HNL | Travels, Adventures, and Leisure

Last full day in Oahu! We started the day by picking up our rental car from Enterprise (they are located at the hotel so pick up / drop off is easy, and don’t have to pay for parking), and then going back to the Ala Moana Center to buy a Grand Seiko watch (a friend needed to sleep on the decision). I also got a chance to try out the poke bowl at Foodland Farms. Details here:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/12/01/foodland-farms-poke-bowl-station/

We then headed to the north part of the island to check out surfers at The Banzai Pipeline.

Along the way was stopped by the Dole Plantation to eat some Dole Whip (ice cream), and walk around the pineapple gardens.

We also stopped by Shark’s Cove to see the waves (although didn’t see any sharks… apparently there are non-human eating sharks there).

When we finally got to The Banzai Pipeline, we spent 40 minutes there. There were lots of surfers, but only saw a handful actually riding the large waves (waves can get up to 20 feet). Was able to capture 2 videos though!

From the pipeline we were gonna head over to Lanakai Beach, but didn’t have enough time in terms of sunlight to do so, so we ended up heading back.

When we got back, we dropped of the car and headed to the International Marketplace to eat at a place called Herringbone. Here are the details:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/12/01/herringbone/

And that meal ended the night for us.

For the actual last day in Oahu (ie 3 hours before heading to the airport), checked out Waikiki beach and went into the water for 30 minutes. Then had our last (quick) meal at this poke bowl place:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/12/01/paradise-poke-hawaii/

So this trip was awesome. There was a few things I didn’t get to do that I plan to prioritize for next time. This includes:

District / Republic Club
Lanakai Beach (east part of the island)
Ko Olina (for catermeran and snorkeling)

First day we left SFO at 6:30pm, and arrived at HNL at 10pm (40 minutes earlier than expected). Took a taxi to the hotel (next time would take an uber since it’s cheaper and less pressure to pay cash).

Arrived at the hotel / resort (Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Resort, Ali’i tower) at 10:30. Most of the shops in the resort were closed except the general store. So got some chips and High Noons, watches a bit of Pearl Habor and called it a night.

Next day woke up at 7:30am, and got coffee at a place called Lappert’s Hawaii. They also had ice cream. Wouldn’t probably go back for coffee since they don’t have oat milk, or hazelnut. But may go back for ice cream.

Also tried a spam musubi croissant for breakfast. Without the seaweed on top it tasted pretty good.

At 11am, arrived at Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Put my name in the standby for the Arizona memorial, and got in at the 12:00pm slot. Visited the road to war museum while I waited near the visitor center.

The USS Arizona Memorial i think was worth it. The memorial is above the ship, and you could see parts of the ship penetrating the water line.

After the memorial headed to the USS Missouri using a shuttle (it is on Ford Island). I took the 35 minute guided tour, which I think is worth it to explain the significance of the ship with respect to WWII (took a tour of the bow, surrender deck where the Japanese surrendered, and the kamikaze deck where a Japanese pilot was found dead, but buried out to sea). After the guided tour, the 2nd deck was interesting. Although no weaponry, it focused on how it was like to live on the ship. It had the cafeteria, quarters, chief mess. Also going up to the bridge after was a different experience as well.

A history on the USS Missouri is that it was started to be built in Jan 1941 and finished 3 years later. It served in WWII, Cold War, and in the 80s.

Afterwards (after waiting 40 minutes for the shuttle) headed to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Because of time constraints, zipped by it fairly fast. Notable things I did look at was hanger 37 (start of the muses with Japanese Zero as the main showcase), the plane used in the Doolittle project, Hanger 79 (had planes like F-15a, and also mostly survived the attack.. and has a cool flag hanging in it) and the Ford Island control tower (looks like the movie).

Unfortunately was able to check out the USS Bowfin submarine (was 4 minutes late for the last entry).

One clear message from today: Freedom isn’t free.

Afterwards went to the hotel and caught a quick sunset at the beach at our hotel.

Then we headed for dinner near the Downtown / Chinatown area. Restaurant was called Yohei Sushi. Details can be found here:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/11/26/yohei-sushi/

Then head for drinks at a Tiki Bar in Chinatown. I will say that Chinatown area at night is a bit sketchy. However bars in it are good. Details can be found here on the bar:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/11/26/skull-and-crown/

Last stop of the night was at a more whisky themed based bar, also in Chinatown, called EP Bar. Details here:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2025/11/26/ep-bar/