Kauai Trip- day 1

June 25, 2009

We woke up pretty early for our 8:50 am flight. Sarah's uncle had to drop us off by 7:30 because he had to be at work around 8:15. Grandma, Mrs. Comstock, Tyler (Sarah's brother), Sarah and I checked in pretty easily. The flight to Kauai was only 20 minutes and we were out of the airport with the rental car at about 9:30. We had seen in magazines and website that chickens and roosters run rampant through the island. The first thing we saw outside the terminal was a rooster. Sarah's dad had mentioned of a place called Ma's Restaurant but we asked the Alamo gatekeeper and he said it closed down about a year ago. Our Plan B was Hamura saimin. Saimin is like Ramen noodles but way better.
We arrived at about 10:10 and the place was already packed with locals chowing down on Saimin (opens at 10) so we had to wait about 15 minutes.

From 062509

From 062509

I had the special and Sarah had the Regular. For a side Sarah and I got some skewered meats (2 chicken, 1 steak). I probably could have eaten 10 of them. For dessert, we got a lilikoi (Hawaiian Passion-fruit) chiffon pie. Overall, the entire meal was amazing!



After brunch, we made our way from the town of Lihue to the town of Kapaa (about 20 minutes) on a the main 'highway' of Kauai. Sarah found a 'cute' little vacation rental on the internet vacation rental websites but the pictures were nothing to what we drove up to. The place was dirty and the owner wasn't expecting us. Apparently Mrs. Comstock had a PayPal malfunction and the payment didn't go through. I ended up using my PayPal to pay for the rental but didn't mind since I get the WorldPoints. After that whole ordeal, Sarah myself and Tyler decided to explore the island and traveled to a not so advertised waterfall, Kipu waterfall.
We had to travel through this narrow dirt path that was surrounded by a long grass or sugar cane. Once we got to the waterfall, we took a few pictures and prepared to jump in. I started out by jumping out using the rope and then coerced Sarah to jump off too. Soon after, I jumped off the waterfall itself. It was quite a rush to jump from that height. Sarah was hesitant to jump from the cliff side but finally did it and actually enjoyed it more than the rope. Tyler had a sweet camera and took a sequence shot of one of my rope jumps which turned out great! He also got one of Sarah jumping off the waterfall!


After jumping off a few more times, we decided to head back to the vacation rental. I felt adventurous which I guess is a good thing when you want to stumble upon random things. We came across some mini horses that had a cool background so I decided to take a few pictures.

We ended up going by this old fishpond that was apparently created hundreds if not thousands of years ago by natives. They built up two breakwaters along this river and created a slit for water to flow through. They installed wooden planks and separated them enough so that small fish could get in. The slits allowed small fish to get through but the fish would grow and not be able to get out. Its a clever way to farm and simple yet effective. Once we got back to the 'resort' it was time to chow down. We walked to the main strip since it was a few blocks away and ended up eating at a Asian/Hawaiian style place. Sarah and I both had the Hawaiian style pig. The interesting thing about dinner was that it was across from a Hawaiian church and they were singing loudly in Hawaiian!

I'm off to bed, we are going to Pearl Harbor tomorrow early in the morning! More updates to come!

3 Day Summary

So we finally have a little downtime to write about what we've done over the past 3 days.

June 20th, 2009

Being jet lagged, Sarah and myself had woken up at 5:00 am local time and decided to blog on our flight here. Immediately following that, we fell asleep for another 3 hours. After this power nap, Sarah's Aunty Pam made some delicious banana wheat pancakes, cut up some papaya (which we have every morning and is amazing), and Portuguese Sausage which tastes like a mix between Italian sausage and pepperoni. After breakfast, we waited for Sarah's Grandma to get ready and awaited our personal tour around the east side of the island. So the 5 of us jump into the early 90's Toyota 4Runner with manual transmission (My dream car to be honest). We drove down interstate H-1 (maybe that's why some people think you can drive to Hawaii...), hitting some Saturday traffic. We went to Ala Moana Shopping Center so Sarah's Uncle could get a new cable box for their new 46 inch Sony Bravia. The first thing I noticed while we walked around the mall was how tall I was. I have to be in the 99th percentile of tall people in this state!

