Aloha, Hawaii! [music] Filmed before the pandemic "Aloha" is a word
that has several meanings. Hello and goodbye are just a few. So beautiful! Ah, what a coincidence! "Aloha" and the meanings
here on the sidewalk. Greetings, regards, kindness,
compassion, affection, love. I'm already loving this. You, too? -You just got here.
-And I'm already loving this. [music] Hawaii is a state
of the United States of America, but you're wrong if you think
it's just off the coast of California. It's actually really far. It's like a five- to six-hour flight
from the West Coast. And that's the closest. Actually, when you look at the map, it's almost halfway
between North America, Japan, and Micronesia.
And geographically,
Hawaii is not located in North America, but in Polynesia. We've just landed
in Honolulu, the capital, and now we're in Waikiki,
more precisely. Just going for a stroll
to see what's around. Everything here is so charming. And this street here,
full of shops! The beach is right over there. If you're new here,
my name is Renata, I'm a journalist. I started traveling the world
as a journalist about 15 years ago. And today, I continue,
I created this channel here because I love sharing everything
I learn on these trips. I'm so impressed
with how charming everything is. Waikiki is so charming, and it's also
the most touristic place in Hawaii. Accommodation here
can be really expensive, but a few blocks away
from the beach, you may still find
some relatively good deals. Our first hotel was $140 a night. After traveling to other islands, we returned for one more night
before flying back home, and we found another hotel
for $100. All that is coming up
in the next videos, so make sure you subscribe
if you want to learn more about Hawai'i.
Look at this! Just trying to repeat the pronunciation
I heard on the radio here. I love it! In this series, I'm going to introduce you
to this paradise, considered one of the most beautiful
places in the world. And we start exactly
in the island of Oahu, where Honolulu is located. [music] Now, here we are in Waikiki, probably the most famous beach
in Hawaii. That's because it's easy to arrive
in Honolulu. Most of the hotels are located
in this region right here, so it's a simple walk. And because of that,
it can get very crowded, too. And also, of course, the beach
is so beautiful. Look at the color of the water. Look at this natural pool right here. Now, when you think of Hawaii,
what immediately comes to your mind? At least for me, surfing. Enormous waves! What? There's basically nothing here. That's because not every beach in Hawaii
has huge waves, only certain beaches, and not throughout
the whole year either. [music] But Waikiki is a perfect place
if you're learning how to surf. Just look at this.
The waves are not big, and they extend through
a huge part of the beach. It really helps. Look at the prices here
for renting… chair, umbrella… You can choose per hour or the full day. And also lessons:
surfing, stand up paddle… Look at this tree, baby. -Yeah, it's amazing.
-Yeah. One very famous landmark in Waikiki
is this one right here, the Duke statue. Duke was an Olympic athlete. He won several gold medals
for swimming in Olympics. And he is also considered
the father of international surfing. He got famous for saving lives,
people that were drowning in the ocean, and he did that just using his board. That in the beginning of the 20th century
when not many people were surfing. After that, he was elected sheriff
in Honolulu and became a legend. Now rumor has it that this is also a place
you should bring your 'lei'. You know, 'lei', those Hawaiian
beautiful flower collars.
And you should throw
right there on his arms. That means you will eventually
return to Hawaii in life. Look at how cool,
surfing has no age. This lady was probably 50 years old. Lawson, baby!
Are we in Japan or Hawaii? -Hawaii, Hawaii. -Yes, there are a lot of Japanese here. Actually, you see even things
written in Japanese. They have two official languages here:
English and Hawaiian.
And Japanese is like
an unofficial third language. You hear it everywhere. As I spend so much time in Japan,
my ears are kind of trained now. I can recognize the language. -Okay, Renata.
-What? -I'm at my hotel,
so I'll see you later. -Oh! Yes, you are. This was the first hotel in Waikiki,
Moana Surfrider. So beautiful. The rate here was $1.50 a night. Oh, baby, did you see that
the rooms cost $1.50 per night? -Yeah.
