Kauai 2003
Theresa and I are always fond of going to Hawaii for its tropical beauty and
balmy weather. Kauai is Theresa's favorite island at Hawaii. So it's not
surprising that this is our second time coming back to this lush and verdant
island. We also brought my parents in order to celebrate my mother's 80th
birthday. We began our journey by taking BART from Rockridge to San Francisco
International Airport. We then took the AirTrain shuttle to the terminal. It was
very convenient. After a smooth flight on the ATA charter flight we landed at
Lihue airport shortly after 1pm local time. After getting our leis, we picked up
our rental car. After driving 15 minutes north from the airport we stopped at
Snorkel Bob's ( http://snorkelbob.com/
4-734 Kuhio Hwy, Kapaa 808-823-9433) in order to pick up our snorkeling gear.
We then arrived at Princeville Hotel (( http://www.princeville.com/index-flash.html
(800) 826-4400), which was our home on the north side of the island from Sat
thru Wed. Since our rooms were not ready yet we decided to have a light lunch at
the Beach Restaurant and Pool Bar.
As usual Theresa and I started our vacation officially by enjoying a Mai-Tai and
Lava Flow (a mix of Pina Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri) respectively. I had a
grilled Ahi tuna sandwich with fries. Any swimming pool that has a swim-up bar
is a-okay in my book :-)
 Princeville is a very upscale and
opulent hotel, and has a great view of Hanalei Bay. One of the place we enjoyed
a nice dinner was at La Cascata at the Princeville Hotel. It was too bad that we
were not sitting by the window.
We enjoyed a nice sunset from the The Living Room. I had a glass of Kauai Gold
beer from the Kauai Brewing Company with a light meal.
 Next morning we had breakfast. It
was nice seeing a double rainbow! For breakfast Theresa had a stack pancake
topped with macadamia nuts, and I had a bowl of crunchy granola with dried
tropical fruits. We then went to Saint William's Catholic Church ( Malolo and
Kuhio Hwy, Hanalei. (808) 826-4163) for their 9am Sunday mass.
We then took a pleasant drive to Ke'e Beach. We also visited some of the
touristy stores at the Ching Young Village, which is clamed to be the heart of
Hanelei. How could we be hungry already after a big breakfast? We were! We went
to Zelos Beach House. I'm not crazy about Mexican food. However, I had the best
fresh seafood burrito that I ever had in my life! All that salsa and sour cream
certainly helped!
Being tourists meant that we get to enjoy eating without worrying about gaining
weight or cholesterol, so we felt no guilt at eating a dish of Lappert's ( http://www.lapperts.com/
) ice cream. Of course, we had Kauai Pie, which is Coffee Ice Cream with toasted
Coconut, Chocolate Fudge and Kauai Macadamia Nuts!
 On the way back to the hotel we stopped
and took this stunning panoramic picture of the tarot field below.
Kilauea Lighthouse was another memorable place.
Watching a few beginner wind surfers struggling to keep their balance was funny.
We then quenched our thirst with some free guava juice samples at a Guava
Plantation. Afterwards we went to Popo's Cookies, which is a place that Gina
told us about on our previous trip. We bought some chocolate chip and macadamia
nut cookies.
After eating all these Pan Asian food and grilled Ahi tuna sandwich it was a
refreshing change to have some authentic Vietnames Food at Ba Le. I had a plate
of steamed rice with yellow curry chicken.
On Wed after we checked out of the Princeville Resort on the way to Hyatt
Regency we took a few snapshots of the Opdeka's Fall. After seeing Niagara Fall,
everything else is anti-climatic. However, we still enjoyed the sound of the
tumbling water.
Another fall that we visited was the Wailua Fall.
We checked into the Hyatt Regency Kauai ( http://kauai.hyatt.com/property/index.jhtml
) at Poipu Beach. This could be one of our favorite hotels that we have ever
stayed at. We just love the tropical ambience.
We always liked to have a drink or enjoy a light breakfast on the Seaview
Terrace.
 Our room had a great view of the
pools below us in the courtyard.
It was so relaxing enjoying swimming and soaking in any of the three pools. We
also enjoyed the huge fresh salt-water pool. I also relished sliding down the
slippery and windy waterslides numerous times! Dinner at Dondero's was great.
However, I was disappointed that we were not seated outdoor under the tiki
torches as we had done so on our last trip.
How could you not like a place that had a bench with three bronze miniature
schnauzers?!
Theresa made sure to visit the large and colorful parrots whenever they were out
sunning themselves.
Other than salmon, halibut, and sea bass, my favorite fish is opakapaka. It
seems that Hawaii is the only place that I can find it. Opakapaka is very tasty
and delicate. If you ever have the chance to try it, you will not regret it.
Theresa and I enjoyed playing a round of golf at the Princeville Golf Course.
The course was to die for. It was a good thing that we went there for the view
and not to shoot for a low score. I would have killed myself with my putter :-)
Going to the Fern Grotto on the Wailua River Cruise is indeed a very touristy
thing to do. Well, we are tourists! We actually enjoyed the scenic and smooth
boat ride.
We also had a luau. Okay, okay. Chinese roast pig is really better because of
the crispy skin. However, since we are in Hawaii we wanted to sample some luau
pig.
The after dinner show was a lot of fun too. I especially enjoyed the guy that
was twirling the flaming stick. I wonder how often he gets his eyebrows burned?
Poipou beach is always a fun and very safe place to snorkel.
We also enjoyed snorkeling at Ke'e Beach.
On the way to Waimei Canyon we visited the Kauai Coffee Plantation.
 One of the wonderful delights at
Kauai has to be the Waimea Canyon. We were delighted by the colorful cliffs. We
ate lunch at Koke's Lodge, which was the only restaurant on the mountain. Yes,
we concluded our trip with another scoop of Lappert's ice-cream.
Spouting Horn.
We had fully expected to enjoy a sunset at the Beach House ( http://www.the-beach-house.com/
Poipu Beach: 5022 Lawai Rd., Koloa, (808) 742-1424)). We did make it on-time,
but the sun was setting on the other side of the island!
Another great place to have dinner was Roy's (Poipu Shopping Village at 2360
Kiahuna Plantation Drive) (808) 742-5000 http://www.roysrestaurant.com/
By the way, the best guidebook is the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai
Revealed
We are looking forward coming back here some times in the future.
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