Kauai

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 9

July 21, 2010 By Misono in Foodie Love, Wanderlust Tags: Coconut Marketplace, East Shore, gluten-free, Hawaii, honeymoon, Kapaa, Kauai, Kauai Products Fair, Lihue, Ono Ono Shave Ice, Poipu, Poipu Beach, shaved ice, Sweet Marie's bakery, The Fish Express, vegan, Wailua Falls

Day Nine was the last day of our vacation in Hawaii! :'(Â This was actually the only day that we didn’t have anything concrete planned, so we winged it. It was nice to just relax and drive around without a real itinerary for once. 🙂

For breakfast, we stopped by Sweet Marie’s, a gluten-free bakery in Kapaa. We just randomly found it and decided to eat there, but it ended up being really good! We recommend. 🙂

gluten-free muffin and vegan cookie — Gluten-free muffin and vegan cookie. The cookie was especially delicious! Who knew vegan cookies could be so yum?

Leave it to me to procrastinate on my souvenir shopping… Thankfully, the Kauai Products Fair on the East Shore had some really nice goodies — this is where we did the bulk of our souvenir shopping for my family. 🙂

At the East Shore Kauai Products Fair — The Kauai Products Fair on the East Shore

I loved these frogs! They made such cool sounds, so I got a bunch of the smaller ones as gifts. I really wanted to get a large one for my grandfather who makes bamboo carvings, but I had no room in my luggage for it.

An interesting doll we found at the products fair. Looks like something my brother Ted would like.

Upon completing our souvenir shopping, we went onto get shaved ice. (Yes, again!) This would be the last time we’d get shaved ice in Hawaii. :'(Â We went to Ono Ono Shave Ice.

At Ono Ono Shave Ice in Kapaa. Look at all the flavors!

I got the "Zen Break": green tea + lychee. Such a great combination!

In the early afternoon, we returned to the Coconut Marketplace (which is right by our hotel) and watched a free hula show. One of the girls who was performing had been at a fruit stand we went to the previous day, and had urged us to stop by to watch her perform.

hula girls — Free hula show at the Coconut Marketplace. These girls were adorable!

The female singer whose songs the girls were dancing to sang the famous Israel Kamakawiwo’ole version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It was so pretty of it, I took a video to capture the audio:

us with the talented ladies! — We were able to get a picture with these very talented ladies!

Dan bought me a lei! — The dancers' mothers were selling handmade leis to fundraise for the girls' costumes, so Dan bought me a lei to support them.

We were pretty hungry after the hula show, so we drove over to The Fish Express in Lihue for a late lunch/afternoon snack. Dan’s coworker had recommended the place for their good poke.

arriving at The Fish Express — The Fish Express storefront.

So many varieties of poke! I wanted to get everything.

Can't wait to dig in! — We got a whole bunch of stuff for only about $11.60! We couldn't wait to dig in, so we ate in the car.

This was the best poke ever! — This was seriously hands-down the best poke I've ever had! Perfectly flavored.

Ocean salad. So good!!! — Ocean salad. This was also amazing.

kimchee shrimp poke — Kimchee shrimp poke. I am drooling just remembering it.

I'm so excited! — I'm so excited about all the food we got at The Fish Express!

In heaven. — You can see the effect the poke had on me.

The Fish Express is definitely a place you must go if you’re in Kaua’i and love raw fish like us! My only regret was not going to this place sooner. I would have been totally content with having poke from thereÂ every day we were in Kaua’i.

One of the better known places in Kaua’i that we had not been to yet was Poipu Beach, so we drove down to Poipu once our stomachs were stuffed with poke fabulousness.

Arriving at Poipu Beach — The sign at Poipu Beach.

Hawaiian monk seal. — A beached Hawaiian Monk Seal. Don't worry, it's not dead - just lazily sunbathing.

I felt like Moses with the sea parting. — Poipu has a strip of the beach which extends down the middle, and the waves come in from either side and meet, and then retract again. I felt like Moses parting the sea; so powerful!

