Day 5 -- Oahu/Kaui, Hawaii

06/14/2016 Tuesday

Today, we left Oahu to fly to Kauai. It's our first time to Kauai and I have heard a lot of good things about this beautiful island.

During our checkout from our hotel, Madison saw a bowl of beautiful orchids on the table and we asked if we could have 1 for her, the front desk was very nice and asked us to take as many as we like.

Madison looks so cute with the beautiful orchid on her.

We took Hawaiian Airlines and the flight was about 35 minutes. It was very quick and we had a small drink on the flight.

While at the airport, I took the picture of the Hawaiian Islands. A little history lessons here as I was reading while waiting for the flight. The Hawaiian Islands are made up of many different islands, there are 8 main islands but only 6 are allowed visitors. The 8 islands are:

1. Kauai
2. Oahu
3. Niihau (Visitors are not allowed as it is privately owned)
4. Maui
5. Molokai
6. Lanai
7. Kahoolawe (Visitors are not allowed as it used to be U.S. military target)
8. Hawaii/Big Island

We went to pick up our rental car after we arrive in Kauai. This time, we rented the car from Dollar Rent A Car.

The car that they gave us was Nissan Altima. When we saw the car, we were shocked because the exterior of the car was full of dents. When we turned on the engine, the odometer read more than 20k miles, unlike the Jeep that we had in Oahu which had only 50 miles. We were asked to fill out the damage form where we draw the scratches on the car. We were kinda at loss on how to draw since there were so many scratches and dents. So, we asked the lady there if we needed to draw all the scratches and dents. She took a look at the car and told us that she would give us a much better car. She in turned gave us an upgraded Dodge SUV which had about 3000 miles. It was much better than the car earlier.

Based on this experience, I probably would not rent from Dollar anymore but go to Alamo which was the one that we rent from in Oahu. Alamo had better selection and newer car even though they are a little more expensive.

Once we got the rental, we started our trip to Wailua Falls.

One photo tip: We were lucky to get a really tall person to take this family picture for us. As you can see, he was able to capture the waterfalls in the background. However, for most other pictures, I would not recommend asking a tall person to take the picture because the last time we were in Cancun, we asked a tall person to help take a picture and we looked like dwarfs in the picture.

After Wailua Falls, we continue to Opaekaa Falls.

Both waterfalls do not require much walking to be able to see a bird's eye view of the waterfalls. We basically just parked our car in the parking lot and walked a couple of steps. It's great for people with little kids as the kids usually don't like to walk too much.

At the Opaekaa Falls, we crossed the street and was able to view the Wailua River. It was beautiful there.

We also saw our first chicken there. There are many wild chickens in Kauai and based on what we heard from the locals, the main reason for the wild chickens is not because of the hurricane that happened in 2006, it was because there was no predators in Kauai, thus the chickens population is growing. Also, the chickens are protected in Kauai.

It was about lunch time, so we decided to drop by Chicken in a Barrel for lunch. It was the best meal that I have in Hawaii these last 5 days. The chicken was well seasoned and moist. The chilli was very tasty and I normally don't eat chilli as I don't like beans but I finished the chilli this time.

While we were eating, I saw the Plumeria tree again. The flower is really pretty.

Below is a picture of the barrels where the chicken are cooked. Thus the name "Chicken in a Barrel".

After a good lunch, we went to the beach right next to the restaurant. I don't know the name of the beach but it's in Kapaa.  It was very windy and the waves were huge, definitely not a place to swim. We saw many children playing there and a school was next to it. Can you imagine going to school there every day where you can look out the window and it's the beach? The kids are so lucky.

After that, we went to our hotel for the day, St. Regis Princeville. The hotel is about 38 miles from the Lihue Airport which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes ride. We planned the stopover along the way so that the journey there will not be long and boring. The hotel is in the North shore of Kauai which is the most lush part of the island and also the wettest.

The check in time is 4pm and the check out time is 12 noon. It was before our check in time but the kids were tired as we woke up early for our flight this morning. We were welcomed with necklaces of seashell for the girls and beads for the boys.

We had to wait a little bit while the room is being cleaned. So, we waited at the lounge area and it was so comfortable. Anthony even took a little nap there while I was engrossed in the beautiful ocean view.

Finally the room was ready around 4pm and it was worth the wait. We were close by the pools and had a very nice view of the ocean and mountains. The weather was cloudy though.

The kids quickly changed into their swim suits and went to the pool. There wasn't a lot of people there.

After the swim, we decided to venture out to have dinner and buy some fruits. We first stopped by a grocery store (Foodland) and when I saw that they had fresh Lychee, I had to buy some regardless of the price. It was the sweetest fresh Lychee that I have in a long time.

We also bought some local bread for tomorrow's breakfast.

We went to a local restaurant called The Dolphin which was recommended by our bellman and the food was good. This concludes our first day in Kauai.

St Regis Princeville Resort (Kauai, Hawaii)

June 14, 2016 (Tuesday)

St Regis Princeville is in the North Shore of Kauai where it is the wettest part of the island. There are many beautiful beaches in the North Shore.

I booked just 1 night at St Regis Princeville and the other 3 nights at Grand Hyatt Kauai in the South Shore. I personally think that 1 night in the North Shore is enough as we get to spend almost 2 days in the North Shore to explore the area.

North Shore is indeed the wettest part of the island as during the 2 days that we were there, it rained frequently; sometimes quite hard. The sky was always cloudy.

This hotel also only offers valet parking for a fee and the hotel price includes the resort fee. However, Wi-Fi is not free, nor are there any free bottles of water in the room. I didn't check out the gym but according to Anthony who went, there are 2 gyms and are nicely equipped. The smaller gym has less people and is more private. Note that the gym provides free bottles of water in case you need some.

When we arrived, we were welcome with seashell necklace for girls and bead necklace for boys. Even though it's not as pretty as fresh orchid lei but I think it's more practical as we get to wear it anything we want while fresh orchid lei deteriorate after a few days. I have my 2 kid models below to showcase the necklaces.

The lobby is very grand and beautiful with many fresh flower arrangements.

The waiting area is also very spacious and the sofas are very comfortable. There is also a large outdoor patio where you can sit and view the gorgeous ocean and mountain. If you like, you can also order drinks there.

After waiting till the check in time (4pm), we finally got our room card. We had an ocean view room and it was very nice. The room is pretty big but there was no balcony. 

I was taking pictures in the bathroom when Mason discovered a switch. Guess what the switch is for?

The bellman came shortly after we arrived in our room and also offered us 2 bowls of snacks, which was a very nice gesture.

After that, we quickly changed into our swimsuits as the kids can't wait to check out the pools.There are 1 big pool, a few small pools and a hot tub. There is also a beach near the pool where there were people snorkeling as the waves here is surprising not big.

Do note that all the beaches at Hawaii is open to public, even the beach next to the hotel. So, anyone can come to the beach. But as you can see, there are not many people here. 

When I was doing my research online, I read that this hotel is the most favorite among celebrities visiting Kauai because it feels more private and there are less guests/kids here. The reason that I think that there are not many people here is probably because of the price and the weather.

This is the most expensive hotel that I have stayed at during my several years of travelling.