The Days Off - Travel Guide » costco

Costco Poke

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:40:38 +0000

Costco in Honolulu is a great place to pick up food while staying in Hawaii. We just had 1/2 lb of fresh ahi shoyu poke for $6. Its currently $10.99 per lb. for the shoyu ahi. They put it in a plastic container for you, deli style.

This is a nice snack to have if you are a big fan of sashimi. 1/4 lb of ahi poke each is plenty! It’s about 10-12 pieces in a 1/4 lb portion. A restaurant may give you around 8-10 pieces as an appetizer for $10. Just make sure you have some utensils such as chopsticks or a spoon if you plan to eat it right away. You can also get good poke at Safeway, Times, or any local supermarket. Local supermarkets usually have more selection of poke if you are looking for something other than ahi tuna.

Oahu Travel on a Budget

admin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:00:08 +0000

Here are some tips on making an Oahu trip enjoyable and affordable at the same time.

1) AQUA hotels are great for people on a budget. People are complaining on TripAdvisor about the hotel, but I think they were expecting a little too much for what they were paying. Its not a 4 star caliber hotel — closer to a 2 or 3 star.

We recently stayed at the Aqua Palms, which is located right across from the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Internet access is complimentary (usually a $10 fee at other hotels), along with a daily continental breakfast (bananas, apples, oranges, muffins, croissant or pastry, coffee, and juices. The rooms were clean and the microwave/fridge is a nice touch. Bed was comfortable with 6 pillows and there was also a sleeper sofa in the room. There’s a 32″ flat screen LCD TV with a good variety of channels. Parking in the Aqua Palms structure is a bit tight, I suggest getting a smaller car if you plan on staying at the hotel. The corners around the structure are really tight and there are lots of scrapes on the walls. There is also complimentary coffee in the lobby, which is great in the evenings. Its one of those automatic coffee machines that grinds the coffee beans. Stick with the city view rooms since the diamond head view rooms are blocked by 3 hotels. The pool is small, so we didn’t spend any time there. As for location, it is across the street from the Hilton resort, where you can do some shopping and watch fireworks on Friday night.

For dining around the Aqua Palms, the Wailana Coffee shop is good for the money. Breakfast all day and prices are very reasonable for Waikiki. Todai is located across the street if you are craving for all you can eat sushi. $30 for unlimited sushi — had a lot of poke and sashimi. Seems to be a little bit better than mainland Todai locations.

2) Buy your own GPS on the mainland before going to Hawaii. With GPS prices coming down to the $100 level, you are better off bringing one to Hawaii rather than renting. I picked my Mio C230 GPS for $80 after using a coupon, so its definitely worth every penny. The reason you will need GPS is because a lot of streets in Waikiki are one way and sections may be coned off during rush hour traffic. GPS isn’t 100% accurate though, sometimes it will leave you driving in circles.

3) Parking is very expensive in Waikiki. Hotels charge between $15 – $25 per day, so its something you will need to budget for. Kalakua ave. has a lot of good restaurants and fancy stores, but public parking is tough to find. We found a flat rate parking garage for $8 on Koa Ave. that was reasonable. There is also post office parking near the International Marketplace. Some restaurants will validate parking if its located in a hotel. Otherwise, take the bus from your hotel to Kalakua since there are a number of stops throughout Waikiki. Parking outside of Waikiki is fine.

4) Cheap souvenirs. We found really great deals at the Aloha Bowl Swap Meet on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Its located in the parking lot, which spans around the entire stadium. Lots of good deals on clothing, cheap t-shirts, tons of souvenirs, snacks, plants, and more. A lot of souvenirs were 50-75% off regular prices. Admission is $1. Bring a hat since it gets warm walking around the stadium.

5) Walmart and Costco. The Waikiki Walmart is located right in the middle of the city. Great prices on snacks, drinks, and anything you might have forgotten to pack. This time we bought our Hawaiian Sun drinks at Walmart since there was no way we could drink the 24-packs from Costco. Snorkel gear selection is good, with some nice US Divers mask/snorkel sets for $30-$35. Its worth the extra money since the snorkel closes up automatically if submerged. Buy a cooler and put the drinks in there to save $$.

If you are renting a condo, Costco is a great place to stock up on food. They now have the poke and sashimi grade stuff in a deli case, so you don’t have to buy 1-2 lbs of it at a time. We usually pick up gifts here before we fly back.

