Aloha & Mahalo

I am still more than excited to tell you that I was hearing and using these words a lot last week. For those of you who don’t know what it means: it is ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank You’ in Hawaiian. Get it? YES, I went to Hawaii last week!
How crazy is that? After dreaming of these islands since I was very little and having a serious phase of only eating ‘Pizza Hawaii’ whenever we had pizza when I was around 12 years old, I got the great opportunity to travel to the 50th state of the USA!
You can read in my last blog post that I was a busy bee during my first two weeks here in Portland and got all my obligatory work done. Also I had another 2 weeks until my college started, so I told myself or rather talked myself into it: ‘You deserved it’ or better ‘You will probably never be this close to Hawaii ever again, so go!’.
I planned with my dear fellow companions Philipp and Korbi probably one of our most spontaneous and exciting trips ever. On a casual Monday night we booked a flight to Honolulu and a hostel in Waikiki, Oahu – Hawaiians 3rd biggest island.

6 hours south-west to paradise! (That’s not the price I paid though)

Oahu, Hawaii. The places in red letters are those I visited and mentioned here

The nonstop flight with Alaska Airlines (how ironic!) was already the first highlight. The flight attendant’s uniforms was covered by the typical Hawaiian flower print and they also wore the flower necklaces. After a couple of ‘Aloha, you are flying to paradise’ announcements and seeing the Pacific Ocean for 6 hours straight, I recognized on the horizon land: Hawaii – the islands I was dreaming of.

Downtown Portland

Blue, Blue, Blue: The Pacific Ocean

First glimpse of Oahu

Honolulu

How cool is this airport???

Landscape of Oahu, you can recognize the former volcano

At the airport. Instead of getting the flower necklaces like in the movies, you can purchase them from a fridge 🙂

Some people recommended me to rather not to stay at Honolulu’s most famous district, Waikiki Beach, because it doesn’t show the most beautiful side of Oahu. But we still decided to book our accommodation there, simply because the price was affordable compared to other places.
Our hostel, the Waikiki Beachside Hostel’ was definitely a good choice. We stayed in a mixed 4-bed dorm which was clean and very simple. Plain light blue walls, 4 beds, 4 chairs and a table that was attached to the wall. That’s it. Oh and a good working air-condition, at least in one of the two rooms. The hostel was just one block away from the beach and had some good features like breakfast, free snorkeling equipment and an own surfboard and bike rental service.
After just spending a few hours at Waikiki Beach I agreed with the advices I got before, this is not the Hawaii I have been dreaming of. Although the weather was great and the Pacific was turquoise with big long waves, it was clouded by a massive amount of tourists, chunky skyscraper hotels, McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King which are located directly at the ocean side as well as a super fancy shopping street.

Waikiki Beach!

The water was so rough, but perfect for surfing I guess

Great working construction

Look at all these hotels… ocean view guaranteed

Looking at the beautiful Pacific

Such a cool tree

In between all the hotels, I spotted this pretty house

Waikiki Bay. The mountain In the background is ‘Diamond Head’

Can’t escape the Oktoberfest, not even in Hawaii

Surf legend in Waikiki

Pretty little waterfall in Waikiki between beach and the main street Kalakaua Avenue

White Plumeria growing casually next to the street

Just a few hours after our arrival I took my very first swim in the Pacific ever. The thought of it made me feel so excited and I enjoyed it so much. But the joy was not for too long. I think only a few people know that the beach at Waikiki is not all fine white sand. Actually right where the water starts, the sand is covered by rocks and reefs, which I can tell you from my own experience are very painful on your feet. Later on though I saw that further west the beaches are a bit different in Waikiki, so maybe we just entered at a ‘bad’ spot. I put bad in inverted commas because actually it is good for surfers, they need the reefs so the waves can build up. It’s just uncomfortable for swimmer.

Even though we only stayed on Oahu for quiet a short time, we still managed to see so many different spots and gave ourselves the best experience we could get. Fortunately our small three person travel group was a good combination. We always agreed quickly on what to see, where to go and when to start or leave which made it a very easy and fun holiday. Thank you guys!

