City
Created by Philip
7 days in Hawaii. An adventure, drama, and much more...
It was a celebration for my parents' 40 anniversary … More
It was a celebration for my parents' 40 anniversary. Hawaii was the perfect place to visit. This 7 days adventure is filled with happiness, excitement, confusion, frustration... OK, I will stop here. It's up to you to explore it.
Tue 03/10/09 (day 1)
Preparation
This year is my parents' 40th anniversary. I really want to contribute my bit to their happy marriage. As a traveler and adventurer in heart (but not much in act), I can not find any better gift than going to Hawaii with them. Deep down I am very eager to be there myself, just like everyone.
My parents and I love to travel together. As Chinese immigrants, They cannot speak much English. The language barrier limits my mother's passion for traveling. In the pass we always join the guided tour offer by companies in China Town. Their tours are always rush, not going where I really want, expensive, and most importantly, do not offer the feeling of adventure. During their trip, there are always someone getting lost, and we all have to wait. If the tour guide is greedy or nasty, the whole trip would be very unpleasant.
I still remember vividly we had a great 7-day self-guided trip in 1998 to visit Pennsylvania. We saw the battle ground of Gettysburg, the dutch counties, a wax museum full of moving and talking statues, and many many more.
A lot had happened since then. In 2005, I told myself that I would never join tour groups again. I planned trips to Canada, to Boston, to Miami and many other places. I enjoy going with my friends, but I love to go with my parents more. It makes me feel important and happy.
Being a good trip planner, I reserved all the air-line tickets, including the inter-island flights. Booked the hotel rooms. Got all the car rental deals. Also I borrowed a book about Hawaii in a library. Learned a lot from it. The luggage will be packed soon. The preparation is almost done. Creating this journal is also an important thing to get ready. I will keep updating it during the trip.
To see all the photos in good size, click here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77788615@N00/
![Image]()
Bigger picture for the image on the right. Right click here then chose "open in new tab".
By the way, you can get the car rental deal here,
http://www.carrentalinhawaii.com/
This is also a good place to learn about Hawaii,
http://www.andhawaii.com/
My parents and I love to travel together. As Chinese immigrants, They cannot speak much English. The language barrier limits my mother's passion for traveling. In the pass we always join the guided tour offer by companies in China Town. Their tours are always rush, not going where I really want, expensive, and most importantly, do not offer the feeling of adventure. During their trip, there are always someone getting lost, and we all have to wait. If the tour guide is greedy or nasty, the whole trip would be very unpleasant.
I still remember vividly we had a great 7-day self-guided trip in 1998 to visit Pennsylvania. We saw the battle ground of Gettysburg, the dutch counties, a wax museum full of moving and talking statues, and many many more.
A lot had happened since then. In 2005, I told myself that I would never join tour groups again. I planned trips to Canada, to Boston, to Miami and many other places. I enjoy going with my friends, but I love to go with my parents more. It makes me feel important and happy.
Being a good trip planner, I reserved all the air-line tickets, including the inter-island flights. Booked the hotel rooms. Got all the car rental deals. Also I borrowed a book about Hawaii in a library. Learned a lot from it. The luggage will be packed soon. The preparation is almost done. Creating this journal is also an important thing to get ready. I will keep updating it during the trip.
To see all the photos in good size, click here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77788615@N00/
Bigger picture for the image on the right. Right click here then chose "open in new tab".
By the way, you can get the car rental deal here,
http://www.carrentalinhawaii.com/
This is also a good place to learn about Hawaii,
http://www.andhawaii.com/
Planned Activities
Tue 03/10/09 (day 1) - Honolulu
Thu 03/12/09 (day 3) - Maui
Island
Fri 03/13/09 (day 4) - Island Of Hawaii
Island
3 day in honolulu $236.97
Lu'Au in Paradise Cove $51x3 with coupon
03/12 honolulu to Kahului round trip $270.60
03/13-03/15 big island flight $288.90
2 day car rental $68.03
2 day in Hilo $153.76
1 day in honolulu $90.44
1 day + 1 hour car rental in honolulu $55
total $2673 plus misc expenses for 3 people, so each of us spend about $1100. It was more expensive than some traveling groups, but the experience was priceless.
Been there 3 times. Highly recommend Nashville Waikiki for cold drinks and pool. The best LuAu is Paradise Cove but the one's in the strip hotels are also recommended. Go to HILO HATTIE's on day one and get the coupons for buy one get one free meals. You can eat at some of the best restaurants in town that way at a reasonable rate.
2 blocks from the beach, best rates. All you do is sleep and have sex there. Do not rent a car get the shuttle to your room and stay on the strip while you are there. Get a taxi if you need to go somewhere quick. Otherwise use the city buses.
I rented a car because I had to go around the island quickly. If you stay in Waikiki for the beach, then use the bus. The taxi in Honolulu was a little expensive. The fare from my hotel to the airport was $35-$40. Meanwhile the car rental for a whole day was only $39(include all). The problem was the parking and the occasionally heavy traffic. So it was really a difficult choice for you. I originally chose to depend on the buses but it turned out to be not working.
and thank you for the discount car rental link, it saved a lot of money.
*we are leaving on the 15th for honolulu
If you love her, let her go to Lijiang, let her grow with the warm sunshine of Lijiang.
If you hate her, let her go to Lijiang, let her disappear at the horizon.
If you want to feel the natural world, let me take you to worship the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
If you want to get renascence, let me take you to the mystical Women's Country.
http://www.sakura.yn.cn/english