Lanai, the Pineapple Island - January 3-6, 2012

On Tuesday, we checked out of the Marriott Ko'Olina (the front desk clerk was shocked that we were leaving as we still had 3 more nights left in the condo) and made our way back to Honolulu International Airport to catch a commuter plane over to Lanai.  I had booked the tickets directly on the go!Mokulele website as I found this was the least expensive way to get to the Pineapple Island.  (Pineapple growing used to be the #1 income producer on Lanai; now it's tourism)

We returned the rental car at National and were to wait for the shuttle to take us to the Mokulele terminal, but we decided to walk there since the airport was "just across the street".  Turned out it was only the United terminal that was across the street; the commuter terminal was the furthest away from the car rental facility, and a shuttle would have been prudent, especially when rolling a heavy suitcase.  Take my advice and wait for the rental car shuttle if you are not flying United/American/Continental.  On a favorable note, I did get to learn the layout of the airport along the way!

When we made it to the Mokelule check-in counter, the agent asked us our weight.  I figured that we'd be boarding a puddle jumper since Lanai wasn't a major destination, but having to keep track of how much weight was on board was a bit worrisome.  There weren't many people waiting in the commuter terminal.  It was a bit strange that our flight's departure information was not listed on the monitors.  A fellow passenger approached us and asked if we were on the flight to Lanai City and we said yes...the lady also noticed the departure not on there and wondered if she was in the right place.  Perhaps we were flying a mystery flight that would disappear over the ocean {insert Twilight Zone theme here}.  When boarding time approached, an employee came out and directed us to the tarmac, where a 9-seat propeller plane awaited us. (only one propeller, at the nose)  I had never flown such a small aircraft before...scary and exciting at the same time.

little propeller plane

cockpit without reinforced flight doors

not much to the safety card

good to go

The pilot was the only employee on board.  No co-pilot...what if something happened to the pilot!?  He gave us the safety briefing and told us that it was okay to use a camera throughout the entire flight.  Yay, I was able to take photographs under 10,000 feet!  The plane didn't need much runway to lift off.  I wasn't even sure if we even got up to 10,000 feet.

I'm taking pictures of runways!

Waikiki and Diamond Head

approaching Lanai, with interesting land formation

only runway on the island

The Lanai airport consisted of one runway and a small terminal (the size of a big house back home).  Baggage claim was a metal roll-up door.  (I noticed that women were the ones who were loading and unloading luggage!)   Representatives from the Four Seasons were awaiting us.  There are only three major hotels on Lanai, and two of them are Four Seasons:  Lodge at Koele and Manele Bay, plus Hotel Lanai.  Almost everyone was staying at one of the Four Seasons.  We waited for a little bit as another commuter flight was coming in with more guests.  Once everyone was accounted for, we boarded a shuttle heading to the Lodge at Koele.

it's really busy here

"your bags can be collected at baggage claim 2"

airport parking lot (long term parking may be in the distance)

Since Lanai had only a few choices for hotels, I had no choice but to "splurge" and stay at a Four Seasons.  It actually wasn't as expensive as it sounds.  I selected Koele not only because the rates were lower than Manele Bay in general, but it was also offered a "3rd night free" promotion, making it cost one third the price of staying at the other resort, and guests can use the facilities at both properties.  Plus, I booked my stay through David Ourisman of Metaphor Travel (a Four Seasons Preferred Partner, or FSPP), who provided the following amenities:

• Room upgrade when available
• Daily breakfast for two at the sit-down Terrace Restaurant at Koele, or buffet breakfast at Hulopo'e Court at Manele Bay (excluding alcohol and gratuity)
• $85 lunch credit once per stay (excluding alcohol and gratuity)

The 3rd night free offer plus the amenities made the cost of this stay comparable to a nice hotel in Las Vegas without amenities. (granted, breakfast at the resort can cost over $30/pp!)  Even though I could have booked the hotel myself as a travel agent, as my travel agency was not part of FSPP and the amenities far outweighed the commissions, it was an obvious choice to use David's services.  I have to thank flyertalk.com for introducing me to FSPP and David.

