Visit Los Angeles: 48 Hours in LA, Day 1

 There's something exciting about taking a red-eye flight. 

We boarded Hawaiian Airlines the night before and landed at LAX bright and early the next morning, ready to make the most of our two days in Los Angeles.

After picking up our rental car, our first stop was one I had been looking forward to for weeks: Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee in Culver City.

The stop was inspired by my niece, who is gluten-sensitive and had heard wonderful things about their gluten-friendly options. 

The moment I walked through the doors, I understood the hype. The display case was filled with the most beautiful handcrafted doughnuts, and everything looked absolutely irresistible.

I decided to try the Huckleberry, one of Sidecar's signature flavors, and wow... it completely lived up to its reputation!

The doughnut had a rich, cake-like texture that was incredibly moist, and the huckleberry glaze was both pleasing to the eye and my palate.  

It was easily one of the best doughnuts I've ever had.

Of course, after satisfying our sweet tooth, we were ready for something savory. As luck would have it, there was an In-N-Out Burger just a few minutes away, so that became our second stop of the morning. 

We each ordered burgers and fries, and my niece couldn't stop raving about the Animal Style fries. 

If you've never tried them, they're topped with melted cheese, grilled onions, and the famous In-N-Out sauce—and it's easy to see why it's one of the world's best off-menu item.

That evening, we headed to the Intuit Dome for the Forrest Frank concert, which was the main reason for our quick trip to Los Angeles. 

The venue itself was incredible—modern, clean, with state of the art technology. Forrest Frank put on an amazing show, and the positive energy from the crowd made the experience even more memorable.

One thing to note if you're attending an event at Intuit Dome: be prepared for arena prices when it comes to food and drinks. Everything was noticeably expensive, so you may want to grab a meal before heading inside.

$17.50 Veggie Burger

From incredible doughnuts and classic California burgers to an unforgettable concert, our 48 hours in Los Angeles was off to a fantastic start.

Stay tuned for Day 2, where we'll continue exploring more of LA's food scene and attractions!

📍 Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee (Culver City)
10705 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232 

📍 In-N-Out Burger
9245 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034

📍 Intuit Dome
3930 W Century Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90303

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Visit Japan: Travel Day to Osaka

We had been looking forward to our family trip to Osaka for months—but as departure day approached, Mother Nature had other plans.

A Kona low storm swept through Hawaiʻi on the day of our flight, bringing strong winds, heavy rain, and plenty of delays. But after a 2-hour wait, we were finally on our way to Japan.

We flew in the main cabin on Hawaiian Airlines (Airbus A330), and the experience was pretty solid overall.

• Each passenger received a pillow, blanket, and amenity kit which includes earplugs, earbuds, and 
• In-seat entertainment providing hours of free movies, music, shows
• Meal options: pasta or chicken
• Pre-landing snack: tuna sandwich

My son actually really liked the pasta, while the chicken was just okay. Nothing amazing, but decent for airplane food.

After 10 hours of flight time, we landed at Kansai International Airport, Terminal 1, and this is where preparation really paid off.

Before leaving Hawaiʻi, we made sure to complete our Japan QR codes for immigration and customs—and I highly recommend doing this (be sure each person traveling with you has their own QR code). It made the process so much faster and smoother after landing.

After grabbing our checked luggage, our next mission was picking up our pocket WiFi rental. I went to seek out the place while the husband went to go look for our driver who was supposed to meet us at the airport to take us to our hotel.

The instructions from Japan Wireless said to go to the NEST counter on the second floor of Terminal 1. Easy, right? Not quite. Turns out, not too many people knew where this counter was—even airport staff.

After wandering around a bit, a very kind employee at McDonald’s pointed us in the right direction (shoutout to him 🙌). Eventually, we found it—but just a heads up: the NEST counter is actually outside of the Terminal 1 building. 

My husband arranged a private airport transfer and this was honestly one of the best decisions we made.

• Driver was on time
• Extremely courteous
• Smooth, stress-free ride

If you’re traveling with a group (or a lot of luggage like we were), I’d definitely recommend this over figuring out trains right after a long flight, especially if you're arriving after sundown.

We finally arrived at MIMARU Osaka Namba —and we were so happy to have finally made it!

• Spacious rooms (rare in Japan!)
• Mini kitchen (including refrigerator/freezer)
• Super clean and modern
• Bunk beds—which the kids loved

By the time we got in, it was late. We took quick showers and called it a night.

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Booking a Flight on Hawaiian Airlines

There is no denying the amount of issues people have been encountering when traveling on Hawaiian Airlines ever since the transition to Atmos Rewards.  From not being able to view seats, no TSA PreCheck, confusion with baggage allowance and lounge access . . . and things may only get worse in April once the two res systems merge (although I am hopeful for minimal issues!). 

One issue I constantly see people talking about on social media is the inability to book / view & select seats on HA (I immediately joined some FB groups once the transition happened to get some insight into all the issues and to know that I wasn’t the only one experiencing them). 

Since I commute to ITO often, what has worked for me is booking directly on hawaiianairlines.com vs alaskaair.com (Atmos Rewards).

Via the HA site, you can view and select seats.

Via the AS / AtmosRewards site, you cannot view / select seats.  If you book via AS, you will get an AS confirmation.  Then you will also get an HA confirmation with which you will have to go to the HA website to select your seats. 

Now - if you are using Atmos Rewards miles or your Huaka‘i discount code, you will automatically be directed to the AS interface, in which you will have to go back to HA to select your seats.  

Again, this is what my experience has been and what has been working for me since I book frequently, and things could change / not work at any time with the constant issues their IT has been having.   

But hopefully this helps someone because I went through a lot of frustration, as did many others, after the transition to Atmos Rewards.  

