This past week was the first time I've taken days off work (other than the day after Thanksgiving) for about 6 months. And what better reason than to relax in Hawaii? I was definitely looking forward to this trip although it didn't really hit me until I was laying out on the beach. It's not that I forgot - I was conscious of the dates but when my coworkers would ask if I was excited I realized I wasn't even thinking about it. Probably a sign of some long overdue R&R.

Annie and I had an early flight and with the time difference arrived at Honolulu shortly after noon, giving us time to fit in some activities on Day 1. We stayed at the Aqua Waikiki Beachside, which was more 'value for your money' than luxury. While checking in, we upgraded to an ocean view room for the 3 nights for only $100 more. This was definitely worth it as the next morning when we were eating breakfast I looked up to find rooms with a balcony facing the wall of another building. How depressing.

The first thing we did after checking in was to find some food! We walked around and settled on some rice platters at the international food court:





The food was mediocre, nothing special. We then walked around to check out some of the shops. The area is nice but it seemed like there is always something under construction which sort of ruins the setting. After walking around we headed back to the hotel, changed, and went to go lay out on the beach. I tried to forget all my worries and just relax. Think I caught a few naps in between.



For dinner we headed to a Japanese restaurant named Shokudo. We only had a general idea where this place was and it turned out to be quite a trek as we passed some "adult entertainment" venues on the way. Mapping it out on Google shows it was 2.1 miles away. I kept thinking that this place better be worth it, and it turned out to be a good meal. My favorite was the garlic shrimp with rice.



I think they're known for their honey toast desserts. We ordered the strawberry one. This was pure decadence.



After dinner we were so stuffed we weren't too bothered by the idea of walking back. We stopped by the Westin on the way back and had a beer at the beach bar. There was a pretty good live guitarist so we soaked up the scene for a bit. We could hear the waves but couldn't really see them since it was nighttime and decided we'd make it back sometime during the day.