Hawaii : We Wanna Wailana

My fingers have been tinglin', ready to show you photos of our adventures in Hawaii... now that we're back home, we can!!

JD had more days off from work this year to play than he did last year. We wanted this trip to be more organic and spontaneous than last year's trip of a

luau, hula dancing

, and

swimming with dolphins

and

sharks

.

First Stop: Wailana Coffee House

These coconut pancakes are the bomb diggity. What's the white syrup? More coconut, of course!!

If you ever go to Oahu, please stop by Wailana Coffee House for these pancakes. The eggs were gross, but the pancakes and bacon were phenomenal.

Here is the view from our first hotel, the Doubletree Hilton. Rain, rainbows and murals of flipping whales.

Oh yes. The wonderful employees of the Doubletree greeted us with hot chocolate chip cookies and we were pumped. 

Originally, because of our late reservations, we had to break up our stay into several different hotels. But, being the awesome and persistent husband he is, JD called the Hilton Hawaiian Village at least five times the week before we arrived and he finally got us a room there for a consistent three weeks. We did have to stay at the Doubletree two nights when we arrived but it was much better than our previous plans of having to switch hotel rooms several times a week. Everyone was super nice at the Doubletree and the rooms were nicer than the Village... but the Village has way more activities so I was happy there while JD was working. If you're going to vacation in Waikiki, we would recommend the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 

Here is our map from Honolulu to the North Shore, our favorite area on Oahu! More to come about that  next post...

September 21: Paradise Cove Luau

The concierge told us about the Wailana Coffee House (open 24 hours) located across the road from the Kalia Tower (where we stayed). Thus, that is where we walked for our first breakfast in Hawaii. It did NOT disappoint! JD had French toast and I had the Belgian waffle. They brought us three syrups to chose from: coconut, boysenberry (JD thought the waiter called it “poisonberry”), and maple. Of course, we used only the first two, since we’re experiencing the true culture of Hawaii and all. We both enjoyed the coconut syrup the most!

Best of all, it was inexpensive - you won't find that characteristic much in Hawaii - and open 24 hours.

We left the Hilton around noon and headed to the west side of the island – KoOlina. It was quite luxurious. We spent time checking the area out, savoring the time before the luau at Paradise Cove. We went to Target, which by the way was the coolest Target we’ve ever seen. We picked up a 24-pack of Dasani waters.

There is an extra fee for the bottles that will be reimbursed after the customers return the empty bottles (surely you’ve seen the text on the bottom of bottles that say: “HI-ME-OR-CT-NY 0.05”).

For lunch, we ate at KoOlina Hawaiian Barbeque where we had a meal of Mochiko Chicken (deeply fried dark meat with several layers of grease), macaroni salad (AKA: mac and mayo), and - the only thing we ate off our plates - the steamed rice. We went to Starbucks afterward, mainly to get the taste out of our mouths from the Hawaiian BBQ – we came to the conclusion that Hawaiian food must be an acquired taste. Little did we know, the luau would have the same food.

The

Paradise Cove Luau

was pretty stinkin’ awesome. If you ever go, we would recommend the Orchid Luau Package. There are three different packages but the Orchid seemed to have just enough but not too much (it is the mid-level package). *Please note that if you have a rental car, you can drive there yourself and save about $10 as the transportation from the hotel is included in the original price.

Guests gathered around the gates, anticipating the eventful night ahead. As we walked through the gates, hula dancers greeted us with fresh orchid leis and Mai Tais. We bought a hand-carved / hand-painted lizard pencil to give my dad for Christmas and a beautiful hand-painted Hawaiian fan to place somewhere in our home. Guests were encouraged to visit the arts and crafts booths where we could make headdresses or leis and get henna tattoos. (There were also places where guests could try their hand at spear throwing or dart sliding, but we didn't see those attractions until they were closing up.)

Hawaiian Ritual:

It is customary for a woman to wear flowers on the left side of her head if she is married, the right side of her head is she is single and all across if she is "confused or ready to mingle."

The luau presents a few ceremonies prior to the actual dinner and hula show. We saw the following:

*Shower of Flowers: a guy climbed a super tall tree (probably somewhere around 50 feet) and threw flower petals down on all of us.

*Hukilau on the Beach: men drew cast nets out in the ocean and spread the nets along the shore while riding in old wooden canoes. It’s technically defined as “the ceremonial pulling of fish nets to the rhythms of the conch shell and Hawaiian chants.”

[We have some stellar video footage of this but my video editing software has a glitch. Be looking for videos coming in a few weeks though!]

*Imu Ceremony: This is where a large pit is dug in the ground. Lava rocks are heated over an open flame until they are unbearably hot. The lava rocks are placed in the pit, lined by some type of greenery which will reinforce the steaming process and add a kick of flavor. Men then place a cleaned pig inside the hot pit and cover the top with more greenery for insulation and flavor. They will lay another protective covering over the greenery, then more soil. The cooking process alone takes about eight hours. Along with luaus, you may also see this ritual brought to life at a backyard barbeque in Hawaii.

We learned several different ways to tie a sarong. During this particular demonstration, we also realized that the man demonstrating how to wear a sarong ONLY wears a sarong - nothing underneath it. As he summoned the guests to the different activities, he would blow the resounding conch shell. Thus, he was known fondly by the guests as "the half-naked conch shell blowing guy."

After the coconut-cracking demonstration, the hula dancing demonstration takes place. The women gather around the meager stage, attempting to sway our hips and our hands at the same time. Hula dancing is a very special ritual among the Polynesian / Hawaiian culture. Each movement represents a word. My favorite part was when we were required to wave our hands and arms toward “the one I love.” Cheesy, but oh so true. If you're really into learning this sacred series of dances, you must become one with the movements and objects in which you are portraying in the dance.

Travel Tip: Try to eat as much food from the culture that you can.

We tried to eat the traditional Hawaiian food at the luau. Our plates were filled with macaroni salad, pasta salad, poi (a tara root paste that looks like dirt and tastes like it too), lomi lomi salmon, mochiko chicken (the same as Hawaiian BBQ), Kalua pig, steamed rice, rolls, pineapple, haupia and banana coconut cake. Very few of the dishes appealed to our likings, yet neither of our tastebuds is accustomed to those tastes.

Music erupted from the speakers. Hula dancers, elaborate costumes and bright colors filled the stage. The spotlight centered on a woman in purple as she started singing a traditional Hawaiian song about friends and family gathering together. A loud applaud burst from the audience.

"Mahalo," she said tenderly.

"This means 'thank you' in our language."

The lively night consisted of non-stop entertainment, laughter, fire, music, and unstoppable hip movements.

We thought our favorite dance would be the “Marriage Dance” but we were saddened at the symbolism of it… the wife danced in front while the husband stood behind her by a few feet, just watching with his hands folded in front of him. Though quite contrary to the actual picture of marriage, we couldn't help but find humor in this.

If you are planning a trip to Hawaii ever in your lifetime, you MUST go to a luau. Here, you will be exposed to the history, customs, traditions and food of Hawaii. Isn’t that what traveling is all about? The treasure of travel is that we have the opportunity to experience the customs, beauty and knowledge that we are only able to attain when we truly engulf ourselves into a culture. In order to accomplish this glorious feat, both research and risks are required. Nevertheless, the experience and thrill far outweighs the time and energy spent prior to the trip.