I’ve been back for a while, but I’m just now getting around to posting these photos from my last day in Hawaii. I had a great trip, and I think I learned a bit about the place and myself. I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to head out there, whenever that may be.
Here’s a photo of my room at the Waikiki Sand Villa hotel:
I read a lot of reviews before selecting this one. I really had very few requirements…it needed to be close to the location of the conference, it needed to be inexpensive, and it needed to have free, in-room, high-speed internet access. The reviews were mostly positive but several of them said that the place needed to be remodeled, etc. I stayed there for almost a week and I can say that I would recommend it completely to almost anyone.
I had a great time there. The staff was friendly and helpful, the rooms were nice and always tended to. I put a “do not disturb” sign up most of the time because I didn’t need a lot of stuff and didn’t care if it was a mess, and I even had one of the maids stop me in the hall and ask if there was anything she could provide, extra towels, clean glasses, etc. even if I didn’t need her to clean the room. Sure, it could probably use a paint job and some new fixtures here and there, but for a little over $60/night just a couple of blocks from the beach, it was an amazing deal! Do those repair/remodel upgrades that the reviews were complaining about and I would no longer be able to afford to stay here…I like the Waikiki Sand Villa just the way it is 
On my last day, I was just wandering around, looking at things that I hadn’t seen before, and one of the places I ended up finding was Bob’s Ukulele:
I just went in because it seemed like an interesting place from the outside and the ukuleles were beautiful and unlike the cheap, mass produced ones I’d seen all around in the gift shops. Inside, I met Wai and we talked for about an hour about Hawaii and Texas and everything in between:
He was a really great guy, willing to explain anything about Hawaii from food to vacationers to recycling to ukuleles and it was all fantastic to discuss. I have about the least amount of musical ability of anyone, but I’m actually interested in owning a ukulele after talking to Wai, not because he was trying to sell me one but because he wasn’t trying to sell me one. He was talking to me about Hawaii and it made me want to own one. That’s a good salesman. Unfortunately, they were quite expensive, so I didn’t get to take one home, but I’ll probably be back to chat with him again in the future, whether I buy a ukulele or not.
For lunch, I was either going to go back to Fatty’s Chinese Kitchen or to this new place that I found out about…Samurai Takoyaki! I’d been wanting to try takoyaki, Japanese fried balls of dough with steamed bits of octopus in the middle, since I heard about them years ago. So I made the decision and went to Samurai Takoyaki:
Here’s what I received with my combo order of fried udon, onion takoyaki and a coke:
I have to say…I was not impressed. It was not at all what I was expecting. From all of the things I’ve seen and heard, I thought it would be a bit crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with the tako (octopus) in the center…what I got was fairly mushy dough with an extremely chewy hunk of tako. Should have stuck with Fatty’s, but at least I tried it. I’ll definitely try it again when in Japan because this just wasn’t what I was expecting.
And finally, this was my ABC Store:
ABC Stores are EVERYWHERE in Waikiki. There’s one on just about every major corner. People joke about how prominent Starbucks locations are, but it’s amazing how many ABC Stores there are in Waikiki. If you pass one up, you will find one again a block later.
These stores are like a combo mini-mart/gift shop and if you have a good one, the people working there will be able to help you with any questions you have about getting around the island. The people at this location were FANTASTIC! I got my bus pass here, they helped me get to Manoa Falls, to Hanauma Bay, and anywhere else I needed to go. It was about a block from Waikiki Sand Villa and just across the street from a major bus stop. It was everything I needed and very helpful.
I have many more photos and I’ll possibly post more in the future as I dig through them, but for now, that’s the end of my trip to Hawaii. I’m already looking forward to returning. I had a wonderful time and I think it was important to have this experience by myself, but it definitely would have been nice to be able to share it with Becky.