Hawaii Day 7 (Honolulu, HI): More Shopping

Today we went to Sam’s Club, Don Quijote and Costco.

The Sam’s Club out here is interesting. It's stacked on top of a Walmart near Ala Moana mall. They have a lot of Hawaiian and Asian goodies. Their Walmart even has a souvenir section. 

Don Quijote started out as a small store, transitioned into a wholesale distributor and turned into the franchise stores we know today. I would say they have a little bit of everything but it's quite a large store and there's quite a lot of product. Maybe they have a lottle bit of everything. Say it in your head a couple of times. It gets funnier. I mostly go for the food, electronics and trinkets. 

We also ran into our cousins at Don Quijote. They got here yesterday. Hope you guys have a fun time out here! We sure are. What a small... island...

While we were near Costco we stopped at Aloha Fabrics near by. Last year I mentioned they had a dog named MoChiChi. This year I learned her name is actually Chibi and she seems to be a local celebrity. Everyone asks about her. Just like last year, she had the day off. How much PTO do they give her? Must be nice.

The Costco out here isn't much different than the Costco back home. They have a few unique things but the Sam’s Club is where it's at. Sam’s Club even has pulled pork plate on the cafe menu. I've had it before, it's not the best but it's cool that they have it.

After we got back to the hotel we settled in and ordered pizza from the Domino's downstairs. This seems to be something we do once while we're out here. I've had more Domino's out here than I have back home. 

Tomorrow is our last full day out here before we head back. I’m not looking forward to packing and leaving

Hawaii Day 6 (Honolulu, HI): Shopping

We did a lot of shopping today.

Today was our first day away from the halau. We went out to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet for the first time since it relocated. 

On the way out we took the Skyline. The Skyline is Honolulu's new automated light rail system. It was kinda empty and the cars seemed huge. A lot bigger than the light-rail cars I've been on. Right now there are 18 operational stations. Even though the Skyline opened in 2023 we haven't used it until today because there weren't any routes that we could’ve used.  Hopefully it'll become more efficient and more people use it as more stations open. 

Since the stadium is being demolished the swap meet has been moved to the parking lot of the stadium. They have mostly the same vendors, the layout just is arranged differently. Instead of wrapping around the stadium it's arranged in rows around a food court. They added covered areas and converted cargo containers into vendor stalls. I think that's pretty innovative and trendy.  

On the way back we stopped by the Ala Moana Mall. Nothing much has changed there. That mall is so big it's kinda hard to navigate. 

We met up with some of the halau sisters that are still on the island for dinner at Marugame Udon. I felt like I walked a lot.

Tomorrow might be more shopping.

Hawaii Day 5 (Honolulu, HI): It's a Show Day

The halau has two performances today. One at the Polynesian Cultural Center and the other at the Marriott next door.

We were up an out early today to get out to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The Polynesian Cultural Cenrter is one of the most visited places on the island and has sections for 6 major Polynesian islands. It was built by the Church of Latter-day Saints, and is still owned operated by them today. 

The Moanikeala Festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center aims to preserve, perpetuate, educate and celebrate all forms of hula. Performed come from all over the world to perform. This festival celebrates Sally Moanikeala Woods, The centers first Kumu.

The Kekelaokalani Festival at the Mariott is a festival hosted by Frank Lehua Kawaikapuolalani Hewett featuring the haumana of the Kuhai hula lineage celebrating Marriott’s cultural advisor, Kumu Kekelaokalani.

After the hula festivals everyone was beat and we went back to the hotel. Now that all of the workshops, rehearsals and performances are over, it's all free time from here on out.

By the time we got back all of the quick service food places in Waikiki were closed for the night. All that was open were sit down restaurants, bars and clubs. I walked all the way up and down the strip before I figured that part out. A quick google search would probably have told me everything I needed to know. Noted for next trip. I ended up ordering from McDonalds. Nothing interesting there.

Now that we have free time who knows what's going to happen tomorrow, could be something crazy.

Hawaii Day 4 (Honolulu, HI): A Birthday Party

Today we're going to a birthday party for our Kumu's Kumu. 

