Waikiki Beach at Sunrise

Good Morning!

The first morning we arrive in Hawaii, we are usually awake before dawn. The 6 hour time difference makes it 6 am when our bodies are still on noon. You can usually figure out who the people from the East coast are by the ones walking on the beach before the sun rises.

In July 2008 we stayed in a Tower Suite at the Westin Moana Surfider. I took a video just as the sun rose, you can see the beach well and it isn't too busy, except for those Easterners walking the beach with their Starbucks in hand. Oh and the surfers of course.
Don't mind the narration, It was 6 am and I was tired.....I wanted you to hear the waves too.

Andy and Michelle's Wedding at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - Day 3 Continued

Go back to beginning of Day 3

So what did we forget? Well let's see, Rings - check, Officiator - check, wedding party - check, hmmm, marriage license - OH NO - that was still in the safe in Michelle and Andy's room. So I took off my heels - put on my flats - grabbed Kyle and off we sprinted back to the Rainbow Tower for the marriage license!

Thank you Kyle for remembering the safe code and room number!

After our little sprint, we were ready. The wedding planner escorted the officiator, Andy and the guests to the gazebo to prepare for the ceremony.

We all took our positions and waited for Hannah, then Michelle and Kyle to walk down the stairs to the gazebo.

Wow what a beautiful bride. I could see that glint (aka tear) in Andy's eye as he saw Michelle for the first time!

Michelle took her place beside Andy for the ceremony. It was intimate, personal and perfect.

The officiator was awesome. He performed wonderfully and was relaxed and just all around great.

Michelle and Andy did the sand ceremony which just made the ceremony that more romantic.

They said their vows and then came the kiss. And what a kiss it was!

Next came Andy's vows to Kyle and they were pronounced a family!

Kyle looks happy doesn't he?

After some photos at the gazebo it was off the the beach we went for more photos. Kyle's feet started to hurt and he was adorable as he ran around the beach in his socks!

The ambience at the beach was amazing. Not only were there beachcombers and people enjoying the beach. There were even some ukalele players. The pictures were awesome and we got to enjoy the beginning of the sunset.

After the pictures at the beach we walked to the Bali by the Sea. Andy, Michelle and Kyle did the cake cutting ceremony for the pictures and we were ready for dinner.

The restaurant set up a beautiful table and Michelle picked an awesome menu. The chef then outdid himself! The food was the best of the trip.

The Maui Onion Soup was to die for and the wedding cake was amazing.

To top it all off the chef sent out erupting Diamond Head truffle chocolate desserts. We had to video it because it was just too cool!

After a wonderful dinner, we went for a drink at the Tapa Bar. There were lots of people enjoying the local band. Andy and Michelle got a dance and Michelle through her bouquet into the crowd. Ironically enough the girl who caught it was engaged by the end of her Hawaiian holiday! I guess Andy and Michelle inspire love and commitment!

After a long day we were off to bed! It was - in the words of Andy's dad - the most romantic wedding!

Andy and Michelle's Wedding at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - Day 3 - Wedding Day!

Missed Day 2? - Getting ready for the wedding and dinner the night before

Day 3 of our trip to the Hilton Hawaiian Village was Andy and Michelle's wedding day!

The girls and the guys decided to eat breakfast separately (the bride really shouldn't see the groom before the wedding!) We had a great girls breakfast and a nice chat. Michelle was a little nervous that morning, but after a text from her groom and a call from back home, she was calm and ready to get married!

I had a hair appointment at 11, so of to the Mandara Spa in the Kalia Tower I went. They were great in there. The staff were friendly and listened to what I wanted. I hated my hair - but I figured if everyone told me it looked nice then I would believe them. Afterall I am the worse judge of my own hair - lol - don't worry it didn't look like this in the end!

Hannah came in a little after me to have curls put in her hair and a flower for her role as flower girl.

Tip: If you are getting married while in a resort - work into your budget a trip to the salon to get ready - it was simple and made the day go easier!

Then Michelle's mom and finally Michelle. Since I was done earlier I went to check on the boys who were enjoying their morning by the pool - ahhh isn't it nice to be men and not have all the primping and getting ready to do? Just jump in the shower and it is done!

After some sushi with the boys at Hatsuhana I was off to get my stuff and meet Michelle at the hair salon.

