HOTEL BREAKFAST
We loved the breakfast in the morning. Each day, the hotel had a huge breakfast buffet set up next to the pool. When we checked in the day before, Joshua and I were each given a nice-sized complimentary cooler-bag to put our breakfast foods in. We also had the option of checking out chairs and towels at the buffet to eat our breakfast on the beach if we wanted. Or, you could sit next to the pool at one of their tables where there was a Polynesian singer and dancer to entertain the breakfast guests. It was always the same performers each day, and one day while we were talking to them, we realized that they were a newly-married LDS couple who also worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center. They were really nice, lovely couple, and super psyched when they realized we were LDS too.
Julie with the Polynesian performers who entertained during breakfasts each morningAfter breakfast, we walked a couple blocks to the Waikiki Aquarium. We saw so many banyan trees on the way. They are everywhere in Hawaii. Josh was fascinated with them, so I took a picture of him next to the biggest one we saw. When we got to the aquarium, we decided to take their audio-tour. It was very interesting. We learned a lot about the wide variety of fish from the surrounding Hawaiian Islands.
Joshua is so tiny next to this gigantic banyan treeLUNCH AT TIKI'S BAR AND GRILL
We walked back to the hotel and got ready for an afternoon on Waikiki Beach. Before heading for the soft sand and warm ocean, we stopped first for lunch on the second floor of the hotel to eat at "Tiki's Grill and Bar", a really fun restaurant in the hotel. We loved the tiki and Hawaiian decor. It has a retro South Pacific allure with the charm of the old tiki bars from the 1950s and ’60s. We requested a table on the balcony, which had a wonderful view of the ocean. I ordered a pina colada that came in a coconut shell. I also got a Hawaiian Salad that had pineapples in it. Joshua got some fish tacos.
Entering Tiki's Grill and Bar
Loved the virgin pina colada!WAIKIKI BEACH AND AN OUTRIGGER CANOE RIDE
After we were done with lunch we went to the beach. I relaxed in the warm sun while Joshua jumped around in the waves. He tried to persuade me into the water too, but I enjoyed laying in the sand. I overheard a group of girls next to us talking about Michael Jackson. They were saying that they learned on their hotel television that he had died that day. Eerie and bizarre.... We had just seen his house on our Hollywood Homes Tour only six days earlier, the one he apparently died in. This incident made Joshua and I remember of another Hollywood event that took place while we were on our honeymoon fifteen years earlier -- Anyone ever hear of a little incident involving OJ Simpson? The whole thing started when we were on our honeymoon, and we were clueless to it until we got back to Texas. Anyway, that was the only thing we heard people talking about the rest of the day on the beach.
After an hour or two of soaking in the sun, we decided to try an outrigger canoe ride. It's kind of like surfing in a canoe, and it's unique to Hawaii, specifically Waikiki beach. We learned that in old Hawaii, Waikiki was the playground of the elite, and canoe surfing was a privilege reserved solely for the ali'i, or Hawaiian royalty. To this day, Waikiki beach is one of the only places in the world where you can race down a wave on an outrigger canoe. We were feeling adventurous, so we decided to try out the sport of kings. We rode two waves. The first one was the biggest and fastest -- It was amazing experience! So fun to ride the waves this way!
Going out....(Joshua and I in the middle towards the back)
HOE KA WA'A - "Paddle the Canoe!"
Trying to catch a wave....
Caught one and riding it out!
We rode the wave to shore, as the salt water splashed in our facesTAKE-OUT AND MICHAEL JACKSON
We went back to our hotel room in the evening to clean-up for dinner. As we were getting ready, we turned on the television to find out more information on the death of Michael Jackson. Of course, it was all over, and on every channel. We were so fascinated with it that Joshua went out and brought back some take-out dinner and we ate and watched CNN and Michael Jackson music videos for the rest of the night.
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