I got to enjoy a couple of days on Oahu last weekend. For a variety of reasons, we ended up not getting a car. As I looked up rental rates, I found that it was kind of expensive and actually, at one point there were no cars available to rent. Luckily, we stayed at the Ala Moana hotel so the location was so convenient. We caught an Uber to Ala Moana that was only $22 and so convenient since we saved time since we didn’t have to go to the car rental area. I had heard that the Kawaii-Con and Comic-Con were happening at the convention center and so renting a car turned out to be the best decision since the hotel was sold out and parking spaces were hard to find. After checking in at Ala Moana hotel, we walked to Akasaka where our life started many years ago. When my husband and I met many years ago, Akasaka was one of our favorite spots for the vibe and the scallops batayaki. We loved it so much we even held our wedding reception there in the upstairs room with just family and a few friends. My favorite server Mimi was still there this past weekend and remembered me from over 20 years ago! Maybe it was my loud laugh that she remembers — I’m not sure but it was so nice to see her.

As is my habit, I woke up early on Saturday and walked to Don Quijote to do some shopping while my husband slept in. I was surprised that the checkout line was still pretty long at 8 am in the morning. However, the self-checkout area was quick and painless. I bought gyudon and Katsu curry for breakfast as well as some groceries and returned to the hotel so we could eat and start the day. We walked to Nijiya and then shopped a bit at Ala Moana Center and then picked up some prepared food from Foodland Farms for a light late lunch/snack. Before getting ready for the Saturday evening Broadway in Hawaii performance of Beautiful, we walked to Don Quijote so that my husband could check it out this time and we picked up a few more things.

The purpose of this weekend trip was to see the Broadway musical Beautiful, the Carole King story. I was lucky enough to have seen this twice in NYC prior to this Honolulu performance. I love the music and the story of Carole King’s journey and loved seeing it again. My favorite songs of the evening were Will You Love Me Tomorrow made famous by the Shirelles and You’ve Got a Friend. Carole King was such a talented and prolific songwriter. Our second Uber of the trip was to the Blaisdell Concert Hall and it was only around $10 and so wonderful for not having to worry about finding parking.

After the show ended at 10:30, we headed to Doraku after the show for some refreshments with our group before heading back to the hotel safely in an Uber.

I needed some lei for an event I was attending on Monday and it was so difficult to get lei in Hilo because of the Merrie Monarch Festival so I ended up ordering from Cindy’s Lei Shop. It was so convenient and easy to call them and they even delivered it to my hotel on Sunday morning so I could easily pack it up for the flight home. I also preordered some bread from Brug and packed that up as well. Their shokupan is so delicious and perfect for a morning toast with butter and jam. After checking out, we headed to Assagio’s at Ala Moana for lunch and shared a salad and pasta before catching an Uber to the airport. Our total Uber costs ended up being significantly less than it would have cost to rent a car, pay for parking, and fill gas. Plus—Honolulu was packed. Parking would have been a nightmare. What a wonderful weekend. Living Hilo Style in Honolulu.