I am officially back from vacation. Actually, I was back on Friday but I’ve been fighting off jet lag and trying to unpack and organize photos the past couple of days. First, I’d like to say ‘mahalo’ for all the birthday greetings I received. I had an awesome time while I was away. It was definitely less daunting turning 25 when you’re on a beach watching a beautiful sunset.

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Hawaii was so much fun and we had such great weather! It wasn’t as sticky humid as I thought. I attempted at tanning but got burnt instead. LOL. My nose is still peeling and the back of my legs have red patches on it. But I’ll take it as a trade off for the awesome weather we had.

We stayed in Waikiki the entire time we were there, only going on a day trip to the Big Island towards the end of our trip. Waikiki is super touristy. Half the tourists were Japanese, so everywhere we went there were signs and posters in Japanese. A lot of restaurants and shop owners even made the mistake of speaking to me in Japanese. It was a little surreal at first, but it seemed like we were in Japan without actually being there. There were also tons of Japanese restaurants within walking distance from our hotel, so we made sure to mentally mark down all the spots as we passed by. ^_^

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Our flight arrived in the evening. After we got dropped off at our hotel, we were already famished, so we went out to find something to eat. It was pretty easy spotting the closest restaurant – a ramen-ya! Ramen has totally become my favourite late-night food of choice. Hehehe.

The place we went to was called Gyoza no Ohsho. I tend to always go for the shoyu ramen no matter what selection there is on the menu. Hehehe. The prices in the States were more expensive, but ramen is probably still the cheapest meal you could get if you”re on a budget travel. (That, or hot dogs selling for $1.39 at any ABC Store!)

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The next day we headed straight to the beach in the morning. I’m not much of a swimmer, but I loved relaxing on my beach mat. Such a perfect way to start out the day. Afterwards, we went walking down the main street, Kalakaua Avenue. There’s a mix of really pricey brand name stores and some really nifty shops.

By lunch time we had walked over to Beachwalk Avenue to find this soba restaurant called Yabusoba. It was one of the restaurants recommended in my travel book. However, when we got to the street, we found out that the restaurant had closed down!! (It dissapeared!) LOL. So we hopped next door and ate at the Tonkatsu restaurant instead.

After lunch, we started making our way back to the hotel. We stopped briefly at the International Marketplace to browse through the stalls. Somehow I ended up with a parrot on my shoulder. LOL. I also had this intense dessert craving and decided to have some shave ice at one of the shops at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. You haven”t had shave ice unless it’s in Hawaii!

We took a moment to freshen up at the hotel, then we made our way to the bus stop outside the Hyatt. We had already booked for the Paradise Cove Luau before we left Toronto, so I was really looking forward to it. A luau is basically a Hawaiian feast with games and entertainment.

Paradise Cove itself was really lovely. The first photo of the sunset was taken there. That was my favourite moment of the day. There were a lot of activities we could try when we got there (aside from gulping down mai thais). We took a short canoe ride, then tried our hands at some of the games like spear throwing. I also braided a headband for myself and pinned a few orchid flowers to the side. It matched with my seashell leis. Heehee.

Later on, we were ushered back to our tables as they began the buffet dinner. Then it was singing and dancing on the main stage. It was really relaxing watching the sun go down in the background while seeing the sky replaced by the nighttime glow. Perfect way to spend my birthday. ^_^