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Honolulu Airport Gets Its Own Islands, Thanks to Hawaiian Airlines

Honolulu International Airport is already in the middle of a decade filled with construction equipment, as the airport does its best to spiffy things up for the future. Adding to all the renovation fun is Hawaiian Airlines, as they’re looking to speed up and improve the check-in process for most of their flights that originate in Honolulu. The airline is planning to spend $6 million to add all the new bells and whistles, so we just hope it makes inter-island-hopping smoother.

Say goodbye to long ticket counter lines and aloha to brand new circular check-in kiosks. Ticket counters will be pulled out and replaced with six new circular areas—they’re calling them islands—get it? Two will be found in Lobby 3 and four will be added to Lobby 2, all in the airport’s Terminal 2. Agents will still be on hand to help out those who need it—like us when the stupid computer freezes—but it will mostly be up to passengers to get the necessary paperwork for interisland, mainland, and international flights.

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Airports / Airport News / HNL / Hawaii Travel / → All Tags

Honolulu Airport Begins 12 Years of Much-Needed Renovating

If your favorite part of Hawaii was riding the Wiki-Wiki bus at the Honolulu International Airport, you’re going to be pretty upset about what we have to tell you.

Although it still has maintained its island vibe and aloha spirit, the airport where most visitors begin their trip to paradise has definitely been showing its age. One of the first steps in an over $2 billion renovation is opening up next month, as a brand new international arrivals corridor will open to meet jet-lagged guests arriving after long flights from across the globe. That means fewer chances to ride the Wiki-Wiki in and around the airport.

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Travel Deals / Hawaii Travel / Honolulu Travel / Beach Travel / Beaches / → All Tags

It's Friday; Go Ahead And Daydream About 5 Nights In Hawaii For $499

Whenever we're stressed and have to go to our happy place, we picture the beaches of Hawaii. But now, probably thanks to how hard the recession has hit tourism to the islands, everyone has a chance to actually go there, thanks to Travelzoo's $499-for-five-Hawaiian-nights package.

The deal includes round-trip airfare to Honolulu, where you'll be greeted with a lovely-smelling lei and thus the right to brag that you got "lei'd" in Hawaii, like tourists do for days after their arrival. Your accommodations will be at the Castle Ocean Resort Hotel Waikiki. And if you want to upgrade to an ocean-view pad, the hotel gives you the option for $25 and up per person.

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Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Hawaii Travel / Honolulu Travel / Food Travel / → All Tags

Portuguese Culture Mixed With A Hawaiian Bakery Makes One Tasty Donut

No matter what donut is your donut—we know many people who can't go without ordering a Boston Creme or strawberry frosted—when you're in Hawaii, you've got to get down with the local flavor. In Honolulu, the donut of choice is Portuguese confection called the Malasada, first cooked up at Leonard's Bakery after it opened in 1952.

While they are very similar to the Polish pączki in that they are sweet, filled donuts traditionally consumed on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent, a true Malasada however is not supposed to have any filling. It is a solid ball of fried dough, coated in granulated sugar and fed to the drooling patrons who flock to Leonard's. Because of the popularity of the Malasada in Hawaii, Leonard's has also begun serving Pao Doce (Portuguese sweet breads) and Malasada puffs.

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Hawaii / Hawaii Travel / Movie Travel / Film Festivals / Film Festival Travel / → All Tags

Hawaii Heats Up the Film Festival Circuit

A scene from Noriben, playing at this year's Hawaii International Film Festival.

Though the time for Tribeca, Cannes, and Toronto has come and gone, the film festival circuit hasn't screeched to a halt. There's Sundance to look forward to, of course, but a welcome alternative to similar large-scale hype galas are festivals held far away from Los Angeles, New York, and other metropoles.

Hawaii may not be Hollywood, but there's still creativity abound on the big island. And while it may not attract as much attention as, say, Berlin, the Hawaii International Film Festival has earned a well-respected reputation among cinema's inner circle, with people like Roger Ebert praising its East-meets-West sensibility.

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Hawaii Travel / Scuba / Islands / Boats / → All Tags

A New Island Off Waikiki Beach Hopes To Lure Us Out To Sea

If you somehow get tired of all the natural beauty that Hawaii has to offer, there’s soon going to be a new fake paradise for visitors to check out. A company called KanDoo is almost finished creating their own artificial island about 200 yards off Waikiki Beach.

KanDoo Island is really just a humongous catamaran that will serve as a water sports entertainment paradise for visitors and locals alike. The 98-ton boat will offer snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing lessons, and even jet ski trips off its “shoreline.” After a long day on and in the water, come back to the catamaran for some evening entertainment. There will be live music, nightclubs, and probably a fair share of Mai Tais. The company’s CEO wants KanDoo to be a 24/7 destination, but we’re a little skeptical that people will be swarming the place throughout the night.

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Jaunted in Hawaii / Hawaii Travel Videos / Shira Lazar / Honolulu Travel / → All Tags

Honolulu Me Please!

West Coast web media princess, and Jaunted Embed, Shira Lazar rushed off to Hawaii for a couple days at the bequest of So Much More Hawaii. We will be bringing you her travel videos between June 1st and 5th, in hopes of creating a glorious on-the-fly travel guide using as much point oh social webbing as we can. Enjoy.

