Lama pa'ipa'i on the Lanai – an Aulani TR -Aloha and Mahalo Aulani! Link to PTR 11/5

[eandesmom]

Wow its taken me two weekends to get caught up Cynthia but so worth it!

I am SO behind everywhere it's crazy!

I loved how totally relaxing your first day was -the spa trip sounded just heavenly. the gardens looked wonderful, I can imagine wanting to spend quite a bit of time in there.

The spa is amazing!!!

I had to laugh at the change of pace between reading about your spa morning and then the craziness related to your family trip for New Years Eve! So glad that it sounds like its all slowly coming together.

A little different planning for a couples trip and one for 11-13 people. LOL!

Your evening out sounds great --dinner, drinks, happy hour and the story time on the beach wow. what a great weekend so far for the two of you.

Nice hike photos - you look fantastic, too! How cool that you got to see the monk sea lions. I just love when I am able to spot wildlife out on a walk or something. It just feels like a very special present just for me. You definitely scored on that end as well.

It was a great evening and a lovely little hike. The seals made it incredibly special.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am starting to get caught up on my TRs! I loved your update. The landscape looks so wonderful there. And seeing wildlife is always a bonus. Unfortunately I am not sure my white skin would be able to do a hike like that out in the sun for so long! But it seems to be a lovely little excursion not too far from Aulani.

 

[eandesmom]

I am starting to get caught up on my TRs! I loved your update. The landscape looks so wonderful there. And seeing wildlife is always a bonus. Unfortunately I am not sure my white skin would be able to do a hike like that out in the sun for so long! But it seems to be a lovely little excursion not too far from Aulani.

Long sleeves, long pants and a hat. It's doable and we saw plenty of folks covered up that way, trick is to use dri-fit/spf fabrics and/or quick dry so you don't melt and stay protected. I probably should have worn a shirt and hat, did have them with me and had we been out any longer, they'd have gone on!

It was a lovely little excursion.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

What a great update, and looks like a very enjoyable hike. Not that I have anything against hanging out at the pool and taking in the lazy river, but I'm thinking there is only so much of that you can take before you have to get out and enjoy the sights and the surrounding area........even at a beautiful resort like Aulani!

Such great scenery, and how lucky to see the two monk seals! I'm guessing there were new and exciting things to discover all along the trail, almost at every turn.

With all those rods, somebody was taking their fishing very seriously!

So with the way things turned out, and after looking at the map...........

If you had to plan the day over again, would you have left the resort and driven towards the North Shore and done the trail from that direction? At least that way you would have already been on the North Shore when you finished the RT hike.........

I never had the energy to run!! But was the time when I could dance the night away!!!

With, or without, the assistance of a pole???

 

[eandesmom]

What a great update, and looks like a very enjoyable hike. Not that I have anything against hanging out at the pool and taking in the lazy river, but I'm thinking there is only so much of that you can take before you have to get out and enjoy the sights and the surrounding area........even at a beautiful resort like Aulani!

Exactly! 2 days of total utter laziness and I needed to move! It was the perfect speed and a lovely hike.

Such great scenery, and how lucky to see the two monk seals! I'm guessing there were new and exciting things to discover all along the trail, almost at every turn.

It's so gorgeous, I can watch the waves crash for hours

With all those rods, somebody was taking their fishing very seriously!

Yes they do! Next time I really do want to try to hit a farmers market and get "real" local fish.

So with the way things turned out, and after looking at the map...........

If you had to plan the day over again, would you have left the resort and driven towards the North Shore and done the trail from that direction? At least that way you would have already been on the North Shore when you finished the RT hike.........

Honestly I'm not sure. It was a spur of the moment thought to combine them, which obviously didn't work. You could do the other side but it's kind of a hike to drive there for an early am start compared to the side we were on and we wanted to do it before the true heat of the day. I think it also really depends on what your agenda is for the Northshore and how much of a day you are making it. We ended up very happy with how it worked out but I could see trying it from the other side next time...just to see. It would have been MUCH windier going the other way though and it was pretty windy as it was. That might have been unpleasant in spots depending on what there was to blow around.

With, or without, the assistance of a pole???

Now that is a silly question! With of course I am sure.