The birthday party was at the same site as the workshop site. The halau got there early to help setup. 

After setup the halau set up they had a short rehearsal and left for another site to get ready. 

On the way to get ready we were going to stop by Adela's Country Kitchen on a recommendation to get some food but the wait time was too long and we didn't have enough time. If any of you have tried it you have to let me know how the food is, any place with a wait time that long has to be good. We ended up at a Vietnamese spot next door. Again, food was good enough for a mention but not enough to write home about. 

After everyone got ready we went back to the party and hung out for the rest of the night. Lots of people, like, lots of people and good food. Did I mention there was a lot of people? 

Tomorrow we head to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a performance. Hopefully we get to go to the buffet out there again. That was one of the highlights of the trip last year

Hawaii Day 3 (Honolulu, HI): Workshop Day

Workshops were held at Kako'o Oiwi again this year. I spent most of the morning with the halau and headed out with one of the hula parents to get lunch and saw a couple of sights. 

Kako'o Oiwi is a non profit that's goal is to restore agricultural and ecological productivity through cultural, educational and ecosystem restoration programs. They grow crops like ʻulu (breadfruit), kalo (taro). They also mill poi, make kulolo, and steam luau leaves.

For lunch we grabbed food from the food court at the near by mall. My mom got beef luau Waiahole Poi Factory and I got garlic shrimp and steak at Blazin Steaks. It wasn't too bad for mall food. Nothing to write home about but good enough for a mention. 

While the halau was rehearsing we went out to the Nu‘uanu Pali look out. The Pali Lookout is where the Battle of Nuʻuanu happened King Kamehameha I won the battle and united Oʻahu under his rule. During the battle, many solders were shoved off of Pali’s cliffs.

Before everyone left the rehearsal site the halau's set up for the party tomorrow. Oh yeah, tomorrow we're going to a birthday party!

Hawaii Day 2 (Honolulu, HI): Bishop Mueseum

We're going to the Bishop Museum today!

We had most of the morning to ourselves so we went to the Forty Niner walk up counter for breakfast. There's 2 Forty-Niner restaurants out here, a stand alone walk up counter and a walk up counter at the Island Colony Hotel. The stand alone cafe has a full menu and the walk up counter has breakfast items and closes at 2pm. My mom and I split a loco moco and an uncle boy waffle. The loco moco was really good and the uncle boy waffle had bananas, berries, and macadamia nuts, a haupia sauce. The waffle was good too.

The Bishop Museum is Hawaii's museum of natural history, built by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. This museum was built on the original Kamehameha School that was built by Bernice Bishop for native Hawaiian children. This museum has one of the most extensive collections of Hawaiian books, periodicals, newspapers, scientific papers, genealogical records, and memorabilia. Some papers were written and donated by Hawaiian royalty and also has papers written by Bernice Bishop herself. The museum also houses an active entomology research facility, Pauahi Hall, which houses the third largest entomology collection in the nation and the eighth-largest in the world.

There's also a hands on science center on campus and right now there's an Aloha Bricks exhibit that features the people, places, plants, animals, and stories of Hawaii.

After the Bishop Museum we had dinner at Marugame Udon again, I went back to the room and my mom made lei and had rehearsal with the halau.

Tomorrow is a workshop day!

Hawaii Day 1 (Honolulu, HI): Aloha!

Today we headed back out to Hawaii. We arrived earlier than we normally do so we had a lot of time to explore. 
After we settled in we went straight to my mom's favorite spot on the island, Marugame Udon. It was just as good as it always was. Can't go wrong!

After we ate I feel like we walked every square inch of Waikiki. I even found a few streets that I haven't been down. Who would've thought I would've found something new after all these years?

Before we headed back we had to hit the beach so we went to the beach near Fort Durussy. Apparently my mom hasn't been that far down the beach before.

Tomorrow we head to one of my favorite museums, The Bishop Museum. Last time we went only two of the buildings were open. Hopefully I'll be able to explore the third building and have something interesting to report.