Lazy Honolulu

I had two more Honolulu layovers in June, and they were as pleasant as the early part of the month had been.  The weather is hot this time of year, but the island trade winds were blowing for a welcome cooling effect.



I walked for awhile toward Diamond Head, past the statue of the legendary
Duke Kahanamoku

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Kahanamoku

welcoming visitors to his beach.

                                                                                                  

I walked back to Waikiki and stopped for dinner at Duke's, to enjoy all the historic photos, and the ocean view.  Duke's is right on Waikiki Beach between the Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian.  I got there before the dinner crowds arrived, as it gets pretty crowded as evening and sunset come on.

http://www.dukeswaikiki.com/static/index.cfm?contentID=22

I love their seafood luau in coconut cream sauce, but the menu has something for everyone's taste.




I made a reservation on this catamaran, on the beach directly in front of Duke's, for a sunset sail on my layover next week.

I sat on my balcony after dinner and enjoyed all sights and sounds of Waikiki at night.

The next day I was on a mission to find manapua on Waikiki Beach.  I had tasted the baked manapua on my last layover here, and I wanted to find the steamed kind.  I was repeatedly told that I would have to go to Chinatown to find them.  Since I had already been there this month, I really wanted to stay here on the beach.

I went to the Royal Hawaiian Center, weaving in and out of the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

I stopped in at the beautiful Abhasa Spa to snap a photo of their new outdoor massage area.   They offer so many different massages.  My favorite is the Lomi Lomi Hawaiian style massage with a sea salt foot scrub.

This is absolute heaven, to me at least.  It is an expensive indulgence, when you really feel the need to be pampered.

http://www.abhasa.com/E/spasalon.html

I stopped at Panya, a bakery and cafe in the Royal Hawaiian Center, for a bacon, ham, onion and cheese roll.  I wanted a little snack to take with me on the flight home.  As usual, I ended up with several delicious pastries.
http://panyagroup.com/pastries-menu.asp

A young man in the bakery told me that I might find manapua here in the center at the Beijing Restaurant.

I went upstairs to this beautiful, authentic restaurant with lovely views out over the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian.  Most pleasing was that they had exactly what I was looking for on their menu, steamed pork dumplings or, as called in Chinese, cha siu baau.







I returned to my room, where
I sat on the balcony and enjoyed the rewards of my hunt!

If I have to say whether I enjoyed the baked or the
steamed manapua the most, the baked win my vote.





These steamed treats were really wonderful.  It was the same sweet barbequed pork inside, and the dumpling was light and tender. I am just more of a bread person, so the baked rolls were more my style.

When I returned for
my last layover
of the month, I walked
along the beach almost
to Diamond
Head where
I met up
with my
friend,
Chris,who
lives here
and has
a kayak.







The walk
along the
beach is
always
interesting.
















Diamond
Head was
beautiful
against
the blue
sky and
clouds.


I have only paddled alone, and Chris has a two man kayak, so I was a student from here on.
We went quite a way out from shore, and the views were spectacular. I couldn't take my camera with me, since it is not waterproof.  Next time I will buy a sports camera........maybe one of the disposable ones.  I learned a lot about kayaking as a team.  It is really a bit of work, but well worth the effort.
I learned how to get out of the kayak into the water, and how to get back in.  Not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I don't think I disgraced myself.
I didn't take the sunset cruise that I booked on my last trip, since I was going out on the water in the kayak.  I'll save that for another trip.  I'm watching all of the youtube kayak instruction videos, and looking forward to the next time I am in Hawaii.