 

[eandesmom]

We left Ka'ena at 12:28. Our plan was to head back and make lunch. We were STARVING! By the time we got back to Aulani, up to the room, dumped our stuff the last thing I personally felt like doing was making lunch. I don't even know that it was so much about making lunch, I mean we had lovely food there and a lovely lanai but...I have issues eating the same thing 2 days in a row. Leftover issues I guess you could call it. Though I eat a lot of the same things for lunch or breakfast, I usually alternate and for whatever reason, at that moment was having visions of 5 days in a row of turkey sandwiches and it was not at all appealing.

I

Wanted

A

Cheeseburger

BAD.

It may have had something to do with the calories we burned on our walk. It likely had more to do with the fact that my breakfast hadn't been all that large (and had been the same thing 2 days in a row). But for whatever reason, budget be darned, I wanted one. Much to my surprise, Jeff readily agreed. We decided to head down to Off the Hook and order burgers there. We also decided to make drinks to take down with us. Seriously, all the way back from the hike I was looking up burger places on my phone. I had done this before we left too and hadn't found anything. Sadly no Margaritaville or Cheeseburger in Paradise was to be found. A few other places but not remotely close.

On our way, we first checked the menu at AMA AMA as it has such a lovely view.

They offered

Angus Chuck Burger with Lemon Grass-Chile Bacon,
Gruyère Cheese, Kamuela Tomatoes, Mānoa Lettuce, Pickled Daikon, and Carrots $18​

That seemed a bit steep

Off the Hook had this

Angus Bacon Cheeseburger - served with choice of Taro Chips or French Fries. $14.00.
​

Ok, no fancy cheese or CARROTS (lol) but 4 bucks is 4 bucks.

We found a spot, a little closer to the tube slide exit than we’d have liked and waited. And waited. They were busy. They did stop by to let us know they’d be there in a minute. Then again to bring a menu. And finally stopped by to order.

"I'd like the cheeseburger, medium rare"

I'm sorry, we can't do that here.

"What do you mean you can't do that?"

We can only server burgers well done.

"What? Why?"

I don't know, all I know is all of the outside locations can only serve them well done, something to do with being out in the sun.

You can have it cooked to temperature at AMA AMA.

Okaaaaaaaaaaay.......

To say I was not happy was an understatement. When I am that hungry, and actually craving something, to be denied well...it's not pretty. Jeff, if possible was even more annoyed. And out of the principle of the thing we refused to pay the extra $4 to go to AMA AMA.

We could have had a well done burger.

Yeah. Not.

We could have gone back to the room and made sandwiches

Yeah. Not. We were committed at this point!

So we did what any reasonable person might do.

Go across the street to Monkeypod!

Here's what they had to offer



And live music!



And more fun drinks, which we would not have ordered since we'd made our own in our mugs..and could have gone back up for a refill.



I chose the Rain Tree Elixir this time

Rain Tree Elixir - $12
veev acai spirit, coconut water, lime, simple syrup, kaffir lime leaves



Now it seems to me that the burger came with Kim Chee and you had to add the fries. But you could add truffle fries! So of course we did. I think the fries were $4 so...yeah, we didn't save any money at all.

We both chose this one, although I have to admit I was tempted by the Turkey Burger (but that would have defeated my platform of I NEEDED a medium rare burger. Doesn't have quite the same ring with Turkey).

Big Island Cheese Burger - 12.95
Dijon Aioli, Sautéed Onion, Fontina, Vine-Ripened Tomato, Lettuce, House-Made Quick Pickle, House-Baked Bun


Clearly I didn't care. Besides I knew the mixed drinks were better here anyway!



Our server had a lot of fun teasing us about our mugs, wanting to know what was in them. The drink was rather lovely. A little sweet but I figured the sugar was good after how much I'd sweated on the hike...replacing electrolytes you know.

Check this baby out!



Look ma! Medium Rare!



We were seated at the same table as the previous night. Unlike the cute kids, today we had scary cheesy real estate people trying to put the move on a tourist. A man and a woman , both in bad suits and incredibly rude and not really interested in the potential buyer. The man kept yawning! After their "buyer" left they stayed for quite some time chatting and literally just oozed sleaze all the way to our table. They were entertaining. In a sad, wierd way.

It was not a cheap lunch. With the burgers, fries and drinks and tip it came close to $50. We'd have spent less had we gone to AMA AMA as we'd not have bought drinks.

It was worth EVERY penny.

Lunch complete, happy bellies we decided we should try to use our snorkel gear that we’d worked so hard to rent despite the aborted trip to the Northshore.

In the spirit of snorkeling apparently I decided a picture of the Koi were in order first.



