Aulani Waves and Disneyland Days: An Ohana Adventure - Day 4 Are you guys Poms?

[bambikate]

Day 4 - Are you guys poms?
Shopping at the Ala Moana Center, Liliha Bakery, Island Vintage Coffee, Cinnamon’s at the Ilikai, Dave’s ice cream, Waikiki beach, pizza and watching the sunset on the beach, swimming and lazy river at night and stargazing at the Four Seasons Oahu.

We woke up at around 6am. Izzy had her leftover French toast from Makahiki on the balcony for breakfast, Andy and I had bagels and butter and Immy had some cereal, we didn’t end up eating the leftover omelette.



We were dressed and ready by 8:30am and left for Waikiki at 9am.

By about 9:50am, we arrived at the Ala Moana Center. Parking here was free and it felt like a really nice safe place to shop. Shopping here was brilliant and included Bloomingdales, Macys, Bath and Body Works, Sephora… etc.



We went to Bloomingdales first and spent a good chunk of time here looking at swimwear and make up/ Izzy bought herself a beach cover up and I bought some make up.

Inside Bloomingdales upstairs was Liliha Bakery, somewhere that was on our list of snack places to visit so we went up and bought some treats.





We also popped to Starbucks just outside to get some free water and buy a Waikiki Starbucks mug to take home (of course!)

Izzy got a pineapple round, Immy got a pizza bread and Andy and I shared a lilikoi malasada and a poi mochi donut. The texture of the malasada was lovely but the filling tasted very orangey rather than passionfruit which was disappointing. The poi mochi donut however was delicious - we loved the texture and it was nice to taste some traditional Hawaiian food.







After our little snack, Andy and I wanted to find Island Vintage Coffee we had heard all about it online, in particular their iced macadamia lattes, we found one in the mall and bought one each and both said it was the best coffee we ever had! Nutty, creamy, sweet and just the right amount of coffee.





We popped next door to ABC stores and had a browse round for ages and bought some souvenirs, a travel mug, a shot glass, some key rings, and some ‘brain lickers’ for the girls.

We also went to Bath and Body Works, Sephora, Macys and Victoria Secret and the girls were very successful, finding some lovely things with their spending money. If we’d had more time (and money) we could easily have spent the whole day here. It reminded us of an outdoor, Hawaiian version of the Mall at Millenia. Classy with a mixture of high street and high end shops. We were finished by 1:25pm and ready to grab some lunch!





We drove about 20 minutes to the car park near the Hilton Lagoon and parked up and walked towards the Ilikai.



We had seen a lot of videos online from various vloggers including LR Dreaming about Cinnamon's and their amazing brunch options. They’re particularly well known for their eggs Benedict, loco moco, guava chiffon and red velvet pancakes. We got there at about 1:50 and checked if they were still serving brunch, they served brunch until 2 (you could order right up until 2pm). There are two Cinnamons in Oahu - this one and the original one in Kailua.

I ordered the half portion of the Kalua eggs Benedict with salt and pepper potato barrels - it was pretty good.





The girls shared the ‘old fashioned’ burger and fries



and Andy had the traditional loco moco. This is another Hawaiian dish we had been wanting to try. There are many variations, but the traditional loco moco consists of white rice, topped with a hamburger, a fried egg, and brown gravy. It was reportedly created at the Lincoln Grill restaurants in Hilo, Hawaii, in 1949 by its proprietors, Richard Inouye and his wife, Nancy, at the request of teenagers from the Lincoln Wreckers Sports club seeking something that differed from a sandwich, was inexpensive, and yet could be quickly prepared and served.

This one was also served with a Mac salad (Lind of like a potato salad but with macaroni)



We also bought 4 diet cokes. Our total came to $70.56 plus tip, which we didn’t think was too bad.

We had heard such great things about this place I think maybe it was a little overhyped or maybe it’s because ours was right at the end of brunch service maybe - it was pretty good but we weren’t raving about it.

Afterwards, we walked to Dave’s ice cream (also at the Ilikai) they had lots of flavours, I wanted something Hawaiian, so went for the toasted macadamia - it was OK - quite subtle - kind of like vanilla with bits



The girls went for cookie dough and said it was really good - we’ve all discussed it as a family and none of us can remember what Andy had but the girls insist I ‘peer pressured’ him into choosing a Hawaiian one?! Not sure about that!

We had a quick look at the Hilton Lagoon on the way to the car.- it looked like quite a nice hotel.



The last thing we wanted to do before leaving Waikiki was to visit Waikiki beach. We drove to the Royal Hawaiian Center to park. Parking was $6 and we thought this area was very nice. We walked towards the beach and past a Cheesecake Factory, some good shops and the Moana Surfrider Hotel which we loved the look of - Beach Club vibes!

I’d quite like to stay in this area / visit this area if we came again. We got to the beach around 3:30pm and paddled and people watched for a while, it was very windy and the waves were pretty strong and were knocking some people over.

An Australian man walked past and heard us talking and said “Are you guys Poms?” And offered to take our photo.

It was cool to visit somewhere so famous but we much preferred the laid back quieter beaches and if we came again would probably limit Waikiki to 1/2 days max - I can’t imagine staying there for a week/two weeks.

We left around 4pm and strolled back to the car then left around 4:20pm.



Traffic was quite heavy and we got back into the resort around 5:35pm.

