Granite SW: Aloha!

If ever given the chance - go to Hawaii.

And if you get to choose your island - O'ahu isn't a choice you'd regret.

And if you get to choose the timing - traveling in February has its appeal.

I have been going back and forth on what this entry should focus on... should it be a day by day account....? Naw.. the last one didn't go over so well. Should it be a trip adviser of all the great things to do for free on O'ahu?.... eh... its kind of a short list.... Should it just be a picture slide show....? Again.. no... cause that's what facebook is for.... So what exactly...

I'm still not sure. So... I'm probably just gonna babble a bit over the next few entries... there will be some pictures... some information (that I WISH we'd been given before going)... and who knows what else. This will be the "advice" entry.

My first piece of advice: bring a rain jacket.
My second: eat rice at every meal.
My third: if drinking is your thing - be near a restaurant between 3-6pm.
And lastly: train on the stair stepper before leaving on your trip.

1) The rain. Holy goodness. Coming from Washington, I thought I'd knew what rain was.... I though the days and days of constant rain would've prepared me for anything - I couldn't have been more wrong. Waikiki is on the southern edge of O'ahu. Its a big city, notorious for beautiful sunsets and outdoor entertainment.... but come to find out, also for random, torrential downpours!

It was always the same story - walking along the street, not a cloud overhead, then - BAM!! HUGE drops of water, POURING down! Literally if you didn't JUMP under an awning or dash into the closest building - you were soaked. This happened on three different occasions - usually only lasting a few minutes, but once for over an hour. Bring a rain coat - this isn't a seasonal or occasional occurrence, its a Hawaii thing - think about it, islands covered in RAINforests....

2) Hawaii is a melting pot of Asian cultures and traditions - most plainly seen in the food. The best hole in the wall restaurants were always Asian food - Pho, Ramen, Sushi, Korean bbq, etc. Even the famed "plate lunch" is filled with rice, a thinly sliced marinated meat and a fried egg (freaking delicious by the way). I was given the option of rice or toast at every breakfast - and I always ordered the rice. My favorite breakfast: rice, Portuguese sausage and an over medium egg, all mushed together. Eat the rice - because if rice isn't being offered you are probably eating at a pathetically commercial Apple-Chili's-Olive-Factory restaurant that you could've just stayed at home and eaten at.

The picture is of a shrimp plate from the famed Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.

3) Two words: Happy Hour. Between 3-6pm just about every restaurant in Waikiki has a happy hour - a happy hour your hometown is begging for. $1 drafts, $2 wells, $3 delicious Mai Tai's....

This is actually a Lava Flow

4) The hiking on O'ahu is amazing. There are numerous craters, beaches, waterfalls and parks to hike through - most are free and the others, totally worth the nominal fee. But don't let the paved paths fool you - they are a task. Remember - you're totally not used to the heat or humidity, your probably just wearing day shoes or worse sandals, and who REALLY wants to carry water on a paved path... Well... by hike number three let me tell you - we had on good shoes and a bottle of water! Makapuu Lighthouse is the most deceptive hike of them all. Looking at it, oooh a gentle, paved slope. What you don't see is that it goes on for what feels like ever, and it wraps around the hill, oh and its on the dry side of the island, so there is no shade and you are surrounded by cactus.... The most brutal though: Koko Head Crater. Think 10,000 flights of stairs, made of uneven rail road ties, straight up with no where to pull off to the side and rest. This was literally the hardest thing I've ever physically done - by the time we were 3/4 up, Chad was practically begging me to go down - for MY sake, not his.... luckily I was too stubborn and finished, but holy goodness, I would hardly recommend this hike to anyone... and honestly... the view is barely worth it...