On and Off the Oahu Tourist Track

From here, I made my way back to Honolulu and met up with Coby. Our plans were to hike Diamond Head, but the weather had different plans for us. Oahu is experiencing one of its wettest times in history, and unfortunately, this just happens to coincide with my first week here. After debating on whether or not it would clear up, Coby and I ended up hitting up Leonard’s, the famous Portugese bakery on island, to sample malasadas. These are like fried dough, and you can opt in for fillings like coconut or choclate, quite contradictory to hiking, but well worth the indulgence. We made our way back home, and promised to try for Diamond Head the following day….

The following day dawned wet and windy, so Coby and I hit up Chinatown and sampled Dim Sum at Shu Mei (which was EXCELLENT and about $7.00 each for a massive lunch) and then went to see a movie. That night, we tagged along with Ludmila to a warehouse party in Honolulu… we stayed up way too late and forced ourselves to get up the following morning to make something of the day. I was determined to hike Diamond Head, so after Coby’s homemade pancakes to cure us, we set out to catch the bus to the foot of Diamond Head Park. Well, after roaming around, and not being able to find the right bus stop, Ludmila called and said she and a friend were going to meet us and hike with us, so she picked us up on the way and we drove to the park. Finally, the rain had passed and the vog (volcanic smog) wasn’t too bad, so we hiked about 30 minutes up and got to see all of Waikiki and Honolulu as well as the Southeast coast.

At the foot of the park is a community college and small botanical garden with a great cactus collection- we visited that briefly and then headed for an authentic Hawaiian meal. We went to Ono’s in Waikiki and sampled LaoLao, Poke, Taro Root and other delicacies. The food was amazing and reminded me of being in Indonesia- the same basic, good flavors. And well deserved after our hike.

By Sunday, the weather was really improving and I started the day with a long run through Honolulu and Ala Moana Park. I was amazed at the number of people out and about- running, swimming, biking and beaching it, as well as the number of families preparing for their day long picnics and barbecues. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my time in Sydney and think that these people have struck a good life balance. For a city, there’s a pace of life here that’s not too crazy to keep up with, and despite the influence of tourism, the locals do a nice job of keeping their island their own. So while I may have had preconceived notions about Honolulu and Waikiki and while it may have felt like SoCal/America at times, there was a definite relaxed vibe to this place, that was (as I would come to find out later) purely Hawaiian.