Day trips in Honolulu and exploring the island.... Valley of the Temples, Tiki's Grill and Bar and more...

Jule (Germany), Mike (NYC but now Hawaii), Jimena (NYC) and I (Chi-town)

Listening to a live rock band at Coconut Willy's

We went to a botanic garden

Incense lit for our offerings and wishes

Hello friends,
I have been keeping quite busy on the island.  The CouchSurfing community is quite large in Honolulu so I have been hanging out, making friends and traveling all over the island, exploring the sites.

Tiki's Grill and Bar Waikiki Restaurant
http://www.tikisgrill.com/

I met up with my friend Amen from Chicago.  She is a physician who has been living in Hawaii for several years now.   This is a great spot nestled at the end of the Waikiki strip and the bar overlooks the beach.  

Black Swan

Valley of the temples

Byodo-In Temple-
http://www.byodo-in.com/

The Byodo-In Temple was built in the 1960's to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant workers in Hawaii who came to work in the sugar plantation fields. It is a replica of the 950-year-old Byodoin Temple located in Uji, Japan on the southern outskirts of Kyoto.

This temple is located at the foot of the Ko'Olau Mountains and was built entirely without nails.  This is a non-demnominational buddhist temple which welcomes all faiths to come and worship, meditate and or just enjoy the beauty.  

We hiked up a trail for an hour to see The Manoa Falls.

Couchsurfers Jule, me, Earl and Jimena

Earl took us to the most amazing Himalayan restaurant with delicious food!
http://www.himalayankitchen.net/index.html

Jimena, Jule and Earl

Jimena and I

garlic naan and salmon coconut korma and goa shrimp(pieces of shrimp cooked in coconut sauce, cilantro,  coconut, mild spice and cilantro

View from Waikiki Beach at night

Trying to figure out where to go next

Honolulu Festival

hanging out with the girls

 http://sidestreetinn.com/
We went to this little hole in the wall but I could not believe how delicious everything was.  It is said that all the top chefs go to this restaurant.  The ambiance is laid back and super casual but the food is a culinary surprise.  Any foodie must stop in and try their famous portuguese sausage fried rice.

Jimena, Mike and Jule

The best garlic edamame I have ever had.

basil crusted salmon, portuguese sausage fried rice, shrimp scampi and spinach salad