Today was kind of an awesome day...probably one of my favorite days of the entire vacation. It was jam packed from early morning to late evening. It included everything from favorite foodie finds, the famous food trucks of the North shore, a gorgeous buddhist temple and some wild time at the beach!
We started out fairly early, and drove over to Kailua. Our first stop was a restaurant called CINNAMONS . (Make sure you get there early, because they get CROWDED!!)
I had read about their world famous Guava Chiffon pancakes, and they were features on numerous lists for "must try". I will also put in my recommendation that if you are in Oahu and are looking for something that will knock your socks off, then the Guava Chiffon pancakes at Cinnamons are a MUST MUST MUST!! When I say that these were some of the best pancakes I have EVER eaten, I am not joking. The pancakes themselves were a fluffy buttermilk , and they were soft, smooth an velvety. The guava syrup was sweet and tangy and mellow yet intense...all at the same time. Like, how is this even possible? I am not a huge fan of guava in general, but honestly I could eat these all day every day for the rest of my life and be happy.
Hubby got the Red velvet pancakes, which were dense and moist like a real cake and they send out a sweetened condensed milk/powdered sugar type "syrup", which soaks up into the food and almost makes it a better than sex cake consistency. but you need a BIG glass of milk for these bad boys. PRO TIP: ask for extra topping. take home and eat leftovers as dessert. You're welcome.
After we stuffed ourselves silly at Cinnamons, we drover to Kanehoe and went to one of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen.
BYODO-IN temple. (taken from their site):
"The Byodo-In Temple is located at the foot of the Ko'olau Mountains in Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. It was established on June 7, 1968, to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. The Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu is a smaller-scale replica of the over 950-year-old Byodo-in Temple, a United Nations World Heritage Site in Uji, Japan.The Byodo-In Temple is a non-practicing Buddhist temple which welcomes people of all faiths to worship, meditate or simply appreciate its beauty."
From Go Hawaii.com "
The deep drone of the sacred bell (bon-sho) fills the tranquil temple grounds, as it is customary for visitors to ring the bell before entering the temple for happiness and longevity. To sound the five-foot, three-ton brass bell, you must pull and release a wooden log called a shu-moku. Inside the Byodo-in sits an 18-foot gold leaf-covered Buddha where visitors are welcomed to light incense and offer a prayer. Outside, peacocks and black swans roam the garden grounds and turtles lounge beside the pond. The temple’s pond is also filled with koi, a Japanese decorative fish that is a symbol of love and friendship."
The cost for admission is 5$ a person. You can also buy containers of pellets for the koi fish for 2$ each. (The little birds also like the pellets and will sit in your hand while you feed them. The black swan they have in one of the ponds is kind of cranky, so I would avoid him..)
All in all we spent about 90 minutes at Byodo-In, just walking around the grounds, feeding the birds and fish, ringing the bell and taking photos. This is one of the stops on lot of the bus tours/senior trips etc, but they didnt seem to spend very long, and it never felt too crowded.
After Byodo-In, we continued our drive around the Island on the Kamehameha Highway, and hit a bunch of the little beach stops and beach parks on our way to the North Shore.
Once we hit the North Shore we found the FOOD TRUCKS!!! One of the most famous is Giovannis Shrimp Truck. There was a wait. It is Cash only. It is messy. But were those Garlic shrimp worth it?? Yep. I could have kept vampires at bay the rest of the day!
After a delicious lunch, we went to
WAIMEA BAY BEACH PARK
Waimea bay is famous for the largest surfing waves in the North Shore. And I mean LARGEST!!
This is not my picture, It was taken from worldbeachguide.com
Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring my phone with me on the beach and I was too lazy to hike all the way back to the parking lot to go get it. I wish I had though, this was one of the funnest beach days I have ever had.
The day we were there the waves were BIG and powerful. The current was crazy strong. It was so intense, and we spent the afternoon playing in the water and trying to body surf with these waves just HAMMERING us . We found sand in places we didnt know we could get sand. In face I am STILL finding sand a month later LOL.
Those lifeguards dont play though, and they are BRUTALLY funny about some of the people in the water and taking selfies and putting themselves in danger for the insta.
After a glorious day in Waimea, we ended our day in Haleiwa, a quaint and historic old North Shore surf town with lots of great little shops and of course the famous Matsumoto Save Ice!! I had Strawberry/Pineapple/Coconut with vanilla ice cream. Charles chose Strawberry/Lemonade/Guava with vanilla ice cream and Finn went ALL OUT with White Cake/Coconut Cream with vanilla ice cream AND sweetened condensed milk. We sat outside at a picnic table, enjoying the warm air and gentle breeze, eating our "dinner" before making the trek back into Honolulu.
Seriously one of the most perfect vacation days in my life.
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