After a quick 45 minute flight from the Big island we arrived in Honolulu. We had 5 days booked in Waikiki, but fortunately, our original flight to Singapore was cancelled which gave us an extra day to explore the area. During our short stay, we did all the typical touristy things like shopping, Pearl Harbor and a hike to the top of Diamond Head Crater. All of which were fantastic.
The overall feel of Waikiki is so very different from anywhere on the Big Island, but I can see why people are drawn to Oahu. There is always something to do, it’s a lively atmosphere and the beaches though crowded, are lovely.
Waikiki Beach
Callum and Paul loved touring Pearl Harbor and came back to the hotel room with a load of information to share with Lydia and I.
Every boys dream…playing with life-size army gear.
The USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor
Lydia was not interested in a full day tour of Pearl harbor so her and I went to the Waikiki Zoo instead. Her first visit to a zoo! I generally am not a huge fan of Zoo’s. I enjoy seeing the animals, but at the same time I always leave feeling a little sad. The Waikiki Zoo is small, but a good visit for smaller children and the enclosures were an adequate size.
Out of all the animals we saw at the zoo, these two chicken-like birds were Lydia’s favorite. One of them liked to run around in circles which Lydia thought was “AWESOME”.
Diamond head was a great, but somewhat crowded hike (that seems to be the overall theme of Oahu). Very doable 40 minute hike uphill with some stairs. Once reaching the top you are rewarded with a beautiful view of Honolulu. After our hike up from the Captain Cook Monument on the Big Island, this hike seemed like a cake walk. In fact, on the way back down we decided not to take the bus back to the city and just walked the rest of the way to Waikiki. We stopped to refuel at the South Shore Grill for some delicious, cheap fish tacos. Taco Tuesday!
Awww, looks like someone needs a hug.
Haha, this little fella was actually just laying down by us when we stopped by the info shelter at Diamond Head. I was snapping a few shots of him when he yawned. Pretty ferocious looking yawn.
Oh, and our chariot awaits. We were all sad to be leaving Hawaii, but were excited to be on to the next leg of our trip. With delays and strong headwinds, it took us 24 hours to get to Singapore. We arrived at 1:30 am local time. Because our first flight out of Honolulu was cancelled, we were now arriving a day later in Singapore so we pretty much needed to start making our way to Kuala Lumpur straight away. After a quick nap on some chairs at the Embassador Transit Lounge, we cleared customs and caught the 8:15 shuttle bus to Johor Bahru, Malaysia. We spent the night in Johor Bahru, then caught the morning train to Kuala Lumpur. Train was a lovely way to travel and the 7 hour trip went by painlessly.
Now that we are here, we are resting up and exploring the area around us. So far we have found the locals very helpful.
We are all super stoked to see the Douthwaites (my sista from another mista), but first Paul has to lick the sinus infection he caught while we were travelling.
