Shopping Spree, Hawaiian Style

So, you may remember that last year I went to Hawaii for two weeks, and I promised details. Sporadically, I hope to fill you in over the next few weeks. With photos.

I arrived on a Saturday, and Monday saw the necessary – and ritual – trip to Ala Moana, probably my favourite mall in the city, though there are shops to love in all of them.

Both of my grandparents took me, which was very generous of them, considering shopping is not one my grandfather’s favourite activities. We promptly lost him (unintentionally) in Macy’s, and met up again for lunch in Neimen Marcus.

I. Love. Macy’s. It’s where I bought my formal dress, and this visit (and a subsequent one) would prove no disappointment. Thanksgiving (or early Christmas) sales were in full swing, much to my delight, and I found a lovely black cropped evening jacket that was half price.

My grandmother and I wandered all over the three floors (it’s also quite a beautiful shopping centre because it’s open air on all levels), peering at all the expensive shops on the second level such as Chanel, Dior and Prada, with their security guards at the door, browsing through Gap, Banana Republic (a delightful store, I have discovered) and Neimen Marcus, where I found an absolutely gorgeous purple silk Mark Jacobs dress with a hot pink belt and a hefty price tag of $348. Unfortunately.

We met for lunch at Mariposa, a restaurant in Neimen Marcus with a spectacular view of the shore and the ocean. My grandfather was appeased by the fact that I had bought something (he thinks shopping time is wasted if nothing is purchased, which I can live with; my father is a bigger believer in window shopping; you can look as long as you like, but you can't touch.) He felt, however, that he would need to postpone his iPhone appointment for an hour (from 2pm to 3pm), giving us another hour to shop and, in particular, look through one of my favourite shops, American Eagle.

That afternoon, my grandfather’s iPhone appointment was a meeting with an Apple sales rep to teach him how to use his new iPhone. I was in on the meeting to help explain it to my grandfather and so that I’d know how to use it if he had any questions about it later. It was very interesting and quite easy to get the hang of – though the touch screen was somewhat difficult for my grandfather to use – and means that I will be able to use the iPhone (in all it's 3G splendor) when it finally comes out in Oz on July 11!

On Tuesday my uncle planned to take me up Diamond Head, something I’d – surprisingly – not done before, despite having visited Hawaii almost every second Christmas since I was born and hence having done nearly everything on the island (or at least in the city). It was a beautiful day – warm and clear. The walk up Diamond Head is not difficult, as it winds its way up the cliff, though there are some sets of 100 or more stairs to climb as you near the top. On a sunny day, the walking can be quite hot, but the view from the top is nothing short of spectacular, offering a 360º panorama of the city spread over the mountains, in the valleys, around the crater, up to KoKo Heads and lining the beaches that give way to the sea. It was one of the most breathtakingly picturesque sights I have ever seen.

Let me try and show you:

Looking towards Koko Heads, over the crater

Looking toward the city centre, Waikiki Beach and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (the little pink one)

That night we went out for dinner at Elua, a new restaurant in town. It's run by two chefs, one French, one Italian, and the menu is divided between the two, which was really interesting and worked quite well. It was rather empty that night, so the service was pretty good. Our waiter was fairly chatty, recommending dishes and discussing American Gangster, which my uncle had just seen. The food was excellent; my dessert was this wonderful chocolate concoction that was chocolate upon chocolate surrounded by chocolate. What more could you want?

Coming up on 'You Know What I Did Last Summer:' Thanksgiving!

x
Just a girl