The girls had a look through all their purchases whilst we chilled in the room for a bit then we went down to the pools by about 6:15pm. After a bit of swimming, we ordered a big pizza from Ulu Cafe - these were quite good value but they stop serving these at 7pm and only do the smaller ones after this.

[bambikate]

We took this down to the beach to eat and watch the sunset - it was great pizza but HUGE!





We spent evening paddling, relaxing and watching sunset on beach.









When the sun went down, we went in the lazy river at night which was completely magical.









We had a Star Gazing Experience booked at 8:45pm with Stars above Hawaii. I had read on an Aulani tips website that this was the same company that did the Aulani one but it was next door at the Four Seasons and open to non hotel guests too. It was also cheaper and lasted longer and if you could get a groupon (which we did) it was even cheaper again! It worked out just over £80 for the four of us and the same experience at Aulani was around £140.

They emailed and texted detailed instructions of where to meet the day of the experience and would tell you if it needed to be rearranged / cancelled if the weather wasn’t good enough.

It was situated in the tennis courts on the roof of the parking garage of the Four Seasons.

On our way to the Four Seasons!



The lobby at the Four Seasons - very impressive - a totally different vibe to Aulani.



A little look at what activities they have:







We arrived a bit early and were welcomed by our host - it was super dark - perfect for star gazing.



There was only about 10 of us in our group and we saw so many amazing sights though the telescope and learnt some fascinating facts.








Could not believe we saw Saturn’s rings! It’s not very clear in this as it's a photo of the telescope's view.







And finally the moon! Imagine doing it on a full moon night!



Overall, it was a great experience and I’m glad we did it. We were also given some photos taken on the telescope for us to keep which he airdropped to us.

We walked back over to Aulani and got to our room by about 10pm.

A Menehune in the lift!



The girls watched some TV before bed and Andy and I chilled on the balcony with some Kona beer and Hawaiian host macs whilst we listened to live music coming from the Olelo Room.

[Wonder]

Another great day Kate, such a lot of varied activities!
The shopping is always a winner, a bit of time on Waikiki beach is a totally classic must-do experience!
The star gazing experience must have been brilliant, it really looks like you saw so much, we did similar at Kielder in Northumberland and getting to see so many beautiful stars is just amazing- and the fact you all got to see Saturn's ring is brilliant!

I love the look of that lazy river at the resort I must say

[rachelhelen82]

Oh wow, the waves and undercurrent on Waikiki beach were so strong when we were there too. So strong that it knocked me over! We ended up getting out of the water after about 10 minutes as I was worried for our safety and thought we were going to be dragged out to sea - my son was not happy! 🙈

[margyloveswdw]

Another fab day. Loving the sound of macadamia coffee!

[Florida1972]

Another lovely day, nice to see some of the different food choices. Thanks for posting 😊

[bambikate]

Originally Posted by Wonder

Another great day Kate, such a lot of varied activities!
The shopping is always a winner, a bit of time on Waikiki beach is a totally classic must-do experience!
The star gazing experience must have been brilliant, it really looks like you saw so much, we did similar at Kielder in Northumberland and getting to see so many beautiful stars is just amazing- and the fact you all got to see Saturn's ring is brilliant!

I love the look of that lazy river at the resort I must say

See more...

Thank you so much! Yes for sure. Oh that sounds great! I know, we felt so lucky to see that! The lazy river was one of our favourite things there, especially at night TFR x

Originally Posted by rachelhelen82

Oh wow, the waves and undercurrent on Waikiki beach were so strong when we were there too. So strong that it knocked me over! We ended up getting out of the water after about 10 minutes as I was worried for our safety and thought we were going to be dragged out to sea - my son was not happy! 🙈

See more...

They're insane aren't they! Oh bless you! I don't blame you at all! TFR x

Originally Posted by margyloveswdw

Another fab day. Loving the sound of macadamia coffee!

See more...

Thank you! Oh it was soooo good! TFR x

Originally Posted by Florida1972

Another lovely day, nice to see some of the different food choices. Thanks for posting 😊

See more...

Ahh thank you so much there was some good food this day! TFR x

[Pep]

What great day again the star gazing looked amazing!

[smithlane]

That shopping centre sounds great, I’ve noted it down along with the name of the bakery and the coffee place for that fab looking macadamia nut iced coffee 😍
It sounded like you had a very successful shopping haul, I love Sephora and B&BW too!
I had Cinnamons down as a potential breakfast place but not sure now, they have some very interesting items on their menu.
Your evening of eating pizza on the beach and going in the lazy river sounds so perfect, and that star gazing looks amazing - Saturn wow!

[bambikate]

Originally Posted by Pep

What great day again the star gazing looked amazing!

See more...

Ahh thank you so much TFR!

Originally Posted by smithlane

That shopping centre sounds great, I’ve noted it down along with the name of the bakery and the coffee place for that fab looking macadamia nut iced coffee 😍
It sounded like you had a very successful shopping haul, I love Sephora and B&BW too!
I had Cinnamons down as a potential breakfast place but not sure now, they have some very interesting items on their menu.
Your evening of eating pizza on the beach and going in the lazy river sounds so perfect, and that star gazing looks amazing - Saturn wow!

See more...

Oh we loved the A la Moana Centre - hope you get to try the tasty treats too!

Cinnamons - it might have been as it was at the end of breakfast service maybe!

Thanks for reading x