Oahu, Hawaii 2017 Trip: Day 2 - Christmas in Hawaii, Trying Musubi, Diamond Head State Monument Hike and Halona's Cove
That day was Christmas! Despite being a holiday, there was tons to do during Christmas here in Honolulu.
One of the things I wanted to try to eat was Musubi. Musubi is pretty much rice and spam sushi. It is commonly eaten here in Hawaii, Hawaiians love Spam. Apparently there is even a Spam festival in Honolulu. Anyways we headed to Waikiki to go to Musubi Cafe Iyasume.
First of all this establishment had a huge line, like to the door. We decided to wait in line and please keep in mind that the line does not move fast. I noticed there was a couple of tables and chairs for you to sit down and eat but most people just take it to go. We waited in line for about 45 mins until we got to the front to order our food. My boyfriend got 3 bacon, egg, avocado and spam musubis and I got a eel and spam, avocado,egg and spam and salmon and spicy cod roe musubi. There are other food options as well, such as soups and deep fried items.
The musubis were pretty good, there wasn't an excess amount of rice and the flavours went well with each other. Also they were really affordable! I think we paid around $19 USD and we were full. Also you can totally take these to the beach or on hikes for a snack as well since they are portable. If you're in Hawaii, you should try Musubi at least once.
After breakfast we decided to go to the Diamond Head State Monument and hike up to Diamond Head. This hike is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Oahu. So it is definitely a busy place!
So I decided to summarize our experience with this hike, advice and tips below
Diamond Head State Monument
1) Parking: Parking is not easy if you have a car. We tried driving up the hill to get a parking spot in the park. However, traffic was moving very slowly since they limit how many vehicles can get into this tunnel at once. We saw many cars making U-turns to get back down on the hill. Eventually we got restless and did the same. It turns out there was a park across from Diamond Head that has free parking. So we ended up parking there and saved ourselves some money since it costs $5 to park at Diamond Head. Also since we parked at the bottom of the hill, we had to walk up the hill to get to the entrance. Don't worry, the walk was not bad. If you're not driving, I am pretty sure the public bus stops here and you can always cab or Uber.
2) Entrance Fees: The cost of entering Diamond Head was $1 per person. Affordable right? This activity definitely does not break the bank.
3) The Hike: So hiking Diamond Head was not as easy as I thought. It was definitely tiring and tough, especially during the afternoon. We went around 11:30 am and the sun was hot. This made the hike so much more harder. If you can, try going in the early morning so you're not drenched in sweat like we were. Also keep in mind there are a lot of tourists, so you will not move as fast as you thought you would. There are times where we were just standing there cause no one was moving. In addition, there are sections of this hike where you have to go through tunnels. It felt quite claustrophobic for me at times when I had to do that.
4) The top and the views: The views at the top were phenomenal. It's definitely worth hiking all the way up there. Here's a photo we took when we got there.
5) Refreshments: After we hiked back down, we stopped by the food truck to get some shaved ice. It was definitely worth getting that cause we were so sweaty, hot and tired after the hike.
Halona's Beach Cove
After the hike, we headed towards Halona's Beach Cove. This ended up to being one of our favourite beaches we went to during the trip.
Here are some photos that will definitely peak your interest in going
There is a tunnel/cave that you can go through to get to the other side. We saw several people do that but we didn't ventured in. The water it self was a bit cold but again you get used to it after a while. It was a bit wavey that day so if you're not a good swimmer like myself, stay near the shore. We saw several people jumping off the cliffs if you're interested in doing that. How cool does this place look? I have to say that this was a beautiful and unique beach. This spot is definitely getting more and more popular, so parking would be an issue on a popular day.
After the beach, we went home to clean up for dinner. For dinner we decided to go get all you can eat Korean BBQ at Gen Korean BBQ House. This spot is located at the Ala Moana Mall, which is convenient if you wanted to go do some shopping.
Once we were seated, our server explained how to order and our time limit. She immediately asked us what we wanted. Our food came minutes later. Also like most Korean BBQ places, you have to cook your own food. Keep this mind if you wanted a meal prepared for you.
The menu had a lot of options, which was fun if you wanted to try different types of meats. They also have veggies, deep fried foods and spicy tofu soup. We were stuffed by the end of our meal since we order quite a bit of food. It costs $26.99 per person, so it isn't a budget meal. However you get a lot of food and you are eating meat, I felt like it was worth the price for this meal.
