Visited Date: - Year 2009: 02/10, 02/11, 02/12 & 02/16
My Two Cents:- I love the Oahu Island. It's one of the best place ever that I have been to. There are so many things to do and see, especially the beach is just beautiful and people there are very friendly. Oh, and don't forget the nice weather that they have. I would love to go back again.
Things To Do:- I was fortunate to stay with my friend, John. His condo was close to the Waikiki Beach. I would say if you can afford a place by that beach, that would be awesome. Take a walk there during day time and there are tons of stores around. One of my favorite ones is the International Market. Stuff there are cheap. You can also go for a walk at night at the beach, it's really soothing.
(View of the city from John's condo)
- Make sure you check out the pink hotel called Royal Hawaiian. It's on the Waikiki beach. It's really cool.
(View of the pink hotel from the Diamond Head Crater)
- If you like to hike up, go for the Diamond Head Crater. Keep in mind that, their parking lot is not that big. When we were there, the parking lot was full and we had to drive to a near by park and parked the car there, then walked to the Diamond Head's entrance. It was quite a walk, actually, haha... but not bad (look at the picture). I would strongly recommend you to hike up there though because it has incredible view once you get to the top. It's a long hike but well worth it. There was a table on the top that you can buy a certificate that you have hiked to the top ;)
(We walked through that tunnel to the entrance/parking lot)
- You can also go to visit the USS Arizona Memorial featuring the Pearl Harbor. When we were there, the parking was free. One thing to keep in mind though you cannot carry any bags into the Memorial, even a camera's bag. Everything was free unless you want a self-guided audio. There will be a documentary movie, and then you get on a boat to go to the Memorial. It's really neat looking.
- Love to snorkel? Hanauma Bay is about 45 minutes from Waikiki beach. You park the car, then you go down to the bay. You can rent snorkeling stuff there or rent them before hand if you can find a better deal. There will be a locker rent as well if you don't want to leave your stuff on the beach or have no one to guard them. The water was cold, but I had so much fun there. It was my first time snorkeling. It was uncomfortable a little before I got used to it. Oh, and don't forget to get an under water camera if you want to take pictures. You can get those from Walmart.
- There is this hiking spot called Makapuu. The view was amazing. Check it out if you have time. You can even hike down to a tide pool. The wave down there was WOW!
- This is one of my best favorite spots about Oahu island. The North Shore! Actually, it is not a spot, it's a shore that you drive along. You will see so many things including the Sea Turtles, and stop at so many places/beaches. I asked John to send me the word document that his friend send to him. The document lists many tourist attractions that you can stop in an order as you are driving along the shore. You can print it out here. North Shore is the best experience that I have ever done. Please read that guide to look for things that strike your interests. There's one beach that is my favorite. The water is very green and people were kayaking and wind surfing there. The name starts with a K, I will have to look it up.
(Sea Turtle at Sharks Cove)
- There are more that you can do such as surfing, kayaking, and more. If I go back there again, I will be looking for new things to do ;)
Restaurants:- We did not go to many fancy restaurants, and I hardly remember the names now. But we ate at Costco, an oriental place (I can't remember), Shabu-Shabu by John's condo, and finally a pretty neat looking restaurant by the University. Sorry, I know this doesn't help much, but I don't really recall the names of those places. Oh, and Cheesecake Factory by Waikiki ;)
- Shave Ice at M. Matsumoto Grocery Store at North Shore (strongly recommend).
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Visited Date:- 02/13/09 & 02/14/09
My Two Cents:- The time we spent in Maui wasn't that long. But the island itself is more calm than the Oahu Island. If you are looking for somewhere to get away from the crowd in Oahu, then Maui will be an option for you.
Things To Do:- We went to the Luau there. It's called Old Lahaina. If you have never been to Luau before, let me tell you. It's like a performance event that takes about 3 hours. Basically, you go there to eat, drink, and look at the Hawaiian culture and performance. It's not cheap either but it's worth it. And the food is Hawaiin Buffet. Yum! If you are couple or just married, then you can dance. I am not sure if they do this at all the Luau's though.
