Day One

Our first full day in Hawaii is coming to a close and it has been a great day. We tried sleeping in this morning but Mark and I were both wide awake at 5am. I was able to doze back to sleep but Mark was up for good. We had an appointment this morning to see an apartment. It was...small...and kinda dirty. We didn't like it. We had another appointment to see another apartment later in the morning and we were really hoping it was nice. We had our doubts after the first one.

The second place was really nice. It's a 2 bedroom basement unit with a full kitchen (no dishwasher :/ ) shared laundry with the nice lady who lives upstairs and all utilities included. We really liked it. It's a little more than we were thinking we wanted to pay but with all the utilities included (electricity runs $125-$150) we're ok with it. They are doing a bit more work on the place over the weekend (new tile in the shower) and we're going to go back on Tuesday and make a decision.

We saw a third apartment this afternoon that was nicer than the first one but not as nice as the second. It's pretty unlikely that we'll take it.

Ala Moana

For lunch we walked around Honolulu a bit. We went to a hot dog place called Hank's Haute Dogs. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Here is a link to the segment on you tube). It was really good. I got a chicken dog with mango relish and Mark got a bacon wrapped, deep fried hot dog. After lunch we walked down to the beach. We went to Ala Moana State Park. It was so nice. It wasn't crowded and the sand was nice without a lot of pebbles. We walked along the water for a bit and then found a shaded bench where we could relax.

In the early evening Zak (he's the guy we're staying with. We knew two of his grandsons in New York) drove us up to Makiki Round Top to see the view of the city. It was beautiful. You can see all of Honolulu. The picture included is looking out over Manoa Valley. University of Hawaii is in the middle ground and Diamond Head is the crater in the background.

A few differences I've noticed so far. There is an actual parking attendant to take your money as you leave the airport parking lot. There is actually a Hawaiian accent

For the most part it was a good day. I am still coming to terms with the fact that we've actually moved to Honolulu but I'm getting there.