Sure enough she was ready so we walked back to her room to get her ready.

The boys got ready in our room - Kyle got to have a bath in the funky bath and the boys took it easy until it was time to go the the chapel.

After a small "I hate my hair" breakdown - again remember it is better to let other people decide whether or not your hair looks good - and a glass of champagne - she put her dress on and was the most beautiful bride!

So after a lovely gathering of dressed up ladies, off to the chapel we went.

Warren and I were constantly in communication to keep the bride and groom apart. It is a large resort - but not that large!

We made it to the bride's room in the chapel and I texted Warren to say all was clear.

The boys arrived and we were ready to go... or were we?

Continue to next wedding post.....what were we missing?

Andy and Michelle's Wedding at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - Day 1 Continued

Continued from this post - click here.
Since we had already started the drive up north, and we were a little hungry, we stopped at the Dole Plantation.
We had been there before, in our opinion it is a tourist trap, but we needed some refreshments. So we stopped and got a cooked cob of corn from a local guy and his daughter - selling it next to the Dole Plantation store. We then took another picture with the pineapples (at the plantation next door) and were on our way. (click here to see the original picture - they have fixed the bra on my pineapple!) The place was packed with tourists and tour buses so we didn't want to stay long.

It was a little bit longer to drive up to the North Shore than anticipated - due to the public holiday, but other than that it was fairly easy until we actually hit the main road at the top of the island on the North Shore - Highway 83.

All the people who live in Oahu, I think, were trying to get to the North Shore beaches to do some of the amazing surfing on the public holiday. So it took us at least 30 to 40 minutes to drive what will normally take 10 minutes along Hwy 83 -the road along the North Shore.

After a lot of texts back and forth with Andy and Michelle, and a slow drive, we made it into the Turtle Bay Resort - ready for a great lunch! At the time they were doing some construction on the road and on the entrance way but other than that the resort was as we remembered it.

When we arrived at the Turtle Bay Resort, we drove up to the security kiosk, and mentioned that we were going to eat in a restaurant down by the beach - Ola. He said, make sure you have a hamburger it's the best burger around. We told him how we had made the journey back to the resort just for the burger! So we drove around to try and find some parking.

Now all of the beaches in the State of Hawaii, are public beaches and therefore hotels can not restrict access to any of them. However, they only have so much parking. So each hotel, will charge what they want to for parking, but they can't deny you access to the beach. So the parking because it was a holiday was also quite busy and hard to find a spot.

But we finally found a spot and walked over to the restaurant that we had drove all the way up here for - OLA. This restaurant was featured in the movie, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" - as was the resort.

Warren went in to get a table for the seven of us that were coming for lunch and it was three minutes past three. I went to the restroom (It was a longer drive than anticipated!) and when I returned Warren was talking to the host or the owner or the manager of the restaurant. It didn't look good - The man quite insistent that he could not seat us as they close between three and five to prepare for dinner.

Now, if you ask me a restaurant of this calibre should serve you if you arrive at three o'clock for lunch, however, there was no moving him, so we went to the front desk, found out that the only restaurant serving was the pool bar, and we took a whole bunch of pictures all over the Turtle Bay Resort.
Lesson learned - Check with restaurants - before making the long drive on the hours - they serve!

Click here to see our pictures.

They told us we could get a hamburger at the pool bar - and that is what we had a hankering for - so we texted Michelle and Andy and told them what was going on. By the time we got there, however we were famished! The awesome waitress caught on to that and immediately brought us both a drink and I bucket of bar nuts and chips, and we ordered our burger!

The view here was beautiful! We were looking over both the surfing area of the North Shore, and the pool area. The waves were incredible! They must have been 10-15 feet high and the surfers were having a blast! It was absolutely spectacular!

Our burgers arrived and they were just what the doctor ordered - and huge! We highly recommend the burgers at the Pool Bar as well as Ola.

Finally Andy and Michelle and the rest arrived, and they ordered their late lunch/dinner. All around the food was good. So in the end we still had an a great meal and enjoyed a different view.

The kids were excited about the water so we wandered over to the calmer beach and the kids went for a swim. They had a great paddle around and did a little snorkeling, while the grown ups (that's us!) had a chat.

The Happy Couple! Andy and Michelle

And Us!

The sun started to go down and it was getting cooler so it was time to go. We caught the sunset through the trees on the way out of the resort.