Dan walking further down the beach strip, where there's lava rock.

me at Poipu Beach — Me at gorgeous Poipu Beach!

We found a sea cucumber — Dan found a sea cucumber... for some reason, he is really good at finding these slimy things.

walking on the lava rock — Walking on lava rock at Poipu.

The waves crashing behind me — Against the ocean at Poipu Beach.

An even bigger splash! — The waves were really crashing against the rocks!

Never before have I seen a rooster on the beach!

We had time to stop by one more location before having to grab dinner and head towards the airport, so we drove over to the nearby Wailua Falls.

With the video, you can sort of see a more accurate view of how the falls looked from our vantage point. We even caught a rainbow on camera. 🙂

So glad we got to see it before we left! — Double waterfalls... too bad there was no double rainbow there, too!

Base of Wailua Falls — The pool of water at the base of Wailua Falls.

For dinner, we decided to eat near the airport at the Japanese restaurant Kintaro.

Dan with his sushi — Eating dinner at Kintaro Japanese restaurant.

tempura from Kintaro — Tempura to go with the soba.

I don't want to leave yet! :( — I don't want to leave! :'( ::sniffle::

But alas, we had to leave. After dinner, we promptly returned our rental car and dragged ourselves to the airport to catch our flight. The lines for check-in and for the security check were heinous… it seemed like half the island was flying to LA! But after all the waiting and stress, we were able to safely board our plane. The journey back to San Francisco was anything but fun, since it was an overnight flight and I was freezing the whole time in the overly air-conditioned cabin. I barely got any sleep! We arrived at Los Angeles International Airport early in the morning, where we had a three-hour layover. Not fun! 🙁

freezing at our transfer in LAX — Freezing and sleep-deprived at our layover in LAX. I knew it was a bad idea to return to the mainland...

We were surprised to find many more beached creatures lying around in LAX than on the beaches of Hawaii.

But eventually, we boarded our one-hour flight from LAX to SFO, and were able to get home safe and sound. It’s only been a month since we’ve gotten back, but I miss our time in Hawaii a lot. There’s still a lot I’d like to see if and when we ever go back, and I’d like to check out the other islands of Maui and Big Island someday, too.

Thank you to all of our friends who gave us recommendations on places to go, sights to see, and foods to eat! Our trip wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable if it weren’t for you!

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 8

July 19, 2010 By Misono in Wanderlust Tags: bacteria, ditch, Eggbert's, Kalapaki Joe's, kalua pork, Kapaa, Kauai, Kauai Backcountry Adventures, Ke'e Beach, leptospirosis, Lihue, Lihue Plantation, macadamia nut, nachos, North Shore, pancakes, sea turtle, sea turtles, seafood pasta, sleepy grass, snorkeling, tree root, triggerfish, tubing, tubing adventure, tubing tour, tunnels, Tunnels Beach, turtle, turtles, Waikanaloa, Waikanaloa Cave, wet cave

We kicked off our second full day in Kauai’ with a trip to Eggbert’s in Kapaa, which was right in front of our hotel. They are known for their awesome macadamia nut pancakes!

Dan's pancakes — Macadamia nut pancakes!

After breakfast, we drove over to Lihue to Kaua’i Backcountry Adventures, where we had reserved tickets to go on a tubing tour! It’s a mountain tubing adventure where you can float down the historic irrigation system of the former Lihue Plantation — it’s a ditchy and tunnel system that was once used to irrigate sugar crops, but is no longer used since 2000. It’s now exclusively used for tubing tours.

Former Swiss army vehicles — We rode in these vehicles that were formerly used by the Swiss army to transport personnel and arms. It made for a bumpy but fun ride!

Such a green landscape! — They stopped as we made our way up the mountain so we could admire the view.

Below is a video that Dan took of “sleepy grass,” a type of plant that closes its leaves temporarily when touched. I’d never seen anything like it before!

Once we reached the tubing site, they filed everyone into a single line and put us on tubes, and we just floated on our donuts in theÂ river.

