Trip to Hawaii

2025-12-20

In June 2025, we went to Hawaii! We went to the Big Island, which is also known as Hawaiʻi Island. This was the first time we took a plane with our baby!

1 2025-06-02: Arrival and extreme food eating

Upon getting off the plane at Kona airport, we went to get some delicious poke! We went to Pau Hana Poke which is near the airport and well-reviewed. It was quite good. We could immediately tell the difference between actual Hawaiian poke and the ones you find in the contiguous US states. Hawaiian poke has firmer fish in bigger chunks, and more savory sauces.

Then we checked into our hotel, which was Kona Coast Resort. The good thing about this resort is that it is very affordable and has huge rooms. However, they gave us a room that was upstairs and it was really hard to carry the stroller and luggage up to the third floor via the precarious and exposed outdoor staircase. The room was also quite old.

Then, after relaxing for a while, we went to the supermarket across the street for some more poke.

Soon, it was time for dinner! We booked a fancy restaurant called Canoe House far from our hotel, so we had to drive an hour there. Canoe House was located in an upscale resort called Mauna Lani, Auberge Collection, which cost several times more than our hotel.

After dinner, we strolled around the area to enjoy the view.

2 2025-06-03: Coffee plantation tour

In the morning, we went to get really old-school Japanese breakfast at Teshima’s.

I got a combo breakfast with some fried mahi-mahi, fried eggs, rice, pickles, and miso soup. It was a delightful comfort food meal, and very affordable. Generally, the execution and the vibes were very home-style and rustic, which is quite nice.

Interior of Teshima's. — Interior of Teshima’s.

After breakfast, we went to some timeshare presentation thingy because they promised us a free vacation. It was an utter waste of time.

For lunch, we went to a place called Da Poke Shack. This was an abysmal experience. Expensive, bad service, small portions. The line was a 30-minute wait. They ran out of rice. It cost $45 for 2 tiny rice-less poke bowls (in other words, just a scoop of fish). The poke tasted the same as supermarket poke and seemed inferior to the other poke restaurant we tried on the first day.

Then, we went to the Mountain Thunder coffee plantation. The weather and the view were amazing on the mountain because the lush foliage was enveloped in mist. But I didn’t get a lot of good pictures since it started raining hard and we had to juggle umbrellas and the baby.

For dinner, we got some pho and other Asian-inspired dishes at a restaurant called TK Noodle & hot pot. We were pleasantly surprised by the very large portions, featuring two gigantic beef ribs at a reasonable price.

3 2025-06-04: Day trip to Hilo

We drove to the other side of the big island, Hilo!

Along the very long drive, the view was amazing, but I didn’t get any pictures since I was driving.

We went to a flea market and farmer’s market, which was nice as there were lots of interesting fruits.

We had lunch at Ken’s House of Pancakes.

Big plate of meat at Ken's House of Pancakes. We didn't actually get any pancakes there. — Big plate of meat at Ken’s House of Pancakes. We didn’t actually get any pancakes there.

After lunch, we went to the Hawai‘i Tropical Botanical Garden. The botanical garden was wonderful, but we were very tired from pushing the stroller on the really steep boardwalk.

Afterwards, I went to Akaka Falls. Joanne and baby were too tired so they rested in the car.

Then we drove back. It was a long drive (over 2 hours each way).

Sometime during this long drive, our baby developed an aversion to the car seat and henceforth cried very badly every time we put him in the car seat for the next two months. Very sad.

For dinner, we got takeout Japanese food (a chirashi bowl).

The quality was average, but the price was quite affordable compared to the Bay Area.

4 2025-06-05: Petroglyphs and more coffee

In the morning, we went to the Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.

Generally, the park offered some nice views, but I seriously underestimated how difficult the terrain was. We couldn’t make it very far with our stroller, and then it started pouring, so we had to go home. We never made it to the beach. Still, we saw some cool plants, a few petroglyphs, remnants of an ancient village, and some volcanic rocks.

There's a stick figure petroglyph. — There’s a stick figure petroglyph.

For lunch we bought some bento boxes.

Then we went to another coffee plantation, Greenwell Farms. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time. I learned a lot about coffee! Apparently, the roots come from a hardier plant but the fruits come from a better-tasting species, so they graft them together.

For dinner, we ate an extreme loco moco from Ono Loa.

5 2025-06-06: Flight back

Before boarding our flight, we got even more poke!

Ultimately, because of bad weather, the short duration of our trip, and the fact that it was difficult travelling with a baby, we didn’t get to go to Volcano national park and many other amazing attractions. Oh well! Hopefully, next time, when baby is bigger, we can bring him to funner activities like the Volcano National Park, the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, and so on.