a free trip. With that taken into account, it seemed like a great place to hang out while working on some various projects of mine.
I took a look back at my first Hawaii travelogue. There's are a couple of areas I talked about in it that I want to go back and cover more in-depth this time around, along with new locations, of course. That said, this is a working vacation of sorts so I'm generally not going to be packing a whole lot of activities into a single day like I often due on a pure sightseeing trip. There will be a bit here and a bit there as I visit interesting places (I'm aiming to get out for a little while each day or two, though I can't say that each outing will be worth writing about) along with a lot of restaurant reviews (at my parents' request). Anyway, now that the format has been explained, let's get to it.
I got a pretty good flight coming to Hawaii, leaving Phoenix in mid-morning and arriving in Honolulu around 5 (due to the time difference), with only one stop along the way. The trip went very well and I arrived a little early at got a cab to the Waikiki Landmark, where my parents' condo is. Rather distinctively shaped building, isn't it? The condo they ended up buying is actually one of the two I looked at with them but that short tour was all I'd seen of it. While not quite as big as the condo in Phoenix (which I still really like), it's very nice and a bit fancier than I'm used to. And the views from the deck and numerous windows are pretty amazing during the day and at night. It even came with all the furniture, appliances, and the like.
That said, there wasn't any food. I was a little tired, due to the time change, but decided I should run out and do at least a little shopping. The other really nice thing about the condo is its location. It's not right on the beach or anything, but it's within easy walking distance of lots of great places (especially good since I don't have a car). So I made a quick trip to Ala Moana (the big mall I mentioned in my previous travelogue). I'll be walking through the entire place and giving it a more detailed write-up at some point in the future, by the way. At this point though, I just wanted to run in to the grocery store (yes, it's got a grocery store inside) and pick up some food for the next day. Figuring a serious shopping trip could wait, I grabbed a pineapple and a couple other things. Since I was there, I also swung by Ala Moana's rather awesome food court to get supper. On that note, here's my first restaurant review (and one of what will likely be several from said food court).

Restaurant Review: Donburiya Dondon
Type: Japanese
Location: Ala Moana Food Court
Dondon is actually one of several Japanese restaurants in Ala Moana's food court. Its specialty, donburi. If you're not familiar with the term, donburi are rice bowls. There are a number of variations but they generally come down to meat, vegetables, and sauce (usually the soy based don sauce) over rice. They're a favorite of mine and a cheap and popular fast food item in Japan. My personal favorite is gyudon (rice topped with very thinly sliced beef, onions, and don sauce), but since I had just had some a couple days before in Phoenix, I decided to get oyakodon instead. Oyako translates (rather morbidly, in my opinion) to mother and child and consists of chicken and egg over rice, along with some onions and don sauce mixed in. Dondon's oyakodon was quite good. The eggs were a little runnier than I like (though that's a matter of personal preference) but the chicken was cooked extremely well and they didn't try and do anything fancy with it. It was just plain well made donburi. It also came with a bowl of miso soup and a couple of bites of salad, or something like that (I couldn't quite decided if it was pickled cabbage or a tiny salad with an odd dressing). The total cost was a bit over $9. A little expensive compared to Japan, but fairly standard for the US. The portion sizes were good, though not huge.
Overall, Dondon is a nice donburi restaurant and much better than the type of places you find in most mall food courts (though that applies to a lot of the restaurants in Ala Moana). While Honolulu is unfortunately lacking a Yoshinoya (a popular donburi chain in Japan), Dondon makes for a fair substitute.

My goal for today was to settle in, do some serious grocery shopping, and hopefully get a little work done as well. I started out by taking a closer look around the condo, checking drawers and the like, to get a better feel for the place and figure out what I needed. I also took the opportunity to look around the Landmark building. Check out the awesome pool. It's big, has a great view (it's 15 floors up) even has a couple of hot tubs.
Once that was done, I did a few map searches on my computer then headed out for the nearest health food store. There's actually a couple of them in walking distance, right near each other. As a note, Honolulu is considerably less fancy once you get away from Waikiki and all the resort hotels (just like any tourist city, really), but the walk was pleasant. While Hawaii is more humid than I like (the less the better, as far as I'm concerned), it's not nearly as bad as Florida or Tokyo and the near constant breeze helps keep temperatures reasonable. I passed a number of restaurants on the way (some of which I'll probably review in the future) and grabbed a bubble tea (something else that probably deserved more details at some point). On a non food related note, I passed a small shinto shrine as well, which reminded me a bit of Japan where such shrines can crop up just about anywhere.
The health food stores turned out to be right near the Japanese Cultural Center (which I visited last time I was here). There's Japanese market called Nijiya nearby as well, which has a fairly good selection and, surprisingly, a little bit of a health food focus. So I stocked up on some food and headed back to the condo.
A couple of related notes. First off, the majority of food items seem to be a little more expensive in Hawaii than on the mainland (due to shipping costs, I suppose). Though, of course, tropical fruits tend to be a decent bit cheaper. Also, while walking a little over a mile is normally no big deal, it's a bit of a pain while carrying a couple of very full shopping bags.
After returning and making lunch, I got a bit of work done and planned out my activities for the next few days. Then, since I was still a bit lacking in the produce department, I decided to visit a nearby farmers' market. Honolulu has a lot of them, but this particular one is in the International Market Place down by Waikiki (I mentioned both the location and the farmers' market in my previous travelogue as well). I'll write more about the International Market Place and Waikiki in general in later posts since I was really just focused on the farmers' market. That said, I couldn't resist photographing some flowers along the way.
On a side note, you see a lot of trolley style tour buses down near Waikiki, which seem to be a favorite of Japanese tourists (I think they get a pass for them as part some sort of vacation package deal). Some of those trolleys are One Piece themed so I snapped a picture of one for Silver, the PV Forum's resident One Piece super fan.
Anyway, the farmers' market is there every Thursday from 4 - 8. It's not especially big.  There's a couple of stalls selling produce and another six or eight selling snacks and meals. I picked up a couple of things and then, since I was in the area, decided to eat in the International Market Place's food court.

Restaurant Review: Choi's Kitchen
Type: Korean
Location: Waikiki, International Market Place Food Court
Choi's is one of several small Asian restaurants in the International Market Place's food court. While the food court isn't nearly as nice or large as the one in Ala Moana, they're in different parts of town and it's not a bad place to go if you want a snack or a whole meal. Choi's has a fairly typical setup for an Asian food court place. You pick you dish (from entries like grilled chicken/beef/pork, kalbi (beef short ribs, sliced thin), etc. and several sides to go with it (in this case, most were various types of kimchee and spicy pickled vegetables). I got a combination with kalbi and chicken, along with rice, pickled cucumbers, radish, bean sprouts, and regular kimchee. The chicken and kalbi were both good, though certainly not the best I've had (though, as a note, kalbi is pretty awesome just about everywhere, here included). Of the sides, I really liked the pickled cucumbers. The others weren't bad, though I wasn't especially fond of them either. That said, I'm not a big kimchee fan in general and don't eat it very often so I can't really make a judgement on its overall quality. The meal cost me over $13 with tax. That strikes me as a bit high for food court restaurant, but it's really not a bad price for kalbi and you get a pretty good amount of food for your money.
Overall, Choi's is a decent Korean restaurant. There's really nothing wrong with it and it's a perfectly good place to eat if you're in the area and want some Korean food. However, I'm sure that, for a similar price, you could eat at a fancier Korean restaurant (as in, not in a food court) with comparable (possibly better) food.

Restaurant Review: Marukame Udon
Type: Japanese
Location: Waikiki, Kuhio Ave, Parallel to the Royal Hawaiian Mall on Kalakaua
Udon, as you hopefully know, are thick Japanese wheat noodles. I mentioned sanuki udon restaurants in my last Japan travelogue. Well, this is one and it's as authentic as you can get. Marukame tends to have a line out front, but it moves pretty fast and, if your timing is good, you can watch them make the noodles while you wait. Once you're inside, you choose your noodles (it's all udon, so it mostly boils down to whether you want them hot or cold and which toppings you want), grab some assorted tempura or musubi (rice balls, aka. onigiri) to go with your meal, pay (cash only, BTW), and find a place to sit. From the food, to the layout, to the decor, it's pretty much identical to the sanuki udon restaurants you can find in Japan (though with a little more English). It's fast, it tastes great, and it's cheap! The noodle bowls range from $3.75 - $5.25 (curry udon and niku (meat) udon being the most expensive). You can add a dollar to make your bowl a large, but the normal size should be enough for most people. Then you just pay for every extra item you take on your way to the cashier (most of the various tempura and musubi were $1.50 each). I got all this for a bit over $8 (that's a normal sized bowl of noodles, if you're wondering). It's really one of the best values you're going to find anywhere in Waikiki.
Overall, I really can't recommend Marukame enough. It's a fast food restaurant of sorts (so don't go looking for a table service or a fancy atmosphere) but it's fast, cheap, authentic, and tastes great. If you like udon, you have to go. If you haven't had udon before, it's a great place to start. Basically, if you're in Honolulu, just make sure to eat at Marukame.

Randon Hawaii Comment: Bubble Tea
Bubble tea (aka. boba tea or pearl tea) is a drink from Taiwan which involves putting little balls of tapioca in a drink (milk team and various types of fruit being the most common). It's become fairly popular in the US lately, but nowhere near as much as Hawaii. Sure you've got your coffee, pina coladas, and the like, but in terms of popularity bubble tea is just as common (probably more so). From my experience, the price and general quality of bubble tea is pretty similar no matter where you get it (though the better places will make it from scratch instead of using a powdered mix) so it more comes down to what flavor you want. Since Hawaii has such strong tropical and Asian influences you can find standard teas, a wide variety of tropical fruits, assorted Asian flavors (Japanese yam, for example) and more. Like all the unusual ice cream flavors in Japan, it can be fun to try different bubble teas as you come across them. As a side note, if you don't like the bubbles but want to try the drink itself, most places are happy to leave them out if you ask.

The Pan-Pacific Festival continued but today was also a time to commemorate King Kamehameha, the legendary figure who united all the Hawaiian islands under a single rule. There were various ceremonies in commemoration of his deeds, with the main one being the giant parade which ran from the palace down through Waikiki. The parade was scheduled to start at 9 ,so after I work up I hurried down to Waikiki, found a good spot on Kalakaua, and waited for it to pass by. If I'd known how slow it moved, I'd have slept in, or at least picked a vantage point much closer to where it started.
After over an hour and a half of waiting, the parade finally reached my location. And it was huge. There were Hawaiians in traditional dress, practically every major member of the Hawaiian government, marching bands from what had to be every school in Honolulu, decedents of Hawaiian royal families, the world's largest aloha shirt, classic cars, a number of Hawaiian beauty queens, and more. Just about everyone was wearing leas, including the horses (though a few seemed rather determined to eat them). After watching for over an hour, I decided to speed things up and walk towards the end of the parade. Seeing just how far it went made me glad that I hadn't decided to stay and wait. It could have easily taken another ninety minutes or more to finish passing by my original location.
I returned to the condo for lunch then went to the Royal Hawaiian Mall back in Waikiki to see some more Pan-Pacific festival performances. Among them, that gospel choir from the previous night (which was still very good and very energetic), and the best hula dancer I've seen so far.
Then it was back to the condo again where I took a swim, spotted a partial rainbow, and tried my hand at macadamia nut crusted fish (which turned out pretty good). I was tempted to just stay inside the rest of the day. My dad really wanted me to try wearing Nike Frees while I'm down here (as opposed to my usual Asics gel sneakers). He says they're comfortable and good for for your feet (as far as muscle use and things like that). I'll grant that they're moderately comfortable, but beyond that all I can say is that, after a couple hours, they make me feel like I've been on my feet all day. Is that really a good thing? Anyway, I eventually decided to go down to the beach and watch the sunset. The sun ended up being hidden by clouds, but it was still pretty. And, since I was already out, I got some ice cream on the way back.