All the other tubers — Everyone on their inner tubes, ready to go!

Dan on his tube — Dan floating in the water.

Light at the end of the tunnel — We floated through a series of dark tunnels.

Entering the second tunnel — Entering another tunnel...

In the dark. — We were to turn our helmet lights on when we went into the tunnels.

I was stuck on the side. — Floating lazily along...

At the end of the tubing tour, we got out of the water and enjoyed a sandwich lunch in the mountains. They then took us back down the mountain in the army vehicle again. Our tour guides were very funny and friendly, and the tubing tour was pretty fun without requiring too much physical effort. My kind of activity! 😉

For the rest of the afternoon, we drove up to the Northern part of Kaua’i, to get some beach time. Our first stop was Tunnels Beach.

Left side of the beach. — The current was pretty strong on the Western side of the beach. Apparently a guy broke his arm earlier that day trying to swim there. Snorkeling is not advised on this part of the beach.

Dan on the beach. — We headed over to the Eastern side of Tunnels Beach, which was much calmer and more snorkeling-friendly. Here is Dan, so ready to go snorkeling!

me swimming ithrough the water. — Me snorkeling in the water.

snorkeling at Tunnels — We spotted a triggerfish.

a school of fish at Tunnels — A school of fish at Tunnels.

sea turtle at Tunnels — Dan discovered sea turtles!

Sea turtle!!! — This was my favorite snorkeling picture!

Sea turtle at Tunnels Beach — Such amazing creatures!

Dan was taking a video of the sea turtles at one point (below), when a current pushed him forward towards the turtle’s butt. The turtle got spooked and quickly swam away….

After spending a couple hours snorkeling at Tunnels Beach, we drove further north to see what we could find. We came across this super creepy-looking wet cave. I looked it up later and found out it was called Waikanaloa Cave. Sea caves are formed by thousands of years of ocean waves pounding against the lava and eventually etching out a cavern. At one time, the ocean was up to this point.

me at Waikanaloa Cave — This wet cave is right by the road, you can't miss it!

This place was so creepy! — Hubby in front of the Waikanaloa Cave. I was getting more and more freaked out every minute we were there.

Can't get over how creepy-looking it was!

So dark! — What lurks in that darkness? Apparently nothing (no sea life) except for leptospirosis, a nasty and dangerous bacteria. Swimming is strictly prohibited. (Who would want to swim here?!)

Me at the Waikanaloa Cave. Don't let my peace sign fool you; I couldn't wait to get out of here. Continue!

Desperate to get away from the scary cave, we continued on our way up the island and arrived at Ke’e Beach, where a much more pleasant sight greeted us.

me at Ke'e Beach — Me at beautiful Ke'e Beach.

Happy to be here! — Dan told me to look more enthusiastic...

Dan under the roots of a tree. — Dan under the giant roots of a tree on Ke'e Beach.

After Ke’e Beach, we started making our way back down the Eastern part of the island. There was a slight drizzle, after which we found this rainbow over the Kaua’i landscape!

A better shot of the rainbow. — Too bad it wasn't a double rainbow... haha*

We stopped by this souvenir vendor area on our way back, but most of the shops had closed up by then. We vowed to return the next day!

For dinner, we decided to check out Kalapaki Joe’s in Lihue, a sports bar that one of the tubing tour guides had recommended as having great nachos and happy hour specials. The food was good, but the service was mediocre….

dinner at Kalapaki Joe's — Kalapaki Joe's in Lihue.

The biggest nacho plate I have ever seen. — A monster nacho plate, with kalua pork. It had to be the largest nacho plate I'd ever seen, but I have to admit it was pretty delicious.

Seafood pasta at Kalapaki Joe's — Seafood pasta from Kalapaki Joe's. The lighting was horrible, so the photo doesn't look too appetizing, but it was also pretty good!

We returned to our hotel, stuffed and ready to pass out. The next day was our last day in Kaua’i, and in 24 hours, we’d be boarding a plane back home to San Francisco. Check back for Day 9, our last day in Hawaii! (Finally, right?)