6) Airfare and hotel combos save money. We booked a flight from LAX to Honolulu with 6 nights hotel at Aqua Palms for $600 / person. Airfare alone was $500 / person roundtrip. You can use the savings from the airfare and hotel to spend on food and souvenirs. You can try finding deals on Travelzoo.

7) Hawaiian Plate Lunches = Good value. I really like eating the Hawaiian plate lunches, especially ones with SPAM (not the junk mail) The best one I had so far was at Ted’s Bakery. I ordered Ted’s bento box, which has fried chicken, spam, mahi mahi, bbq beef on top of furikake rice and cabbage. The bbq beef was really good, well marinated in teriyaki/korean BBQ sauce. I liked the spam, which tastes something like sausage and ham. Fried Mahi mahi was good and the fried chicken had a tasty coating of fried goodness. And it was only $9 !!! Only minor downside is that it took 20 minutes to make, but it was worth it! What a deal. For dessert, we had the classic Chocolate Haupia pie. YUM! Coconut + chocolate = Hawaiian! So, if you are in North Shore, definitely check out Ted’s Bakery if you are looking for a place to eat. I’ll elaborate more on high end cuisine in a future post.

8 ) Shrimp Trucks. There is one on the way to Kailua on Hwy. 72 called Ono Shrimp. They had a steak and shrimp combo plate that was good, especially after snorkeling all morning in Hanauma Bay. Steak was tasty, shrimp was good since you didn’t have to peel them. $10 for the steak plate, $11 for the steak and shrimp combo. Drinks were reasonable at $1 each. We also went to one near Turtle Bay in North Shore called Romys. The Garlic shrimp was good, but a bit pricey. The shrimp plate was $13 and drinks were $2.50 each. Romys uses their local pond to catch their prawns, so its fresh. But I think next time we’ll drive out to the original Giovannis instead, since it was the first one.

9) Shaved Ice. Matsumotos General Store in Haleiwa, 66-087 Kamehameha Hwy, offers really good shaved ice for a reasonable price. We got the Matsumoto special one with Coconut, Pineapple, Lemon, and vanilla ice cream on the bottom. They also have good azuki beans too. Spend the extra 25 cents for the cool shaved ice holders, less messy. $2.50 for the large shaved ice w/ ice cream, 25 cents extra for the holder. The lines can get long, so try to visit earlier in the day.

10) Car Rental Discounts. You can find coupon codes for discounted car rentals at: http://www.carrentalsavers.com

Maui Activities

admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:10:37 +0000

Activities
The great thing about Maui is the wide range of activities — whether you like to snorkel, hike, sunbathe, bike, or even shop. Certain activities book early, such as horseback riding and biking down the volcano.

Snorkeling trips
The Kai Kanani was good for $49.88 early morning snorkel including a continental breakfast. They leave from Wailea so its a shorter boatride (less seasick) http://www.kaikanani.com/ Molokini was much better than Turtle Town. Its a good intro. to Molokini if you haven’t been there before. The Kai Kanani offers continental breakfast (muffins/coffee/soft drinks) along with snorkeling equipment. The crew was friendly and we even saw some dolphins along the way to Molokini. I plan on going for the all morning trip next time.

Free Snorkeling
Black Rock is a nice place for beginners since its on a sandy beach. You’ll see a nice variety of fish when you swim towards the “Black Rock” side where coral is still abundant. There is limited parking available next to Whaler’s Village (left side of the shopping center) You can park at the Whaler’s Village for 3 hours with a minimum $10-$15 purchase (ABC store is great for that)

Another good snorkeling spot is Kapalua Beach. Its a little tricky to find though, you have to drive through Kapalua Bay resort in order to reach the small parking lot. Access to the reef is a little more difficult since the beach has a lot of rocky areas along with sand. Stick with the lighter areas (sandy) and you will be able to venture out to the shallow bay. We saw a wider variety of fish here than Black Rock. As for the beach, the sand was very nice. If you aren’t a snorkeler, this beach would be nice place to relax. This beach is rated one of the top 10 beaches in Hawaii, so its definitely earned its rating.

Snorkeling gear:
If you prefer to buy your own gear, Costco has great prices for a full set (mask, snorkel, and fins) for ~$40. They usually have the snorkeling set either by the front entrance or in front of one of the aisles.

