Aloha Hawai'i!

If there’s one place I would gladly call paradise, it would be Hawaii. I fell in love with the place the moment the plane landed. I love everything about it---the weather, the food, the rich culture, and the friendly people.

The moment we got there, we almost felt so at home, we could almost live there! I knew there was more to Hawaii than just hula dancing and pineapples.

We were greeted by my cousins, with the traditional leis. We were the first batch of tourists in our 4-day Hawaiian vacation. My cousin Joanne, along with my aunts and uncle from LA will arrive the same night.

We took a heavy brunch at a nearby IHOP before heading to Waipahu. Since there will be a lot of sightseeing and shopping for the other half of the day, I loaded myself with IHOP's Big Steak Omelette.

For most tourists, killing time is equivalent to shopping. And that's what we did in the next few hours:

Shopping for baby clothes at Carter's

Later in the afternoon, my cousin showed us some of the beaches Hawaii is known for. Remember the aerial shot of the 3 beach coves in my previous post? Here they are up close:

One of the three beach coves. The structure behind is the Marriott.

Second beach. With my cousin Ronnie.

Third beach cove. Behind the trees is the Disneyland Resort (opening 2012).

Hawaii Day 1 hasn't ended yet. There's more after our short trip to the beach. More posts and photos coming soon!