After another morning of crafting at the Beach House, we checked out of Aulani and headed out to Waikiki for the second half of our vacation. We met up with the Saitos for lunch at the new Waikiki Yokocho. Perhaps it's just a sign of the times, but all the old kitschy souvenir stores of old Hawaii are getting eaten up by luxury shopping malls (ahem.. International Market Place). A lot of the new development caters to predominately Asian tourists, who expect to be able to buy a Hermès handbag while on holiday, but one of the happy consequences is that eating (since many of the new restaurants are Japanese chains) in Waikiki has vastly improved. After wandering around the Yokocho, we decided on the tempura restaurant. I was impressed by the tempura battered soft boiled egg, but we forgot to take pictures since we were so busy wrangling children. We then meandered along with the kids, catching up with Kelly and Lee, while briefly stopping to play at the beach and browse in stores.
Kai and Sora both passed out in the car and Nik and I decided to seize the opportunity to grab shave ice. Unfortunately, Kai woke up immediately once we parked the car and refused to go back to sleep once he noticed where we were. After a brief break for shave ice (Sora was up by then as well), we headed back to Waikiki to check into our Airbnb rental.
"Go back to sleep?? Are you kidding me?"
After settling into our rental, a simple one bedroom apartment, with none of the bells and whistles that we had had at Aulani, we discovered that we were in Waikiki just in time for the Honolulu Festival Grand Parade. We hurried to grab a few musubis and sat along the road to enjoy the parade. Many of the participants were from Japan, and with taiko drummers abounding and shrines being carried along the parade route, there were moments that we felt like we were watching a festival in Japan. Sora particularly loved the dancers and in the intervals between participants, would run into the street to bust a move. One of the more notable participants was a girl's high school from Japan. The gaggle of yellow clothed girls just seemed to go on and on, and their choreography and synchronization were on point. We were near the end of the parade route and imagining that these girls had energetically danced their way, block after block, in the oppressive heat and humidity was amazing. The large, inflatable dragon was also quite impressive, although it scared Kai. We didn't stay until the end of the parade since we needed to put the kids to bed. But as soon as we got the kids through their bedtime routine and to bed, the fireworks started. Needless to say, the kids couldn't sleep and the view of the show from our balcony was mostly obstructed, but the kids were excited to watch nonetheless.
The next morning we headed out to the Dole Plantation to get Dole whip and ride yet another train. The kids initially gobbled up the Dole Whip, but much to my surprise, they got tired of it.. which was just fine by me! The train ride wound through the Dole Plantation and even though a lot of the recorded narration felt as if they were trying to sell us items in the gift shop, we enjoyed the ride. We did eventually buy a few souvenirs from the gift shop, so I guess the train ride/sales pitch was a success.
Dole Whip with fresh pineapple.. yum!
What can I say? Our kids like selfies..
.. a lot.
After a little R&R our home away from home, we headed out for our next activity.. walking to a new tonkatsu restaurant. Enticed by the 5 star Yelp rating (even though it had already been open for over a month), we decided to try it out. The walk was much longer and tiring than we had anticipated, with two toddlers in tow and the sun beating down on us, but we eventually made it just before the restaurant opened. Once seated, we put the kids to work, grinding sesame seeds for our katsu sauces and let them watch the tablet (it's the only way Nik and I could eat in peace). Katsu and service was good, although I'm not sure if it was on par with our tonkatsu experience in Tokyo.. but I think it's probably difficult to compare. Satiated, the walk home seemed shorter.
Wikki Stix kept the kids captivated for a surprisingly long time. Kai made a fish with rainbow bubbles
Gotta stop to smell the flowers.. this is why walking with a toddler takes forever
The katsu is fried in large copper pots, which supposedly conducts heat more evenly
The next morning was spent playing in the sand and surf. Conveniently, McDonald's is located right across the street from the beach, so we grabbed breakfast to-go and spent the whole morning at the beach. Even with all the fanciness of the Disney resort, sometimes all you need to amuse a toddler is sand, water, and waves.
After a long morning of playing at the beach, we walked back to the Yokocho for lunch. With four different ramen restaurants to choose from, we chose Ramen Bario. Unfortunately it was only okay, I prefered the spicy tsukemen to the regular ramen. However Sora loved it, and slurped up every noodle and drank every drop of soup. Dessert was matcha soft serve. The matcha was strong and after one taste, Kai refused to eat any more. Unsurprisingly, Sora (my little adventurous eater) loved it.
Good to the last drop
We went back to our rental to take a nap; the kids slept well, probably because of all the beach play and ramen. Once everyone was up, we headed out to Marukame Udon for an early dinner. We then walked to the Royal Hawaiian Center to search for a shave ice stand that Nik had looked up. It took us a while to find it and we almost gave up, but it was worth searching out. It's certainly pricier than normal, but you get fruit infused syrups and all the fixings (like fresh fruit, mochi, and popping bubbles). It's not really comparable to Waiola or a simple shave ice stand.. it's gourmet and a totally different style.
Cheap and satisfying, as always
Our last full day in Hawaii was devoted to visiting the Honolulu Zoo. As it was the last time we visited, the primates and turtles/tortoises were a hit. Unfortunately, the elephants weren't out and perhaps taking after their Baba, the kids were scared of the gharials. The kids also really enjoyed playing in the little playground in the middle of the zoo.
