Part I: Oahu, HI {Travelogue} - Helena's, Waiola, Waikiki, Giovanni's, Laie, Foodland

If someone asks you if you want to go on a free trip to Hawaii, is there any hesitation in your answer? When the brother's girlfriend won a pair of tickets to Hawaii, and no one seemed to want to go, I jumped at the opportunity. The caveat -- I would have to participate in the Spartan Race at Kualoa Ranch.

Wasn't super interested in the Spartan Race (not a fan of pain, hill running, or burpees), but I am a huge fan of Hawaii, food, and the ocean. Come the first weekend of August, Hawaii ho! Since I would only be there such a short time, I wanted to maximize my food time. A lot of the restaurants I wanted to visit were closed early in the afternoon, or alternately closed on random days. Be sure to check out the days that they are open before going otherwise you'll be very disappointed! That said, the first stop was Helena's!


Helena's Hawaiian Foods
1240 N School St
Honolulu, HI 96817


Incidentally, it's very close to the airport so it's a perfect first stop. Upon arrival, pop inside to get your name on the list! They have a few seats outside to wait at, and unlike Ono's, there's some shade depending on the time of day. It's also bigger, so the line moves a little faster. Don't be surprised if there's a wait though!

FYI - Helena's is cash only.


Menu D - Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon, Pipikaula Shortribs & Luau Squid with a large order of poi for $23.65.

These pipikaula ribs, I kid you not, are some of the best I've had.

Lomi salmon

Poke with opihi

Squid luau. Not pretty, but it's really good. It doesn't taste like it looks at all. It's sweet from the coconut, and the squid is pretty tender.

Gotta have my poi!

Long rice chicken

Kalua pork

Haupia

After lunch, of course, what else is there to do other than cool down with some shave ice? My favorite on the island is probably Waiola. I am open to suggestions on other places though!


Waiola Shave Ice
2135 Waiola St
Honolulu, HI 96826


Hours

Menu board

Super fluffy ice


Calpico and lilikoi pudding

Pudding!

Red bean and mochi shave ice

The line died down just for a minute before getting packed again

Small shop with snacks and other treats. Also some t-shirts if you're interested.

After the big lunch and dessert, there was only one other place to go: the beach. Since it was her first time there, I took her to Waikiki Beach. While there are a ton of beaches in Oahu worth going to, I figured she might as well see the top tourist beach before checking out some of the other ones. 


At some point, we finally had enough (did we though?) and slowly made the hour long car drive out to Laie. The free trip included a nice hotel stay at the Marriott in Laie. Checked in and checked out the digs before heading out for some more food!

 Giovanni's
56-505 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731

 Website
Apparently there are two Giovanni's locations. The main one in Haleiwa, and this one in Kahuku. I took her to the one in Kahuku because we stayed in Laie. It was maybe a 10 minute drive to get to this one. Super convenient. And much less crowded than the Haleiwa location!



So much beautiful shrimp, garlic, and butter. Fried fresh and crispy.

Look at the butter just dripping from the shrimp!

After dinner pets with the fake Bubba.

I look like this because not enough people give me shrimp to eat.

We started heading back to the hotel but stopped since everyone else was also stopped to pet some horses.


We passed another beach (hey, hard not to!) and decided to finish out the sunny part of the day here. Without the sun, the temp dropped a lot and the water felt cool.


Foodland
55-510 Kamehameha Hwy
Laie, HI 96762

On the way back to the hotel from the beach, I saw a Foodland and decided to make another stop. Because at this point, why not? Foodland is all over the island and if you haven't had poke from a Foodland yet, you're missing out! The Foodland in Laie didn't have alcohol though, so I had to keep driving a while to get to a CVS to pick up a six pack. I am guessing it has everything to do with BYU.

Seasonal Lemongrass Luau beer by Kona Brewing Co. and some poke.

Tako poke

Spicy tuna poke
And that folks, is day one! Stay tuned for MOAR food!

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