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Good morning. Good morning, guys. Greetings from W Kiki Beach. I have arrived here just in time for sunrise, and it couldn't be a more beautiful way to be kicking things off here in Honolulu. And yeah, I'm really thrilled to be here. This is the Hawaii that I've seen in movies and on TV shows. I'm going to be doing as much as I possibly can in Honolulu in just a short amount of time. You can think of this as a brief Honolulu travel guide where we're going to try to cover as many things to do, see, eat, drink, and experience in the city as we possibly can on a short trip. So, my first introduction to Wiki Beach was last night. I came here for sunset, and it was absolutely packed
bananas. But you know what? It had such an iconic vibe. Even though it was super busy, people were out and living their best life, just enjoying being on the beach, whether they were getting a suntan, going for a stroll, jumping into the water, splashing around, swimming. You had people surfing, you had people paddle boarding, all different experiences. You saw people falling off of the board, and then you saw others who've probably been doing this for decades and look like absolute legends out there. So basically anything and everything you could possibly imagine was happening. It's one of those iconic locations that actually lives up to the hype. But now to contrast what is like
being here for sunrise. Clearly this is not an early morning destination. Despite the temperature being ideal for an early morning walk and the waters being so warm and inviting. As we walk past these surfboards here, I just wanted to let you know that I did try surfing once in Australia. It did not go very well and um I just didn't grow up skateboarding or snowboarding in Canada when I had the opportunity to do so. So my balance for surfing is not great. So friends, the most iconic landmark you can't miss here at Wiki Beach is the Duke Kahanamoku bronze statue. It stands 9 ft tall. He welcomes you with open arms and a surfboard behind him. He's just an absolute legend. He's a former
Olympic gold medal swimmer and he's also a figure that helped popularize surfing here in Hawaii. So when you see the statue, you can go over and take pictures like all the other tourists and also serves as a really useful landmark to kind of know where you are at the beach too. So friends, something else that's really nice about walking around Wiki in the morning aside from the lack of crowds, how comfortable the temperature is right now. There's a beautiful breeze. The sun is not out and cooking me right at the moment. So this is just pure tranquility. I could walk around like this for hours. And yes, I'm maybe sweating a little bit, but not too much. My goodness, friends, it's so
amazing that just behind me, they have a Lawson station. When Audrey and I were visiting Japan, we practically live there. We would be going there for cheap budget meals, snacks, and also when we arrived in Japan and were super jetlagged, we'd be going there at like, you know, 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning to grab like random snacks at night. And it looks like inside of the store, it's fairly authentic. Like a lot of the Japanese products have been brought over here, too. There's also some local Hawaiian items as well. But that just brought back so many memories. Okay, friends. This morning for breakfast, we are going local and healthy. I have got an asai bowl right here. I decided to go
for the large. This was the W Kiki large bowl. This is not something I've had very often in my life. I eat a lot of granola. I eat a lot of fruit, but I haven't had too many of these. So, the acai is like a blended berry mix. You can see right here. And it's got granola. It's got different types of syrups and honey. And then, of course, it's topped with fruit. I've got blueberries. I've got coconut. I've got strawberry. I'm excited. I got the large bowl. It's absolutely massive. And I can't wait to eat this. So, let's give it a shot. M. Oh, that's really tasty. has such a fresh taste to it. Every bite is just so refreshing and delicious. And it's also really nice to be embracing the healthy Honolulu lifestyle. You come here and
you see people surfing, paddle boarding, jogging, riding their bicycle. So, it's nice to be pairing that healthy local active lifestyle with equally healthy food. 2. Hello. Good morning. Good morning, friends. I decided to make my first stop here on the red trolley line at Foster Botanic Garden. I decided, hey, why not go out and enjoy a nice green escape here in the middle of the city. This particular
botanic garden is over 14 acres in size, and some of the trees were planted as early as 1850. I can't wait to explore. One of my favorite things to do in a city is to enjoy as many green escapes as possible. I love going to botanic gardens and I can already tell that this one is going to be very impressive. It's just teeming with trees and vegetation and I'm getting a lot of sun cover as well. So, I appreciate that almost as much as anything else. So, something that I'm appreciating about the Foster Botanic Garden is that it's not just a series of pathways. There's a lot of open green spaces as well and park benches to sit down. So, it's not just a place to explore. It's a
place where you can also rest, relax, linger, and just take in all of the natural beauty that's on offer here. So guys, one of the reasons I got off at the Botanic Garden was that I wanted to visit some other nearby attractions that were easily accessible on foot. And it's gone even better than expected. At the moment, I'm walking down College Walk, which is a very pedestrianfriendly area. Super wide sidewalks, lots of bridges to cross. It's just been very pleasant hopping from one place to the next. For instance, I just got to go to a Zumo Tisha Shinto shrine. So, I've just naturally stumbled upon the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. I've now
entered into Chinatown, and that's exciting because I'm starting to get hungry. I've got dim sum on my mind. Hello. The big custard bite is just delicious. Flaky exterior, creamy, gooey goodness. It's a phenomenal dessert. I'm going to save the last two for the end. Also, the deep fried moshi with meat. And guys, the portions here are enormous. They're so much bigger than what I'm used to having dim sum. But I'm certainly not complaining. I'm loving it. But it would have been nice to have Audrey to share this with because I'm going to need some help eating all this food. I still got one more thing to come. Again, just such
a beautiful texture here. Nice chunks of meat as well. Really tasty gemstone over here. Last but not least, I've got the green onion cake to try. Sliced up like a pizza into eight. This is cool because I used to have this when I lived in Edmonton. There was a place nearby in my apartment. I would go and get this frequently. So, I'm very excited. Once again, it's just very similar to all the other textures I've had here. Crispy on the outside, gooey in the middle, very tasty and a blast from the past. Oh, guys, such an epic meal at the Fukulam Seafood Restaurant. What a find.
