Hawaiian Holiday-Oahu Day 1

“HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!”
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This is actually non-cycling related. I hope you enjoy the posts just the same!
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Aloha! My family and I spent the recent holiday in Oahu, Hawaii; enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of the local area. I’d like to share with you all the food joints and some places that we’ve been to during our stay. Some days we went out and did some activities, others days we did much of nothing except sleep in, eat and lay out on the beach.

Diamond Head

Accomodations: Ohana Waikiki East Hotel

150 Kaiulani Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815-3292

The central location of the hotel provides easy access to the beaches, restaurants, shopping malls, and other attractions.

Many food establishments are “CASH ONLY”. The best way to get cash is by purchasing something at one of the many ABC stores, 7-11’s or at the Food Pantry and get cash back. It’s better than paying a fee for using the generic ATM’s located around the area. But when in need, they are convenient.

I love food; it’s too easy for me to just eat and get fat. To balance it all out, my daily routine included exercising at the hotel’s gym-cross training on the treadmill and elliptical machine. One of the easiest workouts I can recommend is doing three basic moves-it doesn’t even require a gym; you can do this anywhere! It’s doing crunches for the abs, push-ups for the upper body and squats for the lower body. It’s a total body workout using your own body weight. I like to do 10-10’s (10 reps-10 times) with minimal rest in between sets. Sometimes I like to add a set of 10 jumping jacks here and there to keep my heart rate up. It’s a quick way to burn a load of calories!

Another way to battle the bulge was to make sure I had enough fruits and vegetables in my vacation diet. I ate a papaya, an apple and several tangerines to supplement eating out every day. There was a Friday Farmer’s Market located across from the hotel, so I bought enough fruit to last me during my stay. The papayas were only 89 cents a pound; what a deal! Another thought was to at least order a serving of vegetables with every meal; it wasn’t easy, most of the “local establishments” offered cabbage in the form of slaw and or iceberg lettuce. Oh yeah, you have to remember to drink lots of water too; the sun is very draining!

Here’s a great money saving tip: if your hotel gym provides bottled spring or filtered water from a dispenser, use that to refill your water bottles!

My everyday attire consisted of shorts, sleeveless, tank and bikini tops along with a pair of flip flops. I love the warm weather-what a life!

The daily weather consisted of cloudy to sunny blue skies, breezy with scattered showers and beautiful rainbows. The temps ranged from the mid 70’s to low 80’s.

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Friday, December 16, 2011

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After checking into the hotel, we went out for our first meal at:

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815-4214

There’s a little bit of everything on the menu; from plate lunches to daily specials, breakfast items and sandwiches. Many of the plates are served with rice or fries and macaroni salad or slaw. I ordered the BBQ Steak plate with slaw but they gave me mac salad by mistake. If you like mayo, it’s probably fabulous; I don’t eat mayo but tried it and it’s just too heavy for me.

BBQ Steak Plate

Our boys, Arick & Bryan had the Loco Moco and Boneless Chicken plates. Michael had the Mix plate with BBQ, Ahi Katsu and Boneless Chicken. It’s a lot of food! I’m one of those people that like to look at what others order and the Chili Plate with rice looked really appetizing. Everything is served on paper plates with plastic utensils. They also use a pie box for to-go plates. This is “stick to your stomach” kind of food. After eating, I was full for the rest of the day and even skipped dinner!