Hawaiian Food and First Hawaiian Beach Experience

I think I definitely have the same tastes as Hawaiians when it comes to food. I loved everything that I ate there. My friend N was born and raised in Hawaii. She moved to California for college and work. So naturally, she was our tour guide when we go to Hawaii. She brought us to all the local favorites and they were all amazing.

My first taste of Hawaii was breakfast at Cinnamon's. They had the normal breakfast foods (eggs, toast, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, etc.) and all of that was YUMMY. But they also had amazing omelets and eggs benedict. I wish I took pictures of all the food that I ate, but here are two from Cinnamon's.

Makes your mouth water doesn't it?

Another local breakfast favorite was Boots and Kimo. This is where I experienced the famous Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes! OMG. They are like HEAVEN. The bananas are baked into the pancakes and then topped with this creamy, sweet macadamia nut sauce/syrup. I couldn't eat enough of them. Well... I lie about that. Unfortunately, my stomach was still a bit queezy from my bout with food poisoning just a few days earlier, so I couldn't eat as much as I wanted to. But what I did eat was AMAZING and super fulfilling. If anyone ever goes to Hawaii, I highly recommend these pancakes at Boots and Kimo. You can find it in Kailua, the CDP (census designated place... not city) where we stayed in.

Other mentionable yummies were the Shrimp Trucks on the way to North Shore. They're little portable catering trucks that serve shrimp in many flavors. N had actually never had any in her 20 years of living on Oahu, yet they're supposedly super famous. HAHA. So N was very intrigued to try them with us. And soooo glad that we did because it was amazing. We got the Garlic Butter Shrimp and shared it. Again, I was still recovering from being sick so I didn't eat as much -- and now totally bummed that I didn't have more because they were absolutely amazing.

It may look dirty, but that's usually where you find the best food

We also had Lanikai Juice, a little smoothie shop with really creamy, yummy flavors. I love mangoes so I got the Mango Surise, which had mangoes, guava juice, and pineapple juice. So freakin' good. Chris got a Smoothie Bowl, which is a big bowl of smoothie, topped with freshly cut fruit on top. He got the Chocolate Banana smoothie bowl. Really great flavors together.

Speaking of Lanikai, I highly recommend the beach at Lanikai. It's like a small little getaway. It's almost like a private beach because it's small, clean, and beautiful. N made it a point to bring us to Lanikai Beach FIRST because it's her favorite and the most beautiful out of all the beaches she's been to in Oahu. Seriously, the water is CLEAR. The sand was so smooth. And the weather was nice. It was a bit overcast and sprinkled a little when we first got there, but it soon cleared up and the sun was beaming down on us. Not only was the water nice and warm, but there were already some hotties to look at already. :P There was a hot boy with his dog further down the beach, so N and I did some investigation to make sure he had a nice head on his body. And he did. :) It was just surreal to me to be walking along the beach in freakin HAWAII!

The beach blends into the water.. and the sky is just the perfect backdrop.

We just laid out on the beach for an hour or two. My goal was to get rid of my tanlines so I had to start right away. Except, I think I was in the sun for too long. I hadn't laid out in a long while and I think the sun really took a toll on my body. By 8pm, I was already super tired. We had plans to go out and enjoy the nightlife that night, but I completely fell asleep right after I showered. And so did N and Erik and Zack. Chris was the only one who stayed awake. But it was fine, because we had other nights to go out. It was just awesome to have a great first beach experience... one that I will never forget. :)