Aloha Hawaii...

I'm back from my trip to Hawaii. It was interesting. I did a ton of shopping and came back with my suitcase doubly as full as it was when I departed Melbourne, which means success! I did find the people in the shops to be a little too pushy/annoying, compared to the mainland East Coast of the US. Homeless people were everywhere - Waikiki was literally covered with homeless people on the main street by the beach. My Mum said she had heard once on a Stephen Fry show that apparently the counties on the mainland pay these homeless people an airfare over to Hawaii where it is consistently warm (ie. good for sleeping out at night) so that they get them off their own streets. There was ridiculous traffic at random times of the day. Shopping and meals were more expensive than they are on the mainland - meals in particular were closing the gap quite significantly between Australian and US prices, especially once you add in a 20% tip. It was good to go and do Hawaii properly - back in 2008 I made a stopover on the way back from the East Coast, where I had travelled alone, and a combination of jet lag and loneliness meant that trailed around the Ala Moana Centre for a few hours aimlessly without buying anything (also back then I didn't know what any of the shops were, whereas now, with both online shopping and my living in the US means I know exactly what is in what shops and what I do and don't want to go into) before sleeping for half a day, venturing out onto the main street and buying Subway for dinner, then changing my flight to leave the next morning, three days early. I'm going to do a multi-part photo series on my holiday in Hawaii, starting today, to show the different things I did and my thoughts on them. Enjoy.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach - the famous view.

Waikiki Beach looking in the other direction.

Hotels lining the beach. The swimming barrier/break lines most of the beach, which is a shame as you don't really get to experience waves like a regular beach. I guess they want to make the lifeguards' jobs easy.

Diamond Head.

International Marketplace signage - this last little bit was all that remained with about 10 stalls at the front of the once much larger marketplace by the main street for the month of January. Come February 1st, the whole thing closed for good.

Koi fish in the pond for the Japanese tourists at the Marketplace - a place to buy mainly pearls and other jewelry for souvenirs.

Jeanswest Double Rewards...

I feel like I wear at least one item from Jeanswest basically every day (although right now my entire outfit of shorts and tank top is Lululemon, but the t-shirt I wore earlier today when I went grocery shopping over the racerback tank to ensure people's eyes didn't have to be shielded from the sight of me in a racerback tank alone is from Jeanswest). Their clothes are reasonably priced, come in lots of basic colours and styles, and work well for my job. They also have one of the best rewards system - a few years ago now I racked up enough sales to be a Gold discount member where I get 15% off every purchase I make - pretty good! Right now there is a 'double rewards' discount in store and online - so whatever tier of rewards you are at you will get double % off - so for me that is 30% off. I only got two tops, but for the two of them they came down to $35 in total. Unfortunately the double discount didn't apply to me as my tops were on a better sale than 30% off by being part of the 2 for $35 deal, but it still wasn't bad!

'Orla' stripe t-shirt in grey/purple/white stripes, $29.99 or part of the 2 for $35 range

This t-shirt is cut nicely with short sleeves for a warmer day. Will go well both with shorts and jeans.

'Jodie' basque hem t-shirt, black/grey, $29.99 or 2 for $35.

For a looser top, this one seems to be surprisingly a little smaller on the sizing as I didn't have as much billowing around the stomach as I'd expect from a top this style. Will be a good Autumn transition top (if and when it every arrives in this stupid Melbourne heat!).

The double discount sale is on until February 11th, so get shopping!

Smoothie of the Day...

Towards the end of last year, I started bringing smoothies to work for morning tea to up my fruit/veg intake as well as fibre. Everyone was getting on board and sharing their smoothie recipes. Now I'm on holidays, I'm still making them as I find them to be a filling and tasty treat for satisfying post-gym hunger.

Usually I just use whatever looks nice or appeals to me on the day I make it, and I seem to make enough that it will last for two days (for morning tea at work). Here is what I made this morning to have after a very hot and crowded BodyPump class:

Tropical Refuel Smoothie

Throw in a good handful of green grapes, a mango cut up, and the pulp from a passionfruit. 