Restaurant Review: Tropical Dreams
Type: Ice Cream
Location: Waikiki, On Seaside Ave slightly off of Kalakaua and across from Ross
Tropical Dreams is a Hawaiian ice cream brand, made on the big island of Hawaii. They've got some stores scattered around the islands. Like most ice cream parlors, the available flavors vary, depending when you visit, but expect a number of tropical ones (pineapple, coconut, macadamia nut, etc.) in addition to the more standard varieties. It's good ice cream with some fairly unique flavors and prices are comparable to what you'd pay at most ice cream parlors (or frozen yogurt places, if you prefer).
Overall, Tropical Dreams isn't the only place to get ice cream. It's not even the only place to got Hawaiian ice cream. But it's good, the prices aren't bad, and it tends to have more unique flavors than the other places (at least from what I've seen so far) so it's worth a stop if you're looking for dessert.

Restaurant Review: Mahaloha Burger
Type: Hamburger
Location: Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian Food Court
At first glance, Mahaloha doesn't seem much different than your typical fast food burger places. The difference is that they use local grass fed beef, which is much better than what you'd get at McDonald's or Burger King. It's a bit more expensive than they are, but you can get a burger for around $6 and a combo meal for under $10. They also have some Hawaiian style burgers like teriyaki burgers and locomoco burgers. As far as the taste, they're way better than McDonald's and the like, but not as good as Smash Burger, Red Robin, or Ruby Tuesday. So pretty much right in the middle tastewise.
Overall, Mahaloha Burger isn't one of the best burger places I've been too but the taste and quality of the meat are much better than what you'll get at the other fast food burger joints in the area so if you want a quick burger at Waikiki, it's the best choice.

While I walked on the beach a couple times since coming here, I hadn't actually gone in the ocean yet so, after getting some things done, I headed to Waikiki to remedy that. I spent a lot of the time just swimming around and figuring out the best areas to find waves and avoid rocks. As an interesting note, compared to the other beaches I've visited, the water here is very clear and doesn't have much of a smell to it (though it still tastes just as salty as everywhere else). I can't say it's the best beach I've been to in terms of waves, shells, or size, but it's very nice all around.
That's really all I did other than making a quick run to a nearby plaza for supper.

Restaurant Review: CoCo Curry House
Type: Japanese
Location: Ala Moana Food Court, Mcculy Shopping Center, and other Honolulu Locations
CoCo is a major chain of curry restaurants in Japan. Oddly, in Japan the CoCo part of the name is emphasized while here they emphasize the Curry House part. There are a few CoCos in Honolulu, one of which is right near where I'm staying, though the easiest to find is in the food court in Ala Moana mall. And, aside from having English on the menu (in addition to Japanese, of course), they're pretty much identical to the ones in Japan. If you've never had Japanese curry, it's a copy of British curry which is in turn a copy of Indian curry. The end result is nothing like Indian curry (or Thai curry, for that matter) but it is good. It's served with rice and typically has pieces of pickled gourd on the side. There's got a fairly large menu, but it basically comes down to what you want in your curry. I got thinly sliced beef, but there are other types of meat, fried cutlets, vegetables, tofu, and the like. You can also choose to get extra rice (though the normal amount is good for the amount of curry you get) or mild curry instead of the normal spicy kind (though Japanese curry really isn't that hot). It's also cheap. That plate of curry cost me under $7 and it makes for a very filling meal.
Overall, if you like Japanese curry you're going to love CoCo. It's good, cheap, very authentic, and gives you a lot of options to choose from.

Restaurant Review: Coffee or Tea?
Type: Coffee Shop
Location: Mccully Shopping Center (NW corner of Mccully and Kapiolani)
Coffee or Tea? is just a couple of minutes walk from my parents' condo and in the same plaza as a CoCo and several other Asian restaurants. They've got coffee, bubble tea, regular tea, and a few more unusual drinks (a hot ginger drink, for example) along with Japanese shaved ice if drinks aren't your thing. Their drinks are good and they make their bubble tea from scratch rather than using a powder mix (which a lot of places do), so you know they care about quality. The prices are comparable to what you'd pay at Starbucks or any other coffee or bubble tea shop.
Overall, I wouldn't go significantly out of my way to visit Coffee or Tea?, but if you're nearby it's a nice place with good drinks and a large selection, including some things you may not see anywhere else.

While I've popped in and out of the Ala Moana mall since coming here, I haven't actually walked through the whole thing so I decided to take some time today and do that. Ala Moana is a little bit west of Waikiki. It's the largest mall in on the island and popular with locals and tourists. As far as the shops go, you'll find many of the typical mall stores along with some Hawaii, beach, and souvenir shops and a number of high end clothing and accessory stores. It's not as fancy as some of the places on Waikiki, but does good job of covering all ends of the spectrum. It's open air, like many malls and shopping centers in Hawaii, and has a lot of tropical plants growing throughout, so it's rather pleasant to walk through. For the most part anyway. There's a number of shops whose only entry point is from right off the parking garage, which I find a little annoying. In my opinion though, the two best things about Ala Moana are its food court (which is huge and has an impressive variety of restaurants) and Shirokiya, an authentic Japanese department store complete with a nice food court of its own (all Japanese food, of course), a Japanese bakery, and a small Bookoff. As a note, Bookoff is a chain of Japanese used book, movie, music, and game stores. This one features both Japanese and English media and is a great place to visit if you're looking for something new to read, watch, play, or listen to.
The streets right behind Ala Moana have a number of restaurants and things as well, including a Walmart and Don Quijote store. I mentioned Don Quijote a couple of times in my Japan travelogues. It's a Japanese department store chain that, odd name aside, is known for its low prices and wide variety of merchandise. The ones in Japan also tend to be filled with twisting narrow aisles that make it easy to get turned around. This one is organized a bit better and is worth a visit if you want some Japanese appliances (fancy toilet seats or rice cookers, for example), or good deals on clothing, food, alcohol, and the like.
As a side

Restaurant Review: Genki Sushi
Type: Sushi
Location: Ala Moana and other Honolulu Locations
The Genki Sushi on Kauai was the first kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant I ever saw, a couple of years before my first trip to Japan. Like kaitenzushi in Japan, you sit at a counter and watch the sushi go by on a conveyor belt. When you see something you want, you take it, eat it, and stack up your empty plates. Then, at the end, your bill is calculated based on the number and color of those plates. It's simple, fun, and a whole lot cheaper than going to a regular sushi restaurant. That said, Genki is a touch on the expensive side for kaitenzushi, with most of the fish based sushi costing $2.80 or more, with the total price range per plate going from $1.50 to a little under $5. I should probably mention that, due to its location, the Genki Sushi in Ala Moana can be a little tricky to find if you don't check the mall directory.
Overall, Genki is a fun and authentic way to get quality sushi. It may not be quite a cheap as similar restaurants in Japan, but it's a bargain compared to any normal sushi restaurant and features a pretty extensive selection. Whether you already love kaitenzushi or have yet to experience it, I highly recommend giving Genki a try.

Honolulu has a farmers' market going on somewhere nearly every day of the week. There's two reasons to visit the farmers' markets here. The first is, of course, to get produce. Farmers markets often have better prices and a better selection of locally grown fruits and vegetables than most of the grocery stores. The second reason is to eat. Many of the farmers' markets have quite a lot of stalls selling meals and snacks. The prices are actually close to what you'd pay in an average restaurant (around $8 - $12 for an entree, depending what you get), but the food is good and some of it is rather unique. One of the better farmers' markets takes place every Wednesday evening at Blaisdell, which is a couple of miles west and a bit north of Waikiki (more or less behind the Ward Center shopping area). I picked up a pineapple and, out of curiosity, some brown fruit I'm unfamiliar with (unless you're an expert on tropical fruits, you're bound to run into some you don't recognize in Hawaii). There were a lot of interesting food stalls and I had a tough time deciding what to get. I eventually settled on duck quesadillas with a mango and dragon fruit sauce (yes, you read that right). It was quite good (I actually prefer duck to chicken and possibly even turkey) and I even liked the sauce, which surprised me since I've not overly fond of mangos or dragon fruit. I also got an OnoPop while I was there. OnoPops are a local popsicle brand that you can find at various stores and restaurants in addition to some farmers' markets. What's so special about popsicles? The flavors. OnoPops have a lot of strange ones such as pickled green mango and ume Thai basil, just to name a couple. Some of the combinations make for rather strange textures and whether or not half of them taste good is up for debate, but they're certainly interesting to try. I decided to play it fairly safe and got orange cinnamon, which was pretty good. Anyway, the farmers' market was definitely worth the walk and I'm planning to go back next week (and probably the following week, for that matter) to try out more of the food stalls.

Random Hawaii Comment: The Wind in Your Hair
Honolulu seems to have a constant breeze going on. Sometimes it's pretty gentle and others it's quite strong. In general, it's rather nice and helps keep you from getting too hot, though it can be a little annoying when swimming. One thing to keep in mind though is that, unless you wear a hat or have an extremely wind resistant hair style, your hair is going to take on a rather windswept look for your entire stay.

As part of my continued goal of walking around various parts of Honolulu, I decided to spend some time today checking out the Ward Center. As previously mentioned, it's a shopping center a bit to the west of the Ala Moana mall. It was about a mile and a half walk for me (here's a nice flower I saw on the way), though all the busses and tolleys pass it so there's no need to walk if you don't want to. It's split across four groups of buildings and mostly outdoors. There's an assortment of stores (nice clothing, mainly), a large movie theater, and some restaurants. It's doesn't have anywhere near the variety that Ala Moana does, but it's a lot less crowded, has the movie theater (which Ala Moana doesn't) and has a few interesting restaurants (including a Genki Sushi that's considerably less busy than the Ala Moana one). There's also a nice comic book store (American, not Japanese) and Marukai Market, the best Japanese grocery store around. Shirokiya doesn't have much of a grocery selection (it's better for bento and other premade food) and Ninjiya isn't nearly as big. Marukai also carries a lot of the things you'd find at a Japanese 100 yen store (though for a bit more than that) and has pretty good prices on a lot of food and other items if you're willing to buy a membership card (which, as they're only $15 for a year, will pay for itself in one or two decent shopping trips). I'd say it's got the best selection of Japanese food I've seen in the US, though it doesn't quite have everything you can find at a good grocery store in Japan.

