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Thursday, August 15
Rob and I had to wake up at 6am (!) to get to San Francisco airport for our 8am flight. I was wide awake from the anticipation and after settling into my seat, I became even more anxious. I mean, I was on my way to Hawaii! But after take-off, I promptly fell asleep. Add to that the fact that the in-flight movie was going to be Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron. No matter that Matt Damon is the voice of Spirit, at least by sleeping, it would make the 5 hour flight seem a lot shorter. Upon our arrival at the Honolulu airport, we got our leis (love them! I wish I could wear them everyday. Hee.) and were escorted to our hotel, The Ohana Reef Towers, which had a really great location -- just steps from Waikiki and close to all the shopping. It was about 1pm by the time we finished unpacking and we didn't really have anything planned for the day so we just walked around trying to get familiar with everything. We spent the next few hours walking along Waikiki beach, browsing around the International Market Place, and eating shave ice (yummy!).

Friday, August 16
We woke up early to go to Pearl Harbor, which was truly humbling. Before you actually get to see the Arizona Memorial though, there's a short video about the events of WWII and what happened the day of December 7, 1941. Omg, I almost started to bawl, especially since the park ranger that introduced the video was a veteran who was only about 50 feet away from the USS Arizona when it was hit. *sob* After that, our tour guide drove us around downtown Honolulu where we got to see King Kamehameha?s statue, the Iolani palace (the only royal palace on American soil), and the Punchbowl National Cemetery. Then that night we went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center (too many shops, too little time) and spent way too much money on souvenirs for ourselves. Hee.

Saturday, August 17
Another early day because it was our Tour the Island day! :) We headed over to the east side of the island -- our first stop was Hanauma Bay, the most popular place on Oahu to go snorkeling. The water is clear, the weather is great and there's lots of sea life to see. The next scenic points were the Halona Blowhole (where supposedly when the timing is right, the water spewing out of that crevice can reach heights of up to 30 feet but of course, nothing was happening while we were there) and the Nuuanu Pali Lookout, which has a spectacular view of windward Oahu. From there, we drove up to the North Shore, home to the famous surfing beaches which I believe are featured in the movie Blue Crush. We visited Waimea Falls Park, a stunning tropical nature park and got to see the waterfalls and also a cool dive show. We got back around 6 pm -- we were just riding around in a bus but the day was so tiring! So we decided to stay in and watch The Sum of All Fears (yum, Ben Affleck!) on pay-per-view. Besides, the next day was our big hike up the Diamond Head Crater and we had to be well-rested for that. :)

oh wow, your trip sounds great. makes me feel all nostalgic. i remember going to the arizona after seeing pearl harbor... yeah. i really liked their shopping centers, they were all nice and open. hee... matt damon. waikiki beach is gorgeous, isn't it? we stayed at the hilton hawaiian village, but i think i remember seeing your hotel when i walked around the beach. :)

Wow that sounds all so fantabulous! Hanauma Bay looks breathtaking and so does everything else really.... wow. But good to have you back :)

Ok, just make me MORE jealous than I already was! Hee. ;) It sounds like you had a great time on your vacation. The pictures are beautiful! Why can't I live in a place like that? Sigh. Thanks for sharing, hun.

Oh my gosh. I'm so envious of you! And your pictures look magnificant. The waterfalls look booootiful.

Oh wow I love your pictures, sounds like you had a great time! I always wanted to go to Hawaii or Mexico... maybe Hawaii because it looks so beautiful! :)

great pictures kel. i think the photographer did a wonderful job.