The reason why Koele costs so much less than Manele Bay is because the property is situated up in the "mountains" of Lanai, like an English country lodge.  The weather is cooler up here, and there are no beaches nearby.  The surroundings are so non-Hawaiian that locals come here to "get away from it all".  (whereas we do the opposite and head to a beach!)  Kaleb and I appreciated the fact that it was not near the ocean...it was a real treat to be somewhere atypical.

etched into stone

the pineapple - a symbol of hospitality

As we stepped off the shuttle, we were greeted with orchid leis and directed to a sofa where we were checked in personally by the concierge, who led us to our room for the next three nights.  True to the amenity list, we were upgraded to a Garden Deluxe room, on the second floor overlooking the beautiful grounds.  The room was bright and airy, with a patio balcony.  Everything you needed was in the room, including iPod dock, coffee/tea service, wine glasses and corkscrew, an empty compact fridge, plush bathrobes, hair dryer, L'Occitane toiletries, and even an umbrella and hiking sticks!

comfy king bed

bay window, great for reading

balcony overlooking perfect landscaping

indulgent toiletries

Since Lanai is not known as a touristy destination, I didn't buy a guidebook, but I had done some food-related research online and found a poke market in town so we could save on dinner costs.  The Four Seasons had shuttles running every half hour between Koele, Lanai City, and Manele Bay, so we hopped on one to head into town, a few minutes' ride.  "Downtown" Lanai City consisted of a two block radius.  We easily found the poke market (which looked like a converted house) and picked up some shoyu and wasabi ahi poke, along with some sea salad.  We also stopped by the grocery store and got local beer, papaya and sweets.  Since town wasn't too far away from the resort, we walked back, about a 15 minute stroll.  We enjoyed poke for dinner that night, and it was seriously the best I had ever eaten.  The fish was super fresh and cut up into large chunks that had no stringiness whatsoever.

my mouth is salivating just looking at this spread

ensaymadas (I think it was pure butter on top)

We took a short tour of the property, going through the different public rooms in the building (library, trophy room, gift shop), and traversing the landscaped grounds, including walking through the orchid greenhouse and checking out the pagoda.

is this for real?

perfectly situated

The next day, we woke up to a slightly foggy and drizzly morning, as if we were indeed in the English countryside.  We decided to head over to Manele Bay in hopes for sunnier weather as well as enjoy a buffet breakfast and the beach.  The sun was more present at Manele, and the buffet was really good!  After breakfast, we headed over to the beach, which was a bit off to the side of the hotel.  An attendant set up two lounge chairs with towels and a beach umbrella for shade.  Kaleb and I lounged and read our Kindles...utter relaxation.  The attendants would come by every half hour to give us ice water, lemonade and snacks such as smoothies and fresh fruit.  The sky was cloudy off and on, so it wasn't until later in the afternoon when I realized that the umbrella had not been shading me the entire time and I had gotten sunburned! (if you see tan lines on me in pictures taken a month from this trip, you'll know why)

looking out the back of the lobby

lounge area

a sampling of the breakfast buffet offerings, including Nutella french toast

fresh fruit, even longans!

nice public bathroom

beach on the left

where's my Corona?

We had a late lunch at Fresco to take advantage of the $85 credit.  It was too easy to spend the entire amount plus a few dollars over (excluding tip) on a non-alcoholic beverage, an appetizer, two entrees, and two desserts.

a non-alcoholic mojito dubbed a "no-jito"

scallop and shrimp ceviche

chicken club sandwich

I had a craving for a burger

cheesecake with coconut sorbet

raspberry lychee jello with vanilla ice cream

Half of the chicken sandwich was left over so we asked for a box.  The server took the plate and came back with a huge Four Seasons plastic bag containing our small container, as well as a disposable place setting...what service!  We caught the shuttle back to Koele and walked around the grounds before sunset.  There was an envelope on our door containing an invitation to the manager's cocktail reception that evening in the library.  We took one peek inside and noticed everyone was wearing business casual clothing; we skipped it and played pool and shuffleboard in the trophy room.

