Hawaii - Day 13

We spent the earlier part of Tuesday just resting and taking it easy. Rebecca and Danny had a taste of parenthood with borrowed kids.

Joy-Anne slept comfortably on Danny's well-cushioned chest.

In the evening, we all went out to Germaine's Luau.

waiting for the bus

I learnt that luau (pronounced lu-aw) means a hawaiian party. But if you pronounce it wrongly like in lu-aah, it means the bathroom/toilet. So when saying "I had a great time at the luau"...be careful to pronounce it correctly.

Germaine's Luau is located on the south-western part of Oahu at Ewa Beach. The ocean front was a lovely setting. We arrived there early and had a good time taking pictures.

And we tried some Bollywood poses too.
Joe was quite cooperative with the photo-taking most of the time.

Before the buffet, we saw the Imu ceremony. Imu is the underground oven from which they took out a huge pig that had been roasting in it all day.
Joe gave the Blue Hawaii (the non-alcoholic version, of course) two thumbs up.
Food was abundant and pretty good.
The sunset was lovely. My photo-taking skills don't do it justice.
We shared a few drinks...margarita, pina colada.... This is probably the first time I've really had some alcohol. No effects though.
We got back at about 10pm. It was a good evening.

Hawaii - Day 12 : Honolulu Zoo

Joe learnt the song "daddy's taking us to the zoo...tomorrow. Zoo...tomorrow. Zoo...tomorrow...." some time ago and finally...daddy took him to the zoo. The Honolulu Zoo! He was pretty excited. The zoo is located on the eastern end of Waikiki and took us about 30 minutes of walking to get to.
Lots of trees to provide shade and the breeze brought some respite from the heat. It was actually a very lovely day.

Very nice and clean. Public restrooms everywhere...clean and dry and with a water cooler outside for you to rehydrate after you relieve yourself.

Even Joy-Anne enjoyed herself.

And Joe had some good father-son time.

Breastfeeding at the zoo. Still doing it everywhere, on demand.


Then Joe found a giraffe he could climb. Finally a family photo in Hawaii. Nothing distinctively hawaiian in this photo though.

Actually, Joe enjoyed the playground at the zoo much more than the zoo.


Check out his enthusiasm. Those metal keys play the corresponding notes and he was actually singing to himself.

And after all that fun.....nothing better to cool down with than Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

It's actually just ice and syrup. Like our ang tau serng back home but over here...it's just the serng. No tau. But Joe said it was good.

Sorry Joy....you can't have any.

We then walked to Denny's for lunch. Joe enjoyed the food so much because they have scrambled eggs and he hasn't had his egg fix since we got here.

Uluniu St. Wonder what it means...

The rest of the day was spent at the mall....again. And then Joe's daddy took him for a walk by the nice clean canal.

I had fun!

Hawaii - papa is here!

Edwin arrived yesterday. Joe is happy to have his papa around again.

This morning we went to Hard Rock Cafe for his free continental breakfast.

Yee yee is happy Uncle Danny will be arriving today!

Hawaii - Day 10 : Hanauma Bay

We didn't take photos yesterday. It was spent at the mall....again. We went there to do some more shopping and for Rebecca to get her make-up consultation.

Today, we went to the famous Hanauma Bay - best place in Hawaii for snorkelling. Hanauma Bay is what used to be the crater of an extinct volcano. Part of the crater wall collapsed allowing the sea in.

The place is really beautiful and the water crystal clear. The sun however is way too hot for us. I made sure I covered myself and the kids in sunblock. (But I forgot about the part of my back which I couldn't reach and it's kinda sunburnt now....ouch!)

Rebecca's idea of a day at the beach....hiding under the umbrella.

Joe enjoyed himself very much digging in the sand and splashing in the sea. He even let me bury him in the sand. This is quite an achievement considering he previously did not want to get his feet in the sand.

Joe's daddy would have loved to be here building sandcastles with him. We'll have to do this again another time. Too bad the beaches back home are so dirty.

Tired...but happy!

Hawaii - Day 8 : Dolphins

This morning, we took a cab to The Kahala Resort - a posh 5star hotel which is home to 6 dolphins.

They have programmes where you can pay to swim with dolphins, feed dolphins etc. But since my economical son said he only wanted to see the dolphins, we just watched for free.

There was also a stingray and some fishes in another pool.

Then we walked around the hotel taking pictures. This is the gazebo that almost became the venue for my sister's wedding. Good thing they didn't take it. It would have been very hot and uncomfortable and they would look like exhibits because the restaurant where hotel guests have their buffet breakfast is right next to it.

Joe had fun running on the green grass.

And trying to push Ah Chor...
Ahh....needed some help.

Then we walked to the Kahala Mall nearby. It was a very hot walk. Joe enjoyed watching cartoons inside the Gymboree store.

And he played inside a toy store. I came back to find him with a new toy from Yee Yee.

He loved it so much he slept hugging it.

But he said he will share with his baby sister.

We made our way back to Waikiki for dinner at Planet Hollywood.

Halfway round the world and 18-hour time difference to have fried rice in Planet Hollywood!!!!

I had chicken alfredo. Joe took one look at it and said "maggi mee!". very expensive maggi mee

Yeah....what a day!