The final day before we left, we did some shopping again and decided to head to the beach again, this time to really swim in it, at a much calmer beach, Ala Moana Beach – minutes away from our hotel by foot. It was already 4pm or so and the sun was about to set soon, perfect!

I know it looks quite cloudy here, also because it drizzled later on.

I love this photo above alot. I love this camera, can’t emphasize enough.

The earth is my element.

This photo reminds me of my parents’ honeymoon photo on the beach. It’s like a must photo to reflect many years down the road.

In case you’re wondering, the sand isn’t smooth and there aren’t many corals or seashells to collect. None at all. All broken and they hurt your feet but water is of course very clear.

Perfect shot of sunset.

Hours later…

Before we knew it, we were in the limousine again on the way to the airport.

 

And we finally reached Avalon airport in Melbourne. It was the ultimate honeymoon, could not have expected any better (besides the scuba-diving, although that too was expected), and this will be a boost to what’s next for us Mr. & Mrs. Ng.

Welcome to reality, honeymoon’s over. The real honeymoon starts right after this, what we perceive as “loving each other more everyday”….

Want to know my least favourite adventure of my honeymoon trip? It has to be scuba diving. Why? I’ll tell you why…

Of course they’re the best, and I now know how to scuba dive after this.

The tanks.

I had some cinnamon bread and orange juice from Starbucks.

I think I filled my tummy just right, about two hours before the dive.

I suppose I was quite fit for scuba-diving, unless my chesty cough got in the way.

And the outfit was chokingly tight, but it’s meant to be that way.

Our first scuba-dive together.

After sometime down the water, learning the tricks and what not, I decided to give my breakfast back to Hawaii in the ocean and without realising quite soon enough, some guy was coming up into the boat in the pool of orangina I had just behind the boat *gulp*. I was “sober” enough to apologise to him then. That’s what I love about holidays, I will never see that dude ever again! (unless he stumbles upon this blog then I’m scr3w3d!)

Water’s absolutely not my element. I am more afraid of water than I am of heights. I have not practised enough in water to be comfortable enough and I can’t bear the strong waves in Hawaii, rocks the boat so strongly, made me sea-sick! I’m not going to be a hero and say I was excellent in scuba-diving, because all I saw was a pool of fishes and that was it, I decided to see stars afterwards and gave my puke to someone else.

Underwater, I felt like coughing (as I already had chesty cough), and my heart felt heavy, I immediately signalled to the instructor that I wanted to get up. I did, slept for another fifteen minutes till I decided to vomit.

Afterwards, I was able to hold a smile for the camera still looking so very pale.

I felt soooooo much better and managed to snap a few snaps.

But lo and behold OCEAN, this is not the end because I will be back and get a real scuba-diving license someday. But then, before I do that, I might become a pole-dance champ or even an expert at rock-climbing. I may even have climbed the Mt. Everest and won The Amazing Race before that.

In the evening, I was just starving for some food so Josiah and I went to the International Market Place at Waikiki, kind of like pasar-malam where they sell all sorts from all around the world. Honestly, things you can find in Malaysia, things made in China and tagged ”Hawaii”.

The front stalls will always try to rip you off like mad.

The best meal (besides the steak at Wolfgang’s), has to be the fresh oysters and also garlic prawns with rice. Oooo la la~!!!

Absolutely divine.

I also managed to curl my hair for free, some pasar malam vendor was trying to sell this expensive ceramic hair curler. Sad to say, my curls did not last that long afterall. Good thing I wasn’t a sucker for that curler!

Oh, I love my True Religion jeans! You’ll see me in these pair of jeans so very often.

Some cute things we saw later that night.

Buskers of course.

Phew. Almost the end of our trip (blogging). One more day to wind down after all that motion-sickness!

The day after a six-hour long hiking and rock-climbing session, Josiah and I had planned for an hour’s drive to the Polynesian Cultural Centre.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is a wonderful place to experience, with about 1,300 employees representing the island people and nations of Hawaii, Samoa, Maori New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, Tonga, Easter Island, Tahiti and the Marquesas (French Polynesia)—spread over approximately 12 million square miles of Pacific Ocean. It is like a “must” for visitors in Hawaii to visit.

The journey there was really wonderful, with so much landscapes to explore and enjoy. We even took a short half-hour break at a nearby beach.

My Californian driver knows his way around.

He shows us “Hawaii O Five”

I show you my favourite Canon Ixus 200 IS that took all these wonderful photos.

I love the slope. How beautiful is that.

Camwhore again You like my pua melia?

Obviously I had to wear it on my left ear. *grins*

We stopped at the beach park nearby.

I engraved our names on the sand, “Josiah & Kim Honeymoon 2009″.

It was so relaxing.

I was walking around, playing with sand.

Enjoying the sea-breeze.

Prancing around like a little girl.

While myjojo takes a rest from his everyday cycling and hubby-chores.

