Japanese visitors take up quite a significant tourist population in Waikiki, hence many things are customized in favor of the Japanese culture. That's absolutely the place for a Japan lover like me!
I even spotted One Piece shuttle bus in Waikiki, which I don't see in Japan at all!
Being the state capitol, Honolulu is a vibrant and blessed land filled with beautiful nature, historic landmarks and the inevitable shopping district. That means you can easily get a hang of everything from surfing to shopping, awesome isn't it? However, we spent more time at the beachside relatively to other places because beaches are still the main attraction of Honolulu to us.
If we haven't been to the beaches here, we haven't been to Hawaii.
Despite the heat, sitting at the beach can be a truly blessing here with such an amazing view and clear blue sky.
Sunny weather+breathtaking beach views, what more can I ask for?
After some leisure beach time, we moved on to the next destination- Downtown. Good thing about public transit here is that lots of buses pass by Downtown from Waikiki. Tada, we reached downtown in merely 20 minutes. We were immediately welcomed by the King Kamehameha statue and Iolani palace.
King Kamehameha statue
Iolani Palace
State Capitol Building
Honolulu landmarks have very unique architecture compared to other parts of the U.S, where skyscrapers blossom in the heart of the big cities. Buildings are relatively lower and less commercial in Honolulu. In fact, some of the buildings even remind me of the Southeast-Asian architectural design back home.
Among all, State Capitol building is one of its kinds as it portrays the history of this land through architecture . It incorporates the Aloha spirit and landscape in it to resemble the Hawaiian open political system.
We went back to Hilton beach by evening to catch the Friday fireworks which is held on every Friday. :) Catching the fireworks by the beach with the crowd was just fantastic, it was definitely a romantic moment which spiced up our trip.
The entire performance took about 4 minutes. I think it's a must-do-thing in Honolulu as you get to see good performance for free, in this Aloha land where passion is all about. :) It's a nice bonus to the trip!