Things I Did In Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii is stunning and the people are very nice. 

Waikiki is a very walkable city, great for American travelers who want to get away without the hassle of language barriers and currency exchange. 

The Delta flight was 8 hours long and came with food for about $700 dollars. And because I am a frequent flier, I was able to use my SkyMiles to cover some of the flight. I made sure I downloaded all my favorite music ahead of time. The food wasn’t too bad either. 

I stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. Pro Tip: definitely check in ahead of time to avoid long lines at check in. Not everyone has NY service so coming off an 8 hour flight and a 30 minute shuttle to wait on a line will run your patience. 

I had no idea the Poke was actually Hawaiian… so I didn’t have any BUT, I had some great Hawiian breakfast at Liliha Bakery. What they did with a fried egg and pork belly, *chefs kiss*.

I did the Oahu Island Tour and the views were absolutely stunning. Hawaii is definitely one of the most beautiful island’s I have ever been to. Looking at the nature around me could only have me think of how wonderful our creator is. The mountains, the water, the cliffs, the abundant greenery, how tall and wide some mountains were up close. It was almost scary how big these pieces of land are especially coming from a metropolitan area. The Oahu Island tour also shows where Jurassic Park was filmed. Absolutely stunning. 

Part of the Oahu Island Tour, I went to visit this really fire Buddhist temple,The Byodo-In Temple. I prayed and gave an offering. Although it wasn’t operating at the time I visited it was still a cool experience to check out. 

I had some yummy ice cream at the Dole Plantation: 4/10 too sweet but pretty smooth. 

I tried shaved ice at Matsumoto Shave Ice and bought some of my favorite trucker hats and  t-shirts from the shop.

Did you know that there is no sales tax in Hawaii? Yea so I went to Saks and bought some perfume to remind me of the experience of Hawaii and a pair of Golden Goose Sneakers to symbolize a new chapter in my life. 

I ate at Roy’s: 6/10 definitely overhyped., turns out duck has the flavor of ham with the texture of turkey. 

I had dinner at Morton’s: 7/10 The manager is a fellow New Yorker and made sure I was taken care of. Definitely a great spot for couples. 

Definitely given princess treatment here.

I would definitely recommend Hawaii as a great place to solo travel if you haven’t before. As an American, you would definitely feel safe because everyone speaks english and there is a huge military presence. 

Here’s the caveat… Honolulu is a tourist city, if you’re looking for quiet time at the beach you have to go early in the morning. The homeless population is insane and it’s starting to look like LA. I would not recommend walking alone at night. And the food options are very limited because Honolulu is not as diverse as a major city.  Other than that, it is an absolutely gorgeous island with so much nature to be awe-inspired by and such a laid back way of living. 

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