Restaurant Review: zpizza
Type: Pizza
Location: Ward Center
zpizza is a bit more high class than your typical pizza place. Not because of the decor, but the pizza itself. All their ingredients are organic and their cheese is made from the milk of grass fed cows. So it's a bit more healthy than your typical pizza. It's also a bit more expensive. A small pizza (10", enough for one or two people, depending how much they can eat) tends to run $12 - $13 while an extra large (18") is around twice that. They also features some of the most unusual specialty pizzas I've seen outside of Japan like the Thai pizza (which includes peanut sauce, spicy chicken, and bean sprouts, among other things) and the chicken curry and yam pizza (which, in addition to those two ingredients, also has raisins and mango chutney). I'm pretty picky when it comes to pizza, a trait I got from my dad (who's from New York) and I think the best way to really judge a pizza place is by their standard cheese pizza. That said, I decided to be adventurous and try something different. I settled on the pear and gorgonzola pizza. It had mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese with thyme and pear slices on a cracker thin crust. A little strange, yeah. But it was actually pretty good. The pizza was well made and pear makes a surprisingly decent pizza topping (seeing as I like pineapple pizza, I suppose that shouldn't surprise me too much). I don't know whether or not I'll make it back there this trip, but I have to admit that I'm interested in trying out some of their other strange pizzas.
Overall, you're not going to find many pizza places (in Hawaii or elsewhere) with all organic ingredients which, for some people, is a huge plus. Though if you don't care about that, zpizza's high prices could be be a real turn off. But, if you're willing to pay for them, their pizzas are high quality, well made, and features some very interesting toppings, which makes them worth checking out.
As a side note, you don't need to come to Honolulu to try zpizza, they've actually got a handful of other locations scattered across the US, so there may be one near you.

I've mentioned in the past that Honolulu has a large Asian influence. It also has a Chinatown, which I briefly mentioned last time I was here. There was some sort of block party going on there this evening so I decided this would be as good day to head over there. Chinatown is near downtown Honolulu and, as such little far away from the Waikiki area, so I decided to give the bus system a try. Honolulu has a pretty extensive bus system. It's $2.50 for a ride (unless you buy a pass) and a ticket allows you one transfer within two hours or so of your first ride (so you can even use one ticket for a round trip if you're quick). Conveniently, the whole system is plugged into Google maps so if you do a route search by public transit it'll tell you everything you need to know.
But anyway, Chinatown. If you've ever been to a Chinatown you should know what to expect. A bit grungy with Chinese writing everywhere and lots of grocery stores, medicine shops, and restaurants. It's not especially scenic but there are some reasons to stop by. For one thing, it's the best part of the city to get smoothies, bubble tea, and the like. There's a number of shops and stalls, just about all of which make their drinks fresh from scratch (as evidenced by the piles of fruit they have around). They've got a much larger selection than any place I've seen around Waikiki or Ala Moana (if it's tropical and can be juiced or blended you can probably get it in a drink) and, even better, they tend to be a dollar or two cheaper than anywhere else than the city. It's also the best place for cheap local produce (though the stuff at some of the stores is a little old so take a close look before you buy). I got a pineapple, bananas, honeydew, and a few mountain apples (a odd pinkish red fruit that I wasn't familiar with; they taste sort of like a flowery apple, they're not bad raw but not all that amazing either). As a note, some of the grocery stores and stalls don't stay open all that late so the morning or early afternoon is the best time to visit.
The block party had a bunch of stalls (drinks, food, and a few other assorted things) but, oddly enough, nothing really Chinese. So I decided to just eat in a restaurant. Dim sum (getting a whole bunch of cheap appetizers) is pretty popular around here, but I wasn't really in the mood so I decided to look for something else. It was kind of hard to tell which places are good just by looking so I pulled up Yelp on my phone and checked what was nearby.

Restaurant Review: Ken Fong's Restaurant
Type: Chinese
Location: Chinatown
Ken Fong's is a family run, hole in the wall restaurant in Chinatown. It's old and not a place to go for the decor or atmosphere. Fortunately, the food makes up for it. The menu is huge, containing a wide variety of traditional Chinese foods, all of which are really cheap. Nearly everything is in the $6 - $8 dollar range, you get a free pot of tea with your meal, and the service is good. I got roast duck and noodle soup. The size caught me off guard. There was half a duck in there, when most places I've seen charge $12 - $16 for a quarter. Though it wasn't anything fancy, the soup was good and the duck was cooked perfectly. No complaints what so ever.
Overall, Ken Fong's isn't anything to look at. However, if you can go without the flashy decor and fancy dishes of your fancier Chinese restaurants, you'll find great food for a great price.

After all the hiking and swimming yesterday I wanted to take it easy and get some work done so, other than a trip to a nearby restaurant, I didn't really do anything worth writing about.

Restaurant Review: Phuket Thai
Type: Thai
Location: Mccully Shopping Center and Ward Center
Let's leave all jokes about Phuket Thai's name aside. It's a nice Thai restaurant, slightly fancy, and pretty popular. The one on Mccully, at least, can easily fill up during meal times. The menu covers all your main Thai foods. Soups, noodles, curry, etc., they're all there. They've got a collection of seafood specialties as well, some using local catch of the day fish (which can get a little expensive). While the food costs a bit more than at my favorite Thai place back in Phoenix, the prices aren't too bad, with your average entree going for around $11. What might not be immediately clear, however, is that rice isn't included with your meal, it costs an extra $2. And, as a lot of Thai dishes are really made to be eaten with rice, things are a little more expensive than they first seem. Thai curry is a favorite of mine and, in my opinion, the best thing to judge a Thai restaurant by. I got red curry with beef (as a note, the picture is only about 2/3 of my meal). Although the combination of vegetables wasn't my favorite, the curry was excellent (even the eggplant, which I normally don't like), as was their Thai tea.
Overall, while having to pay extra for rice is a bit annoying (and makes things a little more expensive than you first think), if you're looking for good Thai food Phuket Thai is worth a visit. As a note, if you go to the Mccully location, skip the Thai tea and the dessert and swing by Coffee or Tea? after your meal instead, they've got a better selection of both for lower prices.

The weather on Monday and Tuesday wasn't all that great (very cloudy, very windy, and some intermittent rain) so I mostly just hung around and got a lot of work done. But I do have a little bit to write about...

Restaurant Review: Kiwami Ramen
Type: Japanese
Location: Waikiki, Waikiki Shopping Center Food Court
Due to the heavy Japanese influence in Honolulu, and the high number of Japanese tourists, there are quite a lot of Japanese style ramen restaurants around. By Japanese style, I mean that, aside from the authentic food, they're fast, relatively cheap, and aren't much for ambience (you'll usually be eating at a counter with everyone else). Kiwami Ramen fits that description pretty well, though it's a bit more English friendly than some of the others and has a fairly good variety of broths, noodles, and toppings. I got their shoyu (soy sauce based) ao ramen which included chicken, menma (a type of bamboo that's a common ramen topping), and a couple other vegetables. I'll admit that, despite my time in Japan, I'm not an expert on all the subtle differences in flavoring and quality between different types of ramen. But I will say that the ramen at Kiwami was quite good. The broth had a nice flavor and the noodles and toppings were cooked just enough (not too firm or too soft). At $8 - $9 a bowl, it's not a bad price although, after living in Japan, I'm used to ramen being a bit cheaper.
Overall, while I'm no ramen expert, Kiwami Ramen is a good and authentic place to get a bowl. It provides a very Japanese ramen experience with an English friendly staff and menu all for a price that, while not quite a bargain, is perfectly reasonable.

Restaurant Review: Hu-la-la's
Type: Ice Cream
Location: Waikiki, International Market Place Food Court
At first glance, there isn't anything particularly special about Hu-la-la's. But, according to the a dining magazine I read, it has one of the largest selections of Hawaii's famous Roselani ice cream to be found. I can't speak for other ice cream stands, but they do have quite a lot of flavors available, many of which are ones you'll only find in Hawaii (like lychee sherbet and banana macadamia nut crunch). I got pineapple coconut and banana macadamia nut crunch. Both flavors were very good and you could tell they'd used real fruit and nuts when making them. Roselani ice cream struck me as a bit creamier than Tropical Dreams (another local ice cream that I talked about before), though I'd have to go to both places another time or two if I wanted to seriously compare them. Hu-la-la's prices are fairly average, or maybe a touch on the high side if anything.
Overall, there are several good places for ice cream in and around Waikiki and Hu-la-la's isn't one of the cheapest (though it's not horribly expensive either), but if you're looking for Roselani ice cream, you'll be hard pressed to find a better selection of flavors anywhere else.

While still a bit cloudy, the weather had improved considerably so I finally made another trip down to the beach. As a note, from the Hilton on the extreme west end of Waikiki Beach until around the Royal Hawaiian or so, there's a lot of rocks under the water. That's not so much of a problem if you've got a surfboard or floatation device of some kind. Swimming isn't too bad either, so long as you watch where you're going (some of those rocks are pretty big), but it's not much fun if you just want to play around in the water. If you head far enough east (around where Kalakaua starts running right along the beach) you can avoid the rocks and find some better waves as well. That said, the beach also tends to be more crowded down there and, if you're not careful, you could easily get hit by someone on a surfboard. Of course, if you don't care about the water and just want to lay out in the sun, anywhere is fine.
Other than the beach time, I got some work down and then walked to Blaisdell for the farmers' market. I got another OnoPop (lilikoi cheesecake this time) and some guava smoked chicken for supper. Naturally, I also picked up a bit more produce (I'm going through fruit pretty quickly). So, while I didn't do anything particularly special, I think I did a good job taking advantage of being in Hawaii.

Random Hawaii Comment: The Cost of Living
Hawaii has one of the highest costs of living of anywhere in the US. Property and rent is certainly on the expensive side (though that shouldn't matter if you're here on vacation) and gas is much higher than it was in Colorado or Florida. And, while local produce is pretty cheap, most other food at grocery stores comes at a bit of a premium. Even basics like eggs and butter are a decent bit more expensive than on the mainland. It's understandable, considering transportation costs, but annoying none the less. Stuff with a MSRP, however, (like books and electronics) seems unaffected. As a note, despite higher prices, the sales tax here is rather low, so that's something.

Last time I was here, I went to a store called Toys 'n Joys which had a bunch of anime related items and video games. I mentioned it in my travelogue then. They've got a fairly large, if random, selection of figurines, wall scrolls, and other anime/manga/game related items, some of which are actually rather rare even in Japan. Prices aren't bad, though you're not going to find many bargains. They've got a lot of DVDs and music CDs too, unfortunately most of them are bootlegs. Probably the best part is their video game selection. They've got a lot (both new and used) including a lot of rather hard to find older games, most of which are in very good condition, and a bit better priced than the figurines. They have a number of import games from Japan as well, though they're on the expensive side. While it's got nothing on shops in Japan, of course, if you're into Japanese anime, manga, and/or games and you're in Honolulu, it's worth a trip. It's on Waialae Ave near the intersection with 12th Ave, BTW.
I wanted to head down there at some point during this trip and today seemed like a good day for it. According to Google Maps, it was about two and a half miles away. I could have taken a bus, but decided to get some exercise and sun and walk there instead. Not that I haven't been getting plenty of both, I don't think I've walked this much since the last time I was in Japan. Anyway, Honolulu looks fairly ordinary when you get away from the more touristy areas, though there are some nice views here and there.
It wasn't a bad walk and it gave me a chance to explore the area around the store a bit. Aside from Toys 'n Joys, there's two comic book stores in the area (both of which have decent selections of manga as well) and a bunch of restaurants, including two Thai, a Korean, and a Japanese (all highly rated on Yelp) and a couple of somewhat out of place French pastry shops. Since I'm planning something Japanese for tomorrow, and I can never get enough Thai curry, I stopped for lunch at one of the Thai restaurants.

