Dinner and a show

We didn't do Broadway in New York but we did do Benihana in Hawaii :D

Ok so its no Broadway show but the chefs do put on a pretty cool display while cooking your meal at your table.  Ours did the volcano trick with the onions you see in the picture but he also shone a red laser pen into it and put water in it so it sparked up like lava.

There was loads of tricks as the meal went on and the food was lovely to eat as well.

Thanks to the lovely couple who recommended it to us on the shuttle bus from the airport!

Bobbing along

We woke up very early on Tuesday morning to do the one thing I'd been most excited about...SCUBA SCOOTERS :)

if you haven't heard of these before,  basically they are little underwater scooters which have a divers helmet on the front of them so your head doesn't get wet when you go in the water - ideal for those who are put off by the idea of scuba diving or just fancy a bit of fun. 

We got onto the boat and set out to a place sea turtles are normally spotted but the current was really strong.

Once we stopped,  they split us into groups of 4 so there was a diver to go down with each scooter and we didn't have long to wait before they sent us down.

It was an amazing experience.  They gave us bread so we could feed the fish (we have the bites to prove it), took loads of photos of us and just as we were coming back up i spotted a turtle swimming passed - bonus :)

Unfortunately I started feeling pretty sea sick as we waited on the other groups to have their turn but one of the divers was kind and kept giving me advice on what to do.

For an extra $30 you get to take home a disc of all your photos (they took at least 50 of us) and since that was the amount we saved by booking through hawaiidiscount.com we were more than happy to get them.

Can't wait to get home and see the photos but until then,  here's one I googled so you can see what I'm talking about

We were starving by the time we got back so we popped into an ihop and got the biggest breakfast going. I love American portions!!!

High Five

What do you do on a Monday night in Hawaii?

Have dinner by the beach and watch Hawaii 5-0, while drinking cocktails.  Oooo yeh :D

How to make a lei

A lei is that wreath of flowers you see round someone's neck in any of those tropical island movies you've watched and today I learned how to make one.

I was excited to get my craft mojo going again so I thought I'd share some quick tips on how to make your own:

1. Ideally you want some fresh orchids but if you can't get your hands on those,  you can use anything from some fake flowers,  grapes or popcorn etc.

2. If you are using orchids then you will need to separate the stalk from the flower,  using your nails.

3. Take a piece of string, long wnough to go over your head and a bit extra. tie a knot at one end and thread the other with a needle

4. Thread the flowers onto the needle one at a time,  front fiest right through the middle and puah towards the knot

5. When you have filled the whole piece of string,  leaving enough room at the end for tying it,  then remove the needle and knot it at least 4 times

6. Wear with pride or give to someone you love :)

The Grand Circle Island Tour

Today we took a 120 mile bys tour all round the island as we thought it would be good to see a bit more than our own beach. The tour company was the same as the one we had in new york ( grey line ) so we were a bit sceptical as the tour guides were hit or miss.

We started of my heading up the mountains and thats when the rain came down. RAIN IN HAWAII?!?! I know,  I was shocked too but apparently there is rainy and sunny sides to the island so we saw our fair share of rain today.

We managed to get in front of the rain as we headed to Hanauma bay which is a nature preserve and where a lot of people go to snorkel.  It was really pretty but the rain soon caught up with us so we had to keep moving. This was also the first place where we noticed chickens running about.  Our driver explained that during a hurricane people forgot to board up there chicken coupes so now they all run free - we sure saw alot of them during the day.

Our next stop was Halona blowhole which was cool to see and the waves were crashing against the waves which looked amazing as well. I also stopped a really freaky looking bug which I'll need to look up.

Our driver then pulled up at a lovely looking temple but by that time there was no stopping the rain and the thought of going outside to have red hair dye streaming down my face was not appealing so we stayed on the bus with the other sensible people :)

There were lots of other beaches and sights on the way but the stop enjoyed next was the macadamia nut farm. Not because of the nuts,  although there were loads of free samples,  it was for all the little chicks running around but the rain made it hard to photograph them. There was also a sign which told us we were 1226 miles from London - well I was definitely starting to feel right at home with all this rain!

We stopped for lunch at Kualoa Ranch, although before you get lunch they take you for a tour up to the top of the ranch so you can get a good view down. The tram tour guide was even nice enough to take photos of everyone at the top. Lunch was nice but I was glad I didn't go for the buffet as it wasn't the freshest looking food around.

Two more beaches were on our way - sunset beach (which reminded me of that 90s channel 5 soap I used to watch with my mum) and turtle beach, where we did see an actual turtle on the beach but our bus wasn't allowed to stop there so he just drove passed it slowly.

Last but not least we stopped at the Dole plantation and had the best pineapple ice cream I've ever tasted.  I loved that they used a stick of pineapple as the flake, which definitely makes this a healthy treat,  wouldn't you agree!!!

I have to say though that our driver and tour guide for the day was the star of the show.  He was so informative and also added in just enough humour that we weren't rolling our eyes. Thanks Wes, you rocked :D

When life gives you crappy wine...

What did we do today?!?! Nothing apart from walking along the beach all romantic style and I know you guys don't wanna hear about that,  so instead I'm going to share my awesome new cocktail with you

So you might remember that last night I bought a 1.75litre bottle of wine - well let's face it,  that was never a good idea but tonight I decided to Google some cocktails for inspiration and stumbled across this:

White strawberry lemon sangria

www.kitchentreaty.com/white-strawberry-lemon-sangria/

Its not as pretty as the one on the website but I don't think I did too bad and it tastes lovely.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend as much as we are :)

Fireworks and Hawaiian rock

Friday night is the biggest event in the hotel. They have a mini rock and roll luau, which has some awesome ukulele playing, and then finish it off with fireworks.

