Honolulu, Hawaii - Day 6

Aloha Center Café @ Pacific Beach Hotel
2490 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu

We heard from a friend that when she and her husband went to Hawaii's Pearl Harbour, they spent nearly 8 hours there! Learning from their experience, W and I planned a full day trip to the historic site.

Waking up bright and early, we had breakfast at the hotel's outdoor café for some quick and cheap eats. The cafe also served coffee and espresso beverages, smoothies, fresh juices, and various baked goods and pastries. They're also open in the afternoon for Pupu’s (appetizers) and happy hour too.

$5 breakfast plate – 2 eggs any style, a choice of apple and pork breakfast sausages or Portuguese sausages, and a choice of breakfast potatoes or fried rice

There weren't a whole lot of choices on their $5 breakfast plate menu. I took reign and decided to mix and match two plates so we could try a bit of each choice. On my plate, I had 2 sunny-side up eggs, apple and pork sausages and fried rice as the starch. On W's plate, there were eggs (over easy), Portuguese sausages, and pan fried potatoes. For 5 dollars, it was not bad. The apple and pork sausages were pretty dry but other than that, everything else was adequate. The iced latte wasn't anything special, it did its job to perk me up in the morning.

Pearl Harbor


Just like many tourist in town, W and I got tickets to ride on the boat to visit the USS Arizona memorial. We also bought tickets to go on the USS Missouri battleship along with a visit to the Pacific Aviation Museum. We spent so much time on the USS Missouri we almost ran out of time to go to the museum! A full day is definitely needed when visiting Pearl Harbour! Although costly, the admission to see the memorial sites and the different historic sites and artifacts were worth it. We learned a lot about Pearl Harbour and reminded us to appreciate the peace and freedom we have right now in our country.

USS Missouri

Uncle Bo’s
559 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu

After leaving Pearl Harbour, we drove back to the Waikiki area for dinner. A good friend of W's recommended Uncle Bo's so we headed over there with the help of our trusty GPS system.

Uncle Bo's is a modern casual dining restaurant and bar. The front dining section is more modern like a lounge with all the noise and action of the bar while the dining section at the back is a little quieter with quirky décor and dated furniture. Their menu changes every so often but I think the more popular items are regular mainstays. 

We decided to share 2 pupu's (appetizers) and 1 entree between the two of us.

Uncle Bo’s Oyster Shooters – toasted garlic, cilantro, sesame-ponzu cocktail sauce

Even though W is not fond of oysters of any kind, cooked or raw, I was quite adamant on having the oyster shooters so I got my way haha... They were cold, creamy and refreshing when paired with the ponzu sauce.

Ahi Katsu – panko crusted Ahi tuna deep fried with rare center

W picked the Ahi Katsu as our second pupu. The exterior crust was crispy and warm while the perfectly rare tuna was still soft and cool. It could have used more sauce though.

Seafood Stew - lobster, crab meat, shrimp, scallop and clams, served with jasmine rice

The seafood stew had an actual name for it on the menu but I completely forgot what it was called! Regardless of what it's called, this stew was chock full of seafood bathed in a deliciously creamy, savoury, and lightly spiced sauce. We would have licked the bowl clean if we could!

As our last dinner in Oahu, Uncle Bo's left us with great memories. We would absolutely return if we visited Oahu again! 

Honolulu, Hawaii - Day 5

After visiting Shirokiya the previous the night, we wanted to see the rest of Ala Moana Center. So, the following morning, we went back! We just had a simple, boring lunch at their food court and proceeded to do some window shopping. Even though it was hot and sunny outside, a lot of the shops at the mall were selling winter clothing… We could easily find such attire back at home so we were more interested in the unique, local items like the revered Koa wood and cookies from The Honolulu Cookie Company LOL!

Rokumeikan @ Ala Moana Center
1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu

Aside from Shirokiya, we found other Japanese influences in the mall too. We noticed a really elegant, ritzy, fancy-schmancy looking store and it turned out to be a Japanese specialty store selling intricate, dainty sweets and pastries. Their sweets were showcased in an enclosed glass case with beautiful decorations all around, just like a jewellery store. They were quite pricey so we didn’t get any… 

However, they had a small stand just out front selling, what I call them, red bean wheel cakes! A comforting street food typical of Japan and Taiwan (since Taiwan was once colonized by Japan), these were more affordable for my wallet so I got 2 for W and I to have as a snack.

Imagawayaki

According to a quick Google search, I believe these red bean wheel cakes are called imagawayaki. The ones from Rokumeikan were stuffed to the max with red bean filling! They were freshly-made and piping hot, which made them even more awesome and delicious!

Ala Moana Beach Park

Being nearby, we stopped by Ala Moana Beach Park in the late afternoon to chill and soak up some rays before dinner. It’s a pretty nice beach park; lots of space and family friendly, and there’s a pretty good view of Diamond Head too. We didn’t stay too long though because, as cheesy tourists, W and I wanted to have a “romantic” walk along Waikiki beach during the sunset haha!

Cheesecake Factory

2301 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu

We walked from end to end of Waikiki beach. By the time we looped back to the “main strip”, Kalakaua Avenue, the sky was dark and we were tired and hungry. Not wanting to waste time thinking of, and walking to somewhere further to eat, we decided to head back to the Cheesecake Factory one more time. As usual, we ordered take out and took it back to our room.

I know, I know… I should try new places when abroad. The Cheesecake Factory is also a huge chain restaurant and I can go there whenever I head to Seattle or Portland. But when you’re HANGRY, you just want to eat at wherever is the closest place. At least we didn’t go to McDonald’s! =P

Guacamole Made-to-order ($11.95) – ripe avocado, onion, tomato, chilies, cilantro and fresh lime, served with tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream

BBQ Kalua Pork sandwich ($12.95) – Island style slow roasted Kalua pork with BBQ sauce piled high on a brioche bun

What I like about the Cheesecake Factory is that the quality and flavours are consistently good. The guacamole was fresh and just how I expected it to be.

Knowing that the portions will be pretty large, we opted to share the Kalua pork sandwich. Since we were in Hawaii, I picked the most “Hawaiian” sounding one haha… Similar to a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, we really enjoyed the tangy sauce mixed with the moist meat. 

Good thing we opted to have dinner back the hotel. We needed more rest for our full day trip to Pearl Harbor the next morning. Gonna be busy with a lot of walking!