It just felt like so authentic and local and reminded me of the classic dim sum restaurants I first went to in Malaysia with the push carts and the kind of the chaos and the going back and forth. All the tables were packed. In fact, when I first went into the restaurant, I had to wait like 5 minutes to get a table. So, anyways, the food was delicious. The portions were huge and I was able to eat all of that for roughly 20 bucks. So, again, excellent value. I'd highly recommend that place, but now that I think about it, it's kind of funny. It's a seafood restaurant and I didn't end up ordering any seafood. So, a little bit of a failure on my part, but I would go back there again. That was an excellent
place to have lunch. So friends, I was really happy to get to spend so much time in historic Chinatown. Not only does this feel so much less touristy than YT, it's felt like so much more of a local experience just wandering the streets here, I've been going past fresh markets, I've been seeing fruits like durian on display. So, so I've really enjoyed being here and I've been especially happy to explore this neighborhood on foot. I'm here at Alana Moana Shopping Center. This is the biggest open air shopping mall in the world. There are over 350 shops. But before I talk about those, I have to tell you that I was so desperate to sit down and grab a refreshment. I ended up getting a coconut shake. I mean, I was
just getting destroyed out in the sun this afternoon. Now that I've sat down and cooled off and kind of slowly consumed that delicious coconut shake, I feel so much better. And I'm going to go show you around a little bit. Like I said, 350 shops. So, this place is absolutely massive. Now, I'm sure you can shop until you drop here at the Ala Moana Center. My bad that I called it the Alana Moana Center. That's incorrect. I'm actually pretty bad at mispronouncing things. It is the Ala Moana Center. Anyways, I'm sure you can shop until you drop over here, but uh I'm hot. I am tired. And uh it was nice to walk around a little bit, but I also don't need to see all 350 shops. So, I'm going to get on a bus and head back to
Wiki. Well, guys, dinner was a greasy affair. I had noticed the Aloha Melt Shop a few times wandering around here in my neighborhood, and I decided, okay, I'm popping in. It looks pretty darn good. So, I ordered their most expensive one, the Aloha patty melt, which came with four different kinds of cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, proolone, and American. Then with a beef patty, bacon, caramelized onions, and jalapenos with a spicy Sriracha ioli sauce. That was pretty insane. I don't think I've ever had a grilled cheese that jacked before, but my gosh, was that ever a gut bomb. Super greasy, but also super good. And to cool off after that greasy meal, I went over and tried Hawaiian shave ice
for the first time. That has been on my list for a while, and I was really excited to try it. So, I placed an order and I started eating and one of the staff realized that I had accidentally been served a sugar-free order. So, we started talking for a while and I said, "Man, I really like coconut." She's like, "You've got to try this pinina cola version." So, so she basically replaced what I was having with one of the more premium versions on the menu. It had toasted coconut. It had delicious coconut cream and pineapple. And also, she gave me some mochi balls to try. So, that was a really, really nice introduction to Hawaiian shave ice. It's so refreshing. It's so tasty. It's
sweet. And honestly, after having that big, greasy meal, it's exactly what I needed to cool off. So tonight I thought I would show you guys something a little bit different. So instead of taking you guys back to Wiki Beach where it's likely packed with tourists, we are out at Aloai Canal which is the northern border of Wik Ki and has a much more local vibe. Here you'll find people out jogging, walking, and enjoying a more leisurely pace as the temperature drops and the sun goes down. Good morning friends and greetings once again from Wiki Beach. Another beautiful day. Another gorgeous sunrise just happened. So, I woke up bright and early and decided to go get some breakfast. Now,
shout out to Shannon from Wiki Trolley's who recommended eggs and things. So, he was telling me about how good the pancakes were. So, what I ended up doing was ordering the sampler platter. I had three different local toppings on each of the pancakes. So, it came with three pancakes. One was topped with shredded coconut. The other one had pineapple. And then finally, the third one had macadamia nut. And it came with a mountain of cream. The pancakes were so fluffy and delicious. So, I thought it was a fantastic breakfast. And the sign of a good place for breakfast is that you have a lineup at 6:00 in the morning. There were like 15 other people in front of me. So, I got there just in
time, just before it opened. And um yeah, it had a really cool retro classic diner vibe as well. So, highly recommend it. And um yeah, just a phenomenal breakfast and I'm definitely on a sugar high at the moment. Well, friends, while I'm still at the beach and enjoying sunrise, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to talk about transportation I took while I was here in Honolulu. So, what I decided given the time crunch that I had, basically just one full day and two half days, I decided to get the Y Kiki trolley pass that gave me access to all four different lines. I believe the regular price was just over $70 and I got an online coupon for seven bucks. So, excellent value because I ended up
