TechNet Event: Honolulu, Hawaii on February 15, 2006

I had the great opportunity of delivering a TechNet Event in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 15th, 2006.  This is an AWESOME job!!!!  I had an opportunity to bring the entire family with me so they could tool around Oahu while I worked.  Luckily, I was able to spend a few days myself touring around the island.

I did a lot of the "touristy" things.
  1.  Had a great Plate Lunch at Rainbow Drive-In
  2.  Had my Matsumoto Shave Ice (Large with Beans and Ice Cream)
  3.  Had another Matsumoto Shave Ice immediately after the first one (Small with Beans - lots of beans)
  4.  Had shrimp at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck (Garlic, Spicy and Lemon)
  5.  Visited The Polynesian Cultural Center and did the Luau and had my poi
  6.  Visited Turtle Bay Resort
  7.  Had fun swimming in the Ocean on the North Shore (mainly Waimea Bay Beach)
  8.  Visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor
  9.  Ate some great Poke
  10. Visited Dole Plantation and ate the Pineapple Ice Cream (non-dairy) with pineapples and coconut
  11.  Bought my "Made in Hawaii" Hawaiian Shirt
  12.  Bought Pineapples and Papayas (from Dole Plantation) to bring home on the plane with me
  13.  Shopped at an ABC Store / Superette

I had a blast doing all of this in the few days I had available.  My wife and kids also got to go visit the Iolani Palace and Waikiki Beach while I worked.

A Great Big THANK YOU goes to all the wonderful folks who gave me great recommendations on local places to eat (like Rainbow Drive-In for the awesome plate lunch).  Thanks to Steve Potts who recommended The Coffee House - we really enjoyed the breakfast there.  My son ordered two of the kids meals and ate it all up!

I hope I get another chance to deliver another TechNet Event in Hawaii.  Everyone I met and spoke to was very kind and polite (not counting the other tourists who were quite rude).  I really like the easy going attitude of the locals and definitely enjoyed my visit!

The only exception to my wonderful experience was my lunch at Sam Choy's on Nimitz Highway.  The service was slow.  The waitress forgot to place an order for one of the people at my table.  We didn't find out until after the other food was delivered.  We then had to wait 15 more minutes for that meal to be cooked at delivered (despite the fact that the waitress told us it would only be about 3 -5 minutes).  She made the "required" apology for this mistake but didn't even seem to care that it had happened.  At most reputable restaurants I eat at, when a major mistake like this is made, the meal is comped.  I had to complain to her before she agreed to "see what she could do".