Our 2nd wedding anniversary getaway turned out to be Hawaii. The trip was planned just a few weeks in advance, and that too not really planned but decided within a few minutes on an end of December midnight. We took off from Seattle on Friday afternoon on a 5 hour direct NWA flight heading south-west to Honolulu, the capital city of the Hawaiian islands. The flight somehow felt longer than it was but we also gained a couple of hours. Honolulu airport was different than all the other airports in US, in the sense that it had open air areas connecting different concourses and gates. The baggage took really long to arrive, and one of my brain cells was busy counting the bags as they appeared on the conveyer belt – ours was eightieth to show up. The signs at the Honolulu airport were not very intuitive and took us a while to figure out where the Hertz rental car counter was located. The drive from the airport to Waikiki was 20 minutes on H1 eastbound, and we spent as much time locating the Queen Kaplioni Hotel after tunneling through the happening and brightly lit lanes of Waikiki downtown.
Hungry as we were, soon after checking into the hotel room, we were back on the streets searching for food. Fate had by two minutes put up for us a closed sign at the IHOP, and we settled for Domino’s garlic bread and Hawaiian pizza with pineapple toppings. Returned to the hotel with tired feet and immediately retired to bed, to wake up to the winter Hawaiian morning, which by our Seattle standards was nice warm and sunny. Lots of calls poured in from all over the world (read India and mainland US) to wish us on our 2nd wedding anniversary. However my phone was not working very well and forced everyone who called to leave a voice mail. Soon after Rikti got up, we walked down to the beach 2 blocks away from our hotel, just to get a feel of Hawaii by day. Acted touristy, clicked a few pictures (including a few with a rainbow backdrop) and spent some time checking out the local stuff which was being sold by local businesses at a small fair near the beach. Grabbed a sub from the Subway which was our brunch consumed sitting by the pacific ocean.
Our plan was to spend most of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the north eastern parts of Oahu. Drove for around an hour until we reached the destination, bought tickets and started the exploration with a canoe ride. On the canoe we met a Canadian couple who were Hawaii loyalists and had vacationed here every year for the last 17 years. I also tried my hand on the ukulele, which I later learnt was pronounced as ookoolili and not as youkoolaylay. We were already hungry when we got off the boat and so fueled up on some cheesy chips and fresh fruit, not the most common combo. The PCC is in a way similar to places like Chowki Dhani and Sanskruti in India. Lots of activities and local culture to see and learn about. We saw a 30 minute show which told all about the Hawaiian music and dance, right from advent of the Hawaiian guitar to the Hula dance techniques. Rikti even learnt how to do the Hula dance, and at another show, both of us tried our hip shaking dancing skills trying to imitate the dwelling tribes of Tahiti. We also went on the Bili Bili which is a raft made of 3 flat logs of bamboo. Explored some of the other Polynesian life in form of their huts, living, and then decided to sneak out of the center for a while to check out the attraction at Laie, where a tsunami had drilled a hole into a rock thousands of years ago. Bhaiya and Bhabhi had suggested that we carry a book called Oahu revealed, which we had issued from KCLS, and this is the book from where we learnt about the Laie Point. We returned to the PCC, roamed around and then went in for the dance show which was scheduled for the evening. It was a splendid show which showcased dances from all seven Polynesian islands. We agreed that our favorite was the hip shaking dance from Tahiti. After having an ice cream topped with Hawaiian fruits, we came back to our hotel, transferred the pictures onto the laptop, enjoyed them and went off to sleep. I also picked up the pineapple souvenir from PCC which is now displayed in our den.
 Pearl Harbor was the morning destination for day 2. I should have known from the Oahu Revealed book not to trust the road signs in Hawaii, as the roads are very complicated and signs all the less intuitive. So it took me an additional hour to reach Pearl Harbor than what it should have ideally taken. At the harbor, we ferried over to the USS Missouri memorial which was built over the sunken ship. Also checked out their museum and for the first time in our lives, we went inside of a real submarine, while it was not sub marine obviously.
Somehow I had been in a mood for adventure even before we started for this trip from Seattle, so our next stop for the day was the Dillingham Air Field after a drive up north across the whole of Oahu island. 2 sky diving companies operated from there, one of which had higher ratings than the other in the local tourist guides. We were late for the one with higher ratings as it had already operated its last flight for the day, so we went to check out the other one. I was pretty sure I would do it, hundreds of others do it and I would too, but I gradually changed my mind after watching the sky diving videos that were playing there and after reading the series of disclaimers on their paperwork. The probability of the risk was extremely low but severity extremely high, so I decided that the risk was just not worth the chance, and chickened out with no regrets. We drove back to Waikiki. Rikti found an Indian restaurant using my IE mobile, where we ended up landing for a bite. It turned out to be a South Indian restaurant with Malay flavor, and also turned out to be a place we would never revisit our whole lives. Following that avoidable dinner, we parked our car in the hotel parking lot, and spent the evening at the Waikiki beach where a local band was performing. Tourists were also enjoying Hula dance performances at the other end. When the sun set, we walked along the Waikiki downtown where torches were lit up on both sides of the road, making it look really fascinating. The place was very happening indeed. We also went to the International Marketplace where Rikti broke a shell and we bought the pearl that came out of it.
The next morning was Martin Luther King’s day and a parade was going on near the beach itself. We had another sub for brunch as we watched the parade comprising of everything from past Miss Hawaiis to Isckon Krishna group. The plan for this day was to go to Hanauma Bay, on the south east coast of Oahu. This was recommended to Rikti by Sonia and the place lived up to the recommendation. The travel book we were carrying very knowledgeably warned about the lack of parking spots at the bay. We did not pay heed and reached there to be disappointed by a full parking lot. So we drove further along and enjoyed the various other sites. When we were driving back, the parking lot was open and we immediately took advantage of the situation. We were showed a mandatory movie to preserve the corals, then a bus ferried us down to the bay. I rented some snorkeling equipment and snorkeled for the first time in my life. Hanuama Bay is considered to the best snorkeling location in the world. With shallow waters and calm waves, it is sprung with enormous amounts of corals. I was prepared with an underwater camera so clicked away several underwater pictures of colorful fishes. We played around on the beach a bit, then took our showers and returned to the Waikiki area. Did some last minute tourist kind of shopping and left for the airport. Rikti bought me a ukulele at the airport, which is also hung up on our den wall now.
It was a short and lovely trip to Oahu and the Hawaii islands will certainly call us again, the next destination would most likely be Maui.