room had pool tables, foosball, shuffleboard, chess/checkers, big screen TV

Thursday was our last full day on Lanai, and thankfully it was a perfectly sunny day up at the lodge.  We started the morning with a sit-down breakfast at the Terrace restaurant.

fresh fruit juice and delicious coffee

the restaurant even provided reading material

"paniolo" breakfast with kalua pork

"lodge" breakfast with Portuguese sausage

After breakfast, we got a map from the concierge for a couple mile hiking trail starting from the golf clubhouse that offered views of Molokai and Maui.  I couldn't consider it a hiking trail, as a third of it seemed to be on a paved road for golf carts and service vehicles, plus we passed by a water storage tank and chain link fences.  Eventually, we got further in the woods and found ourselves greeted with a breathtaking view of the ocean and of the two neighboring islands.

orchid greenhouse and pagoda in the distance

another view of the resort

pond with waterfall next to golf course

Molokai in the distance

striking landscape

When we returned to the lodge, we relaxed in the common room and enjoyed some refreshing fruit infused water.  Then we availed ourselves to a full 18-hole executive putting course.  It wasn't exactly miniature golf, as there were real sand bunkers and water hazards and no concrete barriers to prevent ill-hit balls from falling in, so we had to play carefully as not to have to run back to concierge for a new ball.  This was as close to real golf as I had ever been, so it was an experience.  There was only one type of club to worry about (putter).  There even was a ball cleaner available.  By the 10th hole, I was already tired of playing the game...I don't know if I could survive 9 holes of real golf.  As we made our way towards the 18th hole, I kept thinking to myself, "Are we done yet!?"  My score ended up +32 and Kaleb +16, so there's a lot of room for improvement.

the water flavor changed daily

18-hole executive putting course

such bad form

studying the slope

Golf was followed by afternoon tea as a very late lunch/early dinner.  There were many varieties of tea to choose from; Kaleb also ordered an elderberry liqueur cocktail since he hadn't tried it before.  The afternoon tea menu consisted of three selections - traditional afternoon tea, afternoon tea for kids, and afternoon tea for men.  The kid's offering was whimsical sweets and cookies; the men's offering was full of meat items like hot dogs and sliders, haha!  I suppose the menu was designed to delight all members of the family.  Kaleb and I stuck to the traditional tea offering.  The server gave us a box with tea samples to smell and select.  Then she steeped the tea in pots which were warmed with a tealight base.  The three-tier platter of goodies were delicious!

tea samples

my selection

the goodies arrive!

finger sandwiches

the apple crumble had gold leaf on it; the macaroons were heavenly

fresh scones

elderberry cocktail; scone toppings:  lemon curd, clotted cream, berry jam

The tea room was connected to the music room; there was a baby grand, so I played a couple of songs.  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games in the trophy room.  Kaleb taught me how to play backgammon. (I know, I live under a rock)

making music

shuffleboard

To top the evening off, we snacked on the leftover chicken club sandwich from yesterday and the remainder of the food that we bought on arrival.  Then it was time to pack as we were to head out to the Big Island very early the next day.  Incredibly, time flew by on this sleepy island.  We didn't even have a chance to try clay shooting ("Pull!") or go horseback riding...it'll have to wait until next visit!  Now, onward to the Big Island...

Ringing in the New Year...Hawaiian style! First stop, Oahu - December 30, 2011 - January 3, 2012

Yes, another trip to Hawaii...but it was supersized, with visits to three islands:  Oahu, Lanai, and the Big Island.  I know it seems like we always go to "Hawaii", but there are multiple islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, each with its distinct personality, so it's not like it's the same place over and over.  It would be the first time I had visited Lanai, plus Kaleb had never been to Oahu.  The Big Island segment was included because I had received a free night's certificate from the Four Seasons for my cancelled reservation due to the tsunami back in April.  It was to expire next April, so I figured I better use it...when would I have another chance to save 50% on a two night stay?

