Hawaii 2023: August 1 -4: Waipahu, Ohau

1. Travel Day
August 1 was a travel day. We packed up and went from Kauai to Oahu.

2. Monarch Poke Lunch
When we landed we tried to go to Curry House, but when we arrived it was takeout only. Nowhere to sit! We ended up at the same shopping center (Pearl Kai) at a place called Monarch Poke.

Makai got Kalua pig nachos

Dallas got Katsu Sando

and I got the laulau plate lunch.

3. Pearlridge Center
We went across to Pearl Ridge mall . Makai was in desperate need of swim shorts. The ones he packed were small to begin with and miniscule by the time he pounded some musubi! We ended up getting some O’Neill shorts at HIC. We also went to T&C Surf. On the way out we stopped at Brug Bakery, a Japanese bakery, for some breakfast to bring to BJ + Nalani’s house.
Makai got this cool hat at T&C Surf.

4. Koa Ridge
The view out of the bedroom window. BJ and Nalani moved into a brand new house since the last time we saw them. It’s in the Koa Ridge area of Waipahu. They will never have neighbors behind their house because it’s built on the ridge!

5. Hawaiian Coffee
BJ was making extra every morning. So good!

6. Breakfast at the Diner
Just like at home Dallas and Makai figured out a diner to go to and then came and asked me if I wanted to go!
Rise and Shine Cafe in Mililani.

Makai gets a similar breakfast at home, but in Hawaii rice instead of potatoes and spam instead of sausage or bacon.

I’d been eating a lot of heavy things so I got yogurt with fruit.
Dallas got loco moco.

7. A Day in Hale’iwa
We went to with BJ and Kanehoa to Hale’iwa. Our first stop was Hale’iwa Alii Beach. There were so many sea turtles swimming. Some came so close we could have reached out and touched them (but, of course, we didn’t).

8. Matsumoto’s Shave Ice
After the beach we hit up Matsumoto’s. Dallas and BJ couldn’t believe how built up Haleiwa, Hawaii is now! So many shops. The shave ice was a nice treat after the hot beach.

9. Kamehameha Friends BBQ
Donovan lives on the Big Island now, but happened to be in town. Sheri came in from Kauai.
Facetiming with Jay on Maui!
Dallas, Nalani, Sheri, Donovan, BJ

10. Dole Plantation
Our last day staying in Waipahu. I took Makai early to go to the maze at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We got the obligatory Dole whip, but we’re not fans, sorry!

11. Brush Fire
Coming out we ran into a big brush fire, which explains why we heard so many sirens while we were at Dole. We also saw military helicopters. In hindsight (after the Lahaina fire devastation), this was so scary and sad.

12. Lunch at Aunty Lorrin’s
For lunch we visited Aunty Lorrin, who lives a 5 minute walk from where we’re staying with BJ and Nalani! Good to see Victor, Vivian, Maile and David. Makai had fun playing with their new kitten, Mya. Later on Makai and I were running errands and he was really feeling the vibe at Long’s! In the evening Kuni came over and treated us to Thai dinner!
Victor, Mya, David, Aunty Lorrin, Dallas, Makai, Maile, Vivian

13. Jurassic Tour at Kualoa Ranch
Makai recently watched all of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies so we went on a tour of the filming locations and sets! We also saw locations of other shows and movies. And the ranch was so beautiful!

The tour guide was a local and figured out Dallas was too. She was calling him Uncle, not Brother, be

14. Lunch at Waiahole Poi Factory
We met BJ for one last lunch at Waiahole Poi Factory. Their classmate Hoku D’s family owns the restaurant.
Makai’s kalua pig
Kulolo and Haupia Ice Cream

Waimanalo 7.29 – 8.2

We usually spend part of our trip with Dallas’s classmate, Billy and Ging. We’ve stayed with them in California and Hawaii, even before Makai was even born. Makai has known them since he was a baby and LOVES staying at their house with Damien, Hoku and Ka’eo. On this trip, unfortunately, Ging and Damien were in Seattle for the week, but we were able to hang out with them for a few days when they returned to Hawaii.

The kids have grown up on the beach. It’s just a couple blocks from their house. I think Makai was there every day!! This time he loved learning to body board with Uncle Billy and Dallas. Last time we visited there were a bunch of portuguese man o wars. This time there were far less, but Dallas did get stung once!

We drove to Honolulu to go to a barbecue at Nalani and BJ’s house. Makai mostly hung out with Kanehoa and Kula’ilua, watching TV and playing games! Dallas’s classmates Shannon and Keoni.