- We also went to a volcano national park called Haleakala National Park. It was my first time going to a volcano park, which was really nice.
- If you have a quest for nature and scenery, then take a drive to Hana. It's on the island. But on the way there, you will see many beautiful nature and sceneries.
(Peacock at a garden's entrance on our way to Hana.
The garden is not free, and we didn't do it.)
- I heard Maui has many beautiful beaches. We didn't stop at many beaches, but we did drive along them ;)
(Taken on our way to Hana)
- We had some time, so we also went for a drive to Kihei. It's just another town, but it's something for you to check out if you are interested.
(In Kihei)
- I'm sure there are more things to do there. Check out "More Info" below to see for yourself.
Things To Know:- If you are going to the Haleakala National Park, don't assume that Hawaii's weather is always warm. You are going up to the mountain to the park. It's freezing up there. We didn't know so we were cold when we were up there. So make sure take a coat/jacket with you, that way you will enjoy outside more ;)
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Restaurants:- Old Lahaina Luau and just some quick check out places.
(My buffet plate at Luau)
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- Start the tour taking the Pali to Kaneohe side.
- Stop at the Pali Lookout for an amazing view of the East side.
- From there continue along the Pali and turn left on Kamehameha Highway.
- You will pass Hawaii Pacific University’s Windward Campus;
- Ho’o something or another’s botanical garden (Near the Likelike Highway); and
- The Windward Mall.
- From there take the Kam Highway through the little villages and the greenery.
- While on the Kam Highway be sure to stop at the Macadamia Nut Farm
- While on the Mac Nut Farm, you can take a tour of the premises, you can sample the Mac Nuts and the Kona Coffee for FREE!
- If you take the tour, they will take you to the Hukelao Café or better known as the café from 50 first dates.
- Continue driving north on the Kam Highway. You can stop at Kualoa Beach Park to take pictures of Chinaman’s Hat and to also take pictures of the Ko’olau Mountain Range. This mountain range was featured in Jurassic Park. This is also a good site for a picnic.
- Across the street from Kualoa Beach Park is Kualoa Ranch. There you can go horseback riding or ATV (all-terrain vehicle) riding along the Jurassic Park back drop.
- From there continue north, you will eventually pass the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Mormon Temple. The Mormon Temple is a cool place to check out.
- Right after the PCC, turn right on a street called Anania (This street is located across for the shopping center with Foodland). Continue along this street until you hit a “T” in the road. From there, go right and continue until you hit the end of the road.
- This is the Laea Point. Here you can see amazing rock formations with historic value. I have seen sea turtles and mana rays in the water here. This is an ideal place for pictures.
- From there continue along the Kam highway heading west. You will eventually pass by a shrimp truck called Giovanni’s. Though it looks like a shady eatery, this place has famous garlic shrimp that has been featured in National Geographic a while back.
- Contine along the Kam Highway, you will pass the Turtle Bay Resort, Sunset Beach and Pipeline (where all of the surfing competitions go down), and Sharks Cove (a great place to snorkle and see Sea Turtles).
- I believe right before Waimea Bay you will see a Foodland. Make a left on the street right after food land. It will take you up a hill. Make the first right and it will take you through a jungly path with dips in the road a bazillion speed bumps. If you continue on this road until the end (no more than a half mile) it will take you to a haeau (or a religious structure where they used to conduct sacrifices).
- This place has great historic significance, has an amazing view of the ocean, and if you continue down the hiking path (a 10-minute hiking path) you may see wild boar and an AMAZING view of Waimea Bay. On a clear day, you may even see Kaua’i.
- Head back toward the Kam Highway and continue west or south (I am not sure which direction you are heading at this time. I think it’s south). As you near Waimea Bay be sure to point out the spiral looking cage fence that was in Jurassic Park. You can park at Waimea Beach Park. Around November and December, the waves here become monstrous, it this is a great place to watch them. Here you can see a 30 foot cliff. This is a fun place to jump off of.
