Waiola Shave Ice

On Day Four of our Hawaii trip, we started the morning off with breakfast from Ted’s Bakery, a popular bakery in Haleiwa.

They are famous for their chocolate haupia pie! — Ted's Bakery in Haleiwa. They are famous for their chocolate haupia cream pie!

breakfast at Ted's Bakery — We actually didn't try their famous pie, but we grabbed some yummy donuts to go.

We then drove down to Honolulu (yes, again) to go hiking at Manoa Falls. Since we couldn’t hike Diamond Head the previous day, we were evermore determined to make sure we went on this hike!

Arriving at the trail for Manoa Falls — Starting our hike at Manoa Falls.

very tall trees — The whole trail was a rainforest with lush, towering trees.

My first time in a rainforest... — This was my first time in a rainforest!

me making my way up the trail. — Me making my way up the trail with my umbrella - that's how wet and misty it was!

Dan under the arch. — Dan under an archway of branches. Almost there!

me by the waterfall. — I made it! It actually was not too bad of a hike at all. Easy even for me! haha*

Dan under the falls. — Dan illegally went past the barrier to go right by the falls... tsk tsk. Such a rebel.

After the hike, we were definitely hungry for some lunch, so we drove into the more commercial area of Honolulu to get some food.

Making our way into Honolulu. — Driving through Honolulu.

Goma Tei Ramen Restaurant for lunch! — We went to Goma Tei Ramen Restaurant in Ala Moana Mall.

my shoyu ramen. — I had shoyu char siu ramen. YUM!!!

Hungry after the hike! — The hubby got spicy miso ramen. Also very good! The ramen definitely hit the spot.

After lunch, we headed over to Waikiki to Ty Gurney Surf School.Â Located in the heart of Waikiki, right by the beach, the surf school is one of the clients at our web design company. We recently launched their site at the end of the last year, and they were so generous as to offer Dan and I complimentary surf lessons when I told them that I was going to be in town on vacation. The owner, Ty Gurney, has given lessons to the likes of Cameron Diaz, Adam Sandler, and Ray Liotta. Pretty awesome!

Arriving at Ty Gurney Surf School and Board Shop.

Some of the apparel we designed for the surf school. — Some of the apparel we recently designed for the surf school.

More of our designs! :) — More of our designs on display.

With Hollie, the manager of the surf school. Thanks for the surf lessons!

We unfortunately didn’t get to get any photos of ourselves surfing, but it was an exhilarating experience! Dan and I had both never surfed before, but it was really fun! (I was able to stand up on my board and actually surf!)Â I got exhausted pretty quickly, though, and called it quits after about forty minutes. Dan was a trooper and stayed out on the waves in Waikiki Beach for a good hour and a half. The surf lessons were definitely one of the highlights of our time in Oahu.Â 🙂

After the surf lessons, we headed over to Waiola Shave Ice again for a refreshing afternoon snack. We’d already gone once on Day One, but it was so good that we just couldn’t stay away.

Dessert at Waiola Shave Ice. — Dan at Waiola Shave Ice (again).

Dan got shaved ice with azuki and mochi. — He got shaved ice with azuki beans and mochi pieces.

Strawberry and lychee flavors. — This time, I ordered strawberry and lychee flavored shave ice. Soooo good!

We then drove up to check out the Pali Lookout, where you can take in a breathtaking view of the sweeping landscapes, that seem to stretch up the whole Windward side of the island. You can get a view of the lush vegetation and tropical rainforests of Windward Oahu.

overlooking Oahu — Dan at the Pali Lookout.

So much greenery... — Central line of sight from the lookout.

For the late afternoon, we drove to Lanikai Beach in Kailua to just spread out our beach towels and relax by the beach.

Man fishing at Lanikai Beach — A man fishing at Lanikai Beach.

Hubby and I on the beach. — We were pretty pooped after the surf lessons!

Dan attempting to snorkel. — Dan attempting to snorkel at Lanikai Beach.