Note about the winter weather in Hawaii - This past winter (we were there in January 2009) was quite cool for Hawaii. The local Hawaiians were complaining how cold it was. The air was cooler at night (needed a light jacket or sweater) and the water was colder than normal - make sure you check on the weather before you go - as many people had to buy sweaters etc. as it was too cold at night.
We got back on the road and the drive was easier and quicker as most people had already left the North Shore. We stopped at a Foodland for some supplies for our condo - it was wild as you could really feel the beach culture. i.e. people coming in after surfing in swimsuits and no shoes.
Just a note - items were quite expensive in the Foodland on the North Shore - most likely as there weren't many other stores around.
Once we arrived back at the hotel everybody was tired, so the kids went to bed and Andy went to the airport to pick up his parents who are coming in from New Zealand after there Australia and New Zealand trip and cruise.

Warren returned the car - 15 min late - they closed at 7:30 - (Alamo near the Hilton Hawaiian Village). We didn't want to pay for parking at the hotel and wanted to return the car on the same day. They were still there so they allowed us to return the car, but not without complaining about it of course :-)
Note: - if you can return a one day rental on the same day to avoid parking charges at your hotel - they can be $20 or more per night!
Michelle, Warren and I had a drink and waited for Andy to return. It was a nice quiet way to end a great day out!

Onto Day 2 - Swimming in the Lagoon and last minute errands for the wedding!

Andy and Michelle's Wedding at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - Day 1

We just returned from a wedding in beautiful Waikiki, Hawaii on the island of a Oahu. We went for our dear friend's, Andy and Michelle Walker, wedding. It was a lovely, lovely few days, and we will cherish them.

Unfortunately we did not have enough time or a lot of time to spend on this holiday as it was a last minute idea for everybody to go. But we decided we would look into it and sure enough, we found a good rate - with a route of Toronto to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Honolulu.

Just a thought about the type of trip over here for air travel to Hawaii from the East Coast - as Toronto is considered to be the East Coast. It is about a 4 1/2 hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver. Then we had a three hour layover, and a then a 5 1/2 hour flight from Vancouver to Honolulu. We've also done a trip to Hawaii before where we did a 1 1/2 hour flight to Chicago and then an eight and a half hour flight to Honolulu. I much preferred the short flight and then a long flight for the main reason that you can actually rest on the plane -that is if you can sleep on planes. You can get a good four hours or so sleep, if not more on the longer flight. However, I wanted to try flying to Hawaii through Vancouver so this worked out perfectly.

The actual flight times worked out quite well for us as we arrived in to Honolulu at approximately at 9:30 p.m.. This was good because by the time we got to our hotel and got checked in and settled, we were really really tired. So we just went straight to bed, which really helped the jet lag, in fact, we didn't find that we had any jet lag pretty much the whole week. The only thing that I noticed was that we were waking up really early in the morning so we would wake up at like seven sometimes earlier - sometimes 6 a.m.. This actually worked out quite well, because we could do work out and communicate with people at home since there was a five hour time difference Toronto.

We booked the Grand Waikikian - the time share property at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. They had overbooked at the regular village and were moving guests here so we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom condo - which was brand new, beautiful and awesome!





So on our first morning in Hawaii, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel, we met Andy and Michelle, Michelle's son Kyle, and her niece, Hannah, at the Tapa's Café for breakfast. They do a pretty good spread for a buffet, both a hot and a cold buffet. On the cold buffet, you can get cereals, lots of fresh fruit, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, all your grains, like mini bagels and toast, cream cheese, and smoked salmon. On your hot buffet you could get your traditional American breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage, and hash browns. The breakfasts were quite expensive as they usually are in hotels, $20 for the cold buffet and $30 for the hot buffet.

We normally try to book a condo or something that has a fridge that we can have our own breakfast in our room and sometimes we even bring a box of cereal. However since we were traveling for the wedding, and we wanted to eat with our friends, we had breakfast a few times in the Tapa Cafe and Warren had breakfast one morning in the Rainbow Lanai restaurant in the Rainbow Tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Warren had this with the boys on the day of the wedding as we were trying to keep the bride and groom separate on that day.