A large orangutan is lounging in the hammock
The heat was doing me in, so we needed to cut our zoo visit short to rehydrate and nap. One last stop at Waiola for some rainbow shave ice and some sunset playtime at the beach, capped off our Hawaiian vacation. We had dinner at Teddy's Bigger Burgers, which were big, as advertised, but not great (perhaps we're spoiled by In-N-Out).
Sometimes rainbow shave ice is all you need
My loves
Not bad, but bigger isn't always better :P
On our last day, the last line of business was to get a thank you gift for Kelly and Lee who had been so hospitable and had lent us their pack 'n play. That meant driving to Hawaii Kai to get Bubbies. We were worried that the mochi ice cream might melt during the 30+ minute drive to the Saito's, but blasting our A/C on the drive over, they arrived intact. Once at the airport, the kids enjoyed watching the taxiing planes, and trucks and people at work. Just before heading home, Nik taught Kai a Hawaiian essential: the shaka! See you next time, Hawaii!
We got back from Oahu over a month ago. As it is, traveling with kids, we were definitely more tired after the trip than before. It didn't help that I had to go back to work immediately after we got back and Nik had to take care of two mildly ill, jet lagged kids on his own. Plus, we decided to tack on the annual Valley Crew snow trip to the end of Nik's vacation time.. and then Kai was sick, and then Sora was sick.. so needless to say, we've been busy and tired.
I started off our trip with yet another last minute packing binge (Nik is better at packing ahead of time) and a early morning flight. We packed plenty of food, snacks, and the tablet, and we were good to go. The kids were relatively well-behaved although Sora would refuse to wear even the most loosely buckled seat belt, complaining, "too tight!" Remarkably, the kids eventually both napped with us.. yeah, Nik and I are that good.
Who does this silly kid belong to?
.. oh yeah, that's right. :P (circa August 2011)
Score!
It took a while to pick up our rental car and Nik placated the children with Pocky while we waited. We eventually picked up Korean take out for dinner, eating it in the car while we were stuck in rush hour traffic. We finally arrived at Aulani, our home for the next couple of days. We were welcomed with leis, and went on to check out our room and the resort's many pools.
The kids preferred the water park with the water features turned off
A tropical fish tank that you can snorkel in? Check!
The next day, we went off the resort to grab breakfast and groceries. Kai the carb fiend loved the flight of pancakes and Sora the carnivore, devoured the ham off the eggs benedict. Satiated and stocked with supplies for our vacation, we headed back to the resort to fully explore the pools. We had a scary moment when Nik and I had a miscommunication and while I was getting food, Nik thought I was watching Sora and I thought Nik was watching Sora. Unbeknownst to Nik, Sora followed him and Kai as they walked across the resort. They paused to watch resort guests taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie, and when Nik said that it was time to head back to see me and Sora, Kai replied, "Sora right here." Needless to say, Nik was surprised and an Aulani employee who had been discreetly following Sora asked if she belonged to him. Aiya.
Sora has an admirer <3
We recovered from this scary incident with rainbow shave ice, complete with Mickey ears, which the kids finished in our room's bathtub (pure efficiency). After a much-needed nap, we headed out yet again to Target to buy Sora a new swimsuit since the 12 month one that I packed for her was too tight. We got Japanese curry for dinner and of all things, the kids loved curry with cheese.
Crashing after the sugar high..
The kids love the Target doggie
The next morning, we woke up early and headed over to Aunty's Beach House, the Aulani kids club. The Beach House was only open to kids ages 3 and up so we opted to not drop off Kai since we figured he would think it was unfair if we dropped him off without Sora; however in the early morning hours, the club hosted an open house where kids of all ages could play with their parents, so we tried to take advantage of that time every morning. The Beach House was fully stocked with craft supplies, books, toys, dress up clothing, and an outdoor play area, the kids loved making crafts although it was hard to tear them away from the TV room!
Everything a kid could ask for.. Disney knows.
We spent the remainder of the morning at the Aulani beach, one of the man-made lagoons of Ko'olina. The kids contented themselves with playing in the sand and surf. In the afternoon, we headed across the street to grab ice cream (just okay and a touch too sweet) and then went to the Monkeypod Kitchen for a happy hour dinner. For a restaurant across the street from Aulani (we were expecting overrated and overpriced), happy hour was an awesome deal with good food and generous portions, Nik and I felt just a tad guilty since we didn't order any drinks.
Silly kids couldn't stand still
The next morning, we headed out to to Ewa for a train ride, but not before stopping to take a picture with Mickey and Minnie! There were already a number of people waiting for the Mickey and Minnie even before they had even arrived, and we queued up accordingly. As soon as they arrived, Sora wanted to watch the spectacle of everyone taking their pictures with Mickey and Minnie, but when it was our turn, nobody wanted to look Mickey and Minnie in the eye, although Sora eventually did give them high-fives. Still, it was more successful than our last attempt to take a picture with Mickey (although that's not saying much).
There is a train track which runs through Ko'olina and immediately adjacent to the Aulani property, I was curious about it and googled it. Turns out, a historical railway society runs a train from Ewa to Ko'olina and back on the weekends. We decided to take this opportunity to get out of the resort and do something a little different. The kids enjoyed playing on the historical steam engine on display at the train station. The ride was fully narrated and entertaining, although the route was mostly unremarkable as we rode alongside irrigation canals and behind strip malls. Once we passed through Ko'olina a short stretch of track went along the coast, which was beautiful. The train then went back along the track whence we came, stopping briefly for ice cream along the way.
Normally, I'd never let the kids play along train tracks.. but the train only runs on weekends.
