Hey friendly folks. I'm moving to Hawaii on August 4th to begin an MBA program.

I was hoping some people here could offer ANY advice, as I don't really know what to expect at all. Ideally I'll be living in Honolulu close to campus, and I've heard Waikiki, Makiki and Manoa Valley are all excellent places to live.

Once there, I will need to completely start anew, housing, transportation, you name it. I know an acquaintance there, but he's moving one week from the day I arrive, so I can't be too dependent on him for information and I'm looking everywhere I can. If you can recommend good places to hang out, live, eat, surf, or anything else, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers,

Matt

hawaii is amazing..
can't offer any advice, but to go to Maui and never return.

Don't start any **** with the locals (native Hawaiins)

You'll have a blast, I lived in Honolulu for a summer and loved it. If you can afford it I'd try to get at least a cheap car.

HC82- what about a moped? I've heard cars are a bitch because of traffic, price and lack of parking...

Its a big island and some gorgeous places to go that I'd think would be rather inconvenient to get to on a moped, especially with a lady friend on the back

Take the advice of other students over me though. Moped would be a lot better than public transportation, which is what I was recommending you try to avoid.

I was born and raised in hawaii so maybe i can help but your questions are pretty vague. Things I can think of off the top of my head-

Hawaii is a fairly expensive place to live (not the best standard of living), and traffic is TERRIBLE. I dont think this link is thattttt accurate, but it claims its the 2nd worst in the US? http://www.kitv.com/r/22652658/detail.html

Probably not that bad, but ive lived in San Fran and Seattle, and id say honolulu is clearly the worst (nothing like LA though lol)

There are pot-holes everywhere and the city has a pretty tough time fixing them since it would cause too much traffic. Surprisingly, as far as public transportation, I believe its among the best. If your in "town" (what the locals call waikiki-downtown area, as honolulu is pretty big), a bus takes you just about everywhere, and stops as often as 5-10 minutes in some areas. And yes, alot of people ride mopeds, but are pretty dangerous

Hawaii has by far the most pedestrian deaths per year, so jay walking is heavily enforced. Id be suprised if a cop let you go with a warning. If your taking a right turn in a car, the pedestrian has to be 3/4s the way there, or maybe it was all the way there, not sure.

If your driving, it is now a crime to drive 30 mph over the speed limit, ive been in this situation when this law was implimented in 2007, and pretty much got he max penalty for going 86 on the highway (except i didnt go to jail)

Hawaii has a huge meth problem, if you go down town, youll see why. The high school i graduated from, less than 30% of kids enrolled as freshmen graduated, mostly due to meth. Though Hawaii seems all friendly and awesome, alot of places are actually very dangerous. Especially if your white (sorry for the racist card, but you'll know what i mean). Stay away from pololo valley, some parts of makiki, downtown late at night.

hookers walking around downtown honolulu late at night arnt women. hookers walking around waikiki are. also, dont harass the hookers by doing "drive by shout outs". we use to do this in high school and got into car chases by pimps. not cool

food- what kind of food do you like? I miss hawaii very much for this, hopefully i can make a trip soon. The majority of the people in Hawaii are asian, so lots of good asian food everywhere. do you like korean/japanese/chinese food? a few of my favorite local spots are-
giovani shrimp truck at north shore (MUST TRY!)
fook yuen- awesome chinese food, must have the black bean lobster. they even limit the number of lobsters each party can order. this is at mccully shopping center
yanagi sushi- kinda expensive, but great fresh sushi
leneards malasadas, its some bakery in kaimuki. must have

zippies- 24 hour joint, decent food

kinda brain dead right now, i havnt slept yet so this is all i can really think of.


surfing? well waikiki and ala moana is overly crowded and a bit dirty. How good are you? if your good, you should hit up sandys or north shore. I actually rarely went to the beach growing up in hawaii, believe it or not.

Im sure youll meet friends that go out/clubbing etc, and this scene changes pretty quick often. Hawaii is a pretty small place, everyone kinda knows each other, and different clubs go in and out of business due to underage drinking. I was there last year, and i went to "ka" which i think was the most popular at the time. fwiw, "ka" means "go" in korean lol. The girls are super hot, especially if your into asian chicks.


oh yeah, like everything in hawaii, **** is expensive. milk is like 8 bucks a gallon i think. Im not a big milk drinker, but i know its expensive.

drugs in general are expensive. and the rumors are not true, hawaii does not have the best weed. maui wowie doesnt exist in my books (maybe because ive never been to maui). 20 bucks will barely get you a gram of the biggest schwab ever. well not ever, but you really have to look around. i was a big pot head all through hs, but ever since moving back to hawaii for my senior year, i pretty much put all of that behind me because of the quality and price. if your getting an MBA, im sure your a smart fella, dont do meffff obv.

umm yeah, kinda out of things to say, but if you have any specific questions, things you like to do, feel free to post here or pm me. fwiw im a 22 korean american if that helps

what do you know about the other islands?
In regard to what areas to stay away from or what you prefer etc...

in regards to other islands, just what ever i learned from school i guess. Ive been to the big island twice, once when i was a kid for a field trip and once with a hs buddy of mine. I was 17 at the time, and the lifestyle is very very different. All the kids are more "moke" so to say (moke means, super hawaiian/localish, speaks such hard pidgen that even i would have a hard time understanding). They go to the beach all day and hang out at parking lots all night (they literally hop different parking lots as they get kicked out, i was doing this with them for a week lol). There are 2 major towns, Hilo and Kona, and depending on what you like, this island can be fun for adventure type of stuff. Not really my cup of tea, as ive always kinda been a city boy.