Kmart has more variety for snorkeling gear, while Walmart has better prices. If you need a life jacket, Kmart has a good selection.

Anti-fog: You can use baby shampoo mixed with water as an anti-fog for the mask.

Shopping
Maui has various shopping locations around the island. The Queen Ka’ahumanu Center is a typical indoor mall with Macy’s and Sears anchors. Whaler’s Village on West Maui has higher end stores and good restaurants (e.g. Hula Grill) If you are renting a condo, I recommend getting a Safeway shopper card to take advantage of the sales they have. Groceries are pricey! I’ll elaborate more on the shopping experience section soon..

Scrapbooking
If you are a huge scrapbook fan like Daynah, then you need to visit Island Paperie. It has one of the largest selection of Hawaiian scrapbook supplies. They have many different paper designs not found at mainland scrapbook stores.

Photography

Hawaii is a great place to take photos. If you can afford a digital SLR, this would be a good opportunity to get one. The nice part of having a SLR is that you can purchase filters/lenses to optimize your photos.

I highly recommend getting the circular polarizer filter for getting those postcard-esque photos of the ocean. It basically filters out the reflection from the sunlight so you will get clear views of the coral/water underneath the ocean. Another filter I recommend getting is the Natural Density (ND) filter for getting nice portrait photos behind a sunset/etc.

Great photo locations:
1) On the Road to Hana there are several waterfalls (make sure you use a tripod and set the exposure setting to slow)
2) Haleakala volcano. The morning sunrise is a great photo opportunity if the weather conditions cooperate. If its not cloudy, you will have a great view of the island. I would reschedule the visit if its windy or raining.
3) Sunset on the west side of the island.

Dining in Maui under $10

admin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:01:23 +0000

Dining Under $10 in Maui

Dining in Maui can get quite expensive. Here are some places that I have found where you can get meals for around $10 or less per person. Eating for cheap but good!

Aloha Mixed Plate
If you like Ono or L&L Hawaiian Restaurants in the mainland, you should try Aloha Mixed Plate. The teriyaki katsu was interesting — marinated teriyaki beef in a katsu coating. Its the traditional 2 scoops for rice, macaroni salad, and entree plate. Definitely worth a visit for a lower cost meal in Maui. Aloha Mixed Plate Reviews on Igo

Ko Ko Ichiban Ya
This is a great place to eat local style plate lunch after arriving in Maui. The udon noodles were tasty — chicken, fried shrimp tempura, and egg. They also have excellent unagi (eel) bowls and a wide selection of BBQ plate lunches. Seating is very limited — only 7 or 8 chairs, but you can order everything to-go. Its located at 360 Papa Pl Kahului, HI. If you are driving from the Maui Airport, it will be on the right side on Dairy Road. I’m definitely going back here a few times

Pizza Paradiso
This place has decent pizza for the money. Frommers gave it good reviews, so we decided to check it out. Their specialty pizzas had generous amounts of toppings — I suggest ordering by the slice for variety. Its a place to check out if you are in the Kahana area.

McDonalds
Try the banana pies! Instead of Apple Pies, they have Banana pies at Mc Donalds. Also, they have Fanta fruit punch.

Farmers Markets
There are a number of Farmer’s Markets in Maui. You can get fresh produce at prices lower than the grocery stores. They also have a variety of fresh fruit, coffee, and banana bread.

Safeway
Sign up for the Safeway card while you area in the store. You need to have the card in order to get the discount on the sale items. They have a decent bakery section where you can pick up bagels (baked daily) along with deli items for making sandwiches.

Costco
Its not just the $1.50 hot dog special or the $1.99 pizza. The Maui Costco has prepared sashimi and poke in the seafood section. This is a great deal — probably enough for 20-30 pieces of high quality tuna sashimi for $15-$20. This is plenty of fish for a few meals. It comes in a package with wasabi and soy sauce included. Also try the fresh Hawaiian fruits (way better than the canned versions in the mainland) 1 gallon of POG is under $5 — passion fruit, orange, and guava juice drink commonly found in Maui. Also, if you like sweet coffee — try the 24 pack of Kona coffee in 12 oz cans for around $12-14. Back in the mainland its about $1 each, so I usually try to get a case when I visit Hawaii.