Aloha Oahu...Aloha Kona

Did you know that Aloha is used both to say hello and goodbye?

Before I say Aloha (goodbye) to Oahu and Aloha (hello) to Kona, I thought I'd show some highlights of our time in Waikiki and Honolulu.

The first are “food oriented” OF COURSE! (lol):

Waimalu Chop Suey, AKA The House of Gau Gee, in Aeaia

We ran across Waimalu Chop Suey when we went shopping for a new fan for the condo. The food was cheap, plentiful, and GOOD. The specialty of the house is a big dumpling called Gau Gee.

Gau Gee

The gau gee was definitely tasty, but all the other dishes we ordered were so delicious too. And when we asked for beer, the waitress said: “No beer here…you want beer, you go next door and buy to drink here.” Fun and inexpensive...Our kind of place.

We had one of the best Chinese meals I’ve ever had at Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant. (You may recall the name of this place from my previous post..my friend Maryann "accidentally" held her hand over the "en" in Yuen while I took the picture of the menu)

Forgive me for elaborating, but the food was amazing:

• Westlake soup • Crispy duck •
Clams in black bean sauce • Honey walnut shrimp •
Crab with ginger sauce • Lobster with noodles •
2 vegetable dishes (eggplant and spinach) • Dessert •
All for $225 for 6 people (including sake)

It’s so fun to go with a bunch of people to a restaurant like this, you can order a ton of food and every body chips in to pay the bill.

Yes, yes, yes...there's more to vacation than just food:

I hiked to the top of Diamond Head Crater last Thursday with a friend. We started about 8 a.m. before it started to get too hot. It was a gorgeous day and we had the BEST time!

Here I am at the top of Diamond Head
Overlooking Waikiki

And NOW for the PSEUDO-ARTISTIC crap, as promised:

Bar at new Trump Tower
Very elegant but oh-so expensive…$50 for 3 drinks!
(Not going back there!)

Rainbow over the City View from our Condo

The requisite sunset picture

Red sky at night

Mele Kalikimaka!
I have a tiny artificial Christmas tree that I put up each year
and I decorate it with mini-ornaments.
Here it is reflected in a big mirror in the living room…

That’s about it for now. We are now on the Big Island for a week. Today we just relaxed and I got to see about 5 honu (sea turtles) in the surf right outside the place we're renting. I also sat for an hour and watched a bunch of little black crabs eat a dead puffer fish...now that's exciting!

Well, that's about it for now...I'm hoping to go snorkeling tomorrow as there is a bay nearby that's supposedly the best for that.

I'll try to post again in a few days.

(Sorry about the quality of some of the photos...they were all taken with my Blackberry)