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

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.

Sun, Shopping, Surfing and Sand!

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We awoke to that beautiful sunrise over Diamond Head. It was awesome sharing it with Montana! Unfortunately it was too dark to take great pictures.

But here is Waddles and Mr. Quack on our balcony over looking the beach and Diamond Head.

Another Tip – If you aren’t big breakfast eaters or are looking to save some money, make sure your room has a fridge – if not use your ice bucket. We aren’t big breakfast eaters and knew we would be waking up early, so we bought cereal and milk from the dozens of “ABC stores” in the Waikiki area. (It really is incredible how many there are – more than Starbucks!) We had our breakfast had some Internet time (uploading pictures to Facebook etc.) and decided to go for a walk.

All the stores were closed (It was 7:45 am by this time) so we hit Starbucks and sat out on their patio watching the people go by.
We then went for a walk along Kalakaua Ave (the main strip along Waikiki Beach). Most of the stores were closed, but

the city was waking up by this time and we watched the joggers and thought – wow they must be dedicated and HOT!!!) It was already 83 F and very humid. We were amazed at how the temperature varied 10 F from Sun to Shade.

We found the story teller Hawaiian God Stature and had to take pictures with her.

Shopping and Turtles!

We started to walk back and did some shopping. We made it made it back by 10:30 am and were starving. We found a Coco Cove store that had the salads like we like in New York – the one where you choose the lettuce and then the ingredients and they toss it for you – they also had Panini’s. So we decided to take some food back to our room and enjoy our balcony and view. It was perfect! We even got a picture of the turtle! By the end of the weekend we saw 4 at one time!

More Shopping at the Ala Moana Center

We then took a taxi to the Ala Moana Center. It is the largest outdoor mall in the world and the largest mall in Hawaii. Montana wanted to use her gift card she got for her birthday (THANX MOM) so we headed straight there. She did quite well and was really excited!

We went into the humongous food court with foods from every part of the world and were all amazed at the size of it and the variety! What was funny was that we all decided that a hot dog was all we wanted. So a Nathan’s Hot dog it was! Montana also had a bubble tea – well at least one of us enjoyed the ethnicity of it all!

We also found a lulu lemon athetica store! It was awesome to see a piece of home (lulu lemon is a Canadian company).

It was time to return for our afternoon swim and I promised Montana that we would go and find out about surfing lessons. So back to the hotel and onto the beach.

We found a great guy to give Montana a lesson in the morning – Corbin – he asked us to be there by 7 am for a lesson in the morning. We knew we would be up!

We went for our swim and then got ready and went for sushi – our favorite place in Waikiki – the Restaurant Suntory in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Area. We sat at the sushi bar and were excited to see it was the same Sushi chef as last year. It was a great dinner.

Montana then wanted to “pick a pearl” so we wandered through the International Market Place and she picked a stall to pick a pearl. She was really excited, and chose a larger than average pearl. She chose a silver ring setting, and was really happy with how it turned out.

We were in bed by 10 pm – afterall it was 4 am at home!

First Surfing Lesson!

We woke early again and Montana was excited to go surfing. I was a little nervous about it but I felt good about the instructor that we chose the day before. There was a large long board surfing competition going on. So there were a lot of surfers out there.

We paid for a group lesson but there wasn’t any other participants so Montana ended up with a private lesson. They did a quick 5 minute on land lesson, then an hour in the water.
The lesson included the use of a surfboard and surf shirt to wear.

Out they went and before you knew it Montana was up on her first wave! I was amazed at how easy it came to her. Corbin would set her up and then off she went!

Needless to say she had a blast!

As the hour went on I could see how tired she was getting. When she finished the lesson she said her arms were killing her! I can see why – It looked like a lot of work!

We decided to spend our Sunday as a “lazy day” so we got showered and went for an early lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We had a great table overlooking the street and we could watch the people go by. As usual the portions were huge so we took the leftovers back to the room for dinner.

We wandered around the shops again and then went back to the room to watch “The Matrix”. This is Warren’s absolute favorite movie and it was shot in Sydney Australia (where we are heading to while I write this!).

We have arranged to do a movie tour that is mostly a tour of the locations that the Matrix was filmed in on Thursday. Montana had not seen it yet, so it was a perfect idea to have a lazy afternoon watching the movie. I think she liked it – I was glad to be refreshed as I hadn’t seen it in a few years. Warren has seen it a dozen times!

We sat out on the balcony and watched the masses of beachcombers, surfers and swimmers. It was the day before school started so it was really busy on the beach! This time we saw 4 turtles in the same spot. In fact there was a man swimming quite close to one but couldn’t see it, the turtle came up for air and scared the man half to death! It was hilarious to watch him swim away fast and furiously. I am not sure if he knew what it was! I think he scared the turtle just as much as he was scared!

We then went for our afternoon swim and looked for the turtles to no avail. I guess it is easier to see them from 18 floors up!

Dinner consisted of leftovers, and another salad from the salad place – it was yummy and not too much! We were all tired, but had to pack up as we had an early morning flight to catch – this one on JetStar – the Qantas charter airline. They have a star class service and section which is a little more money but worth it! We each got an individual movie player with a pretty good selection of movies. And meal service. In the regular section of the cabin you can rent a unit and pay for meal service before you get on the plane. I think it is a great way to do it.

Ok so we have 4 hours to go on a 10 hour flight – hmmm now what? PSP? Another movie? Gossip Girl (I promised Montana I would catch up so we could talk about it!)

Well Waddles and Mr. Quack are excited to be on their way to Australia and we are about to fulfill on a life long dream for Warren!

I am not sure if every blog entry will be this detailed as it took over 2 hours to do. But we will do our best!

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!