I believe Kahoolawe is a very military island, where alot of bombing experiements have been done. Probably not safe to go there due to the radioactive material. I dont think you can even visit the island tbh.

Lanai is the private island, where you literally have to be invited to visit. I think there are a few hotels there, but i believe you have to make special arrangements to go there regardless.

maui is the 2nd most inhabited island, never ben there.


n regard to what areas to stay away from or what you prefer etc...-- are you asking where you would live in honolulu? well this really depends on what you want to do and your budget. I lived in Hawaii Kai, which is the east side of Honolulu. Probably the most expensive area. Paul walker, Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz all have their multi million dollar beach houses just 5 minutes away from my condo. If you want to be balla, probably Hawaii Kai/Kalani area (east side of Honolulu).

The west/downtown area is a bit more dangerous. Lets just say I would feel perfectly fine roaming the east side, but the exact opposite on the west side. Stay away from walking alone in the downtown area, or walking around in general late at night. i cant really think off the top of my head of all the uber dangerous places, but pololo valley is really really bad. Just imagine compton/south central hawaiian style (ive been to compton lol). If your white, or look like your not from the area, be extra extra cautious.


some pidgen words to know so your not so confused

choke- means alot
scrap-fight
moke- super hawaiian local, for example, i was born and raised in hawaii, and i not a moke
tree- three (this one is actually pretty funny to hear lol)
grind-to eat
irking- irritating
haole- whitepeople
happa- half white half asian person, more specifically half japanese
ono- the best
puka-hole


in a nutshell- your going to think your in some foreign country at times

thanks for all the info!

i have only been to HI (Maui) once and loved it...
I have a buddy that lives on Oahu somewhere..
but i was thinking of moving out there at some point in my life..
even if it's for a short stint.

that's pretty crazy IRT east Honolulu.. wouldn't have guessed that it's that bad..
thanks again

I visited Hawaii several times in 1979. Meth was a big problem then, nothing's changed.
Never seen a place that is so racist to whites yet is so dependent on their money. Honolulu's income is almost all dependent on tourism and the military that still reside there. I understand where the racism comes from. Wealthy tourists coming there for 75 years looking down on proud people whose ancestors were warriors and kings. It's a beautiful place but there is alot of poverty. The average worker struggles and in many cases several families have to live in one small house to survive. I guess tourism has fallen off there because people realize you can get better value for your vacation dollar going to Las Vegas or Florida than spending the money and time to go to Hawaii. When I went there flights and hotel rooms were cheaper and it was a destination that people really wanted to visit. The original Hawaii 5-0 really created interest and was a huge hit on TV for over a decade.

The racism to whites still baffles me. Growing up in hawaii, I had all asian friends , more specifically korean friends. Don't get me wrong, when I moved to seattle from honolulu, I was just shocked at how many white people I saw. Fwiw, seattle is a very diverse city and there are plenty of asians here. as strange as it sounds, most of my friends now are white. Even my asian friends are what we "white washed".

I visit hawaii every year since my family and friends are there, and it bothers me soo much about how they feel about white people (not my parents, they love white people lol). If you are white, don't let that bother you, not everyone is like this. there are plenty of local white people that have adapted and gain the respects of their peers with time.

A wierd scary childish fact -at the end of the school year, there's a day called "haole day" where locals just start trouble and beat up haoles. I think it was just a high school thing though, ill ask one of my friends tonight. I still keep in touch with them

Not to threadjack but BEAR JEW, are you still in Hawaii?

Bear Jew,
you went Kaiser?

Did you? Pretty much the best school in all of Hawaii. Hottest girls by far.

No, no, and no.

Yes, yes, and yes. You have no clue what you're talking about.

I did go to kaiser yes. I also went to kalani and mckinley for my senior year. Id say mckinley/kaiser/kalani as far as girls? man, kalani was a pretty bad school. literally had the school sports/everyone was soo ghetto and kalani isnt even near the bottom in the education system of hawaii. not that mckinley was any better.... I think Kaiser is probably the best public high school on the island? probably because of the location (hawaii kai, very wealthy area, almost the only wealthy area lol)

girls wise? Ive lived in Las vegas/Honolulu/Seattle/San jose, and id have to say the girls Las vegas, then hawaii are pretty damn sexy. Its never fair to compare girls to Las vegas fwiw... I think iolani and punoho high school has the best girls. i just turned 23 and high school girls are kinda a thing of the past haha

Ive been traveling throughout asia for the past few months but ill be there may 10th-30th, my little brother is graduating from UH manoa. If you have any questions, feel free to post.

good information all around. also lol @ bear jew's edit. added this to the sticky.

