Category Archives: Island_Life

Shorebird Restaurant Outrigger Reef Waikiki

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On our last morning of our Waikiki stay we kept the kids home from school and had a beautiful breakfast at the Shorebird restaurant in our hotel.  I’ve gone to this restaurant a few times for dinner but never for breakfast.  OMG it is so pretty in the morning.  We had the best table with a gorgeous view of the beach and diamond head.  It was also overcast so the air was nice and cool.

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I woke up to this!  I sat on our balcony for 15 minutes with the sky looking like this before the sun was fully up.  If it lasted longer I would’ve stayed out there all day.  So pretty.

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We looked up and there was no camera there! LOL so my daughter and I just stood there like idiots waving at nothing.  She loved it!

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I truly give this hotel and this restaurant two thumbs up. Its just a great family hotel and not too fancy but really beautiful!

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Hard Rock Cafe Waikiki

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During our stay in Waikiki we treated ourselves to Hard Rock Cafe on Lewers.  I’ve eaten at the old Hard Rock Cafe years ago but never at this new location.  For some reason I thought there was so much more memorabilia than we saw.  The food was great!  We ate so much that we were too stuffed for dessert.

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Of course I started off with a Pina Colada.  I haven’t had one in forever so this was a real treat.  I also ordered their house salad with my meal and I was surprised at what they brought me.  It was one of the best house salads I had with cranberries, walnuts, mandarin oranges and feta cheese.

 

 

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Our Weekend Staycation

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outrigger-reef-waikiki

What a great weekend I had!  My daughter’s birthday was earlier in the month and she asked that we stay in a hotel for the weekend where we could go swimming all day and night and eat some good food.  Of course I wanted to give this to her but we were so busy on the weekends with sports and other commitments that the only weekend we had open was this past weekend.  We decided not to tell the kids and make it a nice surprise for the all of them.  So last week Monday I made the reservations at the Outrigger Reef on the beach.  I reserved a 1 bedroom suite so that we’d all be comfortable.  On Thursday night after the kids went to sleep I packed up everything we’d need for the weekend.  On Friday after work I picked up the kids from school and told them that I’d forgotten something at work and needed to go back and get it.  As I pulled into the hotel they were confused saying “this isn’t where you work”.  The valet attendant opened up and asked “checking in?”  and I said “yup” and the kids freaked out.  When he asked when I’d be checking out I replied “Monday” and they were so excited!

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The first thing the kids wanted to do was go swimming in the pool.  They didn’t even wanna wait for their dad to get there, so that was the first “fun” of the weekend.  When Kahele finally got there the kids wanted to relax for a couple of hours before we headed down to the beach to watch the fireworks.

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On Saturday we headed over to the Honolulu Zoo (which I’ll share pics in a later post).  We actually went to take Aria for the first time, but she ended up falling asleep before we could reach the Keiki Petting Zoo.  We were all tired and worn out that once again the pool sounded like a great idea.  We picked up Zippy’s plate lunches and headed back to the hotel for more fun in the sun.

I’ll share more about some other things we did during our weekend but another great surprise was that they expected to go to school yesterday and got up early, got dressed and had sad faces on.  Then Kahele was like… “Hey how about we go downstairs and have breakfast and swim today instead of going to school?”  OMG the excitement erupted again!

It was such a much needed, relaxing weekend that we all needed.  I hope that we can get around to doing something like this more often.

Wednesday Wows- A $12 course lunch in Waikiki!

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Gyu-Kaku is the restaurant I go to if I want to get more for my $.  It’s one of my kids favorite places to eat and their happy hour allows us to fill up for a great price.  In Waikiki I spend close to $15 even at fast food restaurants.  But here they actually give a 15% Kama’aina discount, so I spend $10!  What a steal! They have so many specials on the menu but I always get the non-grill lunch set.  My favorite is the Garlic Shrimp Bibimbap and 2 sides of cheese won tons and 1 side of cold tofu. But there are other options (shown below).  Definitely check out this place if you’re staying in Waikiki.