Restaurant Review: To Thai For
Type: Thai
Location: Waialae Ave near the intersection with 12th Ave
What is it with Thai restaurants here and puns? That aside, despite the plain exterior, To Thai For's interior is spacious and attractive, if not especially fancy. It's family run and the menu covers all the Thai staples like curries, noodles, and soups. There are also a couple of more unusual items on there, like chicken wings. I got the home style curry with beef, which was described as a central Thai curry, as opposed to the usual red, yellow, green, and massaman varieties (which were also on the menu). It was very good (a bit of a cross between green and yellow curries), and loaded with vegetables and meat. There were some kaffir lime leaves in there as well, which added a nice flavor to the curry. If you're not familiar with them I'll note that, like bay leaves, they're not meant to be eaten. The service was good and the prices were pretty typical (my curry cost $12). They don't really have a lunch menu (prices seem to stay the same all day) but, unlike Phuket Thai, the rice is included with the curry so you'll save some money there. As a note, I found their medium to be a a bit on the hot side compared to a lot of other Thai places, so keep that in mind when ordering.
Overall, To Thai For is a nice, authentic, and family run restaurant. While it may not quite be "to die for", Thai food lovers won't be disappointed. If you're in the Waikiki area, there are other good Thai restaurants that are a bit closer (like Phuket Thai) but if you want to avoid the crowds, or just happen to be in the area, To Thai For is a great choice.

Other than a trip for lunch (see the restaurant review below), and a pause to take a nice panoramic photograph from the deck of the condo, I spent the day working until late evening, when I decided to head to Waikiki Beach to watch the sunset. At this time of year, the sun sets over a mountain, instead of over the ocean like in the winter (that whole thing about the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, not entirely consistent). Anyway, even if the sun isn't setting exactly over the ocean, it's still quite scenic. As a tip, there's a few places along Waikiki Beach were a finger of sorts juts out a ways into the ocean. They make good spots to watch the sunset, regardless of where it's setting. Since it was a Friday night, I hung out on the beach a bit longer afterwards and watched the fireworks as well (the Hilton has a short fireworks display every Friday night).

Restaurant Review: Chibo Okonomiyaki
Type: Japanese
Location: Waikiki, Third Floor of the Royal Hawaiian
Before talking about Chibo itself, I should probably give a quick explanation of okonomiyaki. It's a Japanese food sometimes referred to as Japanese pizza. Though, while it's round and has a sauce on top, it really doesn't have any relation to pizza. You start with a batter made from flour, cabbage, egg, ginger, onion, yam, and tempura batter. You add in some items of choice (often things like meat, seafood, or various vegetables), cook the entire thing on a flat grill, and top it with an ume (Japanese plum) sauce, bonito flakes, and maybe some mayonnaise (not exactly traditional, but Japanese people love mayonnaise).
Now back to the restaurant. I only ever had okonomiyaki once before. I'd been wanting to give it another try but okonomiyaki restaurants aren't nearly are common in Japan as some other types of Japanese food and Chibo is the only okonomiyaki restaurant I've ever seen in the US. Chibo also serves yakisoba noodles (pan fried soba with meat and veggies) and some other teppan yaki dishes (that's where they grill the food up for you at the table). They've got some recommended okonomiyaki and yakisoba combos or you can choose your own extra ingredients. I got an okonomiyaki with beef and assorted vegetables. Most teppan yaki restaurants I've been to make a bit of a show of cooking your meal, doing some fancy tricks and all that. The chiefs at Chibo didn't for me or the other groups sitting nearby. Maybe because I was there for lunch, or maybe because they're always like that. Nothing really wrong with the lack of a show, just thought I should point it out. Now that I've given okonomiyaki a second try, I think I can safely say that, while I don't dislike it, it's not one of my favorite Japanese foods. That said, the one I got was well made and the ingredients seemed to be of pretty high quality. And just because okonomiyaki isn't a favorite of mine doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. If you go to Chibo at lunch, you can get okonomiyaki or yakisoba with two add ins of your choice for around $13. Expect to pay about $5 more if you go for dinner.
Overall, while it may not be quite as showy as some teppan yaki restaurants, Chibo Okonomiyaki has good food, which is what really matters. And, when it comes down to it, you won't find many other restaurants in Hawaii, or anywhere in the US for that matter, which serve okonomiyaki.

I didn't do anything worth talking about on Saturday, but I did get a nice photo of a rainbow.
Moving on to Sunday, I'd heard about an art festival in the park on the east end of Waikiki so I headed down to take a look. The festival wasn't all that big or interesting but, since I was in the area, I figured I might as well check out the Honolulu Zoo. I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be larger and nicer than I expected. That said, I've been to a lot of zoos and it certainly doesn't stack up against the best of them either. There were all your typical zoo animals, monkeys, lions, zebras, lemurs, etc. In particular, they had an especially good collection of tropical birds and various kinds of turtles and tortoises. A couple of turtles were actually fighting (which, like everything else, they do very slowly). I passed by the same pen a little later and found that one of them had been flipped on its back. Makes sense, I guess. I mean, how else are turtles going to hurt each other? It flailed around helplessly for a while until a zoo keeper came to roll it over (and move the offending turtle to the other end of the pen).
After making a complete circuit of the zoo and seeing more animals (like this fennec fox), it was time for a late lunch. I was really thirsty as well and ended up in the International Market Place's food court to get a bubble drink so I decided I might as well eat there and try out a certain Hawaiian specialty I've never had before.

Restaurant Review: Blue Water Shrimp & Fish Market
Type: Fish and Seafood
Location: Waikiki, International Market Place Food Court
While Blue Water has a few different types of dishes on their menu, their specialty is poke. Poke, if you're not familiar with the term, is an Japanese inspired Hawaiian dish consisting of pieces of raw ahi (a type of tuna) mixed with sea salt, sesame oil, green onion, and a couple of other things to form a salad of sorts. In addition to the standard ahi poke, which is what I got, they also had salmon, shrimp, and oyster varieties. While this was my first time eating poke, I've had plenty of raw tuna so I can saw with confidence that the ahi at Blue Water was pretty good. Not super high grade, but fresh, clean, and without a strong fishy taste. The poke was quite good plain or when dipped in the wasabi and/or soy sauce I was given on the side. Though I did think that, since there's already sea salt on it, the soy sauce upped the salt content just a little too much. For $12, my poke came with a regular salad, a scoop of rice, and a small pineapple slice. The portions weren't huge, but the plate was large enough to make a decent lunch, or small dinner, out of and, considering the amount of the ahi, reasonably priced.
Overall, I haven't had poke anywhere else for comparison but the poke at Blue Water is made from good fresh ingredients and, considering the cost of fish, it's priced decently as well. I'm sure there are much fancier places to get poke, and I may try one sooner or later, but Blue Water is a perfectly good spot to get a plate.

It was raining intermittently both days so, other than a trip to the movie theater to see Brave, I just hung out and got some work done. But I do have some restaurant reviews.

Restaurant Review: Curry King
Type: Japanese
Location: Ward Center
Curry King is a little stall in the middle of Ward Center (I forgot to bring my camera with me that day, so no photos). Their specialty is Japanese curry, though they have some ramen and rice bowls on the menu as well. They advertise that they make everything fresh when you order and don't use any MSG (which is a rather common ingredient in Japanese curry), which is always a plus. I got the salmon katsu curry. Aside from rice and curry, it came with a large piece of breaded salmon, a salad, and some pickled gourd. The curry was good, if a touch sweeter than I'm used to, and the salmon katsu was excellent. I got a combo with the curry and a drink for about $7, and most of the items on the menu are also in the $7 - $9 range.
Overall, if you're looking for Japanese curry, Curry King is a good alternative to CoCo Curry House. Both have great curry at similarly low prices. CoCo has a larger menu and more locations (though none in Ward Center), while Curry King is probably a bit healthier and makes their katsu fresh to order. Unless you strongly prefer the taste of one over the other, I'd head for Curry King when you're in or around Ward Center and CoCo when you're elsewhere.

Restaurant Review: Menchie's Yogurt
Type: Yogurt
Location: Ward Center
Over the last few years, frozen yogurt places which combine a variety of yogurt flavors with various mix-ins have exploded in popularity across the US, and Hawaii is no exception (though the ice cream here gives it some tough competition). Menchie's is a local place, as opposed to a large chain, and was voted best yogurt in Honolulu by one of the newspapers. Most of the flavors they had when I was there were pretty typical, but there were a couple Hawaii specific ones. The selection of toppings was pretty extensive, especially when it came to dry items. They even had carob chips (a personal favorite that few yogurt places have). Their selection of fruit was a bit lacking though. Prices were typical for yogurt places, with the cost being based on the weight of your combination.
Overall, I've yet to find one a yogurt place that I'd rank significantly above the others I've tried here or anyway else but, if you're in the area, Menchie's is a good place to grab a snack or dessert.

Restaurant Review: Matsugen Soba
Type: Japanese
Location: Waikiki, Just off Kalakaua Ave on Beachwalk
I've already talked about an udon restaurant and a ramen restaurant. Well soba is the other major kind of Japanese noodle. They're kind of thin (though usually not as much as ramen) and made of buckwheat and can be eaten two ways, either warm in a bowl of broth with various other items (like udon) or cold with a bowl of broth or sauce on the side to dip them in. Matsugen is very authentic, complete with Japanese menu, Japanese speaking staff, and mostly Japanese customers. They don't have much on the menu besides soba, but they've got a lot of different kinds. I got kitsune soba (soba with green onions and tofu skin). My soba was just as good as what I've gotten in Japan though, at around $12, it's also more expensive than the average Japanese soba restaurant. Though Matsugen does make everything from scratch. They've even got a counter in the middle of the restaurant where they make the soba noodles, though I haven't been there at the right time to see it in use.
Overall, Honolulu is a great place if you're looking for authentic Japanese noodles. You've got Marukame for udon, Matsugen for soba, and a number of ramen restaurants all within a few blocks of each other and you really can't go wrong with any of them. Matsugen may be a bit more expensive than the others, but if you want great soba it's the place to go.

Restaurant Review: Paradise Flavors
Type: Ice Cream
Location: Waikiki, Kalakaua Ave
Paradise Flavors is similar to Cold Stone, so their ice cream is softer and creamier than Tropical Dreams' or Hul-la-la's and you can get various things mixed in. Though they also sell their ice cream plain (without mix-ins) and you can get two flavors in a cup (something I don't think Cold Stone does). Aside from the basics, they had quite a lot of tropical and unusual flavors. There were pineapple and macadamia nut, of course (you can't seem to have an Hawaiian ice cream parlor without them) but also haupia, ginger, lychee, honey dew, and more. I had a tough time choosing but eventually settled on pineapple and ginger. Both were great and it's rare that I find ginger ice cream anywhere (which is a shame since it's a great flavor). The price was comparable to Tropical Dreams' and a bit cheaper than Hu-la-la's though they're all close enough that it's not a big deal either way unless you're pinching pennies. If you're not in the mood for ice cream they also have smoothies, local ginger drinks (which are also popular at various area farmers' markets), and assorted other desserts so they do beat out the competition in terms of sheer variety.
Overall, Waikiki has no shortage of great ice cream parlors and I can now add Paradise Flavors to my list. I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than Tropical Dreams' or Hu-la-la's, but only because all three are equally good. Take your pick, you won't be disappointed.