This is real honeymoon for the  both of us. Exactly the way I imagined it to be, except better.

Thanks to my readers on this space who have been supporting our relationship these three years.

Our next stop was the Polynesian Cultural Centre. We had opted for the “General Admission” ticket that also admits us to the night show, the luau. The Ambassador packages are not only pricey, but apparently takes up alot of time, almost the whole day.

With quite a bit of research on travel forums, we decided to go for the normal package and drive ourselves to the venue instead of going like 8am in the morning and reach by lunchtime and reach home midnight.

Our activites that day were just about right too, starting from:
- Canoe Ride (to see the “islands” around)
- Browse islands (learn weaving, watch comedy show, etc.)
- 3D Imax show
- Buffet dinner
- Luau show

We were to touch the top for good luck.

Speaking of Ukulele, here’s my Ukulele Boy on youtube. How adorable! Click to play video below.

Here’s a video of my not-so-successful tattoo.

How come Josiah’s fish is nicer than mine!? (left) Not fair.

Oh, I remember there were some comments on the travel forums that said that some of the staff at the Polynesian Cultural Centre were not friendly, this lady’s one of them from the Tonga section. She was so rude to us. She didn’t take care of her “area” so we went in and started taking photos like tourists and all, and when we came out, she barked at us. I hope she perks up or at least have her boss tell her off.

 

Buffet dinner’s like 3-star Malaysian hotel food. Not good.

But still edible.

The luau was a great performance anyhow – Ha Breath of Life.

By the time we got home, it was already 11pm from our start at noon. We have more adventure stuff going on the following day. Look out for my next entry.

The day after Boxing Day, it was a Sunday and the bunch of us went to hike and rock-climb at Mokuleía. We went with a group of sporty and adventure-packed friends who were familiar with rock-climbing, that was really important to ensure our safety, apart from trust. For those who might be familiar, Mokuleía was where THE LOST series were shot at. It was absolutely scenic and what I enjoyed about it most had to be the challenge I overcame. It was about overcoming heights and also what I thought I could not do, I realised I was a whole lot stronger.

This was ultimately the best part about the honeymoon, because it made me realise that I had indeed chosen the right man to be my husband. I realised that although honeymoon was about doing romantic things together,  it was far beyond that and tells me quite a lot about our future together. I chose a man who was into adventure, someone who looks forward to tomorrow and never looks back. More importantly, a man who kept supporting me so I could climb higher.

Here’s my story about hiking and rock-climbing.

What Josiah and I realised that it was not a drive to the base of the rocks, but it was a drive to about 4km away from the base of the rocks.

 

This was what we had to endure first. Going through bushes, being scratched with branches.

We were to hike all the way up through rocks and insect-bites.

Of course there must always be a picture of evidence, since this is my first time hiking and rock-climbing. I carried the ropes up, so that was the additional challenge.

The view was absolutely amazing.

And it only gets tougher. I was getting icky! My camera lense reflected exactly how I felt when I was looking at the rest climb up. I was almost the weakest link. It was 4km of climbing up tough rocks like these and I had not worn the right shoes that gripped rocks. Either that, or the mud made it so slippery for me.

I was drenched by the time I reached up this level.

But the view was absolutely amazing. If you’re wondering, that’s THE LOST island at the centre.

Here’s a zoom in from my Canon Ixus 200 IS. I absolutely love this camera, it’s fantastic and zooms in so clearly!

I rested for a while before we started rock-climbing.

So nice right?

Josiah started climbing the 5.8 scale first. Those frog legs made it all the way!

So cute!

The challenging part was – not knowing where to hang on to and knowing that your entire body weight was supported by your hands and feet, with toes clenched. That’s why rock-climbing shoes have to be one of two sizes smaller.

Chalked hands that helped, but fingers were still tensed at the end of it. It wasn’t easy at all but it was a real motivation.

These were the shoes I wore.

Now here’s the real challenge for me.

I was fully concentrating and did not believe in my capabilities at first. I knew I was pretty light, but I doubted the strength of my arms.

I contemplated and hesitated so much, I didn’t even bother looking down. I was just trying to see where else I can hang on to.

I told them I felt like going down, I held a big sigh, but I heard Josiah telling me that I’m almost up there and I was like, “Really? Oh, then I’ll try just this once.”

The moment I said that, I felt myself finding solutions to reach higher up and above. I stuck my hand in cracks, used my body’s flexibility to my advantage and just pulled my body up.

Without realising, I was somewhere up there already and Josiah kept cheering me on.

I continued climbing as the rest supported me and told me not to give up.

I honestly did not know where to put my hands and my body was getting tired. It was only soonafter that I realised my mental strength was weak and I should snap right out of it. I did.

I still contemplated for a while and realised that I was about to reach the same spot the other strong guy went before that, and that would make me better than him. Competition really helped me. It was not just about being kiasu. It was knowing the fact that someone did it, and I can do it too, if not – better!