We started off with some sightseeing. A must-see is apparently Pearl Harbor. Honestly I didn’t know too much about it (and neither saw the popular movie) and since we have already been so close, we decided to go. Only 2.000 visitors are allowed to visit the memorial every day, so we got up very early to get our tickets. Luckily we were among the first 2.000 persons that day, but we still had to wait for almost 3 hours until our tour started.

Pearl Harbor

A ship from the Marines

Our little travel group: Korbi, myself and Philipp

First we saw a 25 minute long introduction video with all the historic background information followed by a trip on a little boat to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. This ship was bombed in the early morning of December 7th 1941 and sunk quickly with all 1.177 soldiers on board. The USS Arizona was unlike other ships never relieved from the water and therefore it became the grave for all soldiers that died that day on the ship. From the white memorial, visitors can look down into the water and see the sunken ship. What I found most surprising and actually really shocking is the fact that fuel continues to leak from the wreckage!!! It continuously comes up to the surface in little drops. They call it the ‘Tears of Arizona’ or ‘The Black Tears’. Even though I do understand that this place is meaningful for many relatives and Americans in general, I cannot believe that they don’t stop the oil from running into the ocean. Since over 70 years our environment gets polluted. To me this is a scandal!

The USS Arizona Memorial

These are the few bits one can see of the wreckage

See the oil??? Unbelievable!

Crowded with visitors

The memorial has a nice design and the architect included many symbols while planning the building. Also the visitor center around has lots of exhibitions and information to offer. Though everything was really interesting, the long wait of 3 hours was really exhausting and the reward eventually not too big. I think the memorial is more important for those who were affected directly by the attack because looking at this as an outsider, you can’t see a lot of the actual ship nor comprehend what actually happened at that spot on that horrible day in December.

Coming from all the sad and horrible happenings at Pearl Harbor, we continued to go for something more fun and easy, a visit of the Dole Pineapple Plantation. When I first heard ‘Dole’ I didn’t recognized it but when I saw the logo I did and I am sure everyone knows it. They mainly sell pineapples but also other tropical fruits around the world.

Yay, me at the Dole Plantation

It was definitely something very different and it once again proofed that Americans just know how to do marketing. The gift shop was literally yellow. Every souvenir was in the shape of a pineapple, had the flavor or scent of pineapple or was just simply yellow – everything you could ever imagine. The visitor center is divided into three sections: a tropical garden, the world’s largest maze and the pineapple express. We had a quick view around the garden and then took the pineapple express. This was a lot of fun. With a little train we went two miles through the plantation and had a great view. We were seeing banana trees, papaya plants, sugar cane, cocoa, coffee and all kinds of other plants but actually only a few pineapples. I guess the season was just over… haha fail! To finish up our pineapple experience I had a huge portion of pineapple ice cream with fresh pineapple pieces on top. I swear, I have never eaten such a sweet pineapple ever before. It was delicious!!!

That’s how pineapples grow

There are also red pineapples

Pretty trees in the tropical garden

Here grows chocolate, love how they put it in parentheses! Haha

Tropical garden at Dole

Anneke – the Hula Girl

That’s a pineapple field

This is actually how I would picture Australia with the red dirt

Yummiest pineapple ice cream ever!

As I already mentioned we were not too impressed by Waikiki Beach that’s why we were asking the really cool receptionists in the hostel if they have recommendations for us. We eventually chose a beach that was also voted by National Geographic to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world: Lanikai Beach.
Just like always we took ‘The Bus’. The bus company in Hawaii is indeed just called ‘The Bus’, which we found to be hilarious. They have an excellent bus network throughout the island which made it easier (and cheaper) for us to take The Bus every day instead of renting a car. The tickets are also fairly cheap, $2,50 to every place on the island. Sometimes when we were lucky, we could even use the same ticket to go back again.

