Aloha! This past spring break, I got to spend a week with my family in Waikiki, one of the chillest places I've ever been. I had a fantastic time and enjoyed everything from the food to our daily Diamond Head hikes. 'Course, I took plenty of pictures. Here are just a few snapshots from the trip, plus a couple food recommendations if you happen to go to Oahu! _____ WAIKIKI & DIAMOND HEAD First, if you're ever in Waikiki, I implore you to go check out Marukame Udon. It's a cafeteria-style dining experience where you can customize your udon (I swear, cold bukkake udon is a miracle in a bowl on hot days) and grab different sides like shrimp and vegetable tempura, or salmon musubi (bro's favorite). Whoever had the idea of topping off the udon with crispy tempura crumbs is an absolute saint. We drove to Diamond Head every morning at 7 am and hiked up to the top. It's a brisk, short hike, great if you head up earlier in the morning, before it starts to get hot. The trail felt like it would never end the first time up, and the stairs at the end are an insane degree of vertical, but it's a fantastic view of Waikiki and the ocean, and there's always a nice (and much appreciated) breeze coming up from the crater walls. There's a neat uke shop in the Sheraton Waikiki, Ukulele Puapua. They're super friendly and introduced me to the superconcert ukulele--a concert uke with a tenor-length neck. _____ NORTH SHORE Having been to Waimea Falls a half-hour before park closing time before, we knew to go earlier in the afternoon. You can swim in the pool and go all the way up to the waterfall. Stepping into the water at first was a shock. Imagine jumping into a pool of just-melted snow--it was ice-cold--but you adjust, float around, admire the sky above, and all is right in the world. Continuing with our outings to North Shore, we ventured to Haleiwa, a quaint little town. There's a cool 'ukulele shop there called The 'Ukulele Site. Lots of beautiful instruments. To wrap up North Shore, we checked out a highly-recommended shrimp truck, Giovanni's. And yes, I now join the masses and hail Giovanni's Shrimp Truck as serving quite possibly the best shrimp scampi I have ever tasted. The garlic sauce was incredibly tasty and completely drenched the shrimp--served shell-on. On our last evening, we took a requisite stroll down Waikiki Beach and caught the sunset. Great way to end the trip. Oh, also, I finally got a new uke, a beautiful Kala Ebony model in concert size, after going to three or four 'ukulele shops over the course of the whole trip. Absolutely love the deep color and sound. :D That about wraps it up for this trip. Thanks for reading!
Aloha, and cheers! Clem
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