Kuhio Beach, Waikiki, Hawaii

Views of Hanauma Bay

These are the French macarons we bought at the Honolulu Coffee Company in Waikiki. My first time to try them. Very good and very sweet. Did I mention expensive? These are cupcakes from Icing on the Cupcake here in downtown Sacramento. I got a Groupon coupon and just recently had the chance to use it. The cake part is very good and moist but the frosting was overly sweet. This is my version of the French macaron. Lots of recipes online and tutorials on Youtube. The only place that carries ground almond in my area is Sprouts in Elk Grove. I had to re-process it again to make it finer for sifting. The taste was the same as the store bought one but it appeared lumpy and coarse on the surface. I just had to practice some more.

We vacationed in Honolulu for 7 days and like I told my kids, when it's time to go home, you wouldn't want to. We stayed in Waikiki at Ohana Waikiki West. The hotel would have been fine if not for the 3 elevators for such a big hotel. People literally were fighting to get on. I hated the Asian tourists. I am Asian (Filipino/American) but will not hesitate to say that my fellow Asians were just plain rude! They don't attempt to learn English and used it as an excuse to be impolite. Take for example, lines. People line up for a purpose. I've seen several Korean tourists cut in line and push ahead of others and pretend you're not there. Chinese tourists were the same. The Japanese, however, were courteous, even though most of them did not speak English. And Hawaii was full of Japanese tourists. They even had their own trolley lines that only they can ride--lol. These were views from Kuhio Beach. The kids enjoyed this beach better than Hanauma Bay. Pearl Harbor was the best tourist spot in all of Oahu. The wait to get to the USS Arizona memorial was 3 hours long. But you only get to line up 30 mins before your tour. The rest of the time you can spend visiting the museums scattered around the harbor. I spent most of that time sitting on a bench under a coconut tree, enjoying the tropical breeze. As we disembarked the ferry to the USS Arizona, about 3 or 4 Korean tourists decided to stop right on the dock and take pictures, holding up the rest of us. The US Navy men/guides told them to move along and wait to take pictures inside the memorial. The Koreans ignored this and kept on taking pictures until they've had their fill. I admire the Navy men's patience. I would have pushed them in the water, he, he. On the way back, the same group of Koreans stood up and decided they wanted to take more pictures while the ferry boat was running. The Navy men promptly stopped the boat right in the middle of the ocean, and told them off. I would have died of embarrassment but no, stupid tourists took their time before they sat down. They pretended not to understand English. Nice excuse. All in all, our vacation was fun as long as we stayed away from the nasties. A lot of Filipinos and Chinese worked in our hotel and they were very nice. Americans from the mainland were nice too and most were laid back (unlike me). I would not hesitate to go back. Surprise note: I did not bring any knitting with me. Amazing.