Won the best aunty award by taking Hoku, Ka’eo and Makai to McDonald’s for lunch (20 pc nuggets!) and then later taking them to Dave’s Ice Cream in Waimanalo.

We were on Oahu, but I seemed to have a Maui theme going on!

Shima’s is the local Waimanalo grocery store that I like to stop into. Their poke selection is insane!!!

Billy and Ging have a great backyard and we spent a lot of time relaxing, playing, eating, shooting basketball and doing archery out there.

Ging and Billy and especially Hoku, really enjoy gardening. In their yard there are so many tropical fruits growing! Banana, taro/kalo, breadfruit, coconut, pineapple, dragon fruit, mango, papaya!!!

The family dog is a pharaoh hound mix named Sandy.

Billy and Ging are not coffee drinkers, but there is a cute cafe a few blocks from their house. Each morning I took a relaxing walk to the Kalapawai Cafe to get iced coffee and then took a relaxing stroll back home.

Ging and I had a nice dinner out at Roy’s Goen. It is nice to connect away from the kids and husbands!

Ka’eo’s birthday was on our last day of vacation. We all went to Fishing Farms Hawaii to fish for tilapia. It was so much fun. The kids loved it! When we got 4 larger sized fish, we gave them to the employees to cook for us! Damien, Hoku and Ka’eo were so into it. I think Makai was a bit grossed out!

After lunch we went to another area to catch prawns. There were a ton of animals over there just hanging out!

After all the birthday fun, we went home and showered and headed off to the airport! Crazy thing was that we saw Steve and Amy and their kids at the airport headed back to O’Hare! They were visiting family on Oahu. Crazy.

Celebrating 10 Years at The Royal Hawaiian 7.17 – 7.19

Makai was already on Kauai for three weeks when Dallas and I flew to Honolulu. Before we went to get him we were going to spend two nights at The Royal Hawaiian on our own to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We always wanted to invite friends and family to Hawaii to celebrate 10 years, but because of Covid, that didn’t happen. Since we were going to stay in Waikiki, we did not rent a car. Not that we could. Cars were SO expensive, IF available at all! So, for the first time ever, we took an Uber from the Honolulu airport to Waikiki.

We checked into The Royal Hawaiian and were greeted with kukui nut leis. It was nice, but I recall getting a fresh flower lei the last time we stayed at the Royal Hawaiian. Also, I wondered about the banana bread in the room. I was sure they wouldn’t have it because of covid, and I was right! Instead we got a slip to get something “special” at the bakery. When I turned it in, it was a bag of banana muffins.

We had to get up at 3 am for our flight. Then 4 hours to Phoenix and 5 (?) hours to HNL. Then an Uber, then the check in…. all while wearing a mask. We were so exhausted and hungry! We walked around Waikiki for SO long looking for somewhere to sit down and eat. I was so tired I told Dallas I couldn’t walk around any more. Everywhere had wait times of 30 – 60 minutes. Maui Brewing had a 2 hour wait! Now that Hawaii is more open to tourism, it is crazy. We travelled using our vaccine card to avoid the mandatory quarantine.

We finally found a place to be seated and have a drink and some pupus at Doraku on the 2nd floor of the Royal Hawaiian shopping center. I don’t recommend this place, really. It was expensive and the poke had gochujang on it. Also it was our first experience with covid tracing. We had to scan a QR code and enter our contact info into a web form. This was pretty standard at most Honolulu restaurants. Once we were seated and rested a minute we could try to figure out what to do. We called Sansei, one of our favorite Waikiki restaurants, but there was no answer. We then called Side Street Inn because it’s off the beaten tourist path in Waikiki. They said come in NOW or don’t come for 2 days!

Side Street Inn was a great choice. There was no wait and it was all locals. Dallas knew what to order because he’s seen Side Street Inn on TV and has been there before. This was a place Bourdain really liked. We ordered the special of the day – lumpia. It was soo good. We also got the kimchee fried rice, which was huge. A MOUNTAIN of rice. Then we got the fried pork chop. And for dessert we got the chocolate peanut butter crunch. The lychee martini was $8 at Side Street Inn compared to $13 at Doraku.

After dinner we took an Uber back to the hotel and went to bed. By then we’d been up for something like 20 hours!

We woke up early at like 4 or 5am because of the time difference. We went to eat breakfast at Surf Lanai in our hotel really early to beat any rush! The food was good, but expensive. A small place of 3 slices of papaya was $13! We decided to get the continental breakfast, which was all you can eat for $25 AND included papaya! I had 5 slices of papaya, plus other fruit, quiche, and pastries. Dallas had POG + vodka.