After catching up and getting up to date on wedding plans, we decided to rent a couple of cars to drive up to the North Shore. Andy and Michelle had not been out of Waikiki since they had arrived, and Waikiki can be quite overwhelming. It is more like a big American city, like Miami, than it is traditional Hawaii.

So because they had to get their marriage license in Hawaii, they thought it would make sense to rent a car, pick up the wedding license and then drive up to the North Shore. We told them about the Turtle Bay Resort as we been up there quite a few times, and we really wanted to have lunch up at the restaurant Ola, that overlooked the beach at the resort.

They learned one lesson that I will happily pass on - if you are getting married in Hawaii and you need to get a marriage license - don't go on Martin Luther King Day or any other public holiday.

Thankfully, the lady who does the marriage licenses was actually quite helpful as she left a note on the door of the licensing office telling people a number to call them and where to go to get their license if it's a holiday or a weekend. So they went over to this lady's house and they signed everything they had to sign and they took their oath and they got their marriage license all in her driveway. Then they were on their way.

Continue to next post.

Leis, Limos, and Waikiki Beach

Side Note: I wrote this on the plane from Hawaii to Australia and was unsure where I left off on the first post - so you may read some similar stuff.

I am writing this at 38 000 feet on Way to Oz!

Wow, where to begin, Right now we are again hurdling back in time – oh wait no - now we are going forward in time – in fact we just went over the equator and are about to pass the international date line. – So it is 8:00 pm in Toronto on July 28th – HAPPY BIRTHDAY APRIL!!! And it is 2:00 pm in Hawaii (where we just came from) and we are on our way to Sydney Australia. Where it is 10:00 am on Tuesday July 29th ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY! - It’s hard to wrap your head around sometimes.

Leis and Limos

So where did I leave off on the last blog entry. I am not sure if I shared with you the rest of our flight and our limo ride from the airport to the Westin Moana Surfrider in Waikiki. I had arranged for a limo to pick us up as last year when Warren and I arrived in Honolulu, we had a heck of a time renting our car and then maneuvering our way to Waikiki. The traffic at 3:00pm is unreal – apparently Honolulu has traffic all the time, typical city that grew before it’s infrastructure did.

So to make it easy I found a company that was recommended by a contributor on TripAdvisor that offered an airport transfer with lei service.We used ABC Limousine Service. So yes we got leied at the airport! (clean those minds up!) We didn’t tell Montana – we thought it would be a great surprise to see a limo driver holding onto a card with her name on it and welcoming her with a lei in the traditional Hawaiian way. She was excited in a 13 year old way. She said “SICK!” We are getting that people react different ways to new experiences at different ages. LOL!!!

ABC Limousine Service also picked us up to take us back to the airport - arrived on time and were awesome - It really is great not having to worry about transfers to the airport and getting there on time!

The driver took our bags and while we waited for the driver to get the car (Yes we felt important) another limo (that I thought was ours came up)

I panicked as I thought – ok I guess that I should have done more research on this limo company! – But when I went to talk to the driver it wasn’t our driver! Thank goodness – So my recommendation is to use Martin Kims ABC Limousine - This was the car we actually had!

We had a wonderfully relaxing transfer into Waikiki with Montana bartending

Ok maybe she was drinking as well!

Arriving at the Westin Moana Surfrider

We arrived at the Westin Moana Surfrider and were greeted by 2 lovely Hawaiian ladies that gave us a cold cloth, some lemongrass iced tea and another lei. The hotel itself is beautiful! It is one of the original and had lots of class and history. Everytime you walked in the lobby you could imagine ladies in full dresses from the turn of the century walking with parasols.
We got a glimpse of the ocean and Waikiki Beach as we walked to the front desk. It was exciting to see that beautiful blue and turquoise ocean again.
Waikiki was busy. Really busy. This is why we only stay in Waikiki for a few days. The beach was busy as were the stores.

We booked with our points for the room we were to stay in and decided to spend the extra to upgrade to a one bedroom suite. This was one of our better choices. With a little extra money and “relating to the world of the front desk person” (always be friendly to the people who check you in – make sure you get what is going on for them – be interested in how their day is going – not only is it great to meet new people but it is a great way to get extras) We ended up with one best rooms on all of Waikiki Beach. It was absolutely amazing! We could see the whole beach from the Sheraton Waikiki to Diamond Head. It also had one of those celebrity toilets! It had a built in bidet, seat warmer etc. Montana and Warren thought that was just really cool!