Ah how quickly I forgot about the rich Punahou girls. What year did you grad? I am truly jealous of how many cultures you've been exposed to. I'm guessing you're Haole since you misspelled Punahou. Palolo Valley isn't that ghetto compared to Waianae or certain parts of Kalihi, but maybe it's just cause I know everyone there. I used to work on the multi-million dollar homes in Kahala and the lifestyle/people there is 1000x better than the other areas.

Do you just spend all your time traveling now? You must have been to some pretty exotic places if you choose to live somewhere else, especially in a nice area like Hawaii Kai.

Not to derail but what do you do while you're down there? Surf? Fish? Clubbing? Been to any of the live games there? If so, how does it compare to other live games you've been to? Too bad the gambling bill not too long ago got shut down. It would have really made Hawaii a "paradise".

My spelling is terrible haha. I'm actually Korean class of 2007. Youre right that waianae/kalihi is pretty ghetto, but if you go deep enough to pololo, it gets pretty bad. Kahala beach homes probably the moest expensive homes in hawaii, all well over multi millions.

Its a long story, but after my senior year i moved back to seattle for college, then moved to las vegas about a year ago. For the past few months ive been traveling through asia (still traveling, going to thailand in a few days).

My life story is actually a pretty long one but the cliffs-
~my parents owned jewelry stores in wakiki/international market
~Lost alot of it in the market on 9-11/dad was a degen, went busto, got divorced, moved a ton
~my dad is still a taxi driver in hawaii but my mom ended up being ok/bought a house in hawaii kai. she now lives in seoul (visiting her right now)


in hawaii i usually just spend time seeing my friends and family. growing up there I know or at least know of just about half the island haha. If you're from there, I'm sure you would understand. Are you from hawaii? If so which school/class? if youre within 5 years of age from me, I'm sure we have some mutual friends.

I tried to learn how to surf, but it hurt my ego too much that a girl was teaching me and i was terribly bad haha. surprisingly i didnt spend too much time on the beach growing up, and still dont. I do take that for granted, especially when im walking to class in seattle, it rains 9months out of the year.

The clubbing is kinda hit or miss for me. I would go more in high school/until i was 21. It was never really hard getting in, and probably why they got shut down all the time. After i turned 21, i made tons of trips to vegas (mostly party, not so much poker) then eventually moved there after black friday. Nothing seems to top vegas nightlife. Also house/EDM isnt very popular in hawaii, unlike XS/marquee las vegas

I know some private games that have 10% rake at 1-2/2-5 uncapped. id rather play blackjack. If the rake was fair and there was enough money to go around/knew the right business people in hawaii, i can imagine the games being SUPER SUPER juicy. Can you imagine a bunch of asian people that cant make a drive to vegas/easy flight? The thing is, theres just not enough money in the middle class, its all at the very top and nothing in between.

As a professional gambler and a Hawaii born native I'm pretty glad the bill didnt pass. instead of kids hanging out and making trouble in arcades, theyll be hanging out in casinos. There are illegal gambling houses all over china town and they never seem to be short of customers. It would just ruin the people of hawaii, rich and poor.+ my parents got a divorce because my dad was a problemed gambler. Kinda ironic that Im a professional gambler lol

I went to Punahou. Punahou and Iolani are better schools than Kaiser (as well as a number of other public and private schools). Punahou also had much better looking girls than Kaiser.

taking my own bias out of it. McKinley, Waiakea and Hilo were better public schools than Kaiser. I also prefer the girls at Roosevelt, Moanalua, Pearl City, Aiea and Castle to the girls at Kaiser.

the problem with Kaiser and Kalani (generally, of course, there aren't any absolutes here) is that the districts are, generally more affluent. many if not most of the above average kids in those districts end up at Iolani, Punahou, Mid Pac or some other ILH school. you see it in sports as well as academics.

you kinda nailed it. I totally forgot about moanalua! well hs is over so, we're all adults ( I think)

Doesn't look bad on streetmap...http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=palo...240.47,,0,-2.9

what have you heard/seen about it? jw.

it's an older area. mostly single wall construction,60 year old houses. there are some bad areas in Palolo but that part is mostly an older Japanese/Chinese/Local neighborhood.
pretty convenient location. close to town but not overly expensive. about fifteen minutes to waikiki, twenty minutes to downtown, ten to fifteen minutes to the university.

I spent a lot of my time growing up in that area. my cousins are from there and I was at their house almost daily. what else you want to know?

not there is a place i would love to live