After dinner we also picked up some ice cream macarons before we left the restaurant. I got the strawberry flavour and the boyfriend got the coffee flavour.
That was our day! Stay tune for the next post :)
Vivian
First of all this establishment had a huge line, like to the door. We decided to wait in line and please keep in mind that the line does not move fast. I noticed there was a couple of tables and chairs for you to sit down and eat but most people just take it to go. We waited in line for about 45 mins until we got to the front to order our food. My boyfriend got 3 bacon, egg, avocado and spam musubis and I got a eel and spam, avocado,egg and spam and salmon and spicy cod roe musubi. There are other food options as well, such as soups and deep fried items.
The musubis were pretty good, there wasn't an excess amount of rice and the flavours went well with each other. Also they were really affordable! I think we paid around $19 USD and we were full. Also you can totally take these to the beach or on hikes for a snack as well since they are portable. If you're in Hawaii, you should try Musubi at least once.
After breakfast we decided to go to the Diamond Head State Monument and hike up to Diamond Head. This hike is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Oahu. So it is definitely a busy place!
So I decided to summarize our experience with this hike, advice and tips below
Diamond Head State Monument
1) Parking: Parking is not easy if you have a car. We tried driving up the hill to get a parking spot in the park. However, traffic was moving very slowly since they limit how many vehicles can get into this tunnel at once. We saw many cars making U-turns to get back down on the hill. Eventually we got restless and did the same. It turns out there was a park across from Diamond Head that has free parking. So we ended up parking there and saved ourselves some money since it costs $5 to park at Diamond Head. Also since we parked at the bottom of the hill, we had to walk up the hill to get to the entrance. Don't worry, the walk was not bad. If you're not driving, I am pretty sure the public bus stops here and you can always cab or Uber.
2) Entrance Fees: The cost of entering Diamond Head was $1 per person. Affordable right? This activity definitely does not break the bank.
3) The Hike: So hiking Diamond Head was not as easy as I thought. It was definitely tiring and tough, especially during the afternoon. We went around 11:30 am and the sun was hot. This made the hike so much more harder. If you can, try going in the early morning so you're not drenched in sweat like we were. Also keep in mind there are a lot of tourists, so you will not move as fast as you thought you would. There are times where we were just standing there cause no one was moving. In addition, there are sections of this hike where you have to go through tunnels. It felt quite claustrophobic for me at times when I had to do that.
4) The top and the views: The views at the top were phenomenal. It's definitely worth hiking all the way up there. Here's a photo we took when we got there.
5) Refreshments: After we hiked back down, we stopped by the food truck to get some shaved ice. It was definitely worth getting that cause we were so sweaty, hot and tired after the hike.
Halona's Beach Cove
After the hike, we headed towards Halona's Beach Cove. This ended up to being one of our favourite beaches we went to during the trip.
Here are some photos that will definitely peak your interest in going
There is a tunnel/cave that you can go through to get to the other side. We saw several people do that but we didn't ventured in. The water it self was a bit cold but again you get used to it after a while. It was a bit wavey that day so if you're not a good swimmer like myself, stay near the shore. We saw several people jumping off the cliffs if you're interested in doing that. How cool does this place look? I have to say that this was a beautiful and unique beach. This spot is definitely getting more and more popular, so parking would be an issue on a popular day.
After the beach, we went home to clean up for dinner. For dinner we decided to go get all you can eat Korean BBQ at Gen Korean BBQ House. This spot is located at the Ala Moana Mall, which is convenient if you wanted to go do some shopping.
Once we were seated, our server explained how to order and our time limit. She immediately asked us what we wanted. Our food came minutes later. Also like most Korean BBQ places, you have to cook your own food. Keep this mind if you wanted a meal prepared for you.
The menu had a lot of options, which was fun if you wanted to try different types of meats. They also have veggies, deep fried foods and spicy tofu soup. We were stuffed by the end of our meal since we order quite a bit of food. It costs $26.99 per person, so it isn't a budget meal. However you get a lot of food and you are eating meat, I felt like it was worth the price for this meal.
After dinner we also picked up some ice cream macarons before we left the restaurant. I got the strawberry flavour and the boyfriend got the coffee flavour.
That was our day! Stay tune for the next post :)
Vivian
Comments
Post a Comment