We spent a lot of time in our room as we were adjusting to the time difference etc.

Waikiki Beach, Surfers and the Turtle

As we were overlooking the Beach and the water – we could see all the swimmers, surfers, beachcombers , the sandy areas under the water and the rocky areas. As we looked out I saw a turtle! A huge one! It was great watching him (yes all you SBI’rs! I couldn’t believe it a Turtle!!!) – In the whole 2 weeks we were in Hawaii last year we never saw one turtle! The people that were in the water had no idea that he was there!

We were hot when we arrived and were excited to be in Waikiki so we chose to go swimming right away. Now this is where I messed up – I didn’t make sure we bought a waterproof camera to take pictures of us bobbing around in the water. Boy was it fun!

We were tired but needed to eat. Last year we never made it to the famous Dukes for a meal. So I pre booked it for our first night. The meal was ok. But I think it was hard to tell as we were so tired. So we had their salad bar and a few appetizers. We requested a table by the water and were not disappointed. The view was beautiful.

By 8 pm we were exhausted. I never even realized I had fallen asleep until I woke up at 4 am! By 5 am Montana woke up, so we decided to let Warren sleep and we went out on the balcony and watched the sunrise over Diamond Head. It was beautiful!

Our First Day! - Our Travel to Hawaii!

It’s 3:02 pm as I write this. Let’s see that is Toronto Time (our home town), It is 3:03 pm in Chicago and 10:03 am in Hawaii. We are hurdling back through time. Well ok not really, just through time zones!

We arrived in Chicago with 12 min to spare. Thankfully our gates were only 3 apart. Enough time for a snack and a washroom visit. Then they announced boarding! We took advantage of the few hundred dollar difference and decided to fly business class.

Boy what a difference. Sitting in seats 1F,1H and 1J. Now we are flying United, which if I were really honest, I would say that it really is an old airline and certainly not as nice as Air Canada (yes all you Canadians – I said it!). The equipment is old and tired, but they offer a good rate on “Domestic First Class” that we are willing to take. It is much better than being in economy class for a 9 hour flight. I just went for a walk back there and the configuration is 2 5 2 – they look squished and not comfortable at all. So I won’t complain.

We arrived in Chicago with 12 min to spare. Thankfully our gates were only 3 apart. Enough time for a snack and a washroom visit. Then they announced boarding! We took advantage of the few hundred dollar difference and decided to fly business class. Boy what a difference. Sitting in seats 1F,1H and 1J. Now we are flying United, which if I were really honest, I would say that it really is an old airline and certainly not as nice as Air Canada (yes all you Canadians – I said it!). The equipment is old and tired, but they offer a good rate on “Domestic First Class” that we are willing to take. It is much better than being in economy class for a 9 hour flight. I just went for a walk back there and the configuration is 2 5 2 – they look squished and not comfortable at all. So I won’t complain.

More excitement, once we were on the plane and started to settle in, the flight attendant served, orange juice, champagne or water. Warren made a mimosa (orange juice and champagne), and as we were settling in I managed to do what I do and knocked the glass all over my leg, the floor and the table. So I started off a little wet. Later the flight attendant offered to take our picture, the 3 of us. Warren picked up his wine and it spilled on my tshirt and pants! So I don’t drink, and I smelled like I had just been at a booze up in a brewery (as my mom would say).

Mr. Quack got a tour of the flight deck as they were boarding the plane. He (and Warren) were very excited!
Here are Mr. Quack and Waddles enjoying their “First Class” seat!

The food was ok. Montana was excited to “experience” the meal service. You know food you don’t have to pay for and the white tablecloth and the real glassware and cutlery.

Warren had a couple of drinks and had an hour nap. Montana is happily watching the last episodes of Gossip Girl she missed during the school year and at camp.

I don’t sleep well on planes, so I worked on a page for the website and then thought – I should do our first official entry for our blog!

So only about 5 hours left. Hmmm maybe I will try for a nap – most likely not – more PSP time or maybe a movie – ahhh vacation!
Oh by the way, I haven’t seen Warren this excited or relaxed in awhile! It’s like our wedding day! He can’t stop kissing me!

Love to our families, and if you are a reader of the blog or a visitor to http://www.excellent-vacation-ideas.com/, stay tuned – our adventure has just begun!