Oahu sights and beaches

So the next day I decided no to go to the beach at all as I was already showing the first signs of "boiled lobster" or actually "boiled shrimp" at that stage and instead climb the Diamond Head mountain that is the symbol of Honolulu.
Basically it is an old (really old) and non active volcano and you get a nice view of the city and ocean from the top - it was well worth the climb of 40 minutes :)

After spending 2 days on the Waikiki beach "grilling" (in my case just one) we discovered that there are other beaches well worth visiting :)

First beach was Hanauma bay - to actually get down to the beach you have to watch a 15 minute move of how you can "look but not touch"...
It is haft or 2/3 of a crater that fell into the ocean long time ago and now it is a perfect spot to snorkel and see different kind of sea animals. You actually do not have to snorkel but go to the water just up to your knees and the fishes are right there :) different shape and colour.
And then it started raining :(

They say that if it is raining on one side of the island it might not be on the other side, so we packed up and jumped to the bus, got off at the next beach - Waimanalo beach - gorgeous beach and there were only about 10 other people there. The sand is nice and white and there are nice and big waves, trees and nice mountainous scenery :)
And then it started raining, again :(

The bus ride back to Honolulu was probably the worst 50 minutes of my life so far as local bus drivers only know the off or on button on the A/C and it was freezing... and our clothes were wet.... Brrrrr
Ohh and this rainy day actually was the day when I got my worse sunburn so far - now officially a lobster stage :(

Kailua beach - this was our favorite! I had to stay in the shade though but it was still a nice and relaxing day with only a bit of rain.

Sunset beach - this beach is on the North Shore and is supposed to have these huge waves and because of that is one of the favourite spots for surfers in the world - well we did not see any of those BIG waves - kind of a disappointment :(

So if you have to go to Hawaii please choose another island - not Oahu!

MAHALO for attention!

Travel in time

When we started flying from Osaka it was 9:40 pm 3. April 2008 and when we arrived to Honolulu it was 9:40 am 3. April 2007 (the year is according to the stewardess's announcement :) ).
Honolulu airport itself is like travelling back to 80's to the "Dynasty" and "Dallas" times - dark walls and big steel-glass lamps....

Our visit to the island did not start well at all - border guard yelled at me and then the bus driver gave us a lecture how we could not leave our suitcases to the isle but have to hold them in our lap! And then the "fun" started - the crowd on the bus was like a bunch of circus freaks - one twitched and another one yelled :(
Felt like public enemy no 1.

Best part of the day was when we got to the Waikiki beach (according to Elo our local Pirita beach is much better though) - the water is green-blue and you can see the bottom and the best part is that the temperature is so perfect - you could stay there all day.

Were supposed to stay in Honolulu 6 nights but because of the culture shock we cancelled the last 2 nights.

Ohhh - our roommates are 2 chubby boys from Alaska :)

We love here!

was a sign on a department store wall :) and we really do love it here too :)))

Started our day with yogurt and fresh strawberries (they are really good here, taste like home) and a promise to ourselves that we will not eat sushi any more... (yesterday found a place "eat as much as you want" and really overdid it)

Walked around our 'home' and Umeda without a map and found 2 sushi places that made us break the promise we gave in the morning, just few hours before...

Found a store called "olohuone" (in Finnish it means a living-room) at the basement of Osaka Station that mostly sold clothes and we also found the hotel that we marked to our Japan landing card - it was a hotel for newlyweds :)))

Ohh and I managed to make Elo to eat noodles!!!

Osaka Castle and Kyoto

So the morning started with gray skies and sushi, again (it has been the only thing on our menu so far) :) and headed straight to Osaka Castle which is the symbol of the city.
There are some lovely parks and cherry trees around the castle but they are not in full bloom yet :(
Castle itself is high up on a hill and offers a nice view over the city (pictures will come at a later stage)

Lunch was again sushi, no surprise there :) - in one of those sushi places that have the belt going around the diner and you can pick your liking - yummy! (I think we are getting a overdose soon)

And then, shop until you drop :) walked the main streets of Osaka and found some nice little things - some from the 'must buy list' my family gave me...

Today we went to Kyoto to see the really blossoming cherry trees and the weatherman was good to us as well - day started with sun :)

When we arrived to Kyoto we took the right bus alright but to the wrong direction so we got the scenic route to Marujama park :) took us about an hour instead of 15 minutes...

Local people were having picnics under the trees - that is the local custom to enjoy the blossoms I guess...
And of course the trees were gorgeous! Many colours and many different kind of flowers...

Best sleep ever

So here we are in Osaka and have to say that we had the best sleep ever ;)

The flight was really tiring as we had screaming twins in the row in front of us - so only 3 hours of the 9 hours flight were quiet - we had quite violent thoughts already ... But the kids were lucky - they do not provide parachutes at the aircraft and we did not have anything to block their mouths either....


Arrived in Osaka and it was raining, headed straight to 7 eleven next to our hostel (the hostel is really clean and nice, some rooms even smell like fresh paint) to get some sushi sandwiches and then had the best sleep ever from 4 pm to 7 am next day :)