Aloha!! Skyy's 10th Bday

     We celebrated Skyy's 10th Bday with a Hawaiian theme party and a fun trip to Hawaii.  We started the celebration on her actual bday with a fun pool party.  All her guest dressed in Hawaiian attire and the party was all Hawaiian, including the food, which  was catered by L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.  It was definitely one of Skyy's best birthday parties.  We had so many friends and family show up to celebrate Skyy's bday and she showered with so many gifts and money to spend in Hawaii

    Unfortunately, our trip had to be postponed from April to October because 6-days after Skyy's party, my sister Dedee got diagnosed with Leukemia.  It took 9-months and 5-rounds of chemo for my sister to be on remission.  Once Dedee was home and back to normal, we were able to finally take our long-awaited trip to Hawaii.

   This year we invited Jasmine, one of Skyy's best friends, as Skyy's guest and we were also able to invite my Dad, as a Retirement gift from us.  We were excited for my dad's first time flying on an airplane.  He was a bit nervous on the airplane but he was able to relax, once he finished his first beer.  The flight was over 5-hours long and with the time change, we got to Honolulu around 9pm.  We were all tired and exhausted by the time we got to our hotel.  We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, in the Rainbow Tower.  After a good friend highly recommending this hotel and reading the reviews, I knew this was the place for us to stay.  The room was so nice and spacious.  Our balcony had a view of the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and Waikiki Beach.   

We started our first morning in Hawaii by walking down the beautiful beach of Waikiki.  We were mesmerized how beautiful it was!!  The water was so blue and there was lots of happy people walking everywhere.  We had our first Hawaiian breakfast outside our hotel.  I had a Shoyu Pork Manapua, which tasted like a hamburger but with sweet bread.  The girls weren't too impressed with it but I thought it was delicious.  I actually ended up having two ;)

After our breakfast we headed to one of the many ABC Stores in Hawaii and which soon became my dad's favorite place to shop.  The ABC Stores sell everything you can possibly need and at really cheap prices.  Throughout our trip, my dad made many visits there.  Not only because of the good deals but because for every $100 you spend, you get a gift.  My dad was happy when he got his free Hawaii calendar for spending over $100...haha when he could have easily bought the calendar for $10 ;)

Our first adventure in Hawaii was kayaking and riding water-bees around the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon.  The lagoon is right next to the Rainbow Tower and it's considered a giant saltwater swimming pool.  This is a fun spot to go swimming at because there's no waves and it's not shallow at all.  There's a lot of shady spots around the lagoon, which makes it easy for parents to relax while kids play in the water.  After a fun day in the sun, we headed back to our room to get ready for our first Luau.

We had a bus pick us up at our hotel and took us to Germaine's Luau, which is located in Kapolei, which is on the other side of Oahu.  The bus ride was about an hour long but we didn't mind it at all because we were enjoying the scenery.  Plus we had our bus host, Hawaiian Travis, make the bus ride fun by sharing stories about Hawaii or just pointing out fun facts.  The Luau was super fun and this was definitely the best part of our Hawaiian trip.  The food was so good!  It was an all-you-can-eat Hawaiian-American buffet.  One of the most interesting things I tried and wasn't impressed with was Poi.  Poi is very important and sacred in Hawaii.  It is made by mashing the corn of the taro plant but it looks like purple pudding.  I thought it would be sweet, so I poured a lot of it on my plate but it definitely did not taste anything like pudding or even sweet.  It's a very bland taste....not good or bad, just not what you expect.  The Mai-Tais were delicious and good thing we had a bus take us there because I made sure to drink up on those Mai-Tais, which gave me courage to go up on stage to learn and perform a Hawaiin dance.  Luckily, I had Hawaiian Travis take my pictures and videos of me on stage.  On the way back to our hotel, I was thanking Travis for taking my pictures and had a nice conversation, which lead to us becoming friends on Instragram.

   The next day, we woke up early and went hiking to the top of Diamond Head.  The hike was so much fun and got a bit challenging at the top.  It had some steep steps, spiral cases, and there was even a cave that we had to go through with flashlights.  The top of Diamond Head, was so worth the hike.  It had the most amazing view of Waikiki Beach.

After Diamond Head, we headed back to Waikiki to spend the day at the beach.  Sadly, my trip almost got ruined when I dropped my iPhone in the beach and all my pictures were gone :(  But luckily, Skyy and my dad took pictures on the rest of our trip.  We ended our night by getting shave ice, while watching the firework show that took place in our hotel.  It was one of the best firework shows, I have ever experienced. 

After the firework show, I got a message from Hawaiian Travis on Instagram to invite me to join him and some friends for a night out.  I met up with Travis and friends at this club called Rumfire, which is the only beachfront club in Waikiki, located at the Sheraton Waikiki.  We had a really good time, dancing and drinking.  After Rumfire closed, we headed to Bacchus Waikiki, which was a bit inland.  This place was so much fun. It was 3 stories and had so many dance floors and bars.  After a long night of dancing, I headed back to my hotel to get rested for the next day.  Good thing I had my dad on our trip, who turned out to be a great baby sitter ;)

   The next morning we woke up early to go shopping at the Aloha Swapmeet.  They had such good deals on everything.  We bought all our souvenirs and gifts for our friends and family there.  After our shopping, we decided to go check out this beach that Travis highly recommended because it's considered the 5th most beautiful beach in the world.  The drive to Kailua Beach was a bit long but the scenery was so breath-taking, very green and tropical. 

When we finally got to Kailua Beach, we drove a bit to check out the city.  And then we got to spend the day at Lanikai Beach, and I can totally understand why this beach is so famous.  The water is so clear and warm, and the sand is so soft that it massages your feet when you walk on it.  The girls and my dad enjoyed swimming and playing in the water, while I enjoyed the beautiful view.  I had the opportunity to talk to locals there.  One of the locals was telling me that the Obama family have a house down the street and this is where they vacation in Hawaii.  There are so many small islands near by that people can easily swim to.  We truly fell in love with this beach and I would love to go back one day.

  Our last day in Hawaii, we decided to make it more educational by visiting Pearl Harbor.  The girls didn't enjoy this part of the trip but it was my dad's favorite.  I thought it was nice to learn about what had happened during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 

After Pearl Harbor, we headed to the Dole Plantation, which was a fun spot for the girls.  Me and the girls tried completing the biggest maze in the world, which took us over an hour because we got so lost. And we ended our day there by having delicious pineapple ice-creams.

It was a great experience for all of us.  The last stop that we made in Hawaii before dropping off our rental car was checking out the Halona Blowhole.  This blowhole is definitely not as impressive as the one in Ensenada but it was a nice drive getting there. 

We finally headed to the airport and we were all excited to head back home to share our experience with our family.  Overall, we loved Hawaii.  The beaches are beautiful, the food was good but a bit pricey.  I did get to try one of Hawaii's famous dishes, Loco Moco, which is white rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy.  It sounded a little weird but I was surprised how good it was.  One of the things I noticed about the women in Hawaii, is that they are very athletic and covered up.  Not many sexy bikinis, it made me realize that it's so different from Miami and San Diego. 

The fashion in Hawaii is wearing flowers in your hair.  Flower leis are very popular, here is a picture of me wearing a Lei that Travis got me, the night we went out.  Ladies wear floral summer dresses with sandals.  The good thing about Hawaii is that I was able to wear my hair natural, no matter how frizzy it got.  My favorite spot was Lanikai Beach and I enjoyed the hike on Diamond Head.  And for your shopping pleasure, I recommend the Aloha Swap Meet or the ABC Stores.  I can't wait to go back to Hawaii.....