After breakfast we were walking around and went to Lawson’s to get a few things for the beach. Lawson’s is a popular convenience store in Japan! Dallas went back to the room and I stopped by ABC store too.

On the way back to the hotel I swung by to see the Princess. Princess Bernice Pauahi, great-granddaughter of Kamehameha I, penned her last will and testament at this spot, establishing the Kamehameha Schools, dedicated to educating children of Hawaiian descent.

At 9am we went to our reserved beach chairs. We had to pay $60 to reserve chairs from 9-6. We had to reserve weeks in advance and actually were really lucky to get these chairs! I was checking every morning to try to get chairs or a cabana!

I stopped by the Royal Hawaiian bakery for some free treats, which were 3 banana muffins, instead of the banana bread they used to leave in the rooms. Also, I had to go to the Waikiki Apple store because I forgot my watch charger at home.

When we’d first settled into our seats, I gave the guy who set up our umbrella $20 for tip, thinking he’d be serving us all day. We never saw him again! At 11am we could go to the Mai Tai bar and get our own drinks and walk back to our chairs. Not the luxe experience I was thinking of when I paid for those chairs! Dallas had a beer. I asked for a lava flow but they made me a SUPER STRONG pina colada. The water had such a turquoise hue and a great view of Diamond Head!

Cute Java Sparrow outside the Royal Hawaiian entrance.

For lunch we went to the Royal Hawaiian food court to get something fast and cheap. I ordered a loco moco burger with fries and a Big Wave beer from Mahaloha Burger only to find out Dallas didn’t want anything from any restaurant in the food court! So I ate while he stewed.

We went to Yard House to check on the wait time. This Gabby Pahinui statue is right outside. The wait time was about a half hour so Dallas waited outside and I walked around the little shops in the area. Dallas got ahi nachos and wings. I already ate so I just got a mini creme brulee cheesecake.

Afterwards Dallas went back to our room to rest (he had been up so early). I went back to the beach. I had to get our full value from our reserved chairs!

We got really lucky with reservations that day. I happened to be on the Open Table app when all the listings for Eating House 1849 opened up. I booked a time immediately. I cancelled our reservation for Wolfgang Steakhouse, who, by the way is NOT Wolfgang Puck, much to the confusion of many tourists we heard talking about it. So lucky. The Eating House on Kauai was fully booked til late August! Dallas’s parents had tried to go with Caroline and Jose.

This is a selfie we took before dinner. Dallas was reluctant, but I made him!

Eating House is in the International Marketplace, which is SO fancy now. I felt bad for all of the families who were walking in asking to eat and getting turned away immediately. We learned that lesson right away upon landing on Oahu. We actually later in in the trip started booking meals and planning days around it.

We had pork and crab “pillows” and a seafood platter (4 oysters, 4 giant tiger shrimp, 3 ahi sashimi, 3 salmon sashimi and 3 kampachi sashimi). We each ordered “Fish your way” and both got Kona kampachi. Dallas got his grilled with pancit. I got mine sauteed with truffled garlic caper beurre blanc (butter sauce). The wait staff was so great. Even the busser went out of his way. They’d asked earlier if we wanted the molten lava cake and I was a for sure YES!

I started off dinner with a lychee martini, but then finally did get my lava flow.

We were so stuffed. I wanted to walk around Waikiki a little bit, but it was so busy. Like think… Las Vegas at night busy. Dallas said he’s never seen it SO crowded. There were street performers out and people everywhere. We ended up just going back to the peace and quiet of the hotel.

The next morning I got up at 6am and got coffee at the Royal Hawaiian bakery along with some croissants and the muffins from the day before for breakfast. We packed and took a cab to the airport ($40). Our flight to Kauai was at 9:30 am.


An anniversary note and a love note to The Royal Hawaiian…

Makai has been with his grandparents on Kauai for 3 weeks already. We’re here to pick him up and bring him home, but before we do that we took 2 nights at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

We were lucky enough to stay at this hotel one other time in 2009, during the recession and on a friends and family discount. This time we used points. I love when we can figure out a way to stay at The RH.
Both of our stays have been in the historic tower, which is the original building from the 1920s. The rooms are not huge and luxurious, but I do not mind. I love being surrounded by the history. Every nook and cranny has photographs, art and memorabilia from the last nearly 100 years.
I also love that because they were the second hotel in Waikiki (Moana is just a little older), the have a larger footprint and are removed from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki and Kal?kaua Ave. The grounds are beautiful and relaxing and I love to sit in a rocking chair on the expansive lanai and read or write or just… sit.
We’re on our way right now to the airport for an inter island flight to Kauai to get our boy. So long to The Pink Palace. A hui hou! Happy 10th anniversary, Dallas Crowell.

