Āliamanu

It all began on Thursday afternoon. We had spent a couple of hours on the beach and were returning to our condo when a fellow got on the elevator with a pull cart laden down with boxes and food. I thought the box on the bottom of the cart was a huge case of Tecate beer and was trying to read the label when the man noticed my curiosity and boasted, "It's Kirkland Light. Best deal in town, 48 cans for $24.00! Have you tried it?" Of course we hadn't since we can't get it in Canada so he said, "Well, I'll give you a couple of cans. It's cold, wet and fizzy and does the trick at fifty cents a can." As he got off the elevator, he opened the case, generously handed us four cans and wished us aloha.

Earlier this week Brenda had completed an online Jamba Juice survey and was rewarded with a buy one get one free coupon on any size beverage. Continuing on our Waikiki on the cheap theme, Friday morning we walked to the Ala Moana mall and cashed in the coupon. The 16 oz smoothie was big enough and substantial enough to hold us through lunch.

As we wandered around the mall, we stumbled upon a Hula show that was being presented. No charge, of course.

We then slowly sauntered back to Costco to replenish our pantry and took full advantage of the many store d'oeuvres they offered up. Love those little cinnamon French toast sticks!

At the cocktail hour, we went to the HASR wine shop in Chinatown and did a complimentary tasting of six wines that the staff had identified as perfect matches with turkey for the upcoming US Thanksgiving. Two rosés, two Pinot Noir, one Beaujolais and one Cabernet Sauvignon that was thrown in for the big wine lovers. Some of these wines cost over $60 USD/bottle (Amalie Roberts Rose of Pinot, Kapcsandy Rose, Dupeuble Beaujolais, Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir, Testarossa "Dos Rubios" Pinot Noir, Freemark Abbey Knights Valley Cabernet).

After the tasting, we went back to the condo, cooked up some of our groceries for dinner, and washed it down with a freebie can of Kirkland Light.

To cap off our thrifty Friday, our balcony offered us a spectacular view of the weekly Friday night fireworks demonstration put on by the Hilton.

Who says you have to break the bank to have a good time in Honolulu?Read more