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I don’t know what kind of sauce they use on their tofu but it is so good that I have them add it on my cheese won tons as well.  Soooo yummy!

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307 Lewers St.
Honolulu, HI 96815

Thursday Throwback

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cousins

This was such a fun night! This was about 4 years ago at my cousin Pili’s (red shirt back row) bridal shower.  At this point we had all had a lot to drink and were all pretty buzzed.  I remember getting to the point where I was was so emotional and filled with love for all of my cousins lol.  Kahele picked me up and I remember sticking my body out of the car and yelling “I love all of you!!!”  It was pretty epic.  Really fun group right here, and that’s not even the half of my girl cousins.

 

Thursday Throwback

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Tea, Kyla & Malika

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Here’s a picture of my daughter and her 2 closest cousins from a few years ago.  To see how little they looked gets me choked up because it just shows how fast time flies by.  So many things have changed since… some good and some bad.  Just looking at these photos from the past makes you realize how important it is to cherish every moment of life because before you know it your children are grown and you’ll wish for those moments back.

 

Bills Sydney- Waikiki

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A couple of co-worker and I tried this place out for the first time.  Apparently this place has been here for a couple of years now and none of us knew about it.  This place is amazing , I can’t believe it took me so long to hear about this place.  I guess it’s expected that a lot of places in Waikiki aren’t frequently visited by locals which is probably the reason why I haven’t heard of it until recently.  However, after my experience I’ll definitely be spreading the word.

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They have a little waiting area as soon as you check in.  I love the decor of this restaurant.  It has a sort of mid century modern feel which is my favorite!

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And don’t even get me started on the food!  Huge portions and you can just tell that everything is made with fresh ingredients.  So yummy!

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If ever you’re in Waikiki, this is a must try.

280 Beachwalk Ave

Honolulu, HI 96815

Waikiki

Life Lately

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Life has been pretty busy.  I wish I had more time to sit at my computer and blog- it’s the one thing that really helps me escape, this and reading a book or watching a good movie.  Honestly it’s so hard to get a good amount of downtime to do either.

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I love this picture of Aria!  She started a little cold last week so obviously she was very grumpy so I’m glad I caught one of the rare moments when she was happy.  She’s constantly wanting to be carried, she’s had a runny nose that had her throwing tantrums because she was so irritated and there have been a few sleepless nights. It’s so sad and at times frustrating.  Of course I can’t blame baby but when I have to get things done sometimes I just have to put her in her crib and let her cry while I try to do as much as I can.  I’ve been feeling like a zombie for almost a week now.

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Last week Friday was my son Maui’s homecoming football game and senior night.  They won!!! He played so well and it was nice that so many of my family members were able to show up and support him.  This Saturday is their last season game before heading off to the playoffs.  Hopefully they can make it pretty far (fingers crossed).

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We very rarely take pictures with all 6 of us in it.  Even in this picture my mom is included lol.  Maybe for Christmas this year we’ll get some professional ones done with all of us.

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On Saturday Tea went to my niece’s birthday party.  My cousin let my niece invite a few of her closest friends and had someone come over and give an art lesson. They were all taught to draw the same thing- a picture of a mermaid.  Tea sent me this photo of her painting.  Kahele and I were so confused on what we were looking at lol.  Kahele saw a blue volcano with orange lava flowing into the sea and I…. sort of agreed with him hahaa!  But when Tea came home she explained that the blue volcano is actually the mermaid’s hair and the orange is her tail!  Do you see it now?!  She loved it so much that she wants to paint all the damn time now.  Maybe she has a future, she’s way better than her father and I am for sure.

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Sunday BBQ was so relaxing!  The weather was so pretty and the sunset and rainbows were gorgeous.

Well, that’s pretty much been whats been going on in my life as of late.  Hopefully I’ll have a new post soon!