We were put up in Honolulu for two nights staying at The Royal Hawaiian, the 3rd oldest hotel in the city. How would we describe the area? Lets just say that when you step out of the hotel and feel like you may be in Beverly Hills with Coach and Gucci stores scattering the streets.

What we found amazing though is that the moment you enter any of the hotels or beaches, you immediately remember that you are indeed in Hawaii and feel isolated from it all. Through our on-land search and with the help of our super twitter community, we discovered some more authentic and local spots you should check out:

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Bike Sharing / Active Travel / Biking / Oahu Travel / → All Tags

Hawaii Jumping On Bike Bandwagon

Oahu may soon have a bike sharing program to go with its upcoming commuter rail project. A privately funded program aims to have 100 bikes available at 10 solar-powered stations by June 1, 2009.

The Momentum B-cycle project will have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly passes available and will also work via credit card deposit. After buying a daily pass for $4 or a weekly pass for $10, your first half-hour will be free, the next 30 minutes will cost $2 and the next another $5. Keep the bike for 48 hours, and you'll buy it for $900.

While no locations have been secured just yet, a project spokesman says many Waikiki-area businesses are interested in hosting bike stations. Potential locations include the Aloha Tower, Ala Moana Shopping Center, the Honolulu Zoo and Sans Souci Beach.

Related Stories:
· Shuttle Bikes May Start Next Spring [Honolulu Advertiser]
· Hawaii's Newest Tourist Attraction: Commuter Rail? [Jaunted]
· Bike Sharing Travel: Options around the World [Jaunted]

[Photo: whizchickenonabun]

Hawaii on the Cheap / Oahu Travel / Hiking / Hawaii Travel / → All Tags

A Short And Sweet Hike At Manoa Falls

The upside to the global financial crisis is that forgetting your money woes in Hawaii has become incredibly cheap. Kyle Brown just got back from a budget-minded trip to the islands...

On Oahu, a short drive from Waikiki Beach will transport you to what often seems like a different world. With the famous Diamond Head crater closed for some fixing up during our visit, we were forced elsewhere to satisfy our hiking needs. We were looking for something short and sweet--with a good payoff at the end.

The trailhead to Manoa Falls is just 15 minutes from Honolulu, and it fit the bill perfectly. During our visit, there were plenty of spots to park, although we did have to surrender five bucks to someone manning the lot.

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Train Travel / Oahu Travel / Trains / → All Tags

Hawaii's Newest Tourist Attraction: Commuter Rail?

On a recent trip to the Aloha State, we saw many on both Oahu and the Big Island spending their days holding signs, waving to drivers and just generally helping out their candidates of choice.

Although the state is projected to elect native son Barack Obama, there's also a close race that will directly affect the residents of Honolulu. The state is looking to build a new high-speed elevated commuter rail that will run parallel in some areas to the main drag, H-1. If approved, the 20-mile stretch is expected to cost more than $4 billion and could open by 2014.

During our visit, we noticed a lot more signs against the proposed railway, but apparently those in favor of the new rail system are outspending those opposed five to one. We’ll leave it up to the citizens of Oahu to figure out what’s best for their commuting needs and environment, but if we have the option during a future visit, we’ll definitely go for a ride!

Related Stories:
· Pro-rail Holds 5-1 Spending Advantage [Honolulu Advertiser]
· Hawaii Rail Transit Cost Now at Least $4.34B [Honolulu Advertiser]
· Go Rail Go! [Official Site]
· Stop Rail Now [Official Site]
· Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project [Official Site]
· Hawaii Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: GoRailGo]

Possible-Presidents-Map / John McCain / Barack Obama / Joe Biden / Sarah Palin / → All Tags

Possible Presidents Travel: Joe the Plumber, Meet Madelyn the Banker

These are not real McCain campaign ads... If only.

Here's a heartwarming holiday movie: Barack Obama is canceling campaign stops on Thursday and Friday to rush to the side of his 85-year-old grandma in Hawaii, who broke her hip earlier this week. Two rallies planned for Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday will be replaced by one in Indianapolis; on Friday, Michelle Obama will speak at two campaign events in Ohio.

Obama was raised partly by his grandmother and has mentioned her in several of his speeches, including the 2004 address to the DNC that was his real national debut. (A former employee of the Bank of Hawaii, she eventually became one of its first female veeps.) We'll see if he mentions her today at stops in Richmond and Leesburg, Virginia.

Joe Biden is in Pueblo and Colorado Springs today and sallies forth to North Carolina, another state that features early voting.

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Celeb Travel / Tabloid Travel / Kanye West / Crime / LAX / → All Tags

Tabloid Update: Where Is Kanye Now?

The sensitive, tortured artist known as Kanye West was arrested last week after smashing a paparazzo's camera at LAX. So what did he do right after he was detained from getting on his commercial flight? Got on another plane!

West left for his original destination of Hawaii on a private jet out of Van Nuys later Thursday afternoon.

In Honolulu he had time to resume posting to his blog and has been working on his next album at Avex Studios, which has offices in Hawaii and LA. He still gets his vacation in and he's on TMZ 24/7? Kid is a genius.

Related Stories:
· Tabloid Travel: Kanye Busted at LAX for Pap Rap [Jaunted]
· Kanye West: "I'm Cool With the Paparazzi" [People.com]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cleveland Leader]