Hula Planet:What To Do In Hawaii

Waikiki Christmas 2010 – Holiday Events & Where to Dine

Are you headed to beautiful island of Oahu to celebrate Christmas at Waikiki Beach? If so, you’ll find plenty of festive ways to enjoy the holiday season! You’ll find everything from breakfast with Santa Claus to lavish Christmas dinner buffets to holiday lights and concerts. It’s definitely an exciting to be going to Waikiki Beach! Before, we dive into our list of things to do and where to go, I want to share a few points of advice first. I recommend you make reservations, order tickets, etc. as soon as possible to secure the place and time you like. Unless otherwise stated, you can assume that taxes and gratuities are not included in the listed prices. Most Waikiki Beach hotel-based restaurants will be open on Christmas day. Check directly with the concierge of your accommodations for their special Christmas meals and events. As Christmas approaches, most likely, I’ll be adding more events, so do check back. Learn how to say Mele Kalikimaka, Hawaii’s way to say Merry Christmas . I’m organizing this long and very detailed list by day, starting with Christmas Day and then working backwards. Here’s what’s going on in Waikiki Beach and Honolulu this Christmas 2010. CHRISTMAS DAY, DECEMBER 25, 2010 – Special Holiday Brunches & Dinners – CHRISTMAS BRUNCH – * The Pikake Terrace of the Sheraton Kaiulani will serve a

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Waikiki’s Grand Gingerbread Village

Santa’s elves and I have been working away on our annual Waikiki Christmas events list. I’ll be posting that soon. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak at one of the events on the list — the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani’s amazing Gingerbread Village. This impressive village is over 14.5 feet tall and 24 feet wide! It’s constructed with 200 gallons of icing, 100 pounds of dark chocolate, 30 pounds of white chocolate and lots and lots of gingerbread. The hotel’s chef and staff spent more than 660 hours designing and constructing this gift to guests. The following video shows bits of this gingerbread village assembly. What a sweet, dreamy wonderland it is! Enjoy! (Email subscribers, please click here to watch the video.) © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .

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Waikiki’s Grand Gingerbread Village

Santa’s elves and I have been working away on our annual Waikiki Christmas events list. I’ll be posting that soon. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak at one of the events on the list — the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani’s amazing Gingerbread Village. This impressive village is over 14.5 feet tall and 24 feet wide! It’s constructed with 200 gallons of icing, 100 pounds of dark chocolate, 30 pounds of white chocolate and lots and lots of gingerbread. The hotel’s chef and staff spent more than 660 hours designing and constructing this gift to guests. The following video shows bits of this gingerbread village assembly. What a sweet, dreamy wonderland it is! Enjoy! (Email subscribers, please click here to watch the video.) © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .

