First Night in Honolulu

Our plane reached Honolulu at 3pm.

Although I’ve traveled for a whole day and it’s 8pm in Iowa, I wasn’t tired.

I walked out of the airport, and immediately filled my lung with the island air. Ohhh.. this air smells so familiar. The temperature was perfect (76F/24C).

I was delighted to feast my eyes with exotic tropical plants which some are available in Borneo and some I’ve never seen.

Honolulu
You don’t see this in Iowa.

Radim was able to connect with Kim and Natalie and arrange to have a dinner together. It was so nice to see some old friends, in Oahu!

We went to Phuket Thai restaurant for little din din.

My first impression of the restaurant was the waiters were very friendly and laid back. Perhaps a little too laid back because the service was slow. I was in such good mood and company that I didn’t mind.

Yummy seafood Pad Thai
Yummy seafood Pad Thai

Great company
Me, Radim, Natalie, Kim and Karan

In the photo, Natalie, Kim and I were showing the shaka sign. This is done by extending the pinkie and the thumb while curling the middle three fingers. This is a friendly sign of greeting in Hawaii.

After the dinner, it was about 9pm and the weather get chilly. Nothing unbearable though.

On our way home to the apartment, we stopped by a grocery store to buy some bread and eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast (we rented an apartment and it has kitchen). I’ve read in the guide book that the produce here could be expensive. So, I was very curious about the prices of the grocery.

eggs in honolulu

eggs in honolulu

Well, what do you think of the prices?

The price of eggs in Malaysia is about RM3 (less than USD1) per dozen. My mom would get a heart attack when she sees the prices of eggs in Honolulu.

We picked up some papayas, bananas, bread, jam, water, etc from the supermarket. By the time we finished grocery shopping, I was quite tired (already 3am in Iowa time).

Came back t to the apartment and went straight to bed!

On my way to Oahu!

I have been waiting for this day to come for a while now!

I have never been to Hawaii and didn’t really have any desire to go. It’s simply because it’s a world renowned vacation spot and I always have this impression that Hawaiian islands would be filled with tourists. I certainly am not into touristy spots.

Karan and his colleague Radim will be going to Oahu for work. So, I Googled Hawaii for fun and hmm… it’s world renowned for a reason! I decided to tag along with Karan and see it for myself.

4/26/2009
Despite of morning alarm issue, we managed to reach the airport on time. Hallelujah.

Minneapolis Airport
Radim & Karan at Minneapolis airport

Radim, me & Karan
Radim, me & Karan at Minneapolis airport

Our flight: Cedar Rapids – Minneapolis – Honolulu

The Minneapolis to Honolulu flight was 8 hours long. From my experience of American flights, I didn’t expect them to serve food (I still have vivid memory of the tiny pack of low calorie pretzel on my first domestic flight), even on an 8 hour flight. Well, they did.

Flight food
Lunch – Although not very appetizing, for the love of rice, I did finish the terriyaki chicken with rice. Other food … please judge for yourself.

flight food
Snack time: Cold ham and cheese burger, chocolate and chips. What’s up with the cold sandwich??? Yuck!

Thank goodness that I was prepared for this flight. 🙂 You want to see what I could pull out from my backpack?
Food in backpack
Is this a backpack or a pantry?

snacks
Karan made the nut balls. Yummy!

food in laptop bag
Gotta have fresh fruits!

You would never go hungry when traveling with OuOu. 🙂

I watched the Hindi movie “Fashion” during the flight. There’s a always a risk watching Hindi movie on board. Last time I ended up with two giant red tomato eyes after watching one. Although I enjoyed Fashion, thank goodness this movie didn’t tickle my tear gland too much.

Oahu Ultimate Guide Book
Oahu Revealed – The Ultimate Guidebook to Honolulu, Waikiki and Beyond

I read this book cover to cover before this trip. I always like to prepare myself prior to a trip so that I learn about the local culture before hand, know what to bring with me and what to expect. Having said that, one could never fully expect what’s coming his way on a trip.

Almost there
We are almost there!

I am ready to see for myself what’s Oahu all about! Aloha!