Another day without too much to talk about. The weather cleared up on Wednesday so I hit the beach. I brought a boogie board with me (there's a couple in the condo) but, while I had gotten fairly decent with them at one point, that was years ago and, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't quite catch a wave. It actually looked easier with a surfboard... After that I headed to the Blaisdell farmers' market. I tried a kuki azuki OnoPop this time. It was a mix of azuki beans, satsumaimo (Japanese yams), and a few other things (peanuts and cookie dough, I think). Definitely the best one I've tried so far. I also got some things from a stall that advertised health food. Their menu was a big mix of things, I got Moroccan chicken and Cajun chicken, which were both pretty good, and they had a nice baklava as well.
I was hoping to do some hiking on Thursday but the rain returned so I spent nearly the entire day working. By evening I really needed a break so I walked over to Ala Moana and browsed through Bookoff for a bit (found a good AKB48 album) before grabbing supper at the food court (along with a couple taiyaki from Shirokiya). Hopefully I'll have better weather for the next few days... But hey, I got a nice photo on the walk back.

Restaurant Review: Chinatown Express
Type: Chinese
Location: Ala Moana Food Court
Chinatown Express is in many ways like most of your fast food Chinese places. You can get a combo plate with rice or noodles and anywhere between one and four items (with prices ranging from $7 - $10.50 depending on how many you get), just like at a Panda Express or somewhere similar. Actually, there is a Panda Express right nearby, but Chinatown Express is the better choice. For one thing, they've got a much larger selection of main courses than any other Chinese cafeteria type restaurant I've seen, some of which are moderately unusual. I got beef with bitter melon (which I'd never had before and quite lives up to its name) and an interesting vegetable and tofu mix based on what Shaolin monks used to eat. If the combo plates don't interest you, they've got a few fancier things you can order and they also have a whole separate counter dedicated to various dim sum items like steamed buns, dumplings, and assorted sweets (which I'd gotten a few random things from last week) for a dollar or two each. All in all, the selection is pretty hard to beat. That said, it's still Chinese fast food so expect most of the combo plate items to be a bit on the greasy side. If you don't mind that though, it's fairly good and, while their steamed buns can't compete with the ones I make, the dim sum counter is pretty awesome.
Overall, if you don't like Chinese fast food, Chinatown Express probably won't change your mind, though you may still want to grab some steamed buns or other sweets when you're passing by. I should also note that there's a much fancier and more expensive Chinese restaurant in a different part of Ala Moana. But if you just want some fast and cheap Chinese food or a steamed bun to munch on, Chinatown Express's low prices and large selection make it hard to beat.

Diamond Head Crater, once a Hawaiian holy place and then a military base, is now one of Oahu's biggest tourist attractions. I hiked up it last time I was here but it ended up raining that day and the clouds obscured the view so I'd been wanting to go back on a day with better weather. While the tourist trolleys that the Japanese tourists ride everywhere go right up to the trail, the regular busses drop you off at the entrance to the park. From there, you need to walk half a mile into the crater to get to the trail head. It's not hard, and the walk in fee is cheaper than the drive in one, but it's good to keep in mind if you're limited to public transportation.
The trail itself isn't especially difficult but it's mostly up hill. I'm a pretty experienced hiker and, despite getting stuck behind slower groups here and there, I kept up a fairly good pace and didn't really stop except to take some pictures so I made it to the top pretty quickly (I wasn't timing myself, but I know it was under half a hour), though most people were taking a much slower pace. And there were a lot of people. When you get near the top you go through a long tunnel after which the path splits, giving you the option of a more strenuous route through an old bunker or an easier route around the side. The bunker is fun, though the stair are steeper and you have to crouch a bit at the end. Either way, once you get to the top you'll find great views of both the crater and Honolulu. I spent a while admiring the view before heading back down, but still managed to make it back to the bus stop before my free transfer expired, giving my trip a total cost of $3.50 ($2.50 for one bus ticket and $1 for the hike).
After that it was back to work until the evening, when I headed out to get some food and watch the sunset on Waikiki, followed by the Hilton's weekly fireworks show.

Restaurant Review: Grylt
Type: American
Location: Waikiki, Waikiki Shopping Center Food Court, Ala Moana Food Court (coming soon)
Grylt is all about customizing your combo plate. You start by choosing between a couple of different types of rice and mashed potatoes, then several different salads, then meat (beef, chicken, pork, or fish), then a sauce. Their advertisements are big on the fresh and healthy aspects of their food. Well, it was fresh and, considering the ingredients, seems relatively healthy despite it not being an "official" health food restaurant. I had mashed potatoes, a salad composed primarily of grilled onions and an entire bunch of lettuce, and steak with some sort of garlic sauce. The price varies a bit depending on which meat you get but mine cost a little under $11. A touch high for a food court maybe, but the quality of the meat is higher than what most food court places have so it evens out. The salad and potatoes were both very good and the steak was well prepared and high quality. My one complaint is that you can't choose how your meat is cooked, they only do it one way. For steak, that way is medium rare, which I'm not a big fan of (I prefer my meat well down), but that's a fairly minor issue.
Overall, if you're looking for quick and affordable American food, Grylt's quality is far above that of the fast food chains scattered around Waikiki. It's not on the level of a true steak house, but considering the speed and price, it makes for a fairly good alternative.

I didn't do anything worth writing about on Saturday but I heard that they were having an Independence Day parade this evening at Waikiki so that, and some grocery shopping, became the main events of the day.
My luck with restaurants was a bit problematic though. Since I was low on food, I decided to go out from breakfast for a change but the place had such a long line that I changed my mind (I'll get up early and beat the crowds another day). After that it was work, shopping, then more work. Eventually I decided to go out for supper before the parade so I walked over to a Korean place that's on my list of restaurants to try only to find out that they're closed for the holidays. Thanks to that, I was running a bit late so I wound up getting something quick at Waikiki so I could eat while watching the parade, but more on that in a minute.
The parade wasn't as long as the Pan Pacific or King Kamehameha parades I saw a few weeks back, and it was a bit faster moving as well. There were various local politicians in fancy cars, bands and veterans from different military branches, emergency services personnel, and a few other random groups. The coast guard actually brought an entire boat with them, which was kinda cool. While the parade wasn't as fancy as the others I've seen here, the quicker pace was nice and it's good to give some recognition to the troops and veterans.

Restaurant Review: Hula Dog
Type: Hot Dogs
Location: Waikiki, On Kuhio at the very back of the International Market Place
You may be wondering why I'm reviewing something boring like a hot dog place but Hula Dog is anything but ordinary. You start by choosing between a polish dog and a veggie dog (I got the veggie, since they didn't have all beef as an option), then pick your bun, choose how spicy you want your garlic lemon sauce to be (from mild to really hot), pick from one of several tropical fruit based relishes (pineapple, coconut, papaya, etc.), and then finish it off with a more ordinary condiment (or perhaps a not so ordinary one like Hawaiian fruit mustard). I ended up with a veggie dog in a whole wheat bun with mild lemon garlic sauce, pineapple relish, and guava mustard. I was doing this more for the experience than anything else and wasn't too sure how it would turn out but, surprisingly enough, it tasted pretty good. And it was certainly different than any hot dog I've had before. A Hula Dog, however you make it, costs a bit under $7 and, while not a foot long, is still on the large side. For another $3, you can get some freshly squeezed lemonade to go with it. And when they say freshly squeezed, they mean it. The girl behind the counter actually squeezed the lemons and mixed the water, juice, and sugar together by hand when I ordered. I got my lemonade guava flavored, which was very good, and hey, how often do you find fresh handmade lemonade?
Overall, while going out for a hot dog may sound rather boring, Hula Dog's unique toppings and handmade lemonade make it fun and ensure that your dog will be far different than what you've come to expect. If you're looking for a cheap meal or fairly substantial snack on Waikiki, going out for a hot dog can actually be a great choice.

Restaurant Review: Crepes No Kai Oi
Type: Crepes
Location: Kailua
There are a few places around Waikiki that make Japanese crepes, which are quite good in their own right, but Crepes No Kai Oi is all about classic European style crepes. They've got a large selection of both sweet and savory crepes, either of which you can easily make a light meal of. My crepe was filled with macadamia nuts and coconut cream and it was awesome. It's not easy to make a good crepe, especially the traditional European kind, but this one was perfectly cooked, tasted great, and managed to fit quite a lot of nuts inside. It wasn't even very expensive (most of their crepes are in the $6.50 - $8.00 range).
Overall, while decent crepe stands aren't too hard to find in Honolulu, Crepes No Kai Oi is on an entirely different level. Whether you want something sweet or more substantial, if you're in Kailua you really should pay them a visit.

Just because I went to Aloha Tower's slightly early Independence Day celebration yesterday was no reason not to go to Ala Moana's today, especially since it's so close by. So I planned to spend most of the day working and then head out in time for the show. I was going to go out for lunch but some things ran late so I ended up throwing together something quick and going out for supper instead. I had a nice meal (review below) and then walked to Ala Moana Park (right across the street from the Ala Moana mall) to find a good place to watch the fireworks. While there were a lot of people watching fireworks at Aloha Tower, this was clearly the more popular show. The park was packed. A lot of the people had pavilions and grills set up and looked to have been there most of the day. There wasn't any entertainment going on in the park itself though. The mall had something running for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but it didn't sound all the interesting and I was busy working so I skipped it.
Despite the crowds, I didn't have any trouble finding a good spot and the fireworks show itself was excellent. They were launched from the end of the park, rather than over the ocean, but I was right underneath them and the show was at least twice as long as Aloha Tower's. Overall, I'd say it's one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen and a great way to close Independence Day.

Restaurant Review: Sushisan
Type: Sushi
Location: Right behind Ala Moana mall on Kapiolani
Sushisan is a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant, much like Genki Sushi. The sushi goes around on the conveyor belt and you grab the plates you want. And, in a nod to authenticity, it even has hot water faucets built into the bar to make green tea with, something that practically all kaitenzushi restaurants have in Japan, but that I've never seen in the US before (though, unfortunately, Sushisan gives you teabags rather than matcha powder). But what sets Sushisan apart is its pricing. Kaitenzushi restaurants normally charge by the plate (with different color plates costing different amounts). Sushisan, however, just charges a flat rate. For $21 ($18 for lunch on weekdays), you can eat all the sushi the want. There are a handful of items that cost extra, but you have to special order them so there's no need to worry about accidentally increasing your bill. The sushi is similar in quality to Genki and other US kaitenzushi places (fairly good, though certainly not a match for the ones in Japan). Their selection isn't quite as good as Genki's (especially if you like vegetable based sushi) but they've got the basics covered along with a few fancier items. And this is the first time in ages that I've been able to eat my fill at a sushi restaurant, which is a huge plus.
Overall, whether or not you should go to Sushisan as opposed to another kaitenzushi restaurant really comes down to how much sushi you eat. If you're only going to have a few plates, you're better off at Genki. But, depending on the type of sushi you get, once you hit seven to ten plates, Sushisan starts to become a lot more cost effective. If you want a lot of sushi, it really is the place to go.

I really wanted to finish the work on my books today, so I didn't plan anything too ambitious. Instead, I went out for lunch and ended up turning it into a bit of a walk around a part of the city I hadn't been through yet. Along the way I found a large Safeway (would have been nice to know it was so close a couple of weeks ago) and spotted a really cool church built to look like a Japanese castle. After that it was back to work for what turned into a very productive, if not especially exciting, day.