We decided that we wanted to watch it from our balcony and we got the best seats in the house.

We stocked up on booze and snacks (got to love 1.75litre bottles of wine lol) although after our massive lunch there was no way we were getting through all of it. The music was still so loud from where we were and you could just make out the dancers. The fireworks were at a perfect height,  as we sat back on our deck chairs gazing out on the view

I wouldn't recommend paying to get seats by the pool as even if you don't have a good view from your room, you can head to the beach and watch it from there

Walk with the animals

We have seen a lot of wildlife already, be it the fish and parrots in our hotel,  or the doves that insist on drinking the chlorine water from our pool but the we were so excited to stumbled upon sea turtles on the way home from our meal.

As we were walking along the beach back to the hotel,  there was a bit where the water came up so high you had to go back on the path.  We noticed as we got back up there that everyone was leaning over the railings, looking in the water so we took a peek as well.

A family of sea turtles were swimming around - well I've decided they were a family because there was one small one and two huge ones.

They weren't going anywhere so we stopped to take photos for ages, incredibly glad I took my camera out with me for the walk!

The big bang

As massive big bang theory fans,  we were super excited when we found a cheese cake factory!

There menu is gigantic but I zoned in on what I wanted pretty quickly,  hibachi steak - which came with steak with shiitake mushrooms,  beansprouts,  wasabi mash and deep fried asparagus.  Melt in the mouth deliciousness!

I washed it down with my first ever pomegranate mojito,  while Quinn had unlimited refills on coke to go with his chicken club.

I was getting more and more gutted that there was no way I was finishing my meal when the waitress came across and said my favourite American phrase "can I box that up for you". Actually in heaven...

Chilling by the pool

After spending time on the beach this morning we went to the pool in our hotel to cool down...and thats definitely what we did as the water is pretty freezing until you get swimming.

I was trying my hardest to do some exercise but every time I swam passed Quinn he was determined to dunk my red hair under the water so I gave in! don't worry,  I got my own back when he was floating on the water with his eyes closed and I dived on him :D

Beach bums

We got up early this morning and headed straight for the beach. Neither of us are very good at lying in the sun so Quinn ended up going for a swim while I read through the local magazines to see what was on.

There is always music playing somewhere from the hotel so it was nice you can still hear it from the beach.

Think we might start every morning like this :D

Technical difficulties

Apologies in advance for the rubbish photo quality,  I've not been taking my phone out with me so I've had to take photos of the back of my camera when I got back to the hotel :)

The best slice in town

Yum yum - forgot to show you our awesome new york slices!!!! Has to be done :)

Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach

When they say village,  they really mean it.  The hotel is made up of 7 towers which are surrounded by lots of shops,  restaurants and pools.

The staff were very welcoming and we got the key to a room on the top floor of one of the towers.

The room itself is huge and we have our own balcony with deck chairs on it so we can look out on our lovely views.  The beach is a 2min walk away  but so far the only swimming we've done is in our towers own outdoor pool - it was lovely swimming outside while the sun set tonight.

The Hilton throws in lots of little extras like a ps3 in the room with unlimited game and dvd rentals, which will be nice after a hard days work on the beach lol

There's also a huge open air shopping mall just along the road which has come in handy so far and has some great places to eat like bubba gump. We had some coconut shrimp which was gorgeous and the staff quiz you on your forest gump knowledge while you are waiting on your food which was fun.

Can't wait to start exploring this beautiful island

No photos as of yet as the camera was dead but I'm sure there will be lots over the next few days
   

What a long day

We arrived at the airport at 2am and as soon as we did,  the heavens opened and the torrential rain started.  How lucky was that!?!?

JFK airport was a bit of a let down.  We had to pay to check our baggage for delta as it was a domestic flight,  they only had 1 person on the checkin desk and the new shift hadn't started yet so they couldn't open security. To top it off when we got through security we were greeted by birds on the other side,  not just one or two,  a whole load of birds were in the airport - we were starting to get really worried about what kind of plane we would be getting on but we were pleasantly surprised.

I'll not bore you with the details of another long flight but here are the main differences between the two airlines:

Delta dont give you a meal,  any alcoholic drinks or headphones (you need to pay extra for all) but they were very attentive,  constantly walking up and down with drinks and snacks.  Also there was way more leg room on the plane which was good for Quinn's long legs

And before we knew it,  we were in HAWAII BABY!!!!!

The sky's the limit

Suitcase in hand, we headed to the empire state building. Thankfully they are not fussy about you taking your luggage around but we had a slightly embarrassing moment when I had to empty the case because there was a suspicious package, that turned out to be a new pack of pants we had bought at the shops that day lol (I think the guard was way more shamed than me as he held them in the air, asking what it was)

We met a lovely group while we waited in the queue and we all took the lift up together...

86 floors later and we made it to the top. If I thought the views from a double decker bus were good then you can imagine how much I loved this.

Our photos are pretty hilarious as it was crazy windy so I had red hair flying everywhere and Quinn has his eyes closed in most of them.  Then just as the wind stopped,  my camera battery died but at least I started looking at the view for real,  rather than through my camera lens.

Amazing end to our evening and to the end of the first leg of our New York trip.  Next stop - Hawaii :D