whatdoesrobsee

[whatdoesrobsee]

The KCC Farmer’s Market are held at a Community College every Saturday morning, it’s right opposite Diamond Head which is a historic military trail.

We head to the market for breakfast and it does not disappoint. The Pig and the Lady is a Vietnamese restaurant and they had a food stand here. When ever trying out a new Vietnamese place, I recommend the Bun Bo Hue, it was amazing, so much flavour. Move over Pho Bo! 

We were running late and the stands were starting too pack up, we quickly explored the rest of the market while slurping back on refreshing sugar cane juice.

Diamond head costs $1 per person, the buses stop right outside the park. Allocate at least a couple hours to walk to the top and back.

We headed back to Waikiki to explore their beach but first we needed to refuel and stopped into Island Vintage Coffee for an Acai Bowl. If you’re craving a refreshing healthy snack or meal, I highly recommend one.

Waikiki Beach was packed, we struggled to find a spot that didn’t burst anyone’s personal bubble. There was a lot going on, the energy of students partying, wondering tourist capturing moments, kids attached to swim rings, stand up paddle boarders, boats, kayaks, sun bathers and, and, and, and…

We tried our luck at Marukame Udon again, success this time. We joined the queue but struggled to decide what to get, oh and then what size? What side dishes? Ohh what’s this limited edition one? Should we try spam sushi? Hey what’s that? The pressure of holding up the line of customers meant we just grabbed everything. It all happened so quick. Another place I recommend, don’t be afraid of the queue, it moves pretty quickly.

KCC Farmer’s Market - http://hfbf.org/markets/markets/kcc/ The Pig and the Lady - http://thepigandthelady.com/pl-farmers-market Diamond Head - http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/oahu/diamond-head-state-monument/ Marukame Udon - http://www.toridollusa.com/index.php

[whatdoesrobsee]

Auckland to Honolulu

Be organised and book a shuttle in advance. They will be there waiting for you when you arrive and take you to your exact location for a fixed price. Bus services are available but you’re not allowed to board if you have any large baggages.

I had a killer headache, the screams of babies during our flight were still echoing in my head and I barely slept on the flight. I was so excited to see a bed when we walked into our accommodation, I pretended to fall asleep on it and actually conked out for a couple of hours.

It was almost lunch time when we woke up from our nap. We ventured out and walked to a joint serving local food called Rainbow Drive-In. I hadn’t done any research on Hawaiian food and had no idea what anything was, all I understood on the menu were burgers, being still groggy I just went with that. As soon as a sat down at a table I noticed no one were eating burgers here, they all had plates of meat and rice. In fear of missing out, I finished my burger and ordered one of plate dishes as well, yum! Much better than the burger - taste, quantity, value, everything was better. No wonder everyone were ordering these. Why do they even serve burgers here?

Further up the road we visited Leonard’s Bakery, this place was busy, everyone walking out with boxes of doughnuts. We were so full from lunch and shared a fresh doughnut, still warm and so soft.

We spent the remainder of the day at the Premium Outlets whacking out the “want to buy when we visit Hawaii list”, clothes, hat, handbag and a massive packet of peanut butter M&Ms for $2 :)

Marukume Udon is a very popular place to eat, always a queue outside. That’s where we were heading for dinner. We spotted the restaurant from a distant and thought we had amazing timing, there’s no queue! Getting closer I was developing some concern, it looked dark, doors were closed but we could see staff walking around inside, oh maybe we’re just too early? Turns out they had a close for the day due to some sort of equipment difficulty.

This actually worked out perfectly, we arrived at the start of the Pan Pacific Festival, a celebration of the Japanese in Hawaii, it’s evolved to other cultures as well, our shuttle driver had mentioned a “block party” where they’d shut off a stretch of roads for performances and food stalls, we just had to figure where it was.

It wasn’t hard and already we found a long queue of people attached to one particular food stall, always a good sign, so there we were waiting in line. No prices on anything, everyone asking one another if they knew how much each dish was, no one knew nor did it stop anyone from leaving the queue.

Once we got in front we finally find out how much each dish cost, after waiting so long in the queue, so hungry, it doesn’t even matter now - is that a great strategy or what? It wasn’t too expensive and the quantity was generous. We got a mixed plate of different meats which came with rice and a macaroni “salad”. It was basically a grilled meat served with rice, actually quite nice and very filling.

We finished the night at a bar with a couple of Mai Tais just because we’d never had a Mai Tai before, dangerously delicious.

Airport Shuttle - http://www.speedishuttle.com/ Hawaii 23 (this service is actually cheaper but we didn’t book in time) - https://www.hawaii23.com/  Rainbow Drive-In - http://rainbowdrivein.com/ Premium Outlets - http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/waikele