We felt quiet at home in The Bus !!! 😉

Since almost all street names on Oahu are obviously in Hawaiian language it was for us quiet difficult to understand and it became a habit to miss our actual stop.
This also happened when we wanted to go to Lanikai Beach. That time we didn’t miss just one stop but actually a whole couple, but gladly there is Google Maps, which always knows the right way! We had a nice, warm and also rainy walk through Kailua. We crossed a neighborhood we didn’t expect to find in Hawaii: quiet dirty and shady houses where you could picture a scene where any moment someone comes out and starts a gunfire. But the picture changed radically when coming closer to the ocean.

Kailua Bay

Just perfect

We first passed Kailua Beach which was already really beautiful but we walked even a little bit further to reach Lanikai Beach. At this place one can only find private houses, lodges and apartments – no high rising hotels, no restaurants, no lifeguards, nothing. There wasn’t even a shop close to get something to drink. That’s what I was actually exactly looking for in Hawaii. The beach itself was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. A one mile white sandy beach, palm trees, turquoise calm water with some slow waves and a gentle breeze. Welcome to paradise. Even though there were other people on the beach it was not too crowded and everyone was just hanging out. It was surely one of the best and relaxing days. Swimming, sunbathing, repeat! It became even a little bit more perfect when a guy started playing casually on his ukulele. There it was: my Hawaiian dream.

My view for many hours

Philipp being busy with that…

31st PPP 🙂

How amazing is this environment to practice?

Sunset behind the mountains

After sunset we walked back to find this time the right bus station. We had to wait in the drizzling rain for another 30 minutes, but it was still warm and with the memories of this beautiful day in my mind, nothing could bother me. The bus ride in The Bus was quiet a challenge though: The Bus likes it cold – very cold! Sitting there with still slightly wet bathing suites, shorts and tops made the one hour bus ride felt like a trip to the North Pole, but like I said nothing could ruin this perfect day.

We wanted to get a little wider view of Oahu not only beach and ocean. Therefore we decided to leave the coastline and do a hike! We heard of the Maunawili Waterfall and a three kilometer hike through the rainforest.

The hike itself was already so amazing and it definitely was one of the highlights of this trip to Hawaii. I have never been to a tropical place like this and that’s also obviously why I have never seen such a dense rainforest with amazing plants. Normally I only know those from the zoo or botanical gardens. Huge trees with even bigger leaves, liana hanging from the trees and a small creek which we had to cross a few times. Although there was a narrow path we Germans still felt like Lewis and Clark on their expedition: the first people ever exploring this place. Fortunately we didn’t meet too many other hikers which made it even more authentic and exciting. It’s supposed to be a very easy hike so I felt comfortable going there with normal sneakers, shorts, top and a shoulder bag instead of a real backpack. Weeeeell the hike was indeed not very hard but we still had to face some difficulties. The path was more or less the whole time very, very muddy and with just wearing normal sneakers it was very slippery. The guys even wore white shoes which made it even more tricky. Followed by evil mosquitoes, I already learned my lesson quickly: always wear long sleeves and long pants in the rainforest!

After 1 ½ hours we made it to our final destination. The Maunawili Waterfall. The waterfall itself was not too high or big but it was still picture perfect: the waterfall with the super deep natural pool, the tropical plants all around and water tripping from the stones and cliff. The pool was quiet chilly compared to the Pacific Ocean and also not clear which scared me a bit. I was picturing what kind of creatures might swim underneath, but it was still so exciting and nice that I pushed these frightening thoughts away. We climbed up to the waterfall and were looking for good spots to jump from a cliff into the pool. I am such a wimp when it comes to these kind of things!!! The cliff I was jumping from was actually ridiculous. Probably not even 2 meters high, but for me this was already exciting enough and an adrenalin rush. The guys were braver and Philipp even climbed up through the jungle and jumped from a point which was supposed to be 12 m high. It was quiet scary since we didn’t know for sure how deep the pool was, but other visitors assured us that it is very deep and that he will be fine. So he jumped and did it then over and over again. We spent 1 ½ hours just at the waterfall. While other people were coming and leaving quickly, we just enjoyed being there in the middle of the rainforest.