We got the cable box and proceeded do a drive-by tour of the famous south shore beaches. We passed Ala Moana Beach which is the nearest beach to the house. Next we drove by tourist central aka Waikiki Beach. Its funny how touristy it is. It was packed and there really is'nt that much beach. After Waikiki we stopped at Diamondhead Lookout.A bunch of windsurfers were taking advantage of the onshore east winds.

Next, we drove through Kahala which is a very expensive area with many million dollar homes. We drove by Hanauna Bay (our blog background picture) and stopped at Lanai lookout. This was a very cool area. The rocks alone were beautiful.
On a clear day, you can see the islands of Lanai and Molokai across the horizon. On this day, we can barely make the islands out due to clouds and haziness.


We briefly stopped at the blowhole. Personally, I thought Lanai Lookout was way more beautiful and fun to look at. Next we traveled to Makapuu Lookout. After these lookouts we began to search for food. Driving along the highways, I was constantly awestruck by the views. To my right would be the water and beautiful beaches and immediately to my left would be high green mountains and cliffs with clouds on their tops. We ate at Maui Tacos and ate them at Kailua Park. This is a panoramic of the beach at Kailua park. Once again, another beautiful beach and I've noticed that there are plenty of beaches that aren't consumed with tourists. After out late lunch, we decided to call it a day and get back to the house. That night we drank some wine and had amazing grilled fish. It was moon fish and was a steak fish. I wish we had this in Florida because I'd probably eat it all the time. It isn't too fishy and has a wonderful taste.

June 21st, 2009

We decided to take a trip to the North Shore and to snorkel around Waimea Bay. Aunty Pam let us use her Volvo (which rides like any other Volvo, a tank) and we tried to leave early enough to miss the crowds. I was excited to see a famous surf break and didn't think much about the view crossing the island. I don't think there is a spot on this island that isn't beautiful. Even the pineapple fields are gorgeous with a pretty mountainous background.

Once we got to Waimea Bay, we had to park about 500 yards down the beach and walk. I didn't mind and we got to pass this cool Church that overlooks the bay.

From 062109

I'm sure we will go back to Waimea Bay so we'll be sure to take more pics of the church. We lathered up with sunscreen and proceeded to snorkel. Sarah had mentioned to me that she saw her very first sea turtle here but I was skeptical that I'd see one myself since I always thought they were rare to see. The water is crystal clear and you can see everything. Maybe next time I'll take my camera out to take pictures underwater so you can see what I mean. As we floated about, we saw Humuhumunukunukuapuaa, yeah, thats right, I didn't misspell it. It's the state fish. We saw a few clown fish, a crab or two, lots of parrot fish, unicorn fish, some needle fish (one big one) and one fish that stayed at eye level with us that looked like a barracuda. Upon seeing it, Sarah got scared and wanted to go back in. I decided I would stay out and look around more, not worried about the 'cuda. Upon turning around, and swimming back, Sarah started yelling to me. Thinking she had been attacked by a bear or aliens, I rushed to her side. With her snorkel still on she starts mumbling what sounded like sea turtle. She kept pointing and I saw nothing but she was persistent. Finally I could faintly make out the shape of something big and round. We swam like Phelps to a Bong to get closer to the Turtle. At this point I was quite mad I didn't bring my camera at this point.

From 062109

We followed it for about 5 minutes along the coast and just coasted with it. It's such a magnificent creature that seems to glide through the water and have a persona just like the turtles from Finding Nemo. It finally sped up and we decided to go back to the beach and talk about how awesome it was to swim with a live sea turtle!

From 062109

After a little more snorkeling and Sarah sun bathing, we decided to get lunch. Sarah's Uncle Brian recommended a place in Haleiwa called Grass skirt grill. We munched down a few Ahi burgers (tuna) that had a delicious sesame mayo that we used more for the fries than the burger. After that, we got shave ice at Aoki's which Sarah says is the best place on the island for shave ice. I got mine with ice cream and adzuki beans in the bottom. Sarah got mango and li hing mui flavors while I slurped on melona and lilikoi (passion fruit).

From 062109

From 062109

After getting home, we got ready to go over to Sarah's cousin's house for a Father's Day feast. The food was phenomenal and I ate more steak than I have in a long time.


Well, we are off to the beach so this summary of the past few days will have to be finished another time.