Restaurant Review: Honolulu Burger Company
Type: Hamburger
Location: Beretania St., about half way between Piikoi St. and Keeaumoku St.
Unless you're going to Safeway, Honolulu Burger Company is a bit out of the way. However, they're one of the few places you can find grass fed Hawaiian beef. They're got a number of rather interesting burgers (kimchee burger, anyone?) and fries (like truffle fries) on the menu, in addition to more standard types. I decided to get something normal for a change and settled for a simple cheese burger and fries. While not as good as my favorite burger restaurants on the mainland (Smashburger, Red Robin, etc.), Honolulu Burger Company easily beats out both the usual fast food chains and the previously reviewed Mahaloha Burger in the taste department. Though, at $8 for a basic cheeseburger and over $9 for some of their more unique burgers, they're the most expensive of the bunch. The restaurant is also rather small so, you may have to wait a bit for a table if you're dining in.
Overall, with local grass fed beef and some interesting special burgers, Honolulu burger company is one of the best places to go in Honolulu for a hamburger, though its slightly higher prices and out of the way location are definite drawbacks.

Nordstrom Gelato Bar
Type: Geleto
Location: Ala Moana, just outside of Nordstrom's
I've already reviewed three excellent ice cream parlors on Waikiki, but want if you want a dessert while you're at Ala Moana? They may not have any local ice cream there, but you can swing by the Nordstrom Gelato Bar to get some locally made La Geletaria gelato instead. The selection of flavors wasn't huge, and none of them were especially unusual (not for Hawaii, anyway), but at less than $5 for two scoops, the price isn't bad and it tastes great. I got macadamia nut and pineapple sorbet (which, as you're probably realized, are my go to flavors for Hawaiian ice cream), both of which were excellent.
Overall, unlike Waikiki, Ala Moana doesn't have much to offer when it comes to ice cream. But with Nordstrom's Gelato Bar (and the wide variety of Japanese sweets in Shirokiya, for that matter), you really won't mind.

With my fantasy trilogy about to go live on Kindle, I decided one more day of work was in order to get everything ready. Though, since I wasn't going anywhere, I figured I could at least eat at a restaurant that would require a bit of a wait. I snapped a nice picture of the rowboats in the nearby canal too. Team rowing is pretty popular there.

Restaurant Review: Eggs 'n Things
Type: Breakfast
Location: Waikiki, Saratoga Rd. just off Kalakkaua and Kalakaua near the Duke statue
Eggs 'n Things is a rather famous breakfast spot (though it's also open for lunch and the Saratoga location is open for dinner as well). As such, it tends to have moderate to long wait times, though you might be able to avoid them if you get there early enough. Egg 'n Things is best known for its pancakes though they also have waffles, french toast, omelets, and all the usual breakfast foods. I got the pineapple pancakes which, aside from being filled with fresh pineapple chunks, they were also sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts and come with a selection of fruit flavored syrups. The pancakes were awesome. Warm, soft, and with lots and lots of pineapple. They went especially well with the coconut syrup. They were also on the expensive side for breakfast, at just under $12.
Overall, Eggs 'n Things is not a place if you're looking for a fast and/or cheap breakfast (or other meal), but the food is worth both the wait and the price. I recommend stopping by for at least one meal while you're in Honolulu.

When looking up some things online Friday evening, I saw a notice about the Mo'ili'li Summer Festival, a Japanese bon festival, taking place near the Japanese Cultural Center. FYI: bon festivals are summer festivals that take place across Japan, so named began they're often scheduled in or near the obon season (obon is a Japanese holiday when people honor their deceased ancestors). This festival started in mid-afternoon and went until 10:30 at night though I arrived shortly before sunset. It wasn't all that big, but it was packed. There were a few food stands, some things for kids, and a continuous series of bon dances made up of a mix of people who knew what they were doing and a bunch of were just trying to follow along. There wasn't a whole lot to do but I picked up some andagi (fried dough balls) and oddly flavored macaroons (an ume and a ginger) to snack on and watched the dancing for a while, so that was fun.
There were some good looking restaurants in the general area (for future reference) but I had snacked enough that I didn't want a full meal so I decided to try out something else I'd heard was nearby...

Restaurant Review: Bubbie's Homemade Ice Cream
Type: Ice Cream
Location: University Ave
Hawaii certainly has no shortage of local ice cream brands. While Bubbie's is a bit off the beaten path, you can actually find a number of places in Waikiki that sell their mochi ice cream (bite sized balls of ice cream surrounded by mochi). But if you want to get the best price, or get an actual cup or cone of ice cream, you'll need to head to their parlor. Note that while the official address is University Ave, it's actually closer to the corner of Coyne and Kaialiu and I spent a little while walking in circles trying to find it. Although Bubbie's has apparently gotten a good bit of attention across the country, their parlor is a nice little old fashioned place with a lot of charm and reasonable prices. Speaking of which, if you just get a cone or a cup (as opposed to something fancy), the price is based on the weight of your ice cream. While they have their normal scoop size, the sign says that they'll scoop as much or as little as you want, so feel free to customize. At the normal size, my two scoop waffle cone cost a little under $5. The mochi balls, BTW, are $1 each (a good fifty cents to a dollar cheaper than anywhere else I've seen them) and come in a wide variety of standard ice cream and tropical fruit flavors, along with a couple of odd Asian ones (like sakura). As previously mentioned, I got a cone since you can only do that at the parlor itself while the mochi balls are pretty easy to find elsewhere. The available flavors change fairly often and there wasn't anything too strange available when I was there. Plus I've been getting macadamia nut and pineapple so often that I wanted something different so I ended up with green tea and root beer (not strange perhaps, but not an ice cream flavor I'd ever seen before either). They were both very good. The texture was on the soft side (not quite soft serve, but fairly close) and very creamy, making for yet another excellent Hawaiian ice cream.
Overall, Honolulu is a pretty amazing city for ice cream lovers and Bubbie's is another parlor that won't disappoint. It's a bit out of the way, compared to the ice cream parlors I've review in Waikiki, but if you're in the area or want to get the best possible price on their mochi ice cream, it's well worth a visit.

A couple of things came up that I needed to take care of and, after my big push last week to get The Verities Silex trilogy up on Kindle, I wanted to take it easy for a little while. Since I had to go to the post office, and the nearest one is in Ala Moana, I decided to get lunch at a restaurant there I've been wanting to try. Other than that, I went to the beach for a while and just relaxed for the rest of the day.
On a side note, I stumbled across a nice little arcade on the fourth floor of Ala Moana (it's very easy to miss) which is mostly Japanese fighting and music games, so that was a fun diversion.

Restaurant Review: Jade Dynasty
Type: Chinese
Location: Ala Moana
Jade Dynasty is one of the fancier restaurants in Ala Moana. While they have a regular menu, the focus is on their large dim sum menu. If you're not familiar with the term, dim sum involves getting a number of smaller dishes to sample rather than a single large main course. Dim sum is pretty popular at Chinese restaurants in Honolulu, which is a change from the ones I'm used to back on the mainland, which tend to either have ordinary menus or buffets. After entering Jade Dynasty, I was soon greeted by the extremely friendly staff (the service was excellent), shown to a table, and given a dim sum menu and a pot of tea. Dim sum is really best suited for a group so you can order a whole lot of items and share them. That said, it still can make for a pretty good meal for one. I got three dishes, roast duck, some sort of fried taro dumplings, and mango mochi. While I'm not overly fond of taro (I figured that, being in Hawaii and all, I really should eat at least something with it), all these dishes were very good. The duck was cooked perfectly (crisp on the outside, soft on the inside), the taro was good for taro and not greasy, and the mango mochi were soft, creamy, and generally delicious. When it comes to price, Jade Dynasty isn't too bad. While the main courses on their menu run from the mid teens to twenties, the dim sum ranges from $2.50 - $8, with the majority being on the lower end of the scale, so you can get quite a lot of food for your money.
Overall, Jade Dynasty is a great place to go for dim sum. The menu is large and varied, the food is good and affordable, and the staff is very friendly and attentive. They were ranked as one of the best Chinese restaurants in Honolulu and I can see why.

I visited the Dole Plantation when I was here in the winter but, due to the weather, wasn't able to actually do much there and I've been wanting to go back for their pineapple maze, which has the record for world's largest maze. Getting there by bus from Ala Moana is pretty easy, though it's also rather time consuming. With the bus routes and all the stops, it takes a good hour and forty-five minutes or so. But I was prepared and brought my 3DS along for the ride so it wasn't too bad.
While Hawaii doesn't produce nearly as much of the world's pineapple crop as it used it, Dole still has a fairly big operation here. The plantation has a few different attractions but I was mainly there for the maze so that's where I headed first. As a note, it's called the pineapple maze because it's shaped like a pineapple. It's not made out of pineapple plants, which are pointy and not especially tall. Unlike some mazes, the challenge isn't finding the exit but rather finding the eight stations scattered throughout the maze to complete the card you're given at the entrance. Some of them are pretty well hidden and there are a lot of twists and turns and dead ends to contend with, especially if you don't cheat and squeeze through the gaps in some of the walls. With a quick pace, some very thorough searching, and a bit of luck, I managed to finish in just under an hour. It was fun, though not a match for The Amazing Maize Maze in Pennsylvania, which I used to go to every year when visiting my grandparents. Speaking of which, while the pineapple maze is pretty big, I really can't believe it's bigger than some of the corn mazes I've visited. Maybe they don't count since they're temporary?
Anyway, since it was only a few dollars more, I'd gotten a combo ticket for both the maze and the garden tour. But I wanted to take a quick break so I headed inside the marketplace. While they've got a wide variety of Dole, pineapple, and general Hawaiian themed goods, along with a restaurant, I decided to skip lunch and just get some Dole Whip (a pineapple based soft soft serve of sorts). You can get your Dole Whip in a lot of different ways, and I chose a float which consisted of a large cup filled with Dole Whip and pineapple juice. I'm probably going to be absolutely sick of pineapple by the time I leave Hawaii, but for now I still love it. As a note, you don't have to go the Dole Plantation to get Dole Whip, there are stalls in both Ala Moana and the International Market Place that have it.
My next stop was the garden, which features a self guided walking tour through a number of native plants. It looked like they usually have an audio tour but it wasn't available for some reason so I made due with reading the signs instead. The garden was of a moderate size and very pretty, with lots of different kinds of tropical flowers and some fruit trees and other interesting plants as well. The plantation also has a train ride you can take (though I skipped that) and a small separate (and free) garden featuring a number of different varieties of pineapple. According to the signs, while the others are edible, there's only one type of pineapple that's grown for commercial consumption in the US (chosen due to its taste, texture, and shape). Though the shapes and colors of some of the others were pretty cool. Overall, the plantation was fun, though for a lot of people it may not be worth the long bus ride (as a note, it's a much shorter trip if you have your own car).
After I'd finished at the plantation, it was time for another long bus ride. Once back in Honolulu, I spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting a few things done. I ended up eating at CoCo again, since I wanted to go there one more time before the end of my trip. If you ask me, it's a Japanese chain that I think could do pretty well expanding across the US (along with Yoshinoya, Pepper Lunch, and possibly Hanamaru Udon). Probably not something that'll ever happen, but it'd be nice...