Made it to the Maunawili Falls

About to jump from this cliff

Making our way back through the rainforest

Tarzan was around on his liana

The way back went a lot faster and it also started raining which made it even more muddy but it was still so great exploring and seeing behind every tree something new. By that time I didn’t even care about how dirty my shoes and legs were. We found the way back to civilization and even though we just spent a few hours in the coppice, it already felt strange walking on an asphalt street instead of watching your step to not slide nor trip.
We just missed the bus that only came once an hour. So we were sitting literally on the street since there was no bus shelter. We were all dirty, sweaty, full of itchy mosquito bites but oh so happy and full of positive energy and impressions. Suddenly a lovely lady stopped and I guess felt sorry for us, so she took us back to the main road where more buses were stopping. We were sitting on the back of her truck and in that moment we felt like real globetrotters, traveling the world! 🙂

Because we wanted to have an authentic stay we also wanted to try something local and typical Hawaiian to eat. The keyword here is Loco Moco. You see it almost on every menu in Hawaii so we gave it a go and were indeed surprised what we got served. When I looked it up in the internet it said that it is THE signature dish of Hawaii so my expectations were quiet high and then couldn’t believe what we got served. The dish contains of four components which are all stacked up in the following order on a pile. The base is a good portion of white sticky rice, where two hamburger patties find their place. Both is covered with a brown gravy and to finish up, it is topped with a fried egg.

Famous Loco Moco

That’s it.
I was speechless.
Unfortunately the taste didn’t convince me and what stayed is still an unbelievable thought of the Hawaiian cuisine. I probably expected something more exotic with tropical vegetables or fruits, but no, the whole meal you can easily cook at home with ingredients you almost always have, no special food shop is needed. At some point we were even doubting that this is real Hawaiian and more of a joke for tourists. Maybe Loco Moco means ‘Only stupid tourists eat it’. It was definitely an experience but I am not sure if there will be a repetition.
When it comes to food I noticed that there is an overflow on Asian food. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese… One always has the choice of rice or noodles with vegetables and meat. That these Asian food places dominate the gastronomical picture in Hawaii probably has two main reasons:

No.1
Hawaii is obviously not too far away from Asia and many people that live today in Hawaii are descendants from immigrants that came from Asia. They obviously influenced the local kitchen over the years a lot.
No. 2
There are many, many Asian tourists, especially Japanese. If you walk through the streets of Waikiki you can recognize them all around. Unlike the American, European and actually many German tourists, they are mainly doing shopping rather than laying lazy at the beach. So my guess is that they also prefer their well-known food from home. The same phenomenon can be observed on some Spanish islands where many Germans like to spend their vacation and expect to get German food. I never understood why people don’t want to try something new and local in a different country, but that’s another story!

Another place we didn’t want to miss on our first short Hawaii trip was the Hanauma Bay. It is mostly know for it’s stunning reef and possibility to snorkel. We got the snorkeling gear for free from the hostel and The Bus brought us quickly to the bay and this time we didn’t even miss the stop! Unbelievable! It costs $7.50 to get into the protected natural reserve and every visitor has to go through a quick safety briefing where a movie was shown on what to do and what not to do while snorkeling. They are working hard on protecting the bay because it got already a bit destroyed by all the tourists. To give the ocean a chance to regenerate itself, the bay is closed on Tuesdays. Then it was finally time for us to walk down to the bay which is situated really beautifully between high cliffs.

