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Unexpectedly Honolulu

 

Waikiki and Diamond Head
Aloha! Sometimes there are hidden treasures in adverse situations. We just have to move past the inconveniences and sacrifices we have taken. This is how I unexpectedly found myself in Honolulu. After missed flights in Tokyo (I was flying on standby), I finally got a seat to return to the US and my flight home was through Honolulu. I was relieved when I finally got a seat on a flight home through Honolulu.  It wasn’t ideal in terms of finding a flight to the mainland as a standby as this is quite a popular destination. Secondly, the hotels are expensive, at least to me. But I found I could use my IHG points to lower the cost of a hotel room on Kuhio, near Waikiki. So I decided to stay overnight and get a good rest after the stress of the last couple of days. 

Food Truck Station on Kalakaua
After a long and refreshing nap, I walked to the food truck park that a hotel employee had recommended to me earlier. It wasn’t easy to decide what to eat  from the number of choices offered by the food trucks. There are taco, curry, hamburger, chicken, shrimp, Asian noodles, fruit drinks and coffee trucks. I finally settled on the fried shrimp noodle. I got a huge serving so I took the leftover back to the hotel and ate it as my midnight snack. 
 
Chicken food truck menu
The food truck park is on 1944 Kalakaua Avenue. Bon appetit!

Asian food truck entrées

Coffee choices

It wasn’t dark yet when I finished dinner so I went shopping at the ubiquitous ABC Store next door. What I miss most from living in Hawaii many moons ago are the guava cookies and I got some of those and a few Hawaiian tees. 

Surfers waiting for the big one
The next day I walked to Waikiki and had a leisurely lunch at RumFire at the Sheraton Waikiki with a view of Diamond Head and Waikiki beach. It was aqua therapy at its best.

I love to look at shop windows and these watercolor paintings caught my eye.

Hawaiian music would not be complete without the ukelele.

And look at this Christmas shop! Yes, Mele Kalikimaka means Merry Christmas.

On my bucket list was to buy malasadas. And I found these at the Royal Hawaiian Center food court on the second floor. These are the traditional malasadas that I ordered. It has no filling. They are from Penny’s. I was hoping to get malasadas from Leonard’s but they didn’t have a branch nearby that I could walk to. There’s always a next time.

After walking for hours in Waikiki, I found this beautiful driftwood furniture where I sat for a while and mused about taking this bench home with me.

I had a nice time in Honolulu. Wish I could have stayed longer but I ran out of hotel points and the resort fee was staggering. I would love to return for a longer stay. A hui hou, I hope. Check out my short video of Waikiki here: https://youtu.be/q0uEIKrUuY0?is=oNFiEsR_7XiMzweB

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*****

Images by TravelswithCharie


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Location: Waikiki, Honolulu, HI 96815, USA

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