Hawaii 2019 Day 13: Kamehameha Schools Alumni Luau

In the morning we walked around Waikiki. I said hello to Duke, like I always do when in Waikiki. We also later said hi to Don Ho at International Marketplace, which is now SUPER fancy. It used to be all temporary looking stands and a few fast restaurants and now it’s a very high-end mall. Dallas really wanted to go to Quiksilver to get a new aloha shirt for the luau that night. While there, I also got a Hydro Flask water bottle and a Pura Vida wave ring. We stopped for coffee at Big Wave Dave, where we also started to look around for somewhere to eat lunch.

We ended up going to Tim Ho Wan at the Royal Hawaiian for dim sum, which was perfect. Just after we were seated and ordered, the 103rd Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade began and went right past the windows where we were seated. What a treat for everyone at the restaurant! We could not have planned it better.

The dim sum at Tim Ho Wan was great. The bao was very interesting. It had like a flaky dough instead of the steamed white dough we’re used to.

Back at the hotel we showered and got ready for the luau, except for getting dressed. We brought our clothes along, so they wouldn’t get all sweaty! First we went to Vivian’s house in Moanalua to get Makai. We visited a bit and Vivian’s in-laws came over. They’re Japanese (Vivian is Korean – Kathy’s cousin’s daughter) and had just been to a Japanese market. They shared some treats with us. They said that they knew Dallas’s dad when he was young, like a kid!

Next we went to visit family very closeby in Moanalua Valley. Kiki and Duke have a house there and somewhat recently Quincy had an addition built on to make it a duplex. Actually the whole family was still helping with the renovations. Oddly, Dallas had not seen Kiki in so many years that I’d never even met her before, even though we stay in contact on Facebook. It was great to see Aunty Helen, Uncle Bob, Kiki, Duke, Quincy and Kala and catch up. Quincy was excited about his new place and has a great job with the government. Kala has a film degree and has been working on Hawaii Five O for years. We also got the update on Jessica, who moved from Brooklyn to Kansas City (I think!). Quincy also gave us two Hawaiian flags that he made out of wood (we gave one to Caroline later on). We could only stay for a while before we had to get ready and go to the luau!

We headed to the luau and first thing, Dallas had to go meet up to get his class photo taken. Above is how the photo turned out.

While Dallas was off getting his class photo taken, Makai and I came into the luau. We were immediately handed some fans (it was hot out!). We shopped around the marketplace a little bit. I bought a bangle with a Tahitian black pearl on it. I’ve always wanted one! Makai was hungry so I told him we could got to the pupu line and get some snacks. They literally put a fish cut in half on our plate, along with some other Hawaiian pupus like edamame, ahi poke, tako poke, smoked meat and a salad! Makai was SO mad and habut. I got him a Brudda Pop popsicle and also bought two packages of haole brownies (I shared with the family on Kauai later on!). He was still mad. I think very tired from his sleepover. I also got a bag of boiled peanuts for the table, since it would be a while til we got our dinner.

It was so great to see so many friends in our Kamehameha family (and it truly does feel like a family). Some I’ve known for many years, more than a decade now, and a couple I just met. Even when you just meet, there’s an immediate connection. It’s a great community and I’m so glad that Makai gets to spend time with them.

For dinner we had rice, kalua pig, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, squid luau, poi and poke. Makai loved the chicken long rice, the pork and the rice. For dessert there was pineapple, haole brownies, kulolo (made of taro, almost made Makai barf!), and haupia.

During dinner there was some talking on the stage. I honestly don’t remember what it was about. But then they announced the band was Mana’o Company and I could not believe it. They’re one of my favorite Hawaiian bands! And they were fantastic! Everyone knew all their songs.

Also after dinner, the pupu area turned into the dessert area, which Makai was much more interested in. I went to go to the bathroom and Dallas took Makai. They were serving haole brownies a la mode. Makai only wanted the ice cream, so he had two ice creams and Dallas had two brownies! When I got out of the bathroom, Makai wanted me to go back and get another ice cream for him!

Also, while I was in the building with the bathroom, I passed by the silent auction. It was in the final minutes so I took a look around and bid on a few items. I ended up winning a bracelet with a tahitian pearl! So I always wanted one, and now I had two!

