Plumeria Hill B&B

We are staying at Plumeria Hill Bead & Breakfast. It's located in the middle of nowhere, but is really charming. They only have 3 rooms, and they are decorated in a way that you never see in Sweden. Just take a look at the images.

We haven't planned what to do here except for visiting the volcano park that is located about 1h drive from here. There is one really small town close by named Pahoa. I would estimate the population to about 50-100. Had a Hawaiian dinner there, pulled pork and cabbage. Followed that up with an unhealthy but really tasty dessert.

Arriving at Big Island

Flew to Big Island today. The flight was quite short, only 50 minutes.

I had pre booked a rental car on Big Island since we are staying at a bead and breakfast in the middle of nowhere. I had booked a car and GPS, and everything should have been included, but it turned out to be wrong. I had to pay for a full tank of gas, or so they said. They didn't have a GPS available. They said that I could fetch one the next day, but I wasn't going to do a 90 minutes drive to get a GPS that I needed right away.

Thank god for Google maps on Android I had downloaded the whole island map so that it was available offline. I argued with the company and left with a free tank of gas, and a free upgrade to a larger car.

Pearl Harbor

We decided to go to Pearl Harbor straight after breakfast. Took the local bus without knowing too much about the route, turned out to be a rather lengthy trip. Took about an hour.

Arrived at Pearl Harbor around 10 am, but all tickets for visiting USS Arizona memorial site were already gone. Bought tickets for visiting the Bowfin submarine and USS Missouri battleship.

Both were interesting to walk around on. A guided trip on Missouri was included in the admission, and Bowfin had an audio guide.

The peace agreement between the allies and Japan was signed on USS Missouri, so 2nd World War ended there.

Eggs 'n things

The breakfast at the hotel was so so, so we decided to try a breakfast in a cafe. A bit of googling suggested that Eggs 'n things would offer great breakfasts. We arrived at the cafe around 8 am. We thought that we were early, but there was already a long queue.

We decided to wait, and it was well worth it. I had an omelette and some pancakes. Ida had a waffle with blueberries. The best thing was the pineapple syrup.

National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific

Took a long walk from Waikiki beach to the National Memorial Cemetery of the pacific. We walked rather fast, and started a couple of hours before sunset. Don't know how long time it took to walk there,  but it was probably close to 90 minutes. We arrived only 40 minutes before they closed the gates, so we had to hurry to get out in time. The gates closed at 5:30 pm, and sunset was around 6 pm.

The cemetery was similar to Arlington in Washington, only smaller, and the graves doesn't have white crosses.  About 50.000 soldiers are buried in the cemetery. Some have been identified, but far from all. The cemetery was created in an old volcano crater a couple of years after 2nd world war ended.  Not all deceased are from pearl harbor, many came from other battles.

Japanese BBQ in Honolulu

Had Japanese BBQ for lunch. It was awesome, and so cheap! Got salad, soup, dumplings, rice, beef, a beer and edamame beans for only $16 including tax and tip.

Visit Gyu-kaku if you are in Honolulu.

Walking around in Tokyo, eh, Honolulu

Spent the morning walking along Waikiki beach and parts of the shopping street.

I had heard that many Asian tourists visit Hawaii, but this is almost ridiculous. 70% of all people that I've seen today were Japanese. I don't have anything against it, I love Japanese food and loved traveling in Japan. It's just that it is so odd. Why do they all go here?  Is it because it's closest?

Thinking about when and where to try surfing on Hawaii. My girlfriend will need a surf lesson,  and it would be nice to rent boards for a full day. Looks like a 90 min surf lesson is about $60. Renting a board after that is $25 per 90 min. Found another place that offered a full day rental for $50 but they didn't offer surf lessons.

Honolulu, Oahu

We have now arrived at Hawaii, well we arrived about 12h ago, but I was too tired and too hungry to blog then.

The flight from New York,  with a short stop in Chicago took about 13h. One odd thing is that American Airlines don't serve any food. We knew about this so we bought some sallad and snacks before we boarded.

It's currently cloudy and will be so for a couple of days, it's still a very nice place to visit.

The bad luck that we had previously seems to have disappeared. Our luggage arrived amongst the first on the belt,  and we got a free upgrade to a suite when we came to the hotel. :-)

Sunday, last day in New York

Today is the last day in New York. Started off the day by walking to B&H photo to buy a camera bag that also fits some packing. Had gotten tired of the crumpler shoulder bag that I had, so the Lowepro Rover Pro 45L will be my new camera bag.

Went to an Amc theater after B&H, watched the new Hobbit movie. It's almost 3h long but felt shorter. The only bad part is that we now have to wait for the next two movies :-(

Random thoughts

One thing that I often notice when I'm in US,  and that I probably never will be used to, is that all stores and restaurants seem to have too many employees.

Wouldn't they make better profit if they let some people go?

Regarding New York. You can find some nice street art if you walk around for a while, but often the atmosphere and city pulse is enough to make you happy, so don't be sad if you don't see any.

Finding free Wi-Fi on Manhattan is very easy. Just visit McDonalds, Cosi, Starbucks or about any other food chain / cafe.

Hm, another thought.  Why do most people in US wear jeans on wrong size? They usually have jeans that are at least one size too large, and I'm not talking about baggy models.

Rockettes Christmas spectacular

Went to see Rockettes Christmas spectacular. It was a great show, and I think that people from all ages likes it.

It's quite amazing that a show on Manhattan includes 3 live camels, a bunch of sheeps and a donkey just for a scene where the wise men are visiting the new born baby.
Where do they keep the camels after the show?  What will they do with them after Christmas?

Had a quick dinner after the show, and then tried an ale in the hotel bar. Speakeasy prohibition ale was really tasty.

Ground Zero and Chinese district

Went to ground Zero to look at the new buildings, and did some shopping in stores in that area. Levi's is really cheap here.

Had lunch in the Chinese district. Those in the restaurant weren't that service minded, but the food was good.

Don't know what spectacle we then happened to pass by on our way to the Italian district.

Christmas in New York

I had always thought that Christmas in New York would mean lots and lots of Christmas decorations, crowded stores and hysterical people.

I was wrong. There's a lot more of Christmas decorations in Sweden, and trying to buy something in a store in Sweden just before Christmas is a nightmare.

The biggest drawback of Christmas in New York is that it's to warm, and I miss the snow that we have in Sweden.

Walking around on Manhattan

The morning started with rain and wind,  but it turned into great weather around noon.

Did some shopping since my luggage still hasn't arrived.  I love this city. It has so many things to offer.

Quiksilver and Levi's is still cheap. Super dry, a Japanese brand that used to be cheap here has gotten a bit expensive compared to prices in UK.

Delayed luggage

It's bound to happen one day. The luggage gets delayed. It's always a bummer when it happens, especially if it's late so all stores are closed.  My credit card pays about 300 usd if the luggage is delayed for more than 6h.

Had to buy some basic stuff at Duane Reade. Will buy some t-shirts and jeans tomorrow. Got to sleep now.

Trip to US

About to start a new trip.  This time to New York, Hawaii, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The weather in Sweden is currently rather cold. Could unfortunately not get a good shot of the terminal.