Dole Whip from the Dole Plantation
In front of the Royal Prince Hotel
Water Jet Pack
Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay
Top of Hanauma Bay
Vincent Ang
HMGT 1101
36 Hours
I have traveled to so many places, but the one place that have stuck with me is Hawaii. I have been to Japan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan. All these places and Hawaii has been with me. The first time I went to Hawaii was in 2005, it was the most beautiful place I ever been. Recently I went back to Hawaii during the summer of 2016 and stay in the Royal Prince Hotel this past August. The States has changed so much.
My family and I started leaving for the airport at 5am. After a 11 hour flight we arrived to Hawaii and arrived around 11 am in Hawaii time. Everything we remember from the last time we were here was completely different. On our way to the hotel, we could see homeless people walking around with multiple dogs with them. More hotels were built and you couldn’t see the mountains as clear as you could before. My aunt and uncle that lives there was saying tourism is the only industry that is bring most of the revenue into Hawaii.
We finally settled in the hotel with my family. My sister and I decided to walk around. As we were walking around we spotted a surf board crew that were offering surfing lessons. So my sister and I decided to take the lesson with our instructor name Kent a native born Hawaiian. The lesson went on for 2 hours and the farther we went out the ocean, the smaller our mother on shore became. As we were surfing, I admired how clear the water was. Many years ago I fell in love with the water and how clean and clear it was. Last month when I revisited the was just as clear as I remembered.
The hardest part about surfing for me and balancing on the board when riding the waves. The instructor told us to start by laying down flat on the board a little bit close to the end of the board and centered. Once we caught a wave, we put one foot up and one knee on the board like a marriage proposal position. After we feel centered with the board we pivot into our dominate side and let the wave carry us towards the shore and repeat it.
After the lesson was over, we stopped by an ABC store they have in Hawaii which is a convenient store that sell souvenir as well. We bought some key chains to bring back home and we ate lunch after. After lunch, my little brother 9 years of age wanted to try a water activity after watching my sister and I surfing. So went to Hanauma Bay to go Snorkeling until 4pm. We were unfortunate that we didn’t see any sea turtles but it was fun to see the different kinds of sea life. My brother (age 7) was happy he was able to see other sea creatures and their ecosystem. We weren’t allowed to touch any of the reefs or fish because it is harmful to the ecosystem.
Once we got back to the hotel we washed up and changed clothes drove an hour to see visit the Polynesian cultural center. We arrived around 5:30pm and saw a show they had about a boy who grew up to become a man and follow his father’s footsteps in becoming a father himself. It was a story about life and how it isn’t going to be easy and you’ll have to face many challenges in life. But of course my little brother didn’t understand what was going on. After we bought some souvenirs we left and headed back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel it was around 10 o’clock PM and my family was tired because it was a six hours’ time difference between New York and Hawaii. But my sister and I decide to walk around the hotel looking for food. We both stumble upon a Japanese sushi place because my sister was craving for some spam musubi. There was a guy I met that said that spam was Hawaiian steak.
The next day, my sister and I woke up at 9am. We went down to the front desk of the hotel to ask what other water activities that we could do and the front desk assistant referred us to a place call H2O Sports where we can play with the water jet pack. For $275 you can play with the water jet pack for 15 mins. We called H2O Sports and they picked my sister and I up before lunch time and drove us to the location where we were able to play with the jet pack. It was a fun experience but 15 mins was really tiring because it required a lot of energy to move the actual jet pack. Moving forward on the jet pack was easy. Turning on the other hand was the hardest part. The slightest movement on the handles will spin you to the direction of where you touch the handle. It was a difficult to control but a fun experience. Once my turn was up, it was my sister’s turn. It was much harder for her but overall, we both had fun.
Once we were finished we ate lunch around 12:45pm. For lunch, we had a quick bite at McDonald and we were on our way to explore more. We drove to the Dole Plantation and had the famous Dole whip. In the Dole Plantation, we also went through the maze they had. It is the world’s largest maze. But before we went in the maze I notice there was a map of the maze inside the Dole Plantation store in front of the bathroom, so I took a picture of it and my family and I breeze through the maze.
After we were done with the dole Plantation we drove straight to the Hawaiian Luau that opens at 6pm. When we got to the Luau we were hanging out where kids could play Hawaiian bowling and throwing spears at targets. The luau offered us food and a show where the women dance gracefully and the men dance with power and also doing the fire torch show. It was fun watching the show while enjoying the food that they had provide for everyone.
Overall the trip was fun my family am I have a great time and the people were friendly. The environment is really relaxing. It was definitely a vacation that I needed. It may not be what I remember it was, but it was still an amazing experience. The first 36 hours of my Hawaii Vacation was fun. I got to finally learn how to surf and see my family and also see the beautiful sea life and be surrounded by the ocean.
