Bears Visit Hawaii

I had to go to Honolulu for a Best Western (BW) conference. Naturally the entire family had to come along to help me. The had accompanied me eight years ago when the BW was last held there. The last time I only had a day and a half to enjoy the island of Oahu, this time I schedule three and a half days.

Upon arriving, we made sure that we had lunch at the word famous Puka Dogs (www.pukadog.com). I could not believe it. My two daughters and Ceci's boyfriend had mustard or mustard and ketchup. Sheesh.
The Wialana restaurant was next to our hotel, the Aqua Palms situated across the street from the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The restaurant was a great value and had wonderful Mai Tai's for only $3.25. There, Lila had her first Mai Tai, I had one too. I tried a dish called Siamin there. It is a Hawaiian version of chow mein and it had Spam in it. I liked it a lot.

While Lila and I were working, Carmen took Ceci and her boyfriend Jay to swim with the dolphins. They had a great time and I am jealous.

Day after the conference ended we rented a car and drove to Hanauma Bay. Snorkeling there is amazing. All the tropical fish, coral, wildlife. At one point I managed to stay with a sea turtle for about an hour and a half. They are really amazing. After lunch we drove up the east side of Oahu. We finished the day off by visiting our friends in downtown Honolulu. They have a penthouse apartment with a fantastic view of the city. They were such wonderful hosts.



Friday was the Polynesian Cultural Center. They picked us up at 10:15am, and returned us at about 10:30pm. What a place. They have villages to let people learn about the cultures of seven different Polynesian cultures. We chucked spears, fished, made toys, ate coconut bread, learned how to open a coconut, make fire with two sticks, ate fresh poi. Lila took a hula lesson and I tried to learn how to play the Ukulele. Did you know that Ukulele, means jumping fleas? We ended the night with a wonderful Luau and a wonderful show. It was quite a day.

Our final day of fun, started by renting a car again. We went to Pearl Harbor and visited the Arizona memorial. It is a very moving experience. Across the street is the flee market to end all flea markets at the Aloha Stadium. It is all geared toward tourists, which we were.

After that we drove to the North Shore and stopped for shaved ice at Matsumoto's, Shrimp Scampi at the Giovanni shrimp truck and ended the day at the Dole pineapple plantation.


We had a wonderful time, but it sure was good to be home.