Ko Olina Hawaii - Saturday April 24th 2010

Saturday April 24th

Getting There:

We took Delta SLC at 11am direct to HNL. We used skymiles points (40k per ticket) so the total for flights was $5 each, $10 total. We arrived about 2P.M. Delta no longer serves comp food on this long flight except in first class so bring some or try one of their pay-for dishes. For only $10.00 we got a great little sandwich which we split. It was actually pretty good, but small for $10, and not great. But it tided us over during the flight since we had neglected to bring food nor had time to grab a bite in the airport which would have been just as expensive but probably a little nicer (well, actually, Jenivee did bring a bunch of junk food like coconut M&M's but....).

Spam Jam:

It was officially Spam Jam Weekend but we have done that before and did not feel the urge to get our fair share and fill of spam cooked in a couple dozen different ways this year. However, if you have never done the Spam Jam on Waikiki, I recommend doing it at least once. It is interesting and you will likely find a spam dish or two you actually find pretty tasty. When we went last time, we especially liked the fried spam with garlic prawns dish.

Car Rental:

We got our car on Priceline with Alamo for about $11/day plus taxes for 7 days. I stood in line too long, I could have used the quicksilver line but wasn't sure. So i spent about 20 minutes in line talking to a fellow from California who is a gospel singer with his own show. He tours to Hawaii a couple times a year, usually peforms on weekends, and then has his weeks free. Pretty nice gig.

Anyway, they let you choose whatever car in that class they have available. We started picking out an odd red-maroon buick then a 2008 Silver Mazda 6 showed up so we snagged it. That was nice because we have two Mazda 6's at home so familiarity was a factor. Plus, we love our Mazdas.

Drove to Ko Olina, checked in.

Unpacked. Setup computer.

We visited the welcome center and checked in with guest services. talked to some Ko Olina time-share owners.

Walked around the lounge. Watched the sunset from above Chuck's.

Went to Zippys for dinner. Jeni had fried noodles. Will had Royal Gourmet Steak burger with fries and teriyaki sauce.

Went to Safeway got some basics (bread, eggs, cheese, butter). Don't expect Safeway to be the best deal in Kapolei. It's not; but it is convenient. If you drive down the Makaha cost a bit, you can find some local grocery stores that have better pricing on basic stock food like Tamura Supermarket. But it's like anywhere, every place has their forté to draw people in and then they hope you buy a few more things at bigger profits for the convenience of not needing to go to another store. For instance, POG (Passion-Orange-Guava) grog (or juice) was cheapest at Tamura ($2.50/gl), the MOST at Costco ($3.63) and about the same at Safeway ($3.50).