Hawaii Day 8 - Bicycle Bar Crawl

DAY 8

 

My only day to sleep in!  We awoke with no alarms and just had to make sure we checked out of the hotel by the appropriate time.

 

For the rest of the morning, we went in search of souvenirs by shopping on the Waikiki strip and the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet! 

Aloha Stadium (where the University of Hawaii football team plays) hosts this giant event each weekend and is like a flea market.  Lots of typical stuff, like t-shirts, watches, or aloha wear! 

Tarynn and I each snagged some good deals! 

(Well, okay, it was mostly me doing all of the buying!)

 

Part of lunch was this small handheld "manapua" pictured below.  Manapua is a steamed dumpling filled with yumminess and can be found at many places around Honolulu (including 7-11).  I had several varieties during my stay including spicy kimchee, sweet potato, and this one is pizza!

The real action for Day 8, was the anticipation for Paradise Pedal's Bicycle Bar Crawl!

We discovered this place through Groupon, and I love any reason to visit several bars at a time!

Here is the front of our 12-person bike.

 

There is no engine or power on this machine besides our foot pedals.  We went out in traffic with all of the other cars on the road.  The group had to work hard to get it moving, and then come to a complete stop at traffic signals.

 

View from the back. 

Kerri and Tarynn select their seats and hydrate before the ride begins!!

 

We pedal and away, and the first bar was "REAL a gastropub".  They specialized in what appeared to be bacon-garnished drinks!  "Beer cocktails" were served with a hunk of crispy bacon and lime on a toothpick.  If you ordered their version of the Bloody Mary, you even got a slice of bacon as a stirrer, instead of celery!  Some drinks even had bacon crumbled on top!  What an amazing coincidence that I love bacon!!

 

Back on the bike we had to pedal to the second bar, which was a Korean karaoke bar named... 

That's right... Café Duck Butt!

 

We got the special drink, watermelon soju. 

It's served in a half watermelon, and at $31 each it is best shared by the entire table!

 This is how you finish it off!

 

Then we moved on to Korean beer instead.  It was served in 1.6 liter bottle for a steal at $7 each.

Two bars down and that giant bicycle was getting tougher to move. 

Or maybe we were getting lazier...

 

Our driver steers the rig, gives us speed up/slow down directions based on traffic, and works the brake. 

Here we are all pedaling hard!

Third and final stop was Hibiscus Bar, where we sampled some pineapple upside down cake shots, and I found a cool Heineken bar sign!  I love the outline of all of the Hawaiian islands!

 

The bars are done, we've had our fun, and now we had to head back to the bicycle parking place at the marina. 

This was such a silly time.  Cars slowed down to take our picture; pedestrians shouted encouraging things to us!!  We also loved meeting all of the folks riding around with us.  There was a good mix of tourists and locals.  Next time you see a giant bike, hop on and make some new friends!!

 

Silly photo booth action at the end of the night!

(Just another thing to remind us of Japan... we spent some yen on these while living in Nagoya!)

Hawaii Day 7 - Parasailing

DAY 7

 

Let's go parasailing!  Here we are in the boat getting ready to go!

I find this worker's shirt endlessly funny...

"In Most States Getting This High Is A Felony."

Clipped in and ready to go! 

I don't remember being scared, but my face looks a little skeptical in this picture!  LOL

Up, up, and away!

500 feet above the Pacific Ocean!

KG and Tarynn enjoying the ride and views of Honolulu

Bird's eye view from the sky!  With Diamond Head in the background!!

Flying high

View of Waikiki

 

The water in this photo looks so close, but I promise it's not!!

After our adventure over the ocean, we decided to stick with the water theme, and hang out on Waikiki Beach for the afternoon.



 Relaxing, swimming, and searching for some shade!

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by with a photo opportunity with Duke Kahanamoku.  He's a Waikiki surfing legend and Olympic swimmer.  Folks drape leis over the statue each day to honor him.

I didn't know this at the time, but there is a webcam watching the statue at all times, allowing visitors from around the world to wave to their friends.  Check it out here!

For a fancy dinner, we made reservations at the Oceanarium,

which features a scrumptious buffet and a 3-story aquarium in the dining room.

 

The food was quite a spread.  (We fasted all afternoon to make sure we were extra hungry!) 

I enjoyed the tempura, pasta bar, and prime rib. 

Tarynn's favorite was the dessert bar, with over 20 choices, including her first chocolate fountain!