using all of the lines. So, I know they all have official names, but I'm just going to basically describe them uh casually and formally with my own names. You could think of the pink line as the hotel and shopping route. The blue line was the coastal route. It got you out of Wiki and um and exploring some of the nicest parts of the island. The red line was more like the downtown loop and the green line was a diamond head. So, I ended up using them all. And what was neat is that each vehicle was slightly different. So, you had the old-fashioned trolleys with the classic wooden benches, but you also had the double-decker one, the pink line, which
is more like the standard sightseeing tour bus that you have. However, I especially like the trolley one because as you were going along, you could feel the wind just like whipping into your face and it felt like a bit more adventurous and fun. So, overall, that was a really good way to get around. I also did a lot of walking, especially through like Chinatown and Wik Ki. And then also I took a local bus twice. $3 per ride. Excellent value. So that's how I got around with just two days in Honolulu. And I would definitely recommend that system. Friends, how lucky am I? I have found a Tim Han within walking distance of my hotel here in Honolulu. This is going to be my fourth time going to Tim Han. I've gone
in Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, and now Honolulu. So I'm so excited. I've placed an order with four different items. I'm going for the barbecue pork buns, which I think are the all-time classic here at Tim Holan. Harao, the shrimp, and I'm also getting the matcha sesame balls with red bean paste and the shaolong bao. So, so excited for that. Oh, yeah. Such sweet meaty goodness. I love the delicate exterior of these pants so much. The horo is delicious, guys. is one of my all-time favorites. Also, one of Audrey's favorites, too. I wish I could be sharing with her. So good. That soupy goodness once you bite into it, it's the best. And last but not least, guys, we have the matcha sesame
green balls with red bean paste in the middle for dessert. An all-time favorite of mine, too. I've never had it with matcha before, so that's kind of a special flavor. I've already broken one up here, so I'm going to take a bite of that. And I'm thrilled to be eating dim sum here in Honolulu, Hawaii. All righty, guys. We're at the point of the video where it's time for me to show you the accommodations. So, Audrey did a fantastic job booking something that was both fun, funky, retro, and affordable. So, we stayed here at the White Sand Hotels. I should say not we. I stayed here at the White Sand Hotels. This was meant for all of us, including Audrey and baby, but uh obviously she wasn't
able to come. But um this place ended up being fantastic in terms of location, in terms of comfort, in terms of affordability. I love that it's a 1957 property and that it's retained a lot of its retro vintage and funky charms. So, I'm going to show you a few of those little details, but overall, it was a great place to stay for a couple of nights. They have a really nice pool. They also had really nice staff and just some nice places to chill out and lounge as well. So, to be honest, I even enjoyed the outside of the hotel even more than the inside. I mean, I love the funky decor inside, but outside is where
it's at. This entire hotel was built around relaxation, socialization, and just chilling out either by the pool or on one of these nice, comfortable couches that I'm sitting on. It's such a relaxed, welcoming vibe. For instance, if you just didn't feel like going out sightseeing for the day, this would be the perfect place to hang out here in the shade, read a book. In the evenings, you have the restaurant and bar as well. Just doesn't get any more chill or relaxed. And uh and you got to love staying here in a retro vibe hotel when there's so many upscale options in Wy Ki. I love it. Well, friends, all good things come to an end. I'm here at the
airport ready to fly back to Calgary. My time in Hawaii just went by like that. Um went so quick. I had such a good time, but at the same time, I'm really happy to be going home and seeing my baby girl and also Audrey. So, for my last meal, I had Japanese udon. It was so good. I went to Maragame udon, which was like a stone throw away from where I was staying. And um Oh, it was really tasty, authentic udon. It was prepared right in front of you. You went up with your tray. I also ended up getting some tempura. And I finally got to try the spam bubi. Now, I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not a huge fan of spam. So, I mean, I'm glad I tried it, but it wasn't a hit with my taste buds.
However, the udon was absolutely delicious and so much so that I was slurping my noodles and lifting my bowl up to my mouth to finish every last drop. It came with egg, meat, chives, and a nice thick hearty broth. So, overall, that was a great meal to end things off, and um I had a really good time in Honolulu. Unfortunately, there were a number of things I didn't get to do. The most obvious being not visiting any of the Pearl Harbor memorial sites. Um, I would have really liked to have gone out there. It was just in the complete opposite direction of where I was heading. Also would have really enjoyed doing the Diamond Head Crater hike. Now, a tip for you guys, if you
know you're going to Honolulu, book that hike because the only thing that was available were hikes in the afternoon during the height of the midday sun. and that just didn't appeal to me at all in this climate. So, anyways, that's that. So, thank you guys so much for watching. Please don't forget to like and subscribe, leave a comment below, and we'll have more videos on our channel coming soon. That's all for now.