Add your liquids - a splash of mango nectar, OJ (I love Nudie), and half a can of coconut water (about 150-175 ml) - coconut water has been my best find of the latter part of 2013 - it's good for you, low calories, and makes every smoothie taste tropical. I don't like dairy smoothies so this gives some good flavour. You can get the coconut water cans from the Asian food section in your supermarket; they're usually on special for about 2 for $2.50 but they shouldn't regularly cost you more than $1.50 per can.

I also throw in some Metamucil for a fibre boost and chia seeds as they're some rot of superfood, and I think also high in fibre.

Add some ice - this gives it some thickness to the smoothie and also keeps it cold.  I added 10 cubes here.

Blend! You need a good blender for this - something with a sturdy glass and solid blades. Mine is a Russell Hobbs blender which came with a food processor as an interchangeable device. It's really good and does a great job for smoothies and milkshakes. My old blender was a cheapo Sunbeam one from Target and was plastic with crappy blades, and smelled like it was burning when you blended anything (even a milkshake with no ice) - so you get what you pay for.

Voila! Serve and enjoy.

What do you like to eat post-workout? Will you make yourself a smoothie to keep cool over this awful heatwave we're going to have in Melbourne this week? I have to go in to work this afternoon so will be putting the air con on there and have only half opened all the curtains in my house. I HATE the heat - about 23 is my limit - and I am finding it stupid that I will be going to Hawaii to cool off.

Holidays...

So it's been a couple of months since my last post. I didn't get any comments on my Fiji trip post so I didn't think anyone was reading anymore so it felt kind of pointless to keep blogging. That and the last few months of the year at work are always super busy. Anyway, it's holidays now and this time in one week I'll be traveling to Hawaii with my mum! I'm looking forward to the trip. I've been to Hawaii once before but I was by myself and got bored quickly and spent half the day sleeping with jet lag from coming from the East Coast of the US, so I changed my flight and went home early.

Things I'm planning on doing in Hawaii:

Sunset sail on the Maitai Catamaran, which includes free mai tais in the price!

Shop like a boss at the Ala Moana Center.

Hike to the top of Diamond Head for an amazing view like this.

Visit Pearl Harbor.

Snorkel at Hanauma Bay and then drive around Oahu.

Sunset yoga.

Go parasailing - I booked this last time I was in Hawaii but then I went home early so never did it. I did this in Cairns and it was amazing!

Overeat at The Cheesecake Factory.

I'm a bit concerned that I will be effectively going to Hawaii to escape the heat of Melbourne. Ugh.

Have you been to Hawaii before? My mum and I are there for a week. If you have any suggestions on things we should do then please suggest away!

Bula...

Bula! We have been back from Fiji for a few days now, where we went to celebrate our one year (!) wedding anniversary (which is technically this Sunday). We stayed at the Radisson Blu resort in Denarau which was very nice, although sometimes a bit slow (1 hour, 40 minute wait for drinks that never showed up and 2 hour wait to get power fixed in our room, anyone?), with friendly service and immaculate gardens. We also took a half day trip to South Sea Island, I would have liked to take a full day trip but Derek wasn't keen as he doesn't swim, in the end he seemed to enjoy it and I definitely would have liked more time there!

Close enough!

The frangipanis smelled beautiful.

Sunset view from our balcony.

Port Denarau.

Sunset on the beach.

Looking up to our building and the water sports rental shack.

Beach outside the hotel looking towards the Sheraton resort next door.

Towel swans and flowers on our bed one night.

Looking up to the sky as the sun goes down.

Another sunset.

I wish I got the tree in focus and not the leaves in the foreground, whoops!

South Sea Island.

Still on South Sea Island.

Another view from the other side of the island.

Water sports on South Sea Island.

The sign says it all!

Leaving South Sea Island. There is a small 'resort' (more backpacker style) on this island.

Me and Derek on the boat heading back to the Port.

Outside our hotel by night.

One of the wood carvings inside the resort foyer.

 

The resort main pool and swim up bar by day.

Outside the resort by day.

Flowers and a bee.

Bula Bus. This was a shuttle around the island between all resorts and the Port.

Coconuts on the tree outside our room.

Adults only pool.

Lunch on the last day.

Have you ever been to Fiji? It was a completely different holiday for us as we are used to the busy holiday where we go sightseeing, get on trains, walk for hours, and do twenty things in a day, so it was nice to relax and do nothing in Fiji, however there is still so much more of the world I've yet to see and am desperate to see so I'm not sure when I will be back.