Passed out! — ...while I was passed out.

avec cell phone. — Dan taking photos of me while I was napping.

Dipping my feet in the water. — I eventually woke up to dip my feet in the water.

Having a little too much fun. — Lanikai Beach was so beautiful! It made me giddy... haha*

Stepping into the waters. — An afternoon in paradise.

After a couple hours at the beach, Dan and I drove back to Honolulu to get some dinner. We took our friend Bryan’s recommendation and ate at Ono Hawaiian Food. (Not to be confused with theÂ California chain Ono Hawaiian BBQ… this is the real deal, canoe-style Hawaiian food!) It was a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but had a line and there was a significant wait before we could get a table.

Thanks Bryan for the recommendation! — Storefront of Ono Hawaiian Food

lau lau and kalua pig — We got the the laulau plate with kalua pig. Everything was good! The only dish I was not a particularly huge fan of was the poi. haha*

Big thanks to Bryan for the recommendation! I’m so glad we consulted people who were from Hawaii before going — we were able to eat some really good food while we were there! 🙂

If you know me, you know there’s always room in my tummy for dessert, so we drove over to Bubbies, an ice cream place known for their mochi ice cream.

We headed over to Bubbies for dessert! — Arriving at Bubbies in Honolulu.

We tried (clockwise) green tea, chocolate peanut butter, guava, passionfruit, lychee, and sakura flavors. — We tried (clockwise, from top) the green tea, chocolate peanut butter, guava, passionfruit, lychee, and sakura flavors.

Dan trying the guava mochi ice cream. — Dan's favorite was the guava mochi ice cream. Thanks Tarrin for the recommendation!

All of the flavors we tried were awesome — my favorites were the lychee and green tea! After we finished our dessert, we drove back up to the Turtle Bay. Our last full day in Honolulu was pretty tiring but definitely memorable and a lot of fun. 😀

We just returned on Sunday morning from our vacation in Hawaii! We actually hadn’t taken our honeymoon when we got married almost two years ago, and we’d always wanted to go to Hawaii since we had both never been. We took a little over a week off to finally go on a real “honeymoon” vacation — we thought it would be appropriate to go now, right before we hit the 2-year mark since our wedding and graduate from our newlywed status. We went to two islands, Oahu and Kaua’i, and we’d been diligently researching and planning all the things we could do for a couple months, collecting recommendations on places to go and things to eat from our friends. Thanks to their help and all the planning, we had a truly amazing and memorable trip!

Because we took so many photos and did so many things, it’s impossible to cover everything in one blog post, so we’re going to try to do this by each day… and Dan will most likely have some video footage to share here and there, too. 🙂 So here’s Day One!

We left San Francisco Airport in the wee hours or Friday morning on June 11th, and arrived in Hawaii in the late morning — there’s a three hour difference between California and Hawaii, which worked in our favor the way there (but of course, we lost three hours on the way back).

Hello, Hawaii! — Flying into Honolulu Airport.

After landing and picking up our rental car, the first thing on our minds was lunch! We were pretty hungry from not eating anything on the plane, and we were ready to start getting our grub on with all the good food that we heard was in Oahu. We headed over to Andy’s Sandwiches & Smoothies, which my coworker-friend Tarrin had recommended.

Andy's Sandwiches & Smoothies in Honolulu.

It was a small eatery with a hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, and they are known for serving up fresh sandwiches and fantastic smoothies! They are especially known for their avocado sandwiches, but as I’m not a fan of avocado, I got the turkey sandwich without avocado.

my turkey sandwich! — My turkey sandwich!

Dan and his avocado sandwich. — Dan had an avocado sandwich, since he LOVES avocado.

So hungry! — Super hungry and ready to eat!

Both the sandwiches and the strawberry smoothie we had were delish — big thanks to Tarrin for her recommendation. 🙂 But as if that were not enough, we decided to try some of the shaved ice in the area, too. Everyone who we’d talked to who really knew Hawaii well or had lived there in the past had recommended Waiola Shave Ice in Honolulu. Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa is of course the famous one that all the tourists go to, but they all told us Waiola was where it was at! So of course, I couldn’t wait to give it a try….