To keep costs down (since I was going to stay at the Four Seasons on Lanai as well), I planned to trade my Marriott Shadow Ridge timeshare for Marriott's Ko'Olina in Oahu.  (Plan B was to grab any decent available Waikiki hotel that had vacancies on hotels.com)  I had deposited my week into Interval International's exchange system really late, so I only could reserve real-time inventory starting from 59 days out, versus the normal way of putting in a request and having the database search automatically for a match.  I logged in very often to check inventory.  I had to hope that a Ko'Olina owner would wait too long to deposit his week, and do it when I was logged in.  I had help from the Timeshare Users Group, with people checking inventory and posting choice weeks they've seen in a members-only thread.  Based on old postings a year ago, I would expect to see a couple of New Year units pop up around 3 weeks before check-in.  I kept a browser tab with the database up all day at work and even at night when I was on my desktop.  Of course, the one day I didn't check, someone posted that the week with the exact check-in date I wanted showed up!  It was gone by the time I logged in.  New Year's week in Hawaii was very rare, and I was saddened that I missed my opportunity and had to resort to Plan B.  But two mornings later, I popped wide awake at 5am, feeling totally refreshed. (which was not normal)  I figured maybe I should check the database.  And there it was, the week I wanted, starting December 30!  It was also a 2-bedroom condo...an upgrade as I had deposited a studio unit!  I couldn't believe my luck...it ended up the only sighting anyone ever saw for that check-in day.  Oahu accommodations...check!

We needed a car on Oahu as the Ko'Olina was not on Waikiki, and a taxi ride from the airport to the timeshare had been reported to cost ~$90 each way (ouch).  We also wanted to visit the beaches around Oahu as well as Pearl Harbor.  I found a great rate using a contract ID found on Flyertalk's National car thread, plus used our free Emerald Club membership to bypass the lines.  Oahu car rental...check!

I had bought airfare in middle of November after giving up on waiting for prices to drop.  Good thing I didn't wait too much longer because the prices continued to increase after purchase.  Christmas and New Year's prices are premium.  Fortunately I had some credit vouchers to apply to the tickets.   I got the vouchers when I noticed the United flights I bought to go to Kauai last February went down in price.  United issues credit vouchers for the difference; just go to your itinerary online and there is a button to "Change Itinerary" and an option to check for a lower fare.  If the fare is lower, click through and United will mail you vouchers for the difference.  The bad part about these vouchers is that you have to go to the airport to redeem them, so I bought the tickets when I was returning from a business trip.  Airfare...check!  Good to go!

The flights were on United (surprise surprise) so Kaleb and I would get a chance to get upgraded to the front of the plane, thanks to UDU.  We were upgraded to first about a couple of days before departure so it would be a great start to our vacation!  However, it wasn't all smooth sailing.  Thankfully, there were no mishaps with Kaleb's flight from visiting his family back East to get to Sacramento on December 29th evening...it probably would have been best to have a day's buffer in there.  However, I feared that the 4:30pm flight on the 30th from Sacramento to San Francisco would be delayed; when I bought the tickets at the airport, the agent warned me that the SMF-SFO flights were usually delayed and that one hour was not enough transit time to make up for it.  I decided to press my luck, and hoped for no whammies.  I had monitored flight delays a few days before our departure; sometimes they were delayed, sometimes on time.  As I watched today's flights get delayed, I got anxious and called United to see if I could get a same day confirmed stand-by for an earlier flight.  The reservations agent said that the flight was full, but it wasn't yet marked as "delayed", even though I knew that earlier flights were reporting at least 45 minutes late.  I decided that we head to the airport early and physically stand by for the 2:30pm SMF-SFO flight in case seats open.  I was pretty stressed by this point (though I had a good laugh while going through security; after going through the X-ray body scanner (aka nude-o-scope), Kaleb needed to have his armpits frisked!).  Then, we hear the sweet voice of the gate agent calling our names...we cleared stand-by with one seat to spare!  The flight was already 1 hour delayed.  We were very fortunate to get on board as our original flight ended up 2 hours late and we would have missed our 6:45pm connection to Honolulu.  Whew!  (I did wear my Lucky sweatpants that day...)

