Trina and I planned out our trip for the day the night before. We looked at the public bus schedule to figure out how to get there. We went to the wrong bus stop at first but luckily the right one was pretty close. The bus ride is over an hour long so it gets boring really fast. Once we got to our final stop we first stopped and watched some performances.
We decide that we should get lunch so I decided to get an ANDADOG-“The Okinawan version of the corndog. The andadog is a whole hot dog on a stick that is dipped into andagi batter and deep fried.” It didn’t taste much different than a regular corndog to me. Trina and I sat under the shade of a tree and ate our lunches. It was a very warm and sunny day. We rehydrated and cooled down before we went exploring again. We checked out a tent that sold different plants, a tent that sold snack foods, and a market place tent. I bought some “Hawaiian pretzels” which are like French waffles you buy at the concession stands at the festivals and fairs. They have a different taste which is lighter then the ones back at home. We also walked around and took pictures of the park.
Red-creasted Cardinal
Queen Kapi'olani statue
Before we left I wanted to try the ANDAGI-“The andagi, or Okinawan doughnut, is an all-around Festival favorite. Basic doughnut ingredients, such as sugar, flour, milk and eggs are mixed into a batter and deep-fried in hot oil. The hand "dropping" of evenly rounded scoops of batter into the hot oil is a show in itself.” They were pretty good. They reminded me of a fritter in taste and a funnel cake.
Trina's picture on the Andagi
After the fest we walked across the street to Waikiki beach and changed to go swimming. I learned fast that having swim shoes is a must at the beaches. The rocks/coral are everywhere which makes it really rough to try and enjoy the waters. We stayed for about an hour and then changed to explore Waikiki. We stopped at an ABC store and got post cards and other things. I was glad to pick up a couple of bird guide to help me identify the birds I have been seeing. We then explored the street on our way to find The Cheesecake Factory to have dinner. We had to wait in a long line to get in to make reservations. We had an hour and ½ to kill before dinner so we decided to check out International Marketplace. We stopped at an area that had live steel drummers playing on a stage and rehydrated while listening to them. We then decided to check out the other side of the street. There was this cool park lit up with tiki torches so we decided to check it out. We found a statue in the park and took some pictures and noticed a bridge walkway so we went up to the bridge to get a different view.
The revolving restraunt in the background
We then decided to check a Forever 21 store which was massive before we got paged to eat. I went down to claim out seats while Trina purchased some items. We then got to sit down to out late dinner at the Cheesecake factory. This was my first time there and it was ok. The best part was the cheesecake which I took home and ate later. I got the Chocolate raspberry truffle one.
Me and Trina at The Cheesecake Factory
We ended up getting back really late. We missed the early bus when we got there because we didn’t realized it was right in front of us. We had to wait an hour to get on it. Then it took forever to get back to base. We found out that the Makalapa gate was closed and we had to walk all around the base to the Nimitz gate in order to get in. We didn’t get to be until after 12am. Very long an exhausting night.
