Thursday, June 24, 2010

Carla's Hawai'i Vacation



Last week was a busy travel week for me (Carla). After finding some unbelievably cheap tickets from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, my Mom and I decided to take a girls trip to Hawai'i! When I was growing up, my family vacationed in Hawai'i at least 2 times a year. My parents always liked to say that I'd been to Waikiki beach more times than I'd been to Santa Monica beach. I went to Hawai'i three times during my undergraduate: one time with Bobby and our good friends Wes and Andrea (the island of Oahu), once with my Dad (the island of Hawai'i, aka the Big Island), and once with my Mom and Bobby (Oahu again). My recent girls trip took us to Oahu, where my Mom and I lounged on the beach, took walks, and ate great food.



One of my favorite things to do as a child was to watch these candles being made at the International Marketplace. I'd drag my parents and stand there watching. Even as an adult, I still love watching this.









This is my Mom and me. We'd sit on this pier watching kids jump off and catch waves on boogie boards. I wish I had brought my fins with me. It would have been great getting a little surfing in to prepare me for Bobby's and my trip to Portugal next week.


There are so many pretty scenes in Hawai'i. There is a ton of natural vegetation and many beautiful flowers. I'm pretty sure the little waterfall behind us isn't natural, though.


My Mom and I had a great meal at the Moana Surfrider Hotel. This hotel is the oldest hotel on the Waikiki beach. There is a huge, beautiful banyan tree in the middle of the courtyard, under which my Mom and I drank many Mai Tais.


This was my delicious meal. The barely-seared Ahi was perfect and filling. I couldn't finish the plate!







My Mom ordered this appetizer for her lunch one day. I couldn't believe how huge it was!





I got to eat some yummy Korean food for breakfast one morning. This bowl of Bibimbap was delicious. I wish we could find this kind of food at a reasonable price in Copenhagen!









I was also lucky enough to eat some Vietnamese food in Hawai'i. This bowl of pho made me so happy. I think my four favorite meals in the world are (in no particular order): pho, sushi, soon dooboo (a Korean soup), and Ethiopian food. I got to eat two out of four in Hawai'i... not bad!



These beautiful flowers can be found all over Hawai'i. The first photo is of a hibiscus, the state flower of Hawai'i. We saw many of these beautiful flowers, in colors ranging from bright red to pale pink. I thought this purple flower was especially beautiful. The second flower, plumeria, is one of my favorites in terms of scent. This huge tree had hundreds of plumerias and it smelled so delicious! My Mom even bought me some plumeria perfume to take home so that I could always be reminded of our wonderful trip.

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