Ramen Nakamura (Oahu, Hawaii)

June 13, 2016 Monday

The line was long and we waited about 30 minutes before we had a seat. The restaurant is small with about 20 seats. It was such a coincidence that when we reached the restaurant, I met my college buddy there. I knew that she was going to Oahu with her family and sister's family and we will have half a day overlap in Oahu as we are leaving for Kauai tomorrow morning while she just arrived from Maui this afternoon. We thought it would be hard to meet up since we are both travelling with large group of families. I guess fate just brings us together.

I am not a ramen lover but my brother is. For me, the ramen tasted like the other ramen places that I ate previously, nothing out of ordinary. But my brother who used to date a Japanese girl and stayed at Japan for a few months, he said that the ramen was really good and the soup was exceptional.

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck (Oahu, Hawaii)

June 13, 2016 Monday

There are 3 main variety of favors at Giovanni's:

1. Scampi
2. Hot + Spicy
3. Lemon/Butter

We ordered all 3 varieties as seen from the pictures above. The best taste was the scampi one and the hot + spicy was too spicy, I couldn't really taste the shrimp. For a person that eats spicy food almost every day, even I couldn't handle the spiciness. It was way too much for me. My tongue was burning after eating 1 shrimp. The lemon/butter was not good either. It was way too sour. I felt like I was eating a lemon instead of a shrimp.

I am again amazed by the crowd since only the scampi tasted good to me. Maybe everyone ordered the scampi one?

On a side note, I was reading online after I came back and it says that Giovanni's uses frozen shrimp while Fumi's and Romy's farm their own shrimp next to their food stand. Also, Romy's is the only one that leaves the nicely trimmed head on.

In addition, another tip that was recommended is that you can order the hot & spicy from Giovanni's and asked them to put the spicy sauce on the side, so you can just dip a little bit of the sauce instead of the sauce covering the entire shrimp.

Day 4 -- Oahu, Hawaii

June 13, 2016 Monday

Today, we decided to go back to North shore again since we didn't went all the way to Turtle Bay 2 days ago. First, we stopped at the Waimea Bay Beach and it was very hard to find parking. We had to wait for a while before we got a spot. Once we got there, it started pouring heavily for less than 5 minutes before stopping.

Below is a picture that Anthony took while I was busy taking pictures for Madison. It's one of my favorite picture as it captures the moment of what I am usually doing on vacation. I love to take pictures and also be in it as well but unfortunately, Anthony is not one who likes to take pictures nor be in it. I usually have to request him to help me take pictures. This is one of the rare moment that he actually took the picture without me asking :-)

After the beach, everyone was hungry so we decided to try out one of the other famous shrimp trucks, Giovanni's. On the way there, we passed by the Laniakea Beach and Ted's Bakery. We didn't stopped there since the kids were really hungry after the swim.

On the way to Giovanni's, we also saw other shrimp trucks like the Fumi's and Romy's. Their crowd was nothing compared to Giovanni's. 

I have a separate post on the food.

After lunch, we went to Turtle Bay Resort to check out their beach. The resort was very clean and nice as we used their restroom while we were there. My daughter was telling me that's the best bathroom she has seen for a long time.

There was lots of seashells on the sandy beach which we don't normally see on the other beaches that we visited. It was mentioned on the board that the Queen used to swim there when she was young.

After that, we decided to head back to the hotel. Instead of going back the same route we came which is the mountain route, we decided to go back through the coastal route so we get to see the different view and cover the other part of the island. On the way, we saw the Chinaman's Hat (aka Mokoli'i Island). On low tide, you can actually walk to the Chinaman's Hat and hike up to the highest point. But you need to be careful and make sure that if you do go during high tide, you will need a kayak or some kind of flotation device to help you cross the ocean.

It was a good drive back home as we get to see the coastline. We took a rest when we got back to the hotel and the kids went swimming at the pool afterwards.

After swimming, we decided to walk around Kalakaua Avenue which is one of the main streets in Waikiki.

Then we met up for dinner at a popular Japanese Ramen place next to Tommy Bahamas named Ramen Nakamura. I have a separate post on the food.

After our meal, we decided to check out the shave ice truck (Haunani Shave Ice) near our hotel. We wanted to order the mango favor but unfortunately, it was sold out. I literally saw them sold the last bowl of mango :-( So, we ordered the strawberry whipped cream as the Lychee favor was sold out as well. So, it's best to come early as we were there around 8pm. The shave ice was really good with fresh strawberries on the side.

I really felt like having some mango dessert tonight, so we went to
Henry's Place nearby to buy some mango ice cream. Henry's place
is another favorite of the tourists and you can see many tourists
seated outside eating ice cream. The ice cream I thought was just
alright. You could taste a little bit of the mango meat but the mango
taste was not as strong as I like. It was more creamier.

Day 3 -- Oahu, Hawaii

6/12/2016 Sunday

Today, we decided to start exploring the East side of the island. First, we went to the Halona Blowhole to check it out. On the way there, we passed by Hanauma Bay and saw the beautiful view while driving.

Halona in Hawaiian language means "Lookout" and when the waves were large, we could see the spray of water through the hole. The Halona Blowhole is also a great spot for whale watching during the winter months.

Next, we stopped by the Kailua beach. We had to park our car pretty far as there is a canoe contest being held. I think this beach is one of the most beautiful beach that I have visited in Oahu. Again, the kids had a great time swimming and playing in the ocean with the dads watching after them while the moms take a break :-) 

On the way back to our car, Madison found some pretty flower (Plumeria). It's one of the most common flowers that we see in Hawaii.

We also went to the Byodo-In Temple. When we were waiting for a stop light making a left turn, we saw the cemetery and thought that the GPS has the wrong address since we couldn't see the temple in sight. Luckily, as we drove towards the guard, there was a sign pointing us to go straight and we also asked the guard. He told us to keep going straight and turn as the temple is on the right hand side.

The Byodo-In temple is a replica of the real temple in Japan. It is a smaller version of the real temple and was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. There is a small admission fee to help upkeep the temple.

As you cross the bridge, on the left is the Sacred Bell (Bon-Sho) where one is supposed to ring the bell once before you enter the temple as the sound of the bell is to cleanse the mind of evil spirits and temptation. All of us took turns to ring the bell once.

Then we walked towards the temple and on the way, we passed by the koi ponds and the kids spent some time watching the fishes.

We took off our shoes before entering the temple out of respect/requirement. There is a golden Buddha in the middle where we pay our respect and burned the incense.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to rest before venturing out for dinner to celebrate my sister in law's birthday. I took a 2 hour nap as I wasn't feeling too well at this time. So after dinner, we went back to the hotel.