Screenshots of booking via HA:

Screenshots booking via AS (or using Atmos Rewards, Huaka‘i Discount)

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Hawaiian Airlines - Why I Only Book One-Ways

I fly Hawaiian Airlines frequently.  I choose Hawaiian primarily because of the people, more than anything else - they are truly some of the nicest people, welcoming with aloha (and many are my former co-workers).  

One of the biggest challenges with the 2023 system "upgrade" was that for a long while, we did not have the ability to change flights online.  I'd have to call each time I want to change my flight, which is often.   

And during one of the calls when trying to change my flight - I learned something new (others may have known this, but I didn't).

If you are trying to just change one way on a round-trip flight, the entire trip will be re-priced, not just the segment you are trying to change.  So even if the new one-way flight you want to change to is the same price as the original flight, if the other segment has increased in price for the same exact flight, you'll have to pay for the increase.

Confused?  I sure was.  

For instance (prices are not what I actually paid, but just noted for simplicity's sake) - Flight A1 HNL-ITO was $70 and Flight B1 ITO-HNL was $70 when booked.  I wanted to change Flight B1 ITO-HNL to a different time - Flight B2, and when I checked the price online, it was the same price ($70) as the original flight I booked.  

However, when I called to change the flight, I was told that there was a change fee of $80!  I advised the agent that I checked the flight and saw that the price was the same as the original flight, and she said "The HNL-ITO Flight A1 had changed in price (to $150), and we have to re-price the entire trip."

Looking back, I always wondered why I was charged price increases even though when I priced the flight segments they were the same, and I thought it was because of dynamic pricing for that segment.  

In any case, the agent suggested that I take the flight to ITO, and then as soon as I land, change the ITO-HNL flight because the HNL-ITO portion will not need to be re-priced anymore.  

So that's what I did, while crossing my fingers that the ITO-HNL portion did not go up in price (thankfully it did not). 

Ever since, I've been booking one-ways.  I don't know about AS' system (I haven't flown them yet!) so not sure how they reprice tickets.  

Hopefully this knowledge will save you some $.  I shared the information with a friend and she had no idea about this repricing process either!  

Now . . . if only HA would offer credit online for when there is a price decrease like other airlines do! 

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Visit Japan: From Honolulu to Tokyo

We were beyond excited as we set off for our much-anticipated Japan trip in 2025! Our journey began with a flight from Honolulu to Narita, Japan, on Hawaiian Airlines. We arrived at the airport a solid three hours early for our 11:30 AM flight — and it was a ghost town! Seriously, we might have been the first ones there for our flight. With plenty of time to spare, we got settled and prepared for the long journey ahead.

After a smooth check-in process, we boarded the Hawaiian Airlines flight, ready for our 9-hour trip. Hawaiian Airlines definitely took care of us on board. We were each provided with a pillow, a blanket (wrapped neatly in plastic), and a little kit with eye shades, ear plugs, and ear buds. These came in super handy during the flight, especially when it came to blocking out the noise and catching some much-needed rest.

As for entertainment, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Wi-Fi was available, and there was also a wide selection of movies to choose from. 

The flight attendants were very attentive, making sure we were comfortable. We were served two meals during the journey, though we didn’t eat much — after all, we knew we'd be indulging in some of the best food in the world once we landed in Tokyo!

Meal #1 - shoyu chicken

Son's Meal #1 - Yakisoba

Meal #2 - sandwich

We arrived at Narita on time (actually a little early!) and were thrilled to get our first taste of Japan. 

As we walked through the terminal, we couldn’t help but be excited to see a 7-Eleven right there in the airport! We’ve heard so much about the wonders of Japanese convenience stores, so naturally, we had to check it out. We grabbed a couple of snacks to tide us over until dinner — the convenience and variety were impressive.

After collecting our luggage from baggage claim, I made a quick stop at the JAL ABC counter to pick up the Wi-Fi router I had rented through Japan-wireless.com (a must for staying connected during our trip). I pre-ordered this on the website and had it shipped to the JAL ABC counter at the airport. There is an option to have it mailed to the hotel, but I figured it's better to have it at the airport so that we have connectivity as we navigate our way from the train station to our hotel.

With our router in hand, we headed to the Keisei ticket counter, where we showed our QR code to get our tickets for the Keisei Skyliner, a fast and economical way to travel from Narita to Ueno, Tokyo. By pre-paying for a round trip online beforehand, you can save a little bit on the fare.

The Skyliner ride was smooth and efficient — only 45 minutes to Ueno Station, which is widely used by both locals and visitors. We were impressed by how easy and affordable the journey was. Once we arrived at Ueno Station, we made our way to our hotel, the Mamaru Tokyo Ueno East Hotel. We chose this hotel because it can accommodate families in a single room — something that can be hard to find in many places in Japan! It is also located close to the Ueno Train Station which was also a selling point for us. It turned out to be a great place to stay and I would highly recommend it!

By the time we checked into our hotel, it was already 7 PM local time. After a long day of traveling, we were hungry and tired, but we knew we needed a great meal to end our first day in Tokyo. We decided to take a walk and find a local restaurant. Our decision led us to Tempura Miwa, and wow, what a fantastic choice!

Our first experience with Japan’s famous vending machine ordering system was… an adventure! It took us a little while to figure out how to place our order, but once we got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing. We received our tickets from the machine and entered the restaurant. Within minutes, our delicious tempura was served — the food was fresh, crispy, and full of flavor. We were amazed by how efficient the whole process was.

After our meal, we headed back to the hotel, completely satisfied and ready for a good night’s rest. It was a long day, but an exciting one, and we couldn’t wait to start exploring Tokyo the next day.

Stay tuned for my next post where we share our first full day in Tokyo....

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