Day 1:
Flight out of Houston to Honolulu. We flew Continental and a practically no-hassles flight. Other than for the 8 hours in the flight, we really did not have any delays or problems. We landed in Honolulu airport at around 3pm. The first views of Honolulu was amazingly blue skies and waters with white puff clouds, lush greenery and mountains on the horizon. The runway in the Aloha International Airport deserves a special mention. It is like landing in the wide ocean, beautiful and I just wish we had clicked some pics then.

We had reservations at the Aqua Waikiki Wave and to get there we took the easy way out with 2 oversize baggages. 2 scary-ons and 3 adults – the taxi. Honolulu airport has a taxi wrangler system and goodness gracious we were put in a limo! An antique limo doubling as a taxi but a limo none the less.

At the hotel and checked in, we got into our beachweat and hit Waikiki beach right in time to see the sun setting. A perfect welcome to Hawaii! If I have one complaint about Waikiki, it is the crowd. Well I guess we need to live with that. Waikiki is a tourist trap, you can see everything from a man handing out pamphlets for excursions to another promising pictures with a giant macaw perched on your shoulder. And for the fashionesta in your group, anything from Macys to Coach and for the foodie, everything imaginable. It is crowded and bustling with activity with a stretch of white sand and unbeatable water. I loved the beach but a crowded beach is not my idea of an ideal vacation.
And like every other tourist trap, everything is expensive in Waikiki. But if you are just spending a couple of days in Honolulu, Waikiki is the place and with their public transportation there is no need to rent a car or worry about parking.

And that was Day 1. The jetlag forced us back to the hotel early!
Some pictures from Day 1 are here and here