Heading to the lagoon in mid to late afternoon was not the time to be trying it! It was cloudy, windy and the water was murky as heck, meaning we didn’t see much. Of course the fact that we went to the left side of the lagoon when the lovely Lisa Marie had clearly said the right, may not have helped either.

Bummed, we gave up and…

SHOCKER

Got ready to head to the Lazy River. As we packed up our gear I noted that my feet were crazy red. Like bright red strawberry birthmark kind of red, or burn red. Yeah. Straight rubber on my feet, with my allergy…not a great fit. Sigh.

Two trips around the Lazy River did help. PLUS we saw Owen Wilson!

Ok, not really, his slightly flabbier twin. Seriously. Same nose. It was nuts, we could not get over it. We had actually seen him and his GF the day before on the lazy river and had commented on how much he looked like Owen Wilson separately. Today again they were floating around. It was kind of funny, we joked that either they were following us or they might think we were stalking them.

I confess, I did not take my phone out for a single picture of any of this. But it DID happen!

 

[Leshaface]

Okay that's just so strange that they won't cook it they way you want it ...guess I know where we'll be going if we ever make it out that way Your burger looks delicious!

No Owen picture?! I don't believe it then

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah, Cynthia, all caught up here as well.

So they cannot serve a mid rare burger outside? Strange.

But at least you got truffle fries and a lovely drink in the end.
And a dip in the lazy river.

 

[emmysmommy]

Score for ordering a burger your way in the end!! Who would have thought it would be so hard to get a med rare burger?

I completely GET the idea of not wanting to eat the same thing day after day even if it means more $ in my pocket. I have a plan and then... oh, look at the pretty sparkly thing... I'm easily side-tracked!

Oh so sorry about the allergy flare up. Argh!

 

[CarolynK]

Good for you that you didn't settle! Ya know, we'd have done exactly the same thing! If you want to "take the risk" for ordering the burger the way you like it, that's your business.

I'm gonna make a note about Monkepod - sounds like our kind of place!

 

[MEK]

Smart move going across the street for a burger! What that craving like the one we had the day we ate at the Captain's Grille? I haven't craved a burger that bad in a LONG time.

Lunch looks like a ton of fun and interesting drinks certainly helps the cause.

Too bad about the snorkeling, but I'm sure the lazy river was awesome.

Latex allergy? You poor thing. Definitely make sure you list that if you are ever hospitalized. What am I saying - I am sure you have.

Did you ever get to snorkel?

Owen Wilson look alike - too funny!

 

[teekathepony]

There is nothing worse than a monstrous craving that's being denied! Glad you went across the street and got your burger the way you wanted it! The whole meal looks really good!
Ah too bad snorkelling didn't work out, but the lazy river is always a great backup!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[natebenma]

I have started to catch up on your wonderful trip report in Paradise! I'm at the end of your second day.

I thought even some of the views and that first room weren't terrible, if you looked in the right direction, but oh, the sounds you had to endure! Don't tell me I now have to think about that with room requests. "No hacking neighbors, please"

I love your arrival swag- the cute inconvenience pin and the leis.

Nice last minute play-call on breakfast. The pictures of Jeff and Minnie are priceless! The food looked good- I love places that have fish on the breakfast buffet. Too bad about Goofy! Our one meal at Crystal Palace, we never saw my favorite Tigger.

I can see why you are in love with those bamboo bathroom sinks. They are gorgeous!!!

What a really pretty panorama from the lobby!

on the view in your second room. It didn't suck! Too bad about the blocked sunset. What time was sunset?

The pool, cove and lazy river all sound and look spectacular. I love a great lazy river. What a fantastic lounger location in between the pool and the cove.

Also love to hear that the CMs are monitoring and dealing with chair hogs and the towel game.

I'll be back to read more later.

 

[Chilly]

Sometimes you just need a cheeseburger. Same thing happened to us the other year we were doing cheap lunches in our villa in Cyprus but at the end of the holiday DH was like can't we go to the pool bar for lunch, I caved easily.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I don't even know that it was so much about making lunch, I mean we had lovely food there and a lovely lanai but...I have issues eating the same thing 2 days in a row. Leftover issues I guess you could call it. Though I eat a lot of the same things for lunch or breakfast, I usually alternate and for whatever reason, at that moment was having visions of 5 days in a row of turkey sandwiches and it was not at all appealing.

Believe me, I know that feeling.

I

Wanted

A

Cheeseburger

BAD.

Whereas, that feeling I have just about every day.