Hanauma Bay

The ocean is really calm there due to the natural protection from the pacific. So we grabbed our snorkeling gear and dipped into the water. The reef itself is not too exciting, it actually just looks like some rocks in the ocean with some plants on it, but what I actually didn’t expect was the great amount of fishes! Unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos, but there were indeed so many little and also bigger ones in all different colors: green, blue, yellow, red, deep black and everything in between. At this point I would also like to mention my paranoid fear of sharks. Wherever we went into the water I was asking the guys if they think that there are really no sharks around. I know it is a bit ridiculous because the chance of getting attacked by shark is so much lower than being struck by lightening or hit by a coconut, but still. Fortunately I didn’t see any sharks and all my extremities are still at the same spot!
Philipp actually even saw a sea turtle while snorkeling. Unfortunately I missed it, but quiet impressive that there are all these sea dwellers so close at the coastal line. Now I can only imagine how great it has to be to dive or snorkel in the Red Sea or the Great Barrier Reef with their overwhelming colorful underwater flora and fauna. I definitely put it on my list! Also the Hanauma Bay has a very pretty beach where I could enjoy and soak up the sun and get a little tan.

Spotted this little cancer at the beach

We have seen the south of Oahu, the east, went to the center, which means there were two places missing: the north and the west. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to see what the island looks like on the west, but we got up to the north. The coast and beaches are very popular among surfers because there is a constant wind which creates big and long waves. That day it was quiet gray and rainy but the waves were still there. I skipped that swim, but the guys had a blast to romp in the waves. The current and especially the back current was very strong. It was really impressive and at the same time scary to see how much power the water has. I wish we could have seen more different bays and beaches on the north shore with also maybe a little better weather, but it was still great to get an impression. Next time…

I love this photo, it’s just like I picture a surfer beach

Another thing I found very surprising is the difference of the sand at every bay. We went in our short time to a few different beaches and wherever we were the sand was so different, I didn’t expect that on one island it would differ so much. From really fine to quiet rocky, from light white to quiet dark, though we didn’t see a black beach.

Being almost 12.000 kilometers air-line distance away from home and 12 hours behind made me really feel like I am far away, really far away, for sure the furthest away I have ever been. Talking to people in Germany was crazy with a 12 hour time difference. When I was going to bed it was already noon the next day in Germany. And when I woke up the day was already over at home. But I did love the 12 hour difference since it was so so easy to calculate, 9 hours is a little more tricky.

Time went by super fast and even though we were on our feet the whole day, every day, we still didn’t see everything of Oahu (even though still quiet a lot I think). Considering that there are even 7 other main Hawaiian islands it is indeed worth coming back one day!
On our last evening we were very lucky to experience a beautiful and unforgettable sunset in Waikiki. It was the perfect finish for a great vacation. Seeing the sun set in all the different colors, surrounded by the blue ocean and surfers catching the last waves before it got dark, was a very special and inspirational moment for me.

You can guess what then happened when the sun was about to set…

Yup, just like that! Unbelievable, such a bad timing

Small concert on the streets of Waikiki

I loved the airport of Honolulu so much, there are no windows or doors to the gates… A place where they don’t have to worry about rain, snow or coldness

I think everyone always has this picture of Hawaii in their heads. At least mine was a little bit different than the reality, not in a bad way, more in a different way. I didn’t expect the mountains being so big and so high and honestly I expected the cities and towns to be more native, natural and smaller. If you wouldn’t know better, the streets of Wahiawa for example, look the exact same as in every other small town in the USA. The weather though was just as I imagined it to be: sunshine, just a few clouds and the nicest temperatures. I packed some light cardigans, but I never wore them. Even in the evening / night it was so pleasant warm outside, totally tropic and I absolutely adore this kind of weather!

I learned that Hawaii is more than just beaches, palm trees and surfers in Waikiki. Hawaiians actually live an American life just under tropical conditions. It has so much more to offer, so many different faces and I am very thankful that I could once again broaden my mind and make up my own picture of the dream island Hawaii.

To put it in a nutshell I am so so so happy that we did this spontaneous trip!!! It was so worth it and having all the pictures of the beautiful landscape in my head as well as the sound of the ocean in my ears, the feeling of the sand between my toes, sun on my skin and the scent of salt water in my nose, I hope the rainy season in Portland won’t hit and depress me too much. I can always just close my eyes and think back of the beautiful days in Hawaii.

Aloha (which also means ‘goodbye’)
Anneke