Dinner was offered on our flight. We started our meal with drinks, warmed nuts, and a hot towel to freshen up.  Entrees were a choice of a chicken stir-fry or sea bass.  We got one of each.  Dessert was a freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookie.  Kaleb ended up playing lots of Plants vs. Zombies (on the new Kindle Fire I gave him for Christmas) while I finished reading The Tipping Point on my regular Kindle.

yay, (fuzzy) warm nuts!

chicken stir-fry was not good

sea bass was very good

warm cookie

We arrived in Honolulu around 10:20pm.  Passengers waited by the baggage carousel for quite some time before it started moving.  That got everyone excited, but the bags came out a long 5 minutes later.  I suppose to be efficient, a second carousel started moving as well with no indication of flight; our bags were on that one.  We then walked over to the National rental car facility across the street from the United terminal.  Even though we were Emerald Club, we still had to go to the counter, plus there was no Emerald Aisle where you could choose your car.  Instead, Kaleb was presented 3 sets of keys; he chose the least beat-up, which was wise - we ended up getting a two week old 2012 Toyota Camry with 650 miles on it!  It still smelled of new car, and had a touch screen to control everything.

no GPS though

It took about 30 minutes to get to the resort, located in West Oahu.  The Ko'Olina exit sign was almost too small to notice.  There was a security gate monitoring people coming into the resort area; we told them we were heading to the Marriott and the guard waved us through without checking anything.  It was already past midnight when we checked into our 2 bedroom lockout unit (a 1 bedroom and studio with a connecting door) and found that our keys did not unlock the studio side.  We were too tired to return to the lobby and address the issue as I had 2 hours of jet lag, and Kaleb had 5 hours' worth, so we went to bed.

The next morning, the front desk fixed everything so we were able to open up the studio side of the condo. (that 2nd bathroom helped a lot! ;) )  I wasn't impressed with the floorplan as you had to either go through the bathroom or through an awkwardly placed space near the balcony to get to the master bedroom, but I'd still take the condo any day over a regular hotel room!

master bedroom

separate master tub (no jacuzzi jets though)

separate master bath (which was also the "public bathroom")

full kitchen

dining and living room with sofabed

king bed and sofabed in the studio portion

kitchenette in the studio (microwave and bar fridge in the cabinets)

combo bath/shower in the studio bath

"island view" from our balcony

We headed off to Costco and Safeway to pick up some food for the next three days...pre-cut papaya, pineapple, poke, breakfast items, local beer and snacks.  After lunch, we walked around the resort and along the pathway between the lagoons to check out the rest of the hotels.  Aulani (a Disney resort) was not there the last time I was in the area, so I had to go check it out.  There was a locked gate leading from the beach to the resort, requiring a guest room key card for access.  We waited until a big group of people unlocked it and we followed them in.  The property was true to Disney fashion with attention to detail in all aspects...including the crowds.  There were people everywhere, not as relaxing as their website photos depict, but it may have been because it was the holiday season. We got a shave ice from Papalua Shave Ice, which was located next door to the snorkeling pond, and ate it in the cave that had an underwater view of the snorkelers, perfect for parents wanting to get a shot of their little ones in the water.

a view of the resort

this shave ice was meh, more like a snowcone :(

nice architecture

Hawaiian touches

very nice public bathroom with fully enclosed stalls

automated drinking fountain

Tonight was New Year's Eve and the Ko'Olina resort sponsored a fireworks display.  After dinner in our condo and a two hour nap (still jet lagged!), Kaleb and I headed out to the beach where people were already gathered.  It had been 11:50pm last time I checked my iPhone.  What seemed to be a short moment later, we heard a few folks blow some noisemakers at the nearby restaurant...sure enough, it was 12am.  No countdown to midnight?!?  I guess they don't really get into that in Hawaii!  A minute later, the announcer introduced the fireworks show, and we were treated to a 15 minute display of pyrotechnics over the lagoons.  It was nicer than I expected, with some exotic fireworks I had never seen before.  Happy New Year!

boom boom boom

rings inside each other

flowers

big closing - sorry so blurry!