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 7

July 16, 2010 By Misono in Foodie Love, Wanderlust Tags: Aston Islander on the Beach, beach, catamaran, Eleele, Hawaii, Holo Holo Charters, honeymoon, Honopu Arch, Jo Jo's Shave Ice, Kapaa, Kauai, Keyhole, Na Pali Coast, Niihau, Niihau Island, shave ice, Shrimp Station, snorkeling, Waimea, Waimea Canyon

On Day 7, our first full day in Kaua’i, we woke up at dark o’clock to drive over to Eleele, where we boarded a catamaran for a seven-hour tour that would take us up the Na Pali Coast and to see Niihau Island. Neither of us is a morning person, but we fought our sleepiness and embarked on the boat, banking on the promise that we would see some of the most stunning views of the island of Kaua’i.

They were watching dolphins! — We came across a small raft, that happened to be dolphin watching!

spinner dolphin flipping about — Spinner dolphin flipping about.

swimming in pairs — Dolphins swimming right in front of our boat!

Super cute! — They were super cute! I don't think I've ever seen dolphins so up close!

cliffs along the Na Pali Coast — We sped up and soon approached the Na Pali Coast...

The Na Pali Coast — The beautiful Na Pali Coast

Looks like something from a movie. — Towering mountains over a lush valley.

You can only reach this area by boat — Steep mountains... this area of the Na Pali Coast is only accessible by boat or helicopter.

The Honopu Arch, where they filmed the movie Six Days Seven Nights

stunning... — More majestic views of the Na Pali Coast

Na Pali Coast against a blue sky — Na Pali Coast against a clear blue sky.

An amazing rock formation called The Keyhole.

a truly majestic view — Closeup of the natural bridge...

Dan and I at the Keyhole — The hubby and I by the Keyhole!

The catamaran parked itself near Niihau Island, where passengers got the opportunity to go snorkeling for an hour before lunch. Here are some nice underwater shots that Dan took while snorkeling!

snorkeling at Niihau — Fish in blue waters.

Here’s some video footage that Dan took with my camera while snorkeling…

catamaran drivers — The crew was super nice. Thank you Holo Holo Charters!

After snorkeling and lunch, it was time to head back to Kaua’i. The crew purposely gave us a very bumpy and exhilarating ride back! You can see more photos from the Na Pali Coast and Niihau Island in this photo album. If you are ever in Kaua’i and are considering a catamaran trip to see the Na Pali Coast, we really recommend Holo Holo Charters! They had top notch service and were really knowledgeable and skilled, and very personable, too! 🙂

When we got back to land, it was still the early afternoon, so we had plenty more things to do and places to see…

Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was strongly recommended as the best shaved ice in Kaua’i, so we stopped by while we were in Waimea.

strawberry+guava+melon — strawberry + guava + melon

Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was really good and was very refreshing, especially on a hot day! I personally still liked Waiola from Oahu better, but Jo Jo’s was definitely the best shaved ice we had in Kaua’i. (And we got shaved ice pretty much every day while we were on Kaua’i… haha* It was so hot there!)

A river running through the Kaua'i landscape.

After making our way through winding dirt roads for over half an hour, we finally reached our destination in Waimea: The Waimea Canyon!

arriving at Waimea Canyon Lookout — Arriving at Waimea Canyon Lookout

me taking in the view — On top of the world.

people at the lookout — People at the Waimea Canyon lookout

steep incline of the canyon — The pictures just don't do it justice!

clouds over the canyon — Clouds over the canyon.

Dan at the canyon — Hubby with the canyon in the background.

red dirt! — Dan was fascinated by the red dirt that could be found all over the island.

Dan got some fresh fruits. — We picked up some fresh fruits at this roadside vendor right before they closed up shop.

For dinner, we stopped at the Shrimp Station in Waimea. If you know how much I love shrimp, you can imagine how psyched I was to go here….

We got some coconut shrimp to go... — We wanted to try more, so we even got some coconut shrimp to go...