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An Ode to Maui

Today, I’m delighted to share this poetic piece from my friend Melanie Waldman of Travels With Two , who writes an inspirational travel blog for couples. Please enjoy her ode to Maui that transports you on a romantic journey from honeymoon to a return visit years later. Enjoy! Newlyweds, Adam and Melanie, share a kiss in 1999 at Oheo Gulch. I spent my honeymoon on this half-manicured, half-wild island and fell in love with the soft trade winds, soaring cliffs and daily rainbows. That my husband booked the trip for us means that, to me, Maui will always feel like a gift. 11 years later, I decided to return the favor and give him the gift of Maui, this time for his 39th birthday. Turns out, it’s still spectacular. As a brand new bride in a white silk bathrobe, I remember wafting to the top of a grassy Haiku bluff, gazing across the lapis-blue Pacific beside breeze-ruffled palm trees and wild ginger, wondering if any other place on Earth could feel so exotic and friendly at the same time. Our honeymoon B&B here has since closed, but the gorgeous Cliff’s Edge at Huelo Point has taken its place. What a relief for anyone with eyes. The view from Haiku Bluff Flash more than a decade forward, huddled side by side at the Paia Fish Market , surrounded by a crowd but feeling alone with one another; we dug deep into a miraculous Ono Burger, flaky white fish and coleslaw on a soft sesame roll, admiring the photos of surfing stars who may as well have been sitting at the next table. Outside, the clouds poured forth a gray and roaring rain, ending in a rainbow that landed in the middle of the ocean. Rainbow over the water at Ho'okipa Beach, on Maui's North Shore. Where once we’d awakened in the early-morning dark and ascended Haleakala only to miss the sunrise by (a sad) five minutes, we would finally have our day in the…sun. Swaddled in wool, our noses, fingers and toes covered but still half-frozen, we greeted his birthday at its literal break. On a rock below us, a chubby little chukka, silly and bobbing as a quail but far more Hawaiian, pumped its neck and crowed at the dawn as the global crowd cheered the start of another day. Iao Valley Stream Then and long before, with the top down on a rented Sebring, we’d feel the temperature drop inside the ‘Iao Valley . Where once we’d stood with rubbery legs in a shallow, rushing stream, laughing and looking fruitlessly for new sunglasses knocked loose by the rapids, years later we’d stand stock still by the edge, listening to a warble of birdsong high above the jagged ‘Iao Needle. Here, Maui’s history was mingled with our own…though, to be fair, Maui’s is a lot longer and far more dramatic. As a younger woman, I swam to my groom in a rocky natural pool, tucked away beside a whirring-insect jungle of forest green, and splashed him with a burst of ice-cold water. An orange butterfly flitted past my head and disappeared high above, in a cluster of plumeria blossoms. (Theoretically) more mature versions of ourselves would venture past a different orange butterfly, down below the Earth; in the Hana Lava Tube , the air was cool and dry, the sightless creatures strange. We followed the sound of each others’ laughter through a tunnel of darkness and rock like melted chocolate frosting. Oheo Gulch off the Road to Hana Now, do I think the Road to Hana is a metaphor for marriage? Well, yes. It’s best taken slowly, with a sense of shared adventure. Never miss a chance to stop and drink in a quiet moment of reflection, but watch that you don’t run off the sides. It’s long, winding and ends in a gorgeous series of waterfalls, leading one to another and out to sea; in other words, no real ending at all. We drove the Road once, we drove it twice, and both times we could hardly believe our eyes (and good fortune). As a new wife, stepping foot for the first time on a beach made of hardened black lava felt foreign and exciting, especially when a huge wave crashed the shore and soaked us both. As a wife of eleven years, strolling hand-in-hand near Kihei with my long-familiar husband on a brown sugar beach, Lana’i off to one side and an endless field of sugarcane on the other, a single sunny afternoon washed away a chilly Spring. As a tanned stranger passed by with his salt-drenched dog, he smiled and said, “Another great day on Maui!” He wasn’t wrong. We hope to someday have many more. Returning for a kiss at Oheo Gulch in 2011. —– Melanie Waldman writes Travels With Two , which aims to inspire working couples to step away from their desks…and get the heck out of dodge. TWT offers travel tips, photos and real-life stories from couples who’ve managed to take some time away, together. Follow Travels With Two on Twitter and Facebook . Today, Melanie and I are playing blog switcharoo. She’s written this excellent post for us here. And, I’ve written about our trip to New Zealand for Travels With Two. © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .

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Hawaii for Families: 4th Night Free

Family Vacations - Hawaii Virtuoso rates FROM $870 per person, per four-night stay Available through June 30, 2010; book by April 30, 2010 Promo Code:VNL Travelwizard.com has arranged your fourth night free at The Kahala Hotel & Resort plus breakfast for two daily, a logo towel and tote bag and a complimentary stay for kids age 17 and under. Enjoy the gift of time with your loved ones! Call 1-800-330-8820 to book your Hawaii Family Travel or click here for reservations . Special subject to change without notice. Certain restrictions apply. Not responsible for errors or omissions TravelWizard.com: Specialists in the Art of Travel: Call 1-800-330-8820

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Hawaii Timeshare Sales Perfect for That Special Holiday Gift

Give the perfect gift this season, the gift of destination. Hawaii timeshare sales are now offering amazing holiday discounts. Take your family on the ultimate vacation to Hawaii so that they can relax and get out of the cold. A Hawaii vacation may be just the thing that your family needs to start off the [...]

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Waikiki Christmas 2009

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Going to Waikiki this Christmas?

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