Manoa town

Oahu, Hawaii Print   Leave a comment

Description

Manoa town is one of my favorite places on earth! It's just a humble little town but there's a wonderful feeling to it! You are tucked back in a valley surrounded by majestic, deep green mountains. Every afternoon it rains HARD for about a minute! The sun just keeps on shining and a huge arched perfect rainbow appears wishing you good luck. Then the rain stops just as suddenly as it came, the air you breathe is fresh and new, and the green all around is maintained. What an effortless way to have green all around you!
Manoa town is mostly populated by older Chinese residents. You will also see the occasional UH grad student, but the younger UH students stick to the areas around King St (which is a horribly ugly area, by the way).
If you're lucky enough to ever live in Manoa town you are blessed!
There aren't too many stores. There's a Safeway, a Starbucks, a Longs Drugs with a gorgeous mountain view, and Red Ginger Cafe (which I've unfortunately never tried) at Manoa Marketplace, the main shopping center.
There's a pretty creek that runs beside the McDonald's. It's a nice spot to walk around.
A drive around Manoa will take you past old established neighborhoods with beautiful homes and gardens. Stop and enjoy a walk. Woodlawn Dr, Alani Dr and Paty Dr are good ones. Drive up University Avenue and along East Manoa Rd, Oahu Avenue, and Manoa Rd to see gorgeous views of Manoa's mountain ridges, lush greenery, and homes you wish you owned!
Just outside Manoa in Makiki, there are some very nice stores: Star Market, on King St just west of University Ave where King St splits, has a garden section that is so lovely it's like an outing in itself. There is also a peaceful banyan tree outside with a bench, a nice place to sit and enjoy a healthy snack from Down To Earth, which is across the street. Down To Earth Natural Foods has every kind of organic item you would need. Kokua Market is a clean, easy-to-navigate natural grocery store. See addresses below.
There are two delightful parks with playgrounds: the mystical feeling University Avenue Park and Manoa Valley Park which is incredibly lush with gorgeous mountain views. Have a long wonderful walk around the campus of University of Hawaii Manoa and enjoy the old regal trees and the nice architecture. There you will find peaceful Japanese gardens. You could also take a muddy slippery hike to the stunning Manoa Falls.

Photo Gallery

The prettiest Safeway in the country, surrounded by green mountains!

Directions

From the H1 Freeway, exit at University Ave and head north toward the mountains. Continue along University Ave, uphill then downhill. Turn right on E. Manoa Rd. Manoa Marketplace will be on your right.
Down To Earth Natural Foods, 2525 S King St, call (808) 947-7678‎.
Kokua Market, 2643 S King St, call (808) 941-1922‎.
Star Market, 2470 S King St, call (808) 535-1100.‎

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

Visitor Ratings

Overall Visitor Rating:

Chris 12/22/2009 13:24	You all should be going to manoa! It is so chill.
kEITH 10/06/2009 14:47	Yep, arrived about a month ago! great!