Honolulu: Days 4 and 5

Two days ago, I took the bus to Diamond Head. This trail up the mountain was easier than the Koko Crater trail and it only took me about 25 minutes to reach the summit. The view was stunning, but there were too many people, including school kids.

Path to the Diamond Head summit

At the summit

The view from the summit

After I took the bus back, I rested at the hostel and was deciding where I should eat. I ended up having a large bowl of Nikutama udon and an imitation crab meat tempura at the Marukame Udon restaurant that’s very popular.

The very popular Marukame Udon restaurant

I also bought a pair of shorts at Ross since I didn’t bring one. It’ll be around 100 degrees in Tokyo when I get there so I want to be prepared.

Back at the hostel again, I found out that there is a WhatsApp chat group for the hostel guests, so I joined to see if there’s any activities for the night. I also learned that every Friday night at 8 PM there’s fireworks on the beach. I decided to watch.

The fireworks was lit a bit farther north from where I was and only lasted for about five minutes. Afterward, I met up with two girls, Julie and Angi, from the hostel at the beach. We sat on the sand and chatted for a while before another girl, Natalie, showed up. These girls are in their early twenties. I didn’t feel I had anything in common with them. I ate a tuna sandwich that I bought from the ABC Store before going back to the hostel around 10 PM.

Fireworks on the beach

Yesterday, I decided to take the bus to the town of Kailua on the north side of Oahu, not to be confused with Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

At first, I had taken the wrong bus and was several blocks away from the transfer point at Ala Moana. When I finally arrived at the bus stop, the bus to Kailua had just left. I waited another 30 minutes for the next bus. When I arrived in Kailua, I went to the Kalapawai Cafe and Deli and ordered an English breakfast sandwich. The cafe was very busy and even the owner was working very hard.

I walked through downtown Kailua and came to Kailua Beach Park. This beach was much less touristy than Waikiki Beach, which I liked. I sat underneath the shade and people watched. It was great weather and has been like this the whole time since my arrival. I really enjoyed Hawaii and can see myself living here.

Chilling at Kailua Beach

Windsurfer

After the beach, I walked to the bus station and took two buses before coming back to the hostel. I noticed that I got a slight sunburn since I didn’t wear sunblock. I have to be more careful and wear sunscreen.

Inside the dorm room, Shahin’s bed was open. I decided to switch my bed since her bed was the bottom bunk. I also took a shower and washed my clothes in the sink.

I heard a place called Leonard’s that has really good malasadas. I had a malasada before at Tex’s near Hilo, but I wanted to try Leonard’s, so I took the ten minute bus ride to get there. Sure enough, the place was crowded. I ordered five donuts, three of them had fillings. They came out warm and soft. The filling was oozing out of the dough when I bit into the donut. I ate all five of them.

Leonard's

In the afternoon, I tried to take a nap on my bed, but I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I read another chapter in The Good Life on my Kindle, but found the content to be more fluff.

For dinner, I went to the Kuhio Avenue Food Court and tried the loco moco from Banzai Burger. A loco moco is a burger paddy on top of rice and fried onions with an egg and sauce over it. That’s another food item crossed off my list of the things I need to try.

Loco moco

On the way back, I stopped to admire the sunset on beach. I didn’t feel like going anywhere else after coming back to the hostel and ended up going to bed around 8 PM.

Sunset over Honolulu

This morning, I wanted to see the sunrise so I got up at 5:40. The sunrise is a little after 6 AM. When I got to the beach I realized the sun was coming up from behind the buildings so there wasn’t a good sunrise photo. I soaked my body in the ocean since there were barely any people on the beach at that time.

Today is my last full day in Honolulu. I have no plans and just want to enjoy the beach.