oahu, hawaii

stickonatree · Nov 3, 2009

i'll be going to honolulu soon for a few days. i like really nature-y stuff, not so much of the malls and touristy things within the city. this will be my first time.

i'll be visiting a few places, including diamondhead, hanauma bay, lanikai (eastside), PCC, pearl harbor, marketplace, KCC farmer's market, and some other smaller sights/sounds. my hawaiian food visits include rainbow's drive-in, alan wong's, helena's, and some smaller local places recommended by friends.

what are some other things i need to see/do, in your opinion? i would also love it if someone would point out some great picture taking spots, since i'm a photographer by trade

thanks for any and all suggestions!

iampeter · Nov 3, 2009

if you come on a good weather day, just drive up from kaneohe towards north shore, stop at all the beaches(turtle beach for turtle sightings, read the signs/warnings and do not touch them though) and finish the trip driving haleiwa shopping mall to watch some live glass figurine making/check out surf shop museum(the guy that runs it got tons of stories/super talkative. when driving back from haleiwa, dont drive back the way you came, try driving towards the freeway passing all the plantations that show up along the way, tons of open/flat space. i enjoyed that trip and i dislike the outdoors

oh..north shore shrimp shops are standard tourist places, i loved the spicy/garlic/shoyu prawns with rice i had..mmm i miss that

lee_44106 · Nov 3, 2009

Remember that Leathersoul is in Hawaii, gotta check that out.

When I was in HI, the best time I had was, interestingly, horse-back riding.

Skip the whale watch, it's a waste of time. Half of time you are sea-sick, and you can't see **** anyway.

ChicagoRon · Nov 3, 2009

Eat lunch at ONO's!!!!!!!!!!! It's a few miles off Waikiki and it is the best plate lunch you will ever have. The salt-meat watercress is the "******* winner" (I was told that by one of the beach boys that teaches surfing on Waikiki and he was sooo right)

Also, Ninikuya garlic restaurant is off the beaten path and pretty good, as are some of the little road-side sushi places (cheap and awesome).

stickonatree · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by lee_44106

Remember that Leathersoul is in Hawaii, gotta check that out.

When I was in HI, the best time I had was, interestingly, horse-back riding.

Skip the whale watch, it's a waste of time. Half of time you are sea-sick, and you can't see **** anyway.

i will look into horseback riding! definitely something i haven't done before either since i was 6 years old.

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

Eat lunch at ONO's!!!!!!!!!!! It's a few miles off Waikiki and it is the best plate lunch you will ever have. The salt-meat watercress is the "******* winner" (I was told that by one of the beach boys that teaches surfing on Waikiki and he was sooo right)

Also, Ninikuya garlic restaurant is off the beaten path and pretty good, as are some of the little road-side sushi places (cheap and awesome).

Oh yea, Ono's was also on my list. will definitely try the "******* winner" salt-meat watercress!!!

Xericx · Nov 3, 2009

I didn't dig Ono's for some reason, seemed expensive and the food wasn't that great.

Loved the Rainbow Drive in....get the slushie with ice cream on the bottom. Side Street Inn is AWESOME. Their fried pork chops and also their poke and different fish dishes are excellent. Not so much for the food but Duke's in Waikiki is my favorite place to hang on a sunny afternoon when they have the guitarist out there playing cover songs.

Kailua was great. Kayaking there was really fun and the beach is absolutely beautiful. Saw some big turtles in the water, which was cool.

I hated the Polynesian Cultural Center, I'd rather just spend the time exploring the North Shore more. Maybe hit up a Luau (I did Paradise Cove which was good).

Piobaire · Nov 3, 2009

Whatever you do, try a spam musabi and a lao-lao. I probably did not spell those correctly, but phonetically correct.

ChicagoRon · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by Xericx

I didn't dig Ono's for some reason, seemed expensive and the food wasn't that great.
Unless things have changed a lot in the last 5 years, your idea of "expensive" is pretty harsh. I think four of us got 6 entrees and a bunch of seconds (the seconds were on the house) for about $60 including tips. Maybe if you're not from a big city, $15 for a sit-down lunch sounds like a lot ? Tip for the OP... Poi is not meant to be eaten alone... you should put it on top of a piece of kalua pork or something else, it will feel awful in your mouth alone and not taste particularly good.

a-rock · Nov 3, 2009

Go to Helena's for some real Hawaiian soul food. Pipikau short ribs!

ChicagoRon · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Whatever you do, try a spam musabi and a lao-lao. I probably did not spell those correctly, but phonetically correct.
There are many Asians on this forum, perhaps one of them can explain to me the Asian obsession with

(or maybe that one is just hawaii?) But I am also bewildered by the love of Krab (artificial crab) across Asia

Xericx · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

Unless things have changed a lot in the last 5 years, your idea of "expensive" is pretty harsh. I think four of us got 6 entrees and a bunch of seconds (the seconds were on the house) for about $60 including tips. Maybe if you're not from a big city, $15 for a sit-down lunch sounds like a lot ? Tip for the OP... Poi is not meant to be eaten alone... you should put it on top of a piece of kalua pork or something else, it will feel awful in your mouth alone and not taste particularly good.
It was expensive for what I got. We got little side dishes of items....I'm just more used to hawaiian food being really cheap and especially since this was "homestyle" food in a divey spot in a somewhat sketchy party of town, I thought it was overpriced and the quality was not really that good for what we got. I've heard a lot of hype about Ono, it did not live up to it. found an old post of mine from another board:

$13.45 for a kalua pig meal. only included these small plates....one order of kalua pig, some rice, some lomi lomi salmon, some kind of dried-type of beef (pipikalua), and some haupia (coconut gelatin dessert). honestly the only thing that stood out was the haupia. The Kalua pig was not very good, the dried rubbery beef didn't knock me off my seats either...so what was good here? Not sure. I thought it would be more comfort food....but it was very underwhelming.

lee_44106 · Nov 3, 2009

+ soyu + two fried eggs (sunny-side up) + big heaping pile of rice = YUM

a-rock · Nov 3, 2009

Spam was introduced to Hawaii when it was shipped there in large quantities to support US servicemen, and it eventually made its way into the local culture and cuisine.

Artificial crab is actually not that popular in Asia. Sometimes used in stews and soups. It's very popular however in bastardized versions of sushi, i.e. California Rolls.

a-rock · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by lee_44106

+ soyu + two fried eggs (sunny-side up) + big heaping pile of rice = YUM

Spam LOCO MOCO... this is eaten for BREAKFAST on the islands. Also traditionally done with hamburger instead of spam. And people wonder why so many great sumos and pro wrestlers have been Polynesian.

Piobaire · Nov 3, 2009

Originally Posted by lee_44106

+ soyu + two fried eggs (sunny-side up) + big heaping pile of rice = YUM

My wife just loves sunny side up eggs, soyu, and rice. I'm just can't do it. Not that it tastes overly bad, it's just I grew up eating toast or English muffins with eggs.

Originally Posted by a-rock

Spam was introduced to Hawaii when it was shipped there in large quantities to support US servicemen, and it eventually made its way into the local culture and cuisine.

Artificial crab is actually not that popular in Asia. Sometimes used in stews and soups. It's very popular however in bastardized versions of sushi, i.e. California Rolls.

What I've seen quite a bit of used though is that fish cake. I think it's called "komoboku" in Japan?

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