We then drove back to our hotel in Kapaa to kick back and relax for the rest of the evening.

Dan cut open this mystery fruit that he picked up at the roadside vendor. To this day, we’re still uncertain of what it’s called, but we were curious so we decided to try it out. To be honest, it was not very good…

Mystery fruit that was not so good... still don't know what it was. — Looks unappetizing... and did not taste very good, either.

Enjoying leftovers on our balcony. — Me enjoying some of our leftovers on our hotel balcony.

Dan eating on the balcony — The hubby eating... the coconut shrimp was delicious1

After waking up super early in the morning, we were totally pooped by the end of the day! We got to see so many amazing sights though, both along the Na Pali Coast and at Waimea Canyon — these are definite must-sees if you are ever in Kaua’i. 🙂

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 6

July 13, 2010 By Misono in Foodie Love, Wanderlust Tags: Aston Islander on the Beach, azuki croissant, beach, Hamura's Saimin Stand, Hawaii, honeymoon, Honolulu Airport, Kapaa, Kauai, Kauai Pasta, Lihue, North Shore, Oahu, Paalaa Kai Bakery, pool, saimin, Shaka Shave Ice, shaved ice, skewers, Turtle Bay Resort, Waialua

After spending our last full day in Oahu, we woke up early the next morning to get ready to drive down to Honolulu Airport to fly over to the neighboring island of Kaua’i. We were sad to leave Oahu, but were excited to see what was in store for us over at Kaua’i.

me at the Turtle Bay Resort — Our last morning at the Turtle Bay Resort.

the view from our hotel room — Saying goodbye to this beautiful view from our hotel room.

Dan with the parrot at Turtle Bay — Dan bidding the Turtle Bay parrot goodbye.

We stopped by the Paalaa Kai Bakery in Waialua (North Shore) to get some breakfast before we drove down to Honolulu Airport.

All the baked goodies — Lots of baked goodies at Paalaa Kai Bakery

azuki croissant for breakfast — Azuki croissant for breakfast... so yum!

waiting at Honolulu Airport — Waiting for our flight at Honolulu Airport.

The flight went very smoothly, and we arrived at Lihue Airport in Kaua’i in about an hour. 🙂

The skies clearing up — When we first arrived, there was a slight drizzle, but the skies quickly cleared up.

We stayed at the Aston Islander on the Beach in Kapaa while we were in Kaua’i. The hotel was close to the airport and right on the beach, which was really nice. 🙂

the balcony area — The balcony of our hotel room, overlooking the beach.

After checking in and getting all of our luggage settled in, we were hungry for lunch and made a beeline for Hamura’s Saimin Stand, which was recommended to us by a few of our friends. (Thank you Rumi, Bryan, and Dan’s coworker Jay!)

The famous Hamura's Saimin Stand. I'm ready to eat!!!

The wait was quite long... — The place was crowded and the wait quite long, but we stuck through it.

Saimin is a type of noodle soup that is unique to Hawaii, and is sort of a fusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino traditional noodles. It’s made out of soft wheat egg noodles… I’d say that in Japanese noodles, it most closely resembles ramen, but the broth has a much more subtle and light flavor.

Dan got the special saimin — Dan got the Special Saimin.

I got the shrimp special — I got the Shrimp Special Saimin. It was very good!

We got a chicken skewer and beef skewer — We also ordered skewers of chicken and beef, which Hamura's is also known for.

A lot of people recommend the lilikoi chiffon pie, but we were too full at the time and decided against getting it. But if you ever get a chance to go there, apparently the pie is pretty darn good so give it a try! 😉

After driving around Lihue, we were starting to melt (it was a really hot day), so we stopped at Shaka Shave Ice (a random shaved ice place we found along the road) and got some shaved ice.

me melting — Me with my shaved ice. (lychee+watermelon+guava). It was definitely not as good as some of the places we went to in Oahu, but it was so hot that I was grateful for anything cold.

