April 11

Our last day in Hawaii. The kids and I wish we had 1 more day.

Last minute photos from our balconies to remember this amazing view forever

We hit a few places more food places to pick up food for the plane ride and to take home. Our first stop, donuts from Modo Hawaii. Followed by poke from Ono Seafood. Then another stop at UBAE for cookies.

We picked up Uncle Tommy and family at Aulani and all of us headed over to the airport and parted ways. It was a fun vacation and we’re looking forward to our next!

David got up really early and took some time lapse videos and pictures from our balcony

Favorite part of the day

Me: eating poke from Ono Seafood. The best poke this trip by far.

Nat: getting mochi donuts at MoDo Hawaii

Ty: going in the plane

David: taking pictures and video from the balcony of our room

April 10

We started our morning with a visit to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. As described on their website:
Just 20 minutes away from Waikiki, discover unique treasures at Hawaii’s largest open air flea market where the locals shop for the best deals in town.Open three days a week, we offer endless rows of over 400 local merchants offering the best value on imported merchandise, hand made items, eclectic art pieces, popular local snacks, and other made in Hawaii products. This is sure to be your one stop destination to find that special gift or souvenir for everyone on your list.

Grandma bought some jewelry and became friends with the retailer (also from Vietnam). They exchanged info to keep in touch.

The kids and I hit the beach when we got back and Nat ordered us a pizza. All of us got sun burned.

In the afternoon, Nat and I walked over to downtown Waikiki to do some shopping. We stopped at Island Vintage Coffee for an afternoon snack. Acai bowl and frozen coconut coffee. We also stopped at Musubi Cafe Iyasume for some spam musubi.

Nat’s friend Kim happened to be in Oahu too. We met her and her mom for dinner at Hula Grill followed by dessert at Kokoro Cafe again. My dinner: poke tacos.

That’s Kim’s mom in the middle back 🙂

On our walk back to our hotel. It was a nice night. We walked a lot today. Over 25,000 steps for me! My legs were very tired.

Favorite part of the day

Me: hanging out with Nat at Island Vintage Coffee

Nat: hanging out with Kim

Ty: beach

David: swimming at the beach

April 9th

Today, we checked out of our Airbnb. Last night, we dropped off Uncle Tommy and family at Aulani where they will stay the rest of the time we are in Hawaii. The remainder of us will be staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we headed over to Diamond Head State Park and hiked to the top of Diamond Head. I think this was a tough hike for Grandma and Grandpa, but they powered through it and made it all the way. Great job!

At the bottom, Nat got a pineapple smoothie as a reward for finishing the hike

Lunch was at Duke’s

I ordered a cocktail called “The Tropical Itch.” It came with a souvenir back scratcher. LOL!

Pano view from our room

In the evening, we joined Uncle Tommy and family for a luau at Aulani

The food was really good. They had poke too!

Favorite part of the day

Me: hiking Diamond Head

Nat: Aulani luau

Ty: lunch at Duke’s (He ordered a cheeseburger and devoured it)

David: hiking Diamond Head

April 8

Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. – History.com

We got to meet an actual Pearl Harbor survivor. He was there for a book signing. Auntie Kari bought a book for her grandma who lived in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He’s 99 years old. This was a treat (at least for me).

For lunch, we stopped to get poke at Tamashiro market, some taro treats from UBAE (another from Nat’s list), and Hawaiian food from Rainbow Drive-In.

The cookies from UBAE were delicious.

After lunch, we hit the beach again. The weather was so nice! The kids had fun playing in the water.

For dinner, we had udon at Jimbo. The udon here is homemade. Yummy!

Favorite part of the day:

All of us – playing at the beach

April 7

Today’s itinerary: drive around the island (stop anywhere, anytime).

Here we are in our 15 passenger van.

First stop, Leonard’s Bakery. Popular for their malasadas, which are like thick, doughy, sugar covered donuts. They came out HOT from the oven.

Stopping at various vista points for photos

Macadamia nut farm. Tyler had fun cracking nuts and feeding them to the chickens

Grandma and Nat buying gifts at the nut farm

Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. This place was so good!

The best flavor was the garlic (scampi) shrimp

Onward around the island, the next stop was Matsumoto shave ice

Dole Plantation

Train ride tour around the plantation

We got back to our Airbnb in the late afternoon and everyone was beat. Tyler was eager to hit the beach again so the four of us went off to Waikiki

We caught the sunset and it was beautiful!

For dinner, we had poke at Shaka Poke

Favorite part of the day:

Me: lunch at Giovanni’s shrimp truck

Nat: shaved ice at Matsumoto

Tyler: feeding chickens at the macadamia nut farm

David: driving around the island

April 6

We’re kicking off Spring Break this year with a trip to Oahu. David’s parents haven’t been to Hawaii so we invited them and Uncle Tommy and family came too! It’s our first Kha family trip (outside of Vegas), though not complete with the entire family.

We arrived in Oahu at 10am local time and the LA Khas wouldn’t arrive til 1pm, so the four of us hung out at Ala Moana mall and did some shopping.

After picking the rest of the gang up from the airport, we headed straight Zippy’s for some Hawaiian style lunch.

I got a loco moco. The chili is good too!

After lunch, we stopped at Target and loaded up on food and supplies and headed to our Airbnb. It’s a five bedroom house close to Waikiki. It was perfect for all of us!

Tyler was dying to hit the beach so we headed out to Waikiki in the late afternoon. The views and weather were spectacular.

Melanie playing in the waves while Tyler swims in the background

Nat had a list of food joints she wanted to try. This ice cream shop, Kokoro Cafe, was her first stop.

Jet lag kicked in toward dinner time so we picked up some Thai take out and called it a night.

Favorite part of the day:

Me: walking around Waikiki

Nat: shopping at Ala Moana.

Tyler: walking around Waikiki and swimming

David: lunch at Zippy’s

Happy Birthday Wileen! We celebrated over the weekend with a family brunch and then Nat made Wileen this cake and delivered it to her on Sunday evening.

It amazes me the patience and detail she puts into decorating cakes. She definitely gets this trait from David.