For New Year's Day, we headed out to do some sightseeing.  I highly recommend "Oahu Revealed" as a guidebook to all things to do in Oahu.  (I own every book in the entire "Revealed" series; let me know if you want to borrow one)



The maps in the book help to navigate the roads as it can be a complicated mess if you don't have GPS. (bring a GPS if you have one!)  Today's stop would be to Waikiki Beach as my friends Michelle and Nunzio and family were vacationing at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, so we planned a visit at their hotel.  Kaleb and I got to Waikiki early, relaxed at a shady park, and did a stroll around.  There were people everywhere.  Parts of the beach were very shallow, and it felt strange to walk on the main beach path and pass inches away from people sunning on towels...I don't see how that would be relaxing, and possibly get sand kicked in one's face.

at the park

view of Diamond Head

We met up with Nunzio and Michelle at their hotel pool and caught up on goings-on.  Nunzio told us of a local supermarket called Don Quijote half a mile from where we were that had a nice selection of poke, so we drove there after the visit.  We were bombarded by the smell of dirty gym locker upon entering the store!  I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to shop there, but the smell disappeared once we ventured deeper into the building.  There were a lot of funky things sold there like Japanese housewares and alien-like food.  We picked up poke and other treats and headed back to the resort to enjoy them, plus watch the sunset.

"Monsters Inc"-themed, or could be a moldy sponge, bleh (did not buy this!)

fresh soft mochi, mmm

brown rice musubi with Spam,  yum!

sunset on the lagoon

Monday was our last full day in Oahu...where did the time go?  We headed over to Pearl Harbor.  The movie and the boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial were free; you just picked up a ticket from the counter, first come first served.  The official website warned that tickets could be gone by noon, so we got there around 11am and got a ticket for 1:30pm, with 3pm being the final showing.  (you can reserve tickets online starting February 16, 2012, for a convenience fee)  To pass the time, we went through the museums, walked around the area, and munched on a bag of taro chips from the snack bar.

At 1:30pm, we queued up to enter the movie theater.  The film depicted the days leading up to the fateful attack on December 7, 1941.  After the movie ended, we were directed to a ferry which took us over to the memorial, which was built on top of the remains of the USS Arizona.  Oil from the ship continues to bubble up to the surface.

ships parked around the harbor

"You are here"

can't imagine diving with this on

ferry parked up to the USS Arizona memorial dock

70 year old oil

After our visit to Pearl Harbor, we headed to the North Shore to see if there was any surfing going on.  The Hawaii highways don't always have symmetrical exits on each side, so we ended up having to double back to get on the North Beach exit.  (need GPS!)  Once on the correct road, we ran into traffic heading into the town of Hale'iwa.  I heard about the awesome shave ice to be had here, either at Matsumoto's or Aoki's.  There were lines down the street at both places, so we skipped it as we didn't want to stand around for an hour.  The highway rounded North Shore, passing Turtle Bay Resort; we eventually turned around before reaching the town of Kahuku as I saw several shrimp stands on the side of the road. (food!)  The Oahu Revealed guidebook suggested to try Romy's, so we stopped there and were elated to see no lines.  However, looks were deceiving...turned out there was an hour wait.  One hour for shrimp?!?  Were they catching them in the pond in the back?  It was only 5pm too, so not exactly dinner time.  Disappointed, we left and headed towards Sunset Beach as the sun was starting to set.  There were a few surfers out there, not as many as I'd hoped, but the waves were probably higher in the morning.

beautiful beach

as the sun sets

We headed back home after watching the sunset, giving us a second opportunity to pass by the shave ice places in Hale'iwa.  Matsumoto's was closed, but there was a short line at Aoki's!  We stopped and stood in line less than 10 minutes, which was enough time for a few mosquitoes to sample my blood.  Not the best shave ice I ever had (Ululani's), but this batch was still tasty!  Finely shaven ice drenched in three delicious cane sugar syrups plus condensed milk, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sweet azuki beans on the bottom.  Delish!

good shave ice is a must-have in Hawaii

Tonight was our last night in Oahu.  Tomorrow, we head to Lanai!