Oh, a funny side story: Some of our friends had strongly urged us to rent a convertible while we were in Kaua’i, insisting that the experience would be so much better if we were able to drive around the island with the top of the car down. Despite my persistent prodding to do so, Dan said it was too expensive and so we reserved an economy car instead when we booked our rentals a few months before the trip. But when we we got to the vehicle rental, the economy compact cars had been overbooked, so they upgraded us to a convertible with no extra charge! I got my convertible after all. 🙂

Dan with our "sweet ride." (JK... we quickly found that the Sebring was not as comfortable and convenient as we thought... It was still nice to drive around with the top down, though!)

For the rest of the afternoon, we returned to our hotel and spent a couple hours relaxing on the private beach at the hotel.

Waves crashing onto the shore — The private beach at Aston Islander on the Beach.

Dan wading — Dan walking into the water.

stepping into the water — There was no one else on the beach!

Dan back from snorkeling — Dan, who jumped at every chance to go snorkeling during the trip, busted out his snorkel gear and went exploring...

catching up on the gossip from the mainland — ...while I kicked back and caught up on the gossip from the mainland.

We eventually migrated over to the hotel pool, which was also pretty nice.

sitting by the pool — Relaxing after a dip in the pool.

After freshening up, we headed out to have dinner. We were pretty exhausted by this time, so we decided to go somewhere close and chose to eat in the local town of Kapaa. Being the carbnivore and pasta lover that I am, I selected Kauai Pasta as the dining place of our choice.

"What should I get?" — At Kauai Pasta: "What should I eat...?"

delicious antipasta platter! — Delicious antipasta platter: grilled portabella mushrooms, salami, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes.

Greek pasta... also very good! — Greek Pasta: spaghetti tossed w/ Kalamata olives, feta cheese, capers, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh oregano & roasted garlic olive oil.

Dinner was very satisfying and was the perfect way to end the long day of traveling and familiarizing ourselves with Kaua’i. We only had three days left in Kaua’i, so we were determined to make the best of it! 😀

It’s the little things…

March 13, 2010 By Misono in Family and Friends, News and Updates Tags: Danny, dimsum, fortune, fortune cookie, friends, Hawaii, honeymoon, Honolulu, Kauai, Oahu, San Francisco, Stephanie

Sometimes, it’s the little things that help alleviate the stress of the daily grind. Life has been pretty draining and taxing on the nerves lately with the moving, being overloaded with client work, and just being my usual worrywart self. I have to keep reminding myself to think positive in times like these and appreciate the fact that I actually have so much and am really lucky to have wonderful people in our lives. Sometimes those reminders come in the simplest of forms…

The past couple weeks have been completely occupied with moving (which we will update about later), but we took a break last Sunday to meet up over dimsum in San Francisco with my friend Stephanie and her boyfriend Danny, who were visiting the Bay Area from DC for the weekend. I hadn’t seen Steph since last summer, so it was nice to catch up with my lovely friend after not seeing her for nine months! I wish they had been staying in the area longer, but I was grateful for the time that we could meet up, even if it was only for a couple hours.

I’ve made some great friends here in California in the past two and a half years, but inevitably I really do miss my friends from back East and am sad that I only get to see them once or twice a year. So it’s always really exciting when they are ever in the Bay Area to visit, even for a short time. It’s difficult to keep in touch with friends and family who are far away when you’re buried under projects at work and the menial tasks that end up taking over virtually all of your free time, but I’m determined to be better about it this year. I’m excited about the upcoming weeks because I just found out more friends will be coming into town, as well as for last minute opportunities that cropped up to fly out to see other dear friends that I haven’t seen in a while.

We also just booked our flight to Hawaii in June! Our friends are getting married in Honolulu, and since Dan and I both have never been to Hawaii and have not yet gone on an official honeymoon, we figured we’d take the opportunity to extend our stay there for a little over a week and just enjoy it and relax. We’ll be going to Oahu first and then flying over to Kauai for the second half of our stay. So excited! 😀 If anyone has any tips or recommendations on places to go, things to see, where to eat (you know us foodies), we’d love to hear them!