My mind was quick to work, and I was just reaching for whatever spot I could find to hang on to. I didn’t think I was going to die. I just did not bother looking down, although I did look backwards and the view of THE LOST island was truly amazing! I felt like mother nature was so close to me, and at that point didn’t think of the following:

- what if the other guy let go of the harness and rope and I fall right away?
- what if the rope snaps?
- what if I lose balance and hit my head on the wall or something?
- what if some big rock falls?

I didn’t think of all those things that my parents and your parents would think about. If I had not tried, I would not have known how beautiful it was up there. Before I knew it, I was already there.

It was an amazing feeling. I know now know why some people can be addicted to sports. It’s that high feeling of achievement.

At this point, I was on my way down.

The feeling was SPECTACULAR. I felt like I just went to a motivation camp on that 5.8 scale. My first time attempting it and imagine if I had tried a few more times, I will not only be better but more confident too. When I landed, my husband complimented my efforts, and they were really comforting.

It was wonderful. I loved it. Shortly after all the ladies had rock-climbed, the three of us decided to take a dip in the sea.

But this was also the challenging part, constantly feeling like I was going to slide down those rocks as you can see.

But I was still in one piece, if not only stronger.

Through the bushes again with my camera as my best friend.

Onto the beach.

And into the waters.

Mother nature was really good to me that day.

As we laid down, we looked up and wondered how we got up there to the top of that hill.

Soonafter, the boys joined us.

My support, my strength running towards me in Baywatch style.

The waves were so strong, pushing us over. This clearly wasn’t the ideal beach for swimming but for surfing.

It was the best part of my honeymoon, and it was free.

On Boxing Day, Josiah and I spent the whole day shopping at the Waikele Premium Outlet Stores. They are stores with big brands like Levi’s, BCBG Maxazria, Calvin Klein, Tumi, Armani Exchange and so much more with major discounts on them for around 50% and another additional 25% after that.

Boxing Day sales are not that popular in America as it is in Australia, they call it After-Christmas Sales and their bigger sales usually happens the day after Thanksgiving.

This is an example of how busy even the toilets get at the outlet stores. I didn’t take any photos at the stores as I was too busy rummaging through items that were reasonable.

But it was always worth it for us to stop at the Godiva store to see what they had to offer us.

Quick break before we continued shopping!

And I had not bought jeans in the last 7 years, believe it or not. My last pair of jeans were a free pair I got from entering a Levi’s Talent Quest in 2002. Since I was on the “quest” of buying the right pair of jeans, my ideal would be a torn-and-tattered pair, I searched high and low for it. Then, I stumbled upon these pair of Diesel jeans and realised that the fit was rather unusual. Tight in the hips and loose at the waist. Diesel’s definitely not for me! Levi’s of course had a better fit and they were selling jeans for USD$39.00, of course I had to grab a pair (and of course they fit me well – my black jeans in my last Christmas party post). Guess jeans aren’t too bad too.

Honestly, in my entire life, I never got to hold so many shopping bags before at one go. This is the best Christmas gift I’ve had (monetarily), not counting the love that I receive from my family and friends and the little cute gestures I like, such as cards and what not.

I wanted to hold those bags for one second like I’ve seen in those movies, feeling like a SATC girl misled into the ways of Hollywood’s idea of “cool and in”, being sucked into big brands’ marketing schemes, where brands make people pay for their brand than their goods. Just for that one second.

But here’s the fun bit. Everything paid were almost at cost price, or maybe slightly more than cost price, mostly 1/3 off its original price. Items bought were essentials (yes, I’d like to think so).

I’m going to be honest that yes – it is a girl’s thing to shop and thank you myjojo for giving me that luxury.

It’s not like I shop on a daily basis (besides grocery-shopping).

Alright, no more shopping for 2 years.

Let’s eat.

Yes, I know. More Mexican food!

Smoothie and margherita at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy!

Perfect dinner.

Nachos with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

Mexican food again. *sighs*

Ooo yummy!

This is what The Cheesecake Factory stands for!

Throughout the entire Hawaii trip, we saw many nice things, these were some of them we did not purchase.

Limited edition Nike Zoom.

Some cute Nike boot/sneakers.

Leaf hat that would not make it through the Australian customs.

A nice silk Hawaiian dress that was too costly for me – USD$70, the same price as a LBD I bought from BCBG.

It wasn’t just about purchasing items on sale. It was also about spending time together, looking at things and at people, enjoying the ambience of store displays and perhaps making use of the ambience a little too much by taking photos!

Ralph Lauren store. Nice eh?

Remember those Hush Puppies sole that came off in many blog entries ago, I replaced them for these black flats. They are so comfortable and ideal for walking around in!

I’m still Kimfluttersby. Will always be. Neiman Marcus has such nice butterflies display, I wanted to curi them but of course I should not!