... to Hawaii with DH (no kids... woohoo!). This was kind of a "spur-of-the-moment" vacation, having booked the trip and hotel less than 4 days in advance. My DH and I stayed at the Outrigger Reef, some parts of which are currently under renovation (the pool and the other "tower" - if it even qualifies as that). We were delightfully suprised with this hotel. Among other things, the service was impeccable and the room was newly-ish done so everything was super clean (major points with me) and all worked perfectly. Since this is our first time in Hawaii (and who knows when we would be able to come back again), I decided to splurge and get an ocean-front room. Boy, was it worth the extra bucks. The view was unbeatable, and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach was amazing! We slept (whenever my DH wasn't complaining) with the balcony doors wide open. The relaxing nights certainly made up for the hectic day schedules we set up for the first few days of the trip. We were in heaven!
OK, so on to more exciting things on our trip... what would a vacation be without shopping expeditions? And Waikiki definitely delivered on this point! Kalakaua Avenue, where all the shops are located was only a block from the hotel. All the designer stores (Prada - 2 of them!, Chanel, BV, LV, Fendi, Ferragamo, you get the idea), DFS, Macys, and hundreds of other stores (not counting ABC stores - LOL) were all within walking distance. And the best part? They all close at 11pm nightly!
As we were winding down during the last two days of our trip, my DH and I finally rented a car and we were able to visit Ala Moana Mall, which was five minutes away. It was again designer brands galore! Of course, I visited Prada Ala Moana, where Miu2 has 2 wonderful SAs working with her. Unfortunately, at the time of my visit, both Miu2's SAs were gone; however, a very helpful guy SA, Taka, proved to be one of the most attentive SAs I've ever dealt with! He was eager to check stocks for me and patiently answer my Qs. My visit to Prada thankfully overshadowed my earlier venture into the LV stores, where I received a somewhat lukewarm reception (maybe my flipflops had something to do with it
).
I was so impressed at the Prada SAs at both Kalakaua and Ala Moana - they all treated me as a paying customer as soon as I walked in their stores, no matter my outfit (BTW, same goes for the BV stores in both locations too) - that I purchased a bag I missed the previous season, for retail price (well, the HI price and no sales tax could be considered a discount - LOL). I also grabbed a small card case I couldn't resist. Suprisingly, my DH was pushing for me to get the HI exclusive pink rufffle bag. However, I had to refuse and I couldn't even tell my DH why... I still haven't even used my pink camelia nappa stripes bag I got a few months ago!
ush:
So while Taka was ringing me up and there were no other SAs conveniently around, I quickly whipped out my camera and snapped a few (badly taken) pics of the other purses in the store. For those ladies who have gotten this far into my post and are interested in any purses they see, make sure you contact Taka (tell him Joy sent you) or Miu2's (Sharon's) SAs Candace or Cherie. Also, I spoke with Taka the other day and he said they just received more bags. He promised to take pics to email me. I'll post them here when I receive them.
Thanks for letting me share!
Here are my pics:
View from our hotel room
Prada Ala Moana - pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
And my personal favorite...
BTW, I forgot to mention: as my DH was browsing in the Harley Davidson store, guess what I spot? "Gaufre" bags! I know it's nothing new, but I was still suprised. Harley Davidson copying Prada?
OK, so on to more exciting things on our trip... what would a vacation be without shopping expeditions? And Waikiki definitely delivered on this point! Kalakaua Avenue, where all the shops are located was only a block from the hotel. All the designer stores (Prada - 2 of them!, Chanel, BV, LV, Fendi, Ferragamo, you get the idea), DFS, Macys, and hundreds of other stores (not counting ABC stores - LOL) were all within walking distance. And the best part? They all close at 11pm nightly!
As we were winding down during the last two days of our trip, my DH and I finally rented a car and we were able to visit Ala Moana Mall, which was five minutes away. It was again designer brands galore! Of course, I visited Prada Ala Moana, where Miu2 has 2 wonderful SAs working with her. Unfortunately, at the time of my visit, both Miu2's SAs were gone; however, a very helpful guy SA, Taka, proved to be one of the most attentive SAs I've ever dealt with! He was eager to check stocks for me and patiently answer my Qs. My visit to Prada thankfully overshadowed my earlier venture into the LV stores, where I received a somewhat lukewarm reception (maybe my flipflops had something to do with it
). I was so impressed at the Prada SAs at both Kalakaua and Ala Moana - they all treated me as a paying customer as soon as I walked in their stores, no matter my outfit (BTW, same goes for the BV stores in both locations too) - that I purchased a bag I missed the previous season, for retail price (well, the HI price and no sales tax could be considered a discount - LOL). I also grabbed a small card case I couldn't resist. Suprisingly, my DH was pushing for me to get the HI exclusive pink rufffle bag. However, I had to refuse and I couldn't even tell my DH why... I still haven't even used my pink camelia nappa stripes bag I got a few months ago!
ush:So while Taka was ringing me up and there were no other SAs conveniently around, I quickly whipped out my camera and snapped a few (badly taken) pics of the other purses in the store. For those ladies who have gotten this far into my post and are interested in any purses they see, make sure you contact Taka (tell him Joy sent you) or Miu2's (Sharon's) SAs Candace or Cherie. Also, I spoke with Taka the other day and he said they just received more bags. He promised to take pics to email me. I'll post them here when I receive them.
Thanks for letting me share!
Here are my pics:
View from our hotel room
Prada Ala Moana - pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
And my personal favorite...
BTW, I forgot to mention: as my DH was browsing in the Harley Davidson store, guess what I spot? "Gaufre" bags! I know it's nothing new, but I was still suprised. Harley Davidson copying Prada?
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