On our way, we first checked the menu at AMA AMA as it has such a lovely view.

They offered

Angus Chuck Burger with Lemon Grass-Chile Bacon,
Gruyère Cheese, Kamuela Tomatoes, Mānoa Lettuce, Pickled Daikon, and Carrots $18​

That seemed a bit steep

And carrots? On a burger? I like to think I have an open mind, but...

"I'd like the cheeseburger, medium rare"

I'm sorry, we can't do that here.

"What do you mean you can't do that?"

We can only server burgers well done.

"What? Why?"

I don't know, all I know is all of the outside locations can only serve them well done, something to do with being out in the sun.

It also has something to do with the curvature of the earth, with the sun approaching the summer solstice.

So we did what any reasonable person might do.

Go across the street to Monkeypod!

Now it seems to me that the burger came with Kim Chee and you had to add the fries. But you could add truffle fries! So of course we did. I think the fries were $4 so...yeah, we didn't save any money at all.

But it's the principle of the thing, darn it!

Look ma! Medium Rare!

Take that, summer solstice guy!

Heading to the lagoon in mid to late afternoon was not the time to be trying it! It was cloudy, windy and the water was murky as heck, meaning we didn’t see much. Of course the fact that we went to the left side of the lagoon when the lovely Lisa Marie had clearly said the right, may not have helped either.

Well, that stinks. We definitely noticed more wind in the afternoon/evenings.

 

[rentayenta]

Darn, I can't see the Owen Wilson pic. He's so ugly, he's cute.

That burger looks amazing. And raw. I use to be able to eat burger like that until M made a Gordon Ramsey burger that was rare, like steak rare. I hurled for hours. I can still do rare steak but not burger. They have to be mid.

Glad you found a great place though. Nice smuggling in your own drinks. Ordering new drinks threw them off the scent of we-brought-our-own.

Love your smile in that pic. Gorgeous.

 

[afwdwfan]

I

Wanted

A

Cheeseburger

BAD.

Now you're talking my language!

Ok, no fancy cheese or CARROTS (lol) but 4 bucks is 4 bucks.

Not that I don't like carrots, but the only stick shaped food I want with a burger is fries.

"I'd like the cheeseburger, medium rare"

I'm sorry, we can't do that here.

You can have it cooked to temperature at AMA AMA.

At a $4 premium, of course.

Which, coincidentally, is about the cost of a burger and fries at Burger King where they always tell you to have it your way.

Go across the street to Monkeypod!

I'm starting to think that if I ever get to Aulani, I'm definitely going to have to check this place out.

I think the fries were $4 so...yeah, we didn't save any money at all.

But you got the burger you wanted!

We both chose this one, although I have to admit I was tempted by the Turkey Burger (but that would have defeated my platform of I NEEDED a medium rare burger. Doesn't have quite the same ring with Turkey).

That certainly would have been a FAIL.

Although nowhere near as bad a some type of veggie burger or something.

A little sweet but I figured the sugar was good after how much I'd sweated on the hike...replacing electrolytes you know.

Seems reasonable to me. :

They were entertaining. In a sad, wierd way.

So what was more entertaining at this place? The live music or the people watching?

It was worth EVERY penny.

And that's the important part.

Straight rubber on my feet, with my allergy…not a great fit. Sigh.

Two trips around the Lazy River did help. PLUS we saw Owen Wilson!


Ok, not really, his slightly flabbier twin. Seriously. Same nose.

No Owen picture?! I don't believe it then

Yep... Dis Rule. Pictures or it didn't happen.

 

[TinkyCheeks]

Oh my gosh, what is it with cheeseburgers? I can curb any other craving, but never the one for a cheeseburger! And no, a turkey sandwich would never do.

That's so strange that they wouldn't cook to order outside. I wonder if the meat doesn't stay as cold outside or something? Who knows. But that burger your ended up with looks delicious.

Sorry that your snorkeling adventure didn't work out, but stalking Owen Wilson's lookalike is a good activity, too.

 

[glennbo123]

Oh yeah, we've done that -- go somewhere else, just on the principle of the thing. Sometimes having principles costs more, but it makes you feel better!

 

[TarzansKat]

I am with you. When you get a particular food craving, nothing but that item will do. And I LOVE a good cheeseburger every now and then. YUM. That is just a whole plate of YUM right there!

Pair it with alcohol, and really what more is there to life? Besides that lazy river ride? I'm so with you! What a lovely trip you're having so far.