Yep, parasailing. It's been on my list of things I want to try for quite awhile. And, since my dad isn't around to freak out, this seemed like a good time to give it a try. After looking at some reviews, I made a reservation with a company called X-Treme Parasail. At a bit over $50, it was a lot cheaper than I thought it'd be.
They're based at the docks near Ward Center so I walked over there and checked in. I ended up getting there a lot earlier than I needed to, but better early than late. Eventually the boat arrived and everyone got on. Aside from me, there were another ten people on the trip. After putting on life vests and getting some basic safety instructions, we headed out onto the ocean. The boat ride itself was fun and offered some nice views of the coast. The parasailing setup allowed for one or two people at a time. I was by myself so I had a solo ride. Thanks to all the wind here, getting started is pretty easy. After getting strapped in, the wind easily grabbed the parachute so the X-Treme Parasailing guys just needed to let out the rope and off I went. They give you around 700 feet of rope so before long I was pretty far above and behind the boat. As a note, getting your picture taken by the staff costs extra, but I had to get some photos of this. The guy had a nice camera and was extremely good at balancing on the moving boat while taking pictures. Everyone who wanted photos got their own memory card with quite a lot of them (I ended up with at least 80 or so, though a lot were pretty similar so I cut the number down a good bit). Anyway, I was expecting parasailing to be pretty rough (lots of turbulence and all that) but it was actually surprisingly smooth, almost like sitting on a swing (just sitting, without really swinging). And, of course, the view was awesome. After 7 minutes or so they started to reel me in. While they could pull people right onto the boat if they wanted to, they like to drop you in the water first. After everyone had their turns, we headed back to the dock and that was it. The whole trip ended up taking around an hour and fifteen minutes. While it wasn't really the roller coaster type ride I was expecting, it was a lot of fun, making it an enjoyable (and surprisingly affordable) activity.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing and then went to the Blaisedell farmers market. I got some sort of Vietnamese soup there. It was bad, but like every time I'm gotten Vietnamese food, while I did't dislike it, it doesn't really leave me wanting to eat Vietnamese more often either. Which is why, despite the large number of Vietnamese restaurants here in Honolulu, I haven't reviewed any yet.

Restaurant Review: Da Spot
Type: A bit of everything
Location: King St near Hausten St
I was actually already familiar with Da Spot since they have both at the Blaisdell farmers' market every week (they're the ones I got the Moroccan chicken and Cajun chicken from). They advertise healthy food and have a very diverse menu. The two types of chicken I had at Blaisdell were there, as were things like Egyptian slow cooked lamb stew, Thai curry, Greek salad, and many more. The whole thing is cafeteria style. For $8 you get a plate with one entree, rice (regular or saffron), and a salad. For $10 you can upgrade to a combo and get two entrees instead of one. As a note though, some of the items (anything with lamb and the fancier salads) add a couple of dollars each to the price. So, while it starts off fairly cheap, you could easily end up paying $5 or $6 more than you planned. I got the Egyptian slow cooked lamb stew. I'm usually not a huge fan of a lamb (I don't dislike it, but I'm not particularly fond of it either) but this was quite good (though there were a lot of bones), as was my rice and salad. Everything was fresh and, while I can't say for sure how healthy it is compared to other places, there wasn't anything fried or greasy and this is the type of food that rarely contains chemicals or the like. As a side note, Da Spot also has some baklava (I got some at Blaisdell, it's good) and similar desserts, and a pretty large smoothie menu.
Overall, Da Spot's food is fresh and good and their "around the world" selection of dishes makes it a fun and interesting place to eat whether you're at their restaurant or their farmers' market booth. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area. Just keep in mind that, as many items come at a premium, the base prices for a plate can be a little misleading.

I used Thursday as a relaxation day so, other than a walk to the store to buy some things to take back to my parents and try a new restaurant, I didn't do anything worth writing about. So here's that restaurant review.

Restaurant Review: Da Spot
Type: A bit of everything
Location: King St near Hausten St
I was actually already familiar with Da Spot since they have both at the Blaisdell farmers' market every week (they're the ones I got the Moroccan chicken and Cajun chicken from). They advertise healthy food and have a very diverse menu. The two types of chicken I had at Blaisdell were there, as were things like Egyptian slow cooked lamb stew, Thai curry, Greek salad, and many more. The whole thing is cafeteria style. For $8 you get a plate with one entree, rice (regular or saffron), and a salad. For $10 you can upgrade to a combo and get two entrees instead of one. As a note though, some of the items (anything with lamb and the fancier salads) add a couple of dollars each to the price. So, while it starts off fairly cheap, you could easily end up paying $5 or $6 more than you planned. I got the Egyptian slow cooked lamb stew. I'm usually not a huge fan of a lamb (I don't dislike it, but I'm not particularly fond of it either) but this was quite good (though there were a lot of bones), as was my rice and salad. Everything was fresh and, while I can't say for sure how healthy it is compared to other places, there wasn't anything fried or greasy and this is the type of food that rarely contains chemicals or the like. As a side note, Da Spot also has some baklava (I got some at Blaisdell, it's good) and similar desserts, and a pretty large smoothie menu.
Overall, Da Spot's food is fresh and good and their "around the world" selection of dishes makes it a fun and interesting place to eat whether you're at their restaurant or their farmers' market booth. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area. Just keep in mind that, as many items come at a premium, the base prices for a plate can be a little misleading.

As long as I'm in Honolulu, I figured I should visit Pearl Harbor eventually. While there are a lot of tours there, it's pretty easy to just catch the bus and go on your own, which is what I did. I did a little bit of research before hand and found out that there's a whole lot more there than just the memorial. Enough to fill an entire day, in fact.
Upon arriving, I headed right for the ticket booth. Tickets to the USS Arizona Memorial are free. Each one is for a specific time (there's a new group every fifteen minutes or so) and they're on a first come first served basis. I arrived around 10 AM and, since I was by myself, was able to get a ticket for 12:45. Though I've heard that, during peak times, they can run out entirely pretty quickly. In addition to the memorial there's three other museums. They're not free. You can get tickets for any single museum or pair, or $50 will get you access to all three. I managed to fit everything in before closing time at 5, but it was fairly close and, if I were more of a machine or military buff, I could have easily spent much more time so, if you want to do it all, go early.
Since I had a while before my visit to the Arizona Memorial, I headed to the first museum, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum. The museum (which has a nice audio tour) traces the history of submarine warfare, with an especially large focus on World War II. They even had some control panels and stuff from old subs inside. As I said, I don't have an especially large interest in the military or combat vehicles (of any kind), but it was pretty interesting. The Bowfin itself (a WWII era sub with a very impressive combat record) is moored right outside and a museum ticket lets you actually climb on and take a look around, complete with another audio tour. That was cool, though I've got to say that I'd hate to live on a sub. I'm not claustrophobic but saying space it tight is an understatement.
Once I'd finished exploring the Bowfin, I took a look through a couple of free mini museums that tie in with the Arizona memorial by tracing the history of the attack on Pearl Harbor (the conditions that led to Japan's decision to attack, their strategy, what things were like in Honolulu at the time, etc). I studied all that in high school but it's been years so there was a lot I didn't remember. Eventually, it was time to visit the memorial itself. You start out by watching a short documentary showing video footage from the actual attack (I didn't realize someone was actually recording it) then board a boat out to the memorial, which is situated right over the wreckage of the Arizona. There isn't a whole lot to see at the memorial, other than a bit of wreckage sticking up above the water and a wall covered with the names of the sailors who died when the ship was destroyed, which makes sense since, being a war memorial, it's more about remembrance and contemplation than anything else. I didn't have any relatives at Pearl Harbor at the time, but both my grandfathers were in the war and I took some time to stop and think about the price of freedom and all the people who died. The sheer number of casualties in WWII is mind boggling... Especially when compared to that of more recent wars. It certainly gave me a lot to think about.
After I returned from the memorial, it was time to head to the next two museums. Unlike the Bowfin museum, they're a short distance away on Ford Island. The island itself is an active navy base (though a lot of it looked to be taken up by housing developments for the soldiers and their families) so you can't just drive or walk there yourself without the proper credentials. Instead, you need to take a shuttle bus (free with a suitable museum ticket) from near the Bowfin museum. The first stop, the USS Missouri (aka, The Mighty Mo), a battleship first launched back in 1944. It had a very distinguished record in WWII and, even though battleships started to be phased out afterwards in favor of aircraft carriers, it also served in the Korean War and the Gulf War before being completely retired. The deck of the Missouri is even where the Japanese signed the surrender documents which ended WWII. Now the Missouri is a museum ship. There's a guided tour or you can grab a map and an audio guide and look around yourself (which is what I did since the tour only covers a small part of the ship). There's also a couple of special tours (which cost an additional free), one of which takes you down to the engine room (an area you normally can't access) and another that focuses on areas which were used in the filming of the movie Battleship. While there are a lot of parts of the ship that are blocked off, you can walk all over the main and upper decks (which contain the guns, command rooms, captain's cabin, etc.) as well as the first of the lower decks (which has the crew's quarters, mess, kitchen, etc.). While not as bad the Bowfin, space was still pretty tight. With the exception of the captain and second in command's quarters, even the officers' rooms made my apartments in Japan seem spacious and I'd take a capsule hotel over the regular crew's quarters any day. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like with more than a thousand people on board. Very cool to walk through though.
I spent quite a while exploring the Missouri before moving on to my final stop, the Aviation Museum. It contains a variety of restored military aircraft, mostly from the 40's through the 70's. Once again, not my area of expertise, but how often can you take an up close look at fighter planes and helicopters?
I wasn't really sure what to expect from Pearl Harbor and first but, all in all, it was a pretty cool (though occasionally sombering) day. Certainly worth the trip. Once I got back to Waikiki, there was just enough time to get something to eat (I'd skipped lunch, so I was starving by that point) then watch the sunset and fireworks.

Restaurant Review: Mikawon Korean Restaurant
Type: Korean
Location: The International Market Place (on the side near the back)
Although it's a bit hard to find, Mikawon is a pretty popular place. The walls inside are covered with notes and letters in Korean, Japanese, and occasionally English, from people saying how much they enjoyed their visit and the restaurant itself can get crowded at meal times. The menu is fairly large and covers all your main Korean dishes, plus the tables have built in grills so you can order and cook your own meat and vegetables (if that's what you order). There's also some fairly unusual items that I haven't seen at Korean restaurants outside of Japan before (beef intestines and tongue, to name a couple). I played it fairly safe and got one of my favorite Korean dishes, rice, beef, egg, and various vegetables inside a hot stone bowl (the heat from the bowl cooks it, so you need to stir it around for a few minutes before eating). It's a dish I've had at a number of restaurants and Mikawon's version could compete with any of them. No complaints at all. Like any good Korean restaurant, a number of side dishes were included as well. In this case, normal cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, some sort of potato thing (I don't think it was a kimchi, but I'm not a kimchi expert so it might have been), and a noddle dish. While cabbage kimchi has never been a favorite or mine, this one wasn't bad and I loved all three of the others. The entree prices ranged from around $11 to $25. The ones on the higher end of that may seem a bit expensive though, considering that most of them revolve around different high quality meats, I can't really fault them for that.
Overall, Mikawon is popular with the local Korean population for good reason. It's not a bargain (though the prices are reasonable), but the food is good, authentic, and comes with some awesome sides. Plus, no matter what Korean dish you're looking for, the menu probably has you covered. There's a number of Korean restaurants around Honolulu but, if you're looking for good Korean food on Waikiki itself, Mikawon is probably the best (if not necessarily the cheapest) place you'll find.