- After Waimea Bay, continue south and take a tour into the surfer town of Haleiwa. Here you can find a lot of good eateries:
- Matsumoto’s Shave Ice has the island’s famous Shave Ice (Matsumoto’s closes around 6 p.m. so hopefully you can make it);
- Cholos is a good Mexican restaurant (so I have heard);
- Pizza Bob’s is a good pizza, burger, pasta joint for decent meals for around $12 to $15 a person.
- After Haleiwa it’s time to start heading into town. Follow the signs toward town. If you take the route that heads toward’s Schofield Barracks, you should pass the Dole Plantation (though the Dole Plantation might be closed by the time you get there).
- Here you can try the pinapple ice cream;
- Feed the massive koi in the beautiful koi pond; or
- Take a tour through the pinapple maze.
- If you survive this tour, head back into town and pat yourself in the back. You will be exhausted by now.
Alright, I hope this tour helps you out. If you know of any other cool sites to add to this list let me know. You cannot do ALL of the things I mentioned on this tour, you will probably run out of time. So pick and choose depending on your time allowance.
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Visited Date:- 09/08/09
My Two Cents:
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park is incredibly beautiful. It is a very different National Park from all the ones that I have been to. You go deep down to the cave. The rock formations are just so cool looking. I would not mind visiting it again in the future.
Things To Do:
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Personal Overview:- Roswell is a very small town. Once you get off the free way, you will end up on the Main Street. This street is really a "main" hub of Roswell because everything is on there. Hehe..... Let's check out things you can do on this street.
Things To Do:
- Check out the International UFO Museum and Research Center on the Main Street, where you are able to see some documentary about Flying Saucer, Aliens, and other science- realted stuff.
- There are tons of gift shops on that street from the 1st to the 5th streets. Walk around and take some Alien's pictures, hehe....
- You may want to check out the UFO Festival. We could not do that because we did not go on a date that the festival is supposed to be on.
Restaurants:
- McDonalds on Main Street. It was designed like a Flying Saucer.
- Denny's for breakfast ;)
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Visiting Date:
My Two Cents:- Santa Fe is smaller compared to Albuquerque. The cool thing about this city is their adobe style houses and departmental stores. I really enjoyed seeing those Southwestern buildings. It is a very artistic town.
Things To Do:
- Go to the Capitol House. It is very unique. When I was there, the house was closed due to it was Sunday. So if you want to go in there, make sure you go on weekdays.
- There's a small Visitor Information Center across the street from the Capitol. Check it out and grab a map to walk around. You will be amazed to see many places you can see within distance on foot.
- When we were there, it was Santa Fe's 400th anniversary. We got to see that special events that full of music performances, arts, food, etc.
Restaurants:
- Maria's - It was OK - not recommend ;)
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My Two Cents:
- Albuquerque is pretty much a city. The traffic could be bad if you were driving during the busy time, especially when we were there, there were a lot of road constructions. Most of the boulevard names are based of Spanish.
Things To Do:
- Take a walking tours around the Old Town. There are a lot of things to see and do that range from museums, arts and galleries to shopping and dinning. It took us about 2-3 hours to walk around and see things that we want to see.
- Check out the Sandia Peak Tramway. It's the longest tramway in the world. The tramway takes about 15 minutes. The view on the top is amazing. Make sure you take a coat or jacket with you because it's really cold up there. Furthermore, make sure you make reservations at the restaurants there if you plan to eat there. There are two restaurants - one is at the base and the other one is at the top. They are pretty busy. If you don't have reservation, you have to wait. We ate at the top. The restaurant is called High Finance Restaurant and Tavern. Once the reservation is made, you can get a discount of $4 to get on the tramway when you arrive half hour earlier than the reservation time, which costs $17 for an adult. I personally think that the food was OK. I enjoyed our appetizer - chicken wings, which have sort of oriental flavor in them and they are very spicy. The meal was very little and pricy.
- Night clubs in Albuquerque is just like other cities. Cool dance clubs are on the 4th street downtown. Drive carefully because cops are everywhere on 4th street ;)
Restaurants:
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