-[laughs] That was probably
a lot of money back then. – Yeah, and the Coke was 2 cents.
-[laughs] You can rent bikes here,
look at that. One way, $4 for a 30-minute ride, or 300 prepaid minutes,
$25, multiple trips. You can do it right here,
just put in the credit card. Maybe no need for the app? [music] Here in Waikiki,
you see a lot of fountains, you know, some smaller,
some a little bigger. And that's because the meaning
of this word "Waikiki" is spouting water. This used to be a marshland
with a lot of streams, so they try to pay a homage
to this past Wow, look at this!
Yeah, it explains that the rides can last for hundreds of yards.
Duke, you know, from the statue,
caught the longest ride, 35-foot wave
and rode it to shore. A mile and a quarter on a wave,
can you imagine that? How crazy! [music] I know I've been saying this a lot, but you still may not have the idea
of how beautiful this place is. [music] Here there are rocks in the bottom. Just admiring?
-Yeah. -It's beautiful, so beautiful. -It's so blue.
-So beautiful. -So green, right?
-Blue. -It's green, baby. It's aqua. Better. The color of this water is impressive. Oh, and if you sit here
towards the end, you get some shade from the trees. No need to rent an umbrella. -How is it?
-Cool. -Cool. Ah! Oh. Look at all the fish here. This water is so perfect. So full of fish everywhere. There are some tiny ones
and some bigger ones, too. We walked basically
the entire beach here, both sides.
So now we're going to take a break
and enjoy, too, right? So see you in a few hours. [music] Look at this,
just a block from the beach, and you'll find much better prices to rent an umbrella and a chair, or even a combo here,
two chairs and an umbrella for $10 for the whole day. [music] Hello. See all the clouds?
How fast the weather changed. There's a little bit of blue sky
over there, but this is it. It looks like it's gonna rain,
so let's see what we can still do today. We're now gonna take
the chance to see a little bit of the historical side
of Honolulu starting with the Aloha Tower. Well, the Aloha Tower is a lighthouse
that is considered a landmark here in the state of Hawaii.
It was opened in 1926, And for four decades,
this was the tallest structure in the entire Hawaii. [music] You can come up here
for a view of the city, totally free. This is the financial district of Honolulu. Waikiki is over there. Here is the ocean. [music] Free to come here. Not much going on here these days. A lot of people think
Hawaii is just beach and surf. But look at this, Honolulu, a lot of historical and modern buildings
just like any state capital. In fact, 1.4 million people
live on this island here of Oahu. [music] Look at Gordon next to this tree. Look at this building right here. This is Iolani Palace. It's the only official royal residence
in the entire United States. Here is where the last kings
of Hawaii lived. This one Hawaii was a monarchy
and before belonging to the United States. We thought we could visit,
but it closed at four. You really forget about time
in Hawaii. Wow, look at this,
Iolani Palace is right there, and right here,
the State Capitol of Hawaii.
1959, it says right there. That's the year Hawaii
became the 50th state of the United States of America. [music] This was the last queen
of Hawaii, Lili Uokalani. She was overthrown in 1893. And her statue right here,
facing the Capitol, probably has a deeper meaning. [music] Downtown Honolulu,
it's been a real good surprise. Look at how many beautiful buildings here,
historical buildings and statues. This one right here, for example,
this was King Kamehameha, very important king here in Hawaii, because he unified all the islands
in Hawaii. Before him, different islands
used to have different kings, and they were different monarchies. Perfect timing, huh? We may even have a sunset today. -Oh, yeah.
-Look at this. -Look at that.
-It's still raining, but there's sun now.
-I'm blowing the clouds. After a 30-minute walk,
look at this. [music] It's amazing how the weather
changes so fast, huh? -Yeah. -Cheers to a beautiful day. Aloha. It's video.
[laughs] It's video. Gordon probably
just run out of battery. Right?
-Not probably. -Not probably?
Most likely? -Yeah.