We got our shaved ice! (No worries, one of those is for Dan...)

I got the Obama Rainbow! — I got the Obama Rainbow -- what the President himself ordered when he brought his kids to Waiola Shave Ice -- lemon-lime, cherry, passionfruit!

When I hear about shaved ice here, I’m usually very skeptical because I expect the rock-hard snow cones that are typically served here in the U.S., as opposed to the finely shaved ice that I grew up on (our family had a Japanese shaved ice machine that we’d bust out every summer). But the shaved ice in Waiola was the most finely shaved ice I’d ever seen! It was seriously the best shaved ice I’d ever had — I was blown away by how good it was! The flavors were great, too!

The hotel we were staying in while we were in Oahu was all the way up in the North Shore, so for the first day, we decided to drive along the Eastern side of the island and take in the views, randomly stopping here and there. It was a gorgeous day, which made for some breathtaking views and several stops along the way….

Dan and I by the ocean. — This was near Hanauma Bay...

Gorgeous blue waters and a beach in the distance... the photos don't do it justice.

the Blow Hole in action — The Halona Blow Hole

our silhouettes — Our silhouettes in the sun.

my necklace and dress — Random artsy photo of necklace and dress.

enjoying the warm breeze — Driving with the windows down, enjoying the warm Hawaii breeze.

such lush mountains! — Such lush, green mountains!

me by the water — I believe this was Punalu'u Beach...

After a couple hours of driving (it took us a while since we were driving up the Eastern side of the island instead of cutting through the middle, and because we kept making stops), we finally made it to the Turtle Bay Resort, where we would stay for the next five nights.

turning into our hotel — The road into the hotel, flanked by palm trees.

Finally arriving at the Turtle Bay Resort! This is where they filmed the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

After checking in and settling into our hotel room, we were hungry for dinner so we decided to eat dinner in the local area of Kahuku… at none other than Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck!

dinner at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck — Giovanni's Shrimp Truck in Oahu.

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck! — We saw a lot of shrimp trucks in the North Shore, but apparently Giovanni's is the best!

So excited for the shrimp! — Waiting for our order to be called. If you know me, you know there are few things in the world I love more than shrimp. I was super excited.

Dan is excited, too. — The hubby is excited, too.

shrimp scampi from Giovanni's — Shrimp Scampi from Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. SO GOOD!!!

lemon butter shrimp from Giovanni's — Dan decided to get something different and went for the lemon butter shrimp. The shrimp scampi was definitely better. Still good, though!

This was actually the only shrimp truck we went to at the North Shore during our whole trip. We wanted to try some of the other ones that are supposed to be good (like Macky’s, and Romy’s…), but we were down in the Honolulu area most of the time, so we never got the chance. I definitely could have gone for more shrimp during our stay! Thank you Estella, Megumi, Bryan… everyone who told us about Giovanni’s! It was so good, I am drooling now just thinking about it.

After dinner, Dan spotted a roadside fresh fruit stand on the way back to the hotel, and he was seduced by the big fat Iced Cold Coconut sign. Dan loves coconut! (Me? Not so much.)

fruit stand on the side of the road — Dan getting his coconut from the fruit stand in Kahuku, on Kamehameha Highway.

Dan had to get himself a coconut — Dan with some young coconut! He can now die happy.

We returned to the hotel for the evening, taking dips in the pool and just relaxed. The Turtle Bay Resort was right on a beach, so we had a gorgeous view not only from the pool area but from our hotel room as well!

relaxing by the pool — Relaxing by the pool at Turtle Bay Resort.

the sun setting in the distance. — The sun setting in the distance.

Only Day One, and we already ate so much good food and saw so many beautiful sights! We were definitely excited for the days to come. Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Hawaii!

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 4

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Day 1