Hawaii Day Two – Waikiki Beach

We’re staying somewhere not in the “hottest” areas of Honolulu, but today, we took a bus down to the famed Waikiki beach. We were told that there actually isn’t much of the beach to see because they’re pretty much covered up by tanned (or tanning) bodies. It turns out that was slightly over exaggerated. But Waikiki beach isn’t really all that big, really. I’d think Patong beach in Phuket is bigger, although Waikiki has more developments around it.

This was a really hot day. After the kids and the adults had a little fun in the water and sand, we had to take refuge. We were hungry and thirsty, and the Subway across the road drew us to it. We had lunch there. Just as yummy as ever, same messiness as how it was in Orlando last year. I suppose it’s the taste that is important.

We walked around the Waikiki area a little and one thing that struck me was the overwhelming numbers of ABC Stores. It’s a chain of shops that sells touristy clothing, souvenirs, snacks, drinks, beach related stuffs, etc. There’s like one in every block. I don’t see why they need so many outlets, it’s not as if people can’t find one near enough, or that anyone really needs to have one such store in every block. Perhaps their strategy is to be all over the place so as to stifle out any competition. There aren’t many of similar stores around apparently, at least not in the Waikiki area. I suppose the strategy works.

We started taking the bus around today. Fares are pretty expensive, compared to what we have in Singapore. It’s US$2.25 (S$3.15 at current exchange rate) for adults, flat rate, irrespective of distance, and includes one transfer within 3 hours I think. We’ll probably be taking more of public transport, but not enough to make it worth the cost of a fare card.