One of the perks of going to university is that the students you attend it with tend to hail from different parts of the world. In the case of my school, a lot of these folks come from the state of Hawaii. Before I met my college friends, the extent of my knowledge of the 50th state was just that—it was the 50th state (and I guess Lilo & Stitch).
The islands were simply not in my priority list of places to visit. I found nothing special about spending money to go to tourist traps like Waikiki Beach and... Pearl Harbor(?). However, my Hawaii friends were very good at selling their home state like they were hired by the government or something, which ultimately enticed me to book a flight to Honolulu earlier this year.
Now, back from the trip, here's what I think:
There's way more to Hawaii than meets the eye of the average Joe from the Mainland, especially when you experience it through the eyes of the locals. The incredibly high degree of hospitality from the people is overwhelming and can even get quite uncomfortable at times. You'll eventually leave the place feeling extremely grateful to everyone and wanting to visit again as soon as possible.
That said, although I got to do so many things during my two week stay on O'ahu, here's a list of my top five favorites:
5. Lantern Floating Ceremony
On Memorial Day weekend, the 15th annual lantern floating ceremony took place at Ala Moana Beach Park. In what was a ritual brought over to the islands from Japan, thousands of people gathered to write messages to their deceases loved ones on lanterns that were then set sail on the ocean when the sun finally met the horizon.
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4. Getting fat
Food. It's so good in Hawaii. Just as how mixing ethnicity is inherently good for genetics and evolution, the same can be said when it comes to food. Hawaiian cuisine as it is today is a mix of Asian, Western, and Polynesian foods. And it's awesome. Typical grub, which can be found in the Mainland, is like chicken katsu with rice and mac salad, or spam musubi. But then there's Hawaii-exclusive stuff like...
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| Acai bowls @ Lanikai Juice |
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| Shrimp Scampi @ Giovanni's Shrimp Truck |
3. Dolphin Quest
At The Kahala Hotel & Resort, Kelli's Auntie Lisa treated us to a swim with dolphins. Yup. I don't think I've ever said anything more awesome than "I swam with a dolphin." The experience was $100 per head and none of us paid. What?! Exactly! That in itself made the venture so amazing and stands as a fine example of what I meant by the overwhelming Hawaiian hospitality thing. Thank you, Auntie Lisa!
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| Meet Kolohe! |
2. Roy's Waikiki
Roy's is a high-end restaurant where our friend Jessica works as a hostess. Incidentally, the manager of the establishment is also my roommate Dillon's mom, who we had the pleasure of meeting when Dillon invited us over for dinner. Our initial intention of going was to have a simple dinner, but little did we know that we would end up being treated like special guests of the restaurant with complimentary appetizers and dessert. Again, Hawaiian hospitality.
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1. Kaneohe Bay Sandbar
Aside from the horrible sunburn that I got from this particular trip, it takes the number one spot on my list for a special reason. Kelli's dad, her Uncle Glenn, and Auntie Lisa took us—with their boat—to a sandbar located smack in the middle of Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of O'ahu. Surrounding the shoal were reefs where a variety of fish swam about (which we tried catching rather unsuccessfully).
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Now for the reason: Whenever I travel somewhere, I'm never usually one to feel "at home" throughout my stay, especially when the stay only lasts a couple of weeks, tops. Like many, I generally consider myself as nothing more than a tourist. This trip was different. By some magical reason, my friends and their families made me feel so welcomed, so at home, that it almost felt like I was a local.
That, and seeing all the other tourists pay hundreds of dollars for a trimmed down version of the same activities we were doing was pretty priceless.
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| Mahalo no kou ho'okipa. |
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