Playing tourist

This past week has given me a whole new perspective on Oahu & Honolulu. With my sister visiting I've been spending the week shopping, eating and relaxing like a tourist. 

I've been to kitschy stores and seen a million tshirts with "hi" printed on them. My favorite purchase of the week: a pair of over-sized purple sunglasses. As the lady at swap meet showed then to me, she saw the glimmer in my eyes and said "I got you"! I bought them not only because the sunglasses were adorbs, but the sales lady was hilarious!

I've eaten at food trucks, holes in the walls and the finest restaurants the island has to offer. The best thing I ate: poke nachos. Sister and I snacked on them while watching the sun set over Waikīkī beach. Delicious!!!

I returned to beaches I had liked before and tried out some new ones. Two of the beaches we visited made Travel Advisors Top 100 Beaches in the World. The best day at the beach had to be snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Sometimes it takes a new perspective and thanks to Elisa I have a whole new appreciation for my town. 

 And now for some pictures:

Sisters reunitied!!!

Here's the poke nachos... Yum!

Eggs and rice for breakfast at the farmers market. I'm trying to be authentic and using chopsticks to eat. 

Sharing my love  of shaved ice with sister.

 

Dressed up for Elisa's fancy birthday dinner. 

This was everything we ate at the fancy dinner. All the food was incredible! The best thing I ordered was the tomato salad with ling hi mui dressing. 

This is Hanauma Bay. We spent almost 5 hours snorkeling here. Saw a ton of fish, a bunch of urchin and one beautiful eel. 

Check the double blow hole. We had to do some serious hiking to see this. 

And now for the pic of the week:

Some things stay the same.. I'll always love the sun peeking behind palm trees. 

Mahalo!