At the end of the night, as is customary, the boarders took photos together on the same bench as always! Also, at the end of the night, someone told me I won another auction item. I had no idea! I went back in and I won a box of golf balls and a Kamehameha Schools dry fit Nike golf shirt!

On our way out of the luau, we got these pineapple gummies with such a sweet message on them.

Hawaii 2019 Day 12: Flying kites, blasting rockets, tidepooling

Just before we arrived, Billy and Ging had an air conditioning unit replaced. So they had this big box laying around. Great for painting and other imaginative play! Makai, Damien, Hoku and Ka’eo all went to town on it. I was a little bit shocked when I went outside and Makai had painted his entire hand black to make handprints on the box. Great idea, but change your clothes first! Luckily it came out of his shorts.

Billy and Ging took the day off and we all spent the day together. We first went to Sandy Beach Park where we flew kites and tried to launch a rocket that Ging picked up from Costco. I think there was 1-2 good launches but it was funny to see everyone try to get it going!

Next we drove up the street a bit. There was a food truck and we got some hotdogs for lunch and some fresh pineapple smoothies. We walked down a trail with some pails and nets.

I didn’t know really what to expect. We were walking towards the ocean, but the tide was low, so the water in this lagoon was super shallow and it made a sand bar. There were fish and other kinds of critters stuck over there. I found out later we were on the Kaiwi Coastline.

Damien and Hoku were super interested in catching fish. They had nets and were putting them into a bucket. Makai wasn’t as interested in that. We explored around and found a sea cucumber. In one tidepool I thought we found a bunch of snails, but they started skittering around and we realized that they were all hermit crabs! Makai LOVED that.


I found an area where endangered Hawaiian Yellow-Faced Bees bees were nesting!

As the tide came in it made the water on the other side of the barrier deeper. This was a special spot. Such a cool place of nature.

The afternoon was getting SO hot. I’d been draping a towel over my shoulders for hours so I would not get sunburned. Were were there for several hours before we decided to pack up and head out. Billy opened a cooler that I didn’t even know he had. He’d packed cold juice for the kids and beer for the adults! It was the coldest most delicious beer I ever tasted! We were still so hot and sweaty, I took Damien, Hoku and Makai for a quick dip at the beach!

At home, Billy’s dad brought his grandkids, Billy’s nephews over. They played for a bit and then they all went to the driving range. Makai didn’t want to go to the driving range. I think he was all tired out.

Dallas and I were going to bring Makai to meet friends in Kailua, but Ging told us to leave him with her, so we took her up on that. We met Talbert, Dallas’s friend from Kamehameha Schools, and his girlfriend Debbie at Maui Brewing. We had a couple drinks and split some delicious pizzas. Somehow we all got talked into then going to the Kamehameha dorms! Talbert rode with us and Debbie met up with us all later. It was great to see all of our old friends, but I had a total headache and was exhausted, so I only lasted til 11:45 and then made Dallas come home with me!

Hawaii 2019 Day 3: Salt Pond Beach

For breakfast I had yogurt with local papaya, local pineapple, local guava jam, local macadamia nuts, and some lime from our friend Janice’s lime tree (in other words, local lime). Amazing. And how odd these limes are, with orange flesh inside!

Salt Pond Beach is a favorite of ours because it is close and also because it has an area with a reef barrier that makes the waves less intense and easier for kids to swim. This was the first time we’ve let Makai swim in the ocean without floats on. We still kept a close eye on him, of course, but he did great. Maybe 3 years of swimming lessons is finally paying off!

We went home for lunch. After lunch I decided to take Makai to see Wailua Falls. We have an art print of Wailua Falls that has been hanging in our house since before Makai was born. He’s seen it once before but couldn’t remember so we revisited today. Funny, when I told Dallas and his parents that I was going to drive to Wailua they looked at me like I was nuts! They don’t really go farther east than Lihue!

On the way home we stopped at Kukui’ula so look around and shop a little bit. While in the Quiksilver store, Makai ASKED FOR SLIPPERS! When Makai was very little and had no say he would wear slippers with a strap on the back. As soon as he was old enough he refused. Every year I bought slippers and every year he refused. Every year Dallas would get mad and say “You are Hawaiian! You are wearing slippers.!” This year was the first year I didn’t get him slippers. And here he was asking for them. The salesperson helped us get the right size in the shoes he liked. And then I had him wear them around the store before I bought them. And you know what? He wore them every day for the entire trip!

While at Kukui’ula, we went to Lappert’s because we are law abiding citizens. Then we went back home to relax and have dinner. Kathy made Korean mean jun for dinner!