 

While eating a diver comes out to do a quick show with the sting ray and the over 400 fish! 

Then comes the mermaid!! 

Hence, why we needed reservations... People go crazy for this mermaid show. 

It was pretty awesome. 

 

It never occurred to me how she might breath underwater, but every 30 seconds or so, she would swim to the side out of view and take a hit from the oxygen tank!

After dinner we went bowling with Tarynn's friends. 

I didn't take any photos, because um... most KG fans have seen me bowl before!! 

Hawaii Day 6 - Island Bus Tour

DAY 6

 

We took an 8-hour O'ahu Island bus tour.  This was a relaxing event that took us in a counter-clockwise circle of the entire island.  Our driver, Garfield, was a born & raised on O'ahu with many stories to tell us and over a dozen stop-offs along the way!

 

As we left Waikiki we drove through two very expensive neighborhoods of Kahala and Hawaii Kai.  Garfield's father is a residential contractor, and he was involved in building a lot of these homes, including Leonardo Dicaprio's!  Many of Hawaii's most expensive homes sit in this neighborhood including the #1, which is valued at $61 million and owned by Michael Dell (of computer fame)!

 

Sorry, no pics of these homes.  Most are set far back from the road, behind gated entryways and lots of shrubs.  Not to mention I was on a moving bus...

 

But we did have plenty of stop-offs at beautiful shore lookouts along the way.

Hanauma Bay

(You may recall this from my snorkeling adventure on Day 2.)

Halona Blowhole

It was a bit windy

Also windy at the Pali Lookout of Punchbowl Crater

Love those clouds rolling over the mountains



We also stopped at Byodo-in Temple, which is an exact replica from Kyoto, Japan.

(Tarynn and I thought we were back in Japan!)

Also inside this temple is a mausoleum with Tarynn's grandparents' remains, since they were Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.  It was quite an experience to go in the "private" area and pay our respects to her relatives!

Tarynn rings the sacred bell, which is 5 feet tall and weighs 3 tons.

Pond overpopulated with koi fish

Some cool islands just off the eastern coast.

Front and center is Mokolii Island, but fondly nicknamed Chinamen's Hat.

 

To the back left is Rabbit Island, even though many believe it looks like a floating sea turtle. 

(The island got it's name because they used to raise hares on it.)

 

We stopped at Kualoa Ranch for lunch and a tram ride of the grounds.  Kualoa is considered one of the most beautiful and sacred places on O'ahu.  It is 4,000 acres and pictures don't do it justice.

However, I am sure you have all seen it before since Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Lost, and Hawaii 5-0 were filmed there (among many others)! 

My "Loco Moco" lunch...

White rice, topped with a burger patty, gravy, and a fried egg! 

(Why do we not eat these in the mainland?!  It combines many of my favorite things!)

 

Next, we took a short break at a macadamia nut outlet shop, where the highlight was sampling 12 different types of macadamia nuts (like roasted sea salt, chocolate covered, onion & garlic, etc.) and Kona coffee. 

I didn't buy anything, but served as a delicious dessert stop!

 

Sunset Beach on the north shore.

The sand is deep and the waves are gentle!  Oh yeah, I heard the sunsets are pretty spectacular, too!

Last stop was the Dole Plantation, where we learned all sorts of amazing things about pineapples.  For instance, it take 18 months for a plant to grow one pineapple.  And a plant will only ever produce 3 pineapples!!  So, all of the fields are on a five year rotation here.  After 5 years, there have been three pineapples harvested, and they must destroy the field and start all over again!

 

Also, James Dole was the founder, but he did not want to use the family name. So his business was called Hawaiian Pineapple Company until his death in 1958.  Then someone decided to change it to the family name!

Did you know there are pink pineapples?

How about miniature pineapples?

Red pineapples, too!  

And even "hairy" pineapples!

Tarynn and KG enjoy the grounds.

I also enjoyed the "pineapple whip", which is basically pineapple flavored soft-serve ice cream!!  Yummm, I miss it already!

After the bus tour dropped us off in Waikiki, we decided to find a place to eat dinner on the beach. 

We found the perfect Beach Bar at Westin Moana Hotel, where I ate a burger and Maui-brewed Coconut Porter beer.

 

 The sun sets around 7pm in O'ahu, so we had a beautiful view while we dined

 

Before leaving the Westin Moana, we relaxed on the front porch of the hotel for a while in rocking chairs! 

(It was just like the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, only less "grand" I suppose!)