In retrospect, I probably should have taken a surfing lesson a few weeks back so I could go again if I liked it. But anyway, I finally got around to booking one. I went with Hans Hedermann Surf School. It wasn't the cheapest place I found ($75 for a two hour lesson as part of a group) but it got good reviews, has a convenient location on Waikiki, and was easy to book (you can make a reservation and pay online). The lesson started with some quick instruction and practice inside the shop, with the instructor explaining the proper way to lay on the board, paddle, and stand up once you get going. Then it was off to the beach. While we were on Waikiki Beach, we went a bit further down than I usually go. The instructors said that the waves tend to be a little bigger down there than the by the Duke statue (which is where a lot of people go to surf) but the main reason it's their preferred spot is that there's a whole lot less people, and they were certainly right about that. While the beach was far from empty, it was much less crowded, especially in the water. Part of that is probably because the water there is extremely rocky (even worse than down by the Hilton). We all wore reef shoes, so the rocks weren't too much of a problem, though their heights varied wildly so trying to walk or stand wasn't easy (paddling on the surf board was better). I'll also note that, with a bit of bad luck, if you fall off or get knocked back by a wave in the wrong spot you could scape yourself on the rocks a bit (happened to me a couple times). Still, the instructors said that having lots of people around was much more dangerous than rocks or slightly larger waves.
Anyway, the main thing surfing instructors do in the water during basic lessons, other than offer the occasional tip, it help you catch the waves. They pick a good spot, get you lined up properly, and give you a push at the right time so it's not entirely dependent on your paddling. Without them, other than picking your own spot and waves, you'd also have to paddle a whole lot harder to make sure the wave catches your board instead of passing you by. Once you get going though, that's when it gets fun. I've always had good balance (further improved by all my karate practice, among other things) and I had no trouble standing up on the board and riding the waves (as a note, just like when I went parasailing, the photos cost extra). In fact, I was able to stand and get a decent ride on my very first wave and every single one after that (it wasn't just me, by the end of the lesson everyone had managed to get some decent rides in). As a note, I totally agree with the instructors about other people being the biggest danger. The only times I wiped out were when others crashed into me and there were a couple fairly close misses in between waves when I was paddling back to the instructor. Of course, if any of us has been better surfers (rather than complete beginners) we probably could have steered around each other pretty easily. But anyway, you can usually see a crash coming enough in advance to, at very least avoid anything worse than a wipeout. And, for the most part, we were often able to surf relatively close to each other without too much trouble. Really, the only thing I had trouble with was getting back into a proper position at the end of the ride without falling off the board. In retrospect, I think I had a tendency to try and rush my drop a bit too much (or maybe wait a little too long to start). I only managed to get from a standing position to a sitting one once and fall off shortly after while trying to shift back to a laying down position.
While riding the waves was easy and fun, the majority of the time was spent paddling. After you ride a wave, you've got to paddle back out to where the instructor is. After a couple rounds of that my shoulders and upper arms were starting to burn and I was wishing I devoted more of my usual exercise routine to arms rather than legs, though the instructor told me that paddling uses different muscles than a lot of things and even really muscular guys tend to wear out pretty quickly if they haven't surfed before. But yeah, my arms and shoulders were pretty sore by the time the lesson ended and I doubt they'll be much different tomorrow. That aside, I had a lot of fun surfing and came out of it in pretty good shape. There was one point where another student knocked me off my board at an odd angle, which caused my leg muscles to lock up for a bit. The water was too deep for me to do much while swimming, and trying to get back on my board when I could barely bend my legs was a real pain, but I eventually managed to recover and other than that everything went pretty smoothly. I can totally see myself surfing again next time I'm here. I may not even need an instructor again. Choosing the right position and waves could be kind tricky without one, but I caught one wave on my own (even if it was completely accidental).
Once the lesson was over I was pretty wiped out so I headed back to shower off and, other than a quick trip out for supper and to get one last pineapple, spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting things done.

Restaurant Review: goma tei
Type: Japanese
Location: Ala Moana
goma tei isn't in Ala Moana's food court, or up on the fourth floor with the fancy restaurants, instead it's on the side mixed in with a bunch of regular stores. But that doesn't stop it from getting a lot of business and it can easily have a waiting list during regular meal times. goma tei is mostly a ramen restaurant, though there are a few other items on the menu. The restaurant is very Japanese in style, complete with long counter to sit at (they have some tables as well), though a touch higher class in appearance than most of the ramen places on Waikiki. I got their chicken shoyu ramen which is pretty much just what it sounds like (soy sauce based ramen with chicken and some vegetables). The broth was good, but didn't have an especially strong taste to it (though I'll take a moment to remind you that I don't eat ramen out very often so I'm far from an expert on the different broths (unlike true ramen lovers)). The chicken was cooked to a perfect consistency and there was a lot of it (I thought the whole bowl was a pretty good size). It also had a slightly spicy sesame sauce drizzled on it. The sauce was a nice touch, if unexpected since I'm not used to finding anything spicy in ramen. The prices were in the $8 - $9 dollar range, which seems pretty typical for this area, though more than I'd expect to pay in Japan.
Overall, I'm not a ramen expert but I enjoyed my ramen at goma tei and, judging by the crowds, so do a lot of other people. You'll find a lot more ramen restaurants to choose from over at Waikiki but, if you're at Ala Moana, goma tei is a pretty good place to go.

Restaurant Review: Snow Factory
Type: Frozen Yogurt...Sorta
Location: Mcculy Shopping Center
I've been curious about Snow Factory for a while. I walked past it a number of times but they had a booth at the Korean festival and it looked pretty interesting so I finally decided to take a closer look. I've already talked about many of Honolulu's great ice cream parlors, one of several frozen yogurt places, and mentioned that there's a lot of shaved ice around, but Snow Factory is different. It's something of a mix between frozen yogurt and shaved ice but even that doesn't describe it properly... Anyway, once you go in you start by choose what size and flavor(s) of snow you want. In addition to the standards (strawberry, vanilla, etc.) they had a number of tropical fruit flavors (mango, lychee, pina colada, etc.) and a few odder ones (honeydew, li-hing, etc.). A regular size (which can contain two flavors) costs $4.50 with an extra fifty cents for each premium topping you get (syrups, azuki bean paste, fruit jellies, etc.), though there's a few dried toppings you can add for free as well. There's also a smaller size (which is limited to one flavor) for $3. The bowls are pretty big, though you'll see why soon enough. I got pina colada and white peach. One of the first things I noticed was how light the bowl was. While the flavors come across pretty strong when you're eating your snow, it's nowhere near as rich as ice cream or frozen yogurt. It's really just like you're eating very lightly packed snow. While it is diary based, I'm willing to bet snow's fat content and calories are much lower than that of ice cream or frozen yogurt. I don't think it's quite as good as either, but it still makes for a nice snack or dessert and is certainly a unique alternative to its more common competitors. As a note, the place is rather popular and the snow takes a little while to make so don't be surprised if you end up waiting for a five or ten minutes to get your order.
Overall, I wouldn't rank Snow Factory's snow above some good ice cream or frozen yogurt, but it's a nice lighter alternative. Snow never tasted this good before.

Since I'll need to spend Wednesday cleaning up the place, packing for my return trip, and the like, these were really the last two days I had to enjoy my vacation. That said, I didn't do too much worth writing about. I went to the store to pick up some stuff for my parents, spent some time on the beach, got sushi one last time, and took walk around to check out all the flowers, different kinds of birds, and turtles over at the Hilton. I also paid a last visit to Bookoff on Monday and saw that, on the following day, Shirokiya (the Japanese department store in the mall) would be starting their new theme event. They change themes every few weeks, which involves filling part of the store with appropriate products. For example, when I first got here they were having a kimono theme, then a Hawaiian foods theme. The new one? Otaku. So naturally I had to go back on Tuesday to check that out. They had a bunch of manga (in Japanese), CDs, figurines, and art books. Neat, though the selection was kind of random and the markups on a lot of the items were extremely high so I didn't actually get anything.
All in all, it was a nice (though not especially exciting) couple of days and a good way to wrap up my trip. I'll be flying out tomorrow night but, since I'm planning to spend most of the day cleaning and packing, I think I'll wrap up the travelogue here. It's been fun. Honolulu (and Oahu in general) is a great place and I wouldn't mind spending more time here in the future. And for a last picture, here's a rainbow from a Tuesday evening drizzle.

Random Hawaii Comment: Japanese Bakeries
Thanks to the large Japanese influence in Honolulu, you can find a some actual Japanese style bakeries here (complete with things like melon bread, curry bread, anpan (red bean bread), etc.). Like in Japan, you start by taking a tray and a pair of tongs and then use the tongs to pick up whatever you want. From what I've seen so far, the best Japanese bakery around (in terms of price and selection) is Saint Germane, which has a shop on Kuhio right across from Marukame Udon and two in Ala Moana mall (one's in Shirokiya).

Restaurant Review: Five Star International Buffet
Type: Buffet (with a bit of everything)
Location: Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian
I haven't seen a lot of buffets around Honolulu so Five Star immediately stuck out. While I don't know about "five star", it is one of the fanciest buffets I've been to. And, as the name suggests, it really is international. On this plate, for example, I've got Thai curry, Japanese curry, Korean kalbi (beef rib meat), and some Italian potatoes. And here I've got several Japanese dishes (tofu, a type of fried chicken, and yam tempura) along with another type of potato, fried salmon, and a loco moco (a Hawaiian dish consisting of rice, hamburger, egg, and gravy). And that's really just the beginning. There were salads, udon, sushi, various pasta dishes, and quite a lot of other things which I didn't get the chance to try (I can only eat so much at a single meal). And, of course, a wide selection of desserts. Some personal favorites? The kalbi and friend salmon were particularly awesome, as was the bread pudding, though everything I tried was good. At $19, the lunch buffet (which is what I was there for) isn't exactly cheap but it's not a bad deal considering the quality of the food and the fact that it's all you can eat. At $48 though, the dinner buffet (which has a different selection of food) is another matter entirely.
Overall, if you're looking for a big lunch and don't mind splurging a bit, Five Star's variety and high quality is hard to beat. I'm sure the dinner buffet is good as well but, considering how much it costs, I'll probably never find out.

Restaurant Review: Lappert's Hawaii Ice Cream
Type: Ice Cream
Location: The Hilton Hawaiian Village
Can a state have too many local ice cream brands? I'm thinking no. Lappert's is located in the Hilton's shopping plaza, which is on the far West end of Waikiki. While they had far fewer strange flavors than the other parlors I've visited, they do have coconut pineapple, a couple of other tropical fruits, and and several macadamia nut based flavors (in addition to all your standard ones, of course). Since this was my last chance for Hawaiian ice cream, I went with the afore mentioned mac nut and coconut pineapple. Lappert's ice cream is rather thick and creamy (similar to Roselani) and, unsurprisingly, quite good. What really stuck out to me was the large amount of shredded coconut, pineapple chunks, and chopped mac nuts in my ice cream. That's a good thing, and I think they beat out all the other ice creams I've tried here in that regard. However, they're a bit on the expensive side, charging around $7 for a two scoop cone which you could get for five or six at most of the other places.
Overall, I've yet to find a Hawaiian ice cream I don't like and the large amount of fruits and nuts in Lappert's ice cream is pretty awesome. That said though, they have fewer unusual flavors and higher prices than most of their competitors, so they wouldn't be my first choice when out for ice cream.