There was a time when I thought I can never afford to travel. Hawaii is too expensive. I cannot afford to visit paradise. Then…..Southwest answered with service to Hawaii, Hilton answered with special rates and my travel partner this trip answered with, yes…we must do it! So…..here I am! Four day sin Oahu! Enough time, definitely not but I am here, I will make the most of the four days and it will be amazing!
The first sight after 5 hours in the air was Maui and Oahu. What amazed me was the beauty of the water, even from above! We were lucky enough to arrive early and get a tour of the island from above.
We landed in Oahu at 11:00 AM. We took a Speedi Shuttle to the Hilton Waikiki Hawaiian Village, we checked our bags and we hit the ground running. I paid the extra to have a lei greeting….yes, Susan loved it. How can you land in Hawaii and not leave the airport without a lei!
We proceeded to….Chinatown. Probably not the first destination for the average person landing in Hawaii, but I knew I wanted to check it out…..and yes, for the most part, not worth the trouble. The market was basically four stalls, I envisioned a much larger place. However, we hit The Pig and the Lady, a Vietnamese restaurant and it was amazing!!! I had a Strawberry and Balsamic Shrub. It is basically a drink that combines fruit, sugar and vinegar. It was surpisingly good. The pork belly Banh Mi sandwich was also absolutely amazing!!! Fun fact….we asked about the story behind the Cafe du Monde cans….the coffee is very popular among the Vietnamese!
After lunch we checked out Cindy’s Lei and Flower Shop. I was hoping to catch the employees making leis, no such luck. We picked up dragon fruit and candy apple bananas, then headed back to the hotel. I can’t say that Chinatown is a must see but the restaurant was worth the trip!
Upon arriving to the room, the air conditioning sounded like a twin engine plane about to take off….no bueno!! One call to the front office, and maintenance arrived, changed the filter and sweet silence. Shout out to Hilton for taking care of the issue so quickly!
We then put on our swimsuits and headed out to the pool. The hotel has four pools, one of which was over run by children, one that was closed and two that we never ventured to find. We found the ocean to be the better bet! We quickly met a couple from New York that we spoke with while floating in the ocean. What a relaxing way to spend an hour! The water around Waikiki is cloudy so snorkeling did not appear to be a great option right off the shore. But floating and relaxing…definitely!
After a quick wardrobe change, it was time for dinner. We decided to stay close as Friday nights are fireworks at the Hilton. We decided on Tropics Bar and Grill as it was in the hotel and on the beach. The food was amazing and the drinks delicious! Mai tai’s all around…we are in Hawaii after all!
We ended the night with fireworks….five minutes of fireworks but a great show all the same. We had a little rain and a few hiccups the first day, but overall a great first day in Hawaii!
Where There's a Will There's a Plane 
Awesome!1
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