Countdown to Honolulu

In three days we'll be off to Honolulu for the last hurrah of this very hot summer. Being in Honolulu will be a welcome change.

The last time we were there, we didn't bring the kids to Discovery Center. They loved that place so much as little kids, and number one on their "must do" list. Now they are 7 and 9, and even if they say they still want to  visit it, I think they won't enjoy it as much anymore.

This is an old photo--Volcano Express now has enclosed tunnels at the top connecting to this slide

What they are really looking forward to is the waterpark. So we'll definitely have to make that trek again on this trip. The nice thing about this whole-day excursion is that the waterpark closes at 4 pm. That gives the adults some time to do our stuff, which is to pass by Waikele Premium Outlets (exit 7) on the way back to Waikiki. We usually end up having dinner there too, making it a full day for the whole family.

There are not that many stores here, and it's very tiny compared Woodbury Commons on the east coast, and doesn't compare either to the Premium Outlets on the west coast. But at least it has a BCBG Max Azria.

 Free shuttle to take you to one part of Waikele to the other side 

Also on the last trip, the kids were old enough to understand what the Pacific war was all about so we brought them to see the Battleship Missouri and the USS Bowfin submarine in Pearl Harbor.

 Aboard the Battleship Missouri

I didn't think the girls would be so interested in "boy" stuff, so we took our time getting ready and went a bit late. They loved exploring the Bowfin and seeing how to crew lived. We stopped by quickly at the Bowfin museum and then went to the Missouri, which they enjoyed thoroughly too! This year, I'll make sure we take them in the  morning and spend more time there.

Hamming it up in the torpedo room of the USS Bowfin

 Engrossed in the USS Bowfin museum

Aside from the weather of course, there are tons of things  I'm looking forward to on this trip. High up there is Waiola Shave Ice--I'll treat the kids to this everyday! It tastes as good as Matsumoto's in the North Shore and the best part is it's 3 minutes from the house! Before friends told us about this hole-in-the-wall local favorite, we'd drive all the way to the North Shore just for superb shave ice. I'm sorry to say, but the he shave ice in all other parts of Waikiki, or any other place for that matter can't compare to this or  to Matsumoto's!

This isn't at Waiola--but it's a colorful picture of liquid sugar!

The kids always get "Rainbow" and I always get "coconut, pineapple and lilikoi". I should try the one with ice cream and mochi balls in the bottom, azuki beans and condensed milk. It's like having halo-halo and snow cone together. Oooh, but don't say "snow cone" to Hawaiians--it's "shave ice" here. I don't have a nice snap of the shave ice, so I will make sure I do a post just on this when I get there!

I'm also looking forward to doing a long lazy drive to the to the other side of the island--just  to have lunch at those shrimp trucks over there. Unfortunately, nothing in the Waikiki side comes close to this. I can't wait...

 Sauteed with lots of garlic!

I was prepared to write about all my other favorite Honolulu stuff, but now I'm very hungry and I'm suffering just looking at this picture in front of me. So bye for now while I have dinner. I should've been organizing my desk and paying bills, but I blogged instead. Oh well...