Rise Up

August 1, 2006

This morning was our “welcome breakfast” put together by Aloha V.I.P. tours. Daisy was raring to get on with the rest of our day, and I did not blame her one bit, but this was just something I had to do so I would be able to let everyone back home know if it’s worth their while or not. (A few friends of the family are going to Honolulu in the next couple months. It’s like a Hawaiian revival amongst the social circle.) It was a little hokey as they placed fake flower leis around your neck as you pose for a picture in the hotel’s garden. Apparently they used to take your picture as soon as you deplaned with your real leis. But given that some tourists arrive late at night and look a bit haggard after their long flight the pictures would turn out a tad undesirable. Now they take it the morning after so that you are refreshed and looking your best. A phoney arrival photo, yours for 18 dollars! We passed. Yes, the breakfast did take a bit long (I think it was 2 hours) but at least you had a free meal, a little performance from some of the entertainers at the Polynesian Cultural Centre, and if you were so inclined you could take advantage of tour deals that were on offer that morning as well. We ended up purchasing our Grand Circle Isle tour through them as it was cheaper than at Outrigger Activities (and from my later observations they both send you on the tour with the exact same tour company). They weren’t kidding…it really does pay to shop around for your tours and activities. Another way to do it (though we really would not have had the patience to do such a thing) was to sit through a condo time-share presentation. We came across people who got free tickets to Germaine’s Luau (that’s an 80 dollars savings per person if you were to pay the actual admission) and drastic discounts on other attractions by simply giving up 3 or so hours of their vacation time. No thanks, but if you have the time to kill then knock yourself out. For some reason when we were in Maui the activities vendors had “we are not a time-share sale” printed in small font at the bottom of their sales boards. One would think that this should be a big feature that they should play up, but maybe there are regulations against that or something. Who knows?

After our breakfast we went back to our hotel to book the rest of our activities since we did not want to miss out on any of them. Soon after that we were on a TheBus to Iolani Palace!

Iolani Palace is the only royal palace that can be found on American soil. Unfortunately they do not allow photography inside but the things I saw will remain with me for a long time. To further preserve the palace they even give you cotton booties to wear over your shoes during the tour. We saw some of the art that the kings had collected during their reigns as well as the amazing details etched on the crystal doors and wood frames. They showed us the room where Queen Lili’uokulani was imprisoned in her own palace after the American government overthrew the monarchy. It really choked me up to hear about how she dealt with it so gracefully, but I guess what could she do on her own? If I remember correctly it was the first, or one of the first, buildings to be electrified in the United States. They may be a set of tiny islands but Hawaii definitely sounded attuned to technological advances back in the day. We got to see the throne room and the ball room. It was all amazing, and our docent, Hokulani, did a great job with the tour as she narrated it in a story sort of fashion like we were honored guests invited to one of the royal balls.

After Iolani Palace I had decided to swing by Chinatown since they were close together. We were a bit turned around though a nice local man showed us the way (“can’t you smell it from here?” he joked). It turns out we were only a few blocks away. Referring to our maps we headed for the Chinese Cultural Plaza, which in all honesty ended up not looking like much of anything. The Cultural Centre here in Calgary is more obvious and opulent. Although theirs had a really neat pedestrian mall alongside the canal where you could see all the elderly Chinese playing mah jong and cards. Reminded me quite a bit of my own family, haha. Further down the street where the rest of Chinatown lay there were a few lei shops (I love leis, they are so gorgeous!) and little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Much like any other Chinatown, really, except for the lei shops.

Despite being in Chinatown we opted to get our lunch closer to where the bus stops would be. What did we end up with? Good ol’ KFC. We tried the “Famous Bowl.” We don’t have the Famous Bowl here in Canada. Mashed potatoes with some corn nibblets on the side, popcorn chicken, grated cheese, and gravy all on top. Served with a spork! We don’t have sporks in Canada! (Do I sound like a small town innocent, yet? Haha) I really wish we had the Famous Bowl here ‘cuz it was really good…and it didn’t taste like fast food at all, a shocker.

Waiting for our bus back to Waikiki we witnessed a tall drag queen arguing with a lady. I guess the lady did not approve of how the queen was leading his life and was pretty vocal about it. Again, I tell you these are the experiences you can not get when you sequester yourself in your own car.

Back in Waikiki we reapplied our sunscreen and prepped our water bottles back at the hotel. Our next adventure? Diamond Head!

Although we got back to Waikiki early in the afternoon for some reason we did not come across a bus to take us to Diamond Head for quite some time, though schedules read that they should come every 20 minutes. As a result we arrived at the base of the crater at 4:10. The park closed at 6. Crunch time.

As we cleared the other end of the tunnel and approached the ranger booth the warden called out to us “Hurry up, girls! Another 4 minutes and you’ll be too late!” With good reason they stop the entry of visitors after 4:30pm. The hike up and down the crater is estimated at 30-40 minutes per direction and the gates of the park are closed at 6 on the dot.

Panicking that we would be locked in (a very valid fear) Daisy began a brutal pace up the crater. Her reasoning was that if we caught up to the couple ahead of us then we would be in good company, ie. Less likely to get locked in. Despite all my months at the gym with Latina I could not understand how Daisy was keeping up the speed. Looking back now, I didn’t feel like my heart was going to explode out of my chest but I was definitely gasping for air. Not only that but my calves were cramping pretty fierce, a common problem I get…I think it’s due to wearing heels so often. Note to self: ramp up the cardio even more after vacation.

Mercifully for me, about 1/3 of the way up the crater we were forced to ease up behind a long train of fellow hikers. That was perfectly fine with me. Again, it reassured us that we would not get locked in, there were at least 60 hikers right ahead of us on the trail at this point. After zig-zagging up the crater’s side for a bit we came to a scary set of stairs. Steep with narrow steps. At the top of the steps was a dark tunnel. We had read that you should bring a flashlight with you but apparently they had installed lighting along the path earlier in the year. I wonder how many people got hurt over the years before they set up the lighting? Another set of scary steps, another dark tunnel. 2 sets of tight spiral staircases further and you were finally at the base of the lookout. Gorgeous view, I must admit, and well worth Daisy’s suicidal bolt up the crater.

Getting down was just as hairy. Daisy easily gets dizzy on spiral stairs so we took our time with those. I get really nervous with narrow steps (and at such a steep incline, too!) so we definitely took our time with those. We befriended a nice young couple from Maine so we were comfortable with asking them the stupid question of where exactly was the crater we were supposedly looking at? In our mad dash up the crater we did not take the time to read the informational pamphlet given to us. Very kindly they showed us back at the bottom the informational maps that broke it all down for us. I had NO idea Diamond Head was a military lookout. Shows how much I knew!

And speaking of the military, there were TONS of them in Honolulu! Even at my hotel! You all know how I love that military look so I was pretty happy. They must have been on vacation leave for the most part. I even saw a man in his army uniform carrying a diaper bag. A bit of a downer, haha, but surely not all of them were spoken for.

That same kind Maine couple who explained the whole crater deal to us even offered us a ride back into Waikiki. I do realize that we could have seriously put ourselves in danger taking a ride from a strange couple but thankfully it was completely fine. They talked about how they would like to see Carnaval in Quebec sometime, and how they fell in love with Prince Edward Island. It was nice to know that Americans see our country as a worthy vacation spot as well. Normally, Daisy the backpacker usually has Canadian flag pins that she hands out to friendly people she meets and/or who help her out along her travels but this time around she didn’t think to bring them with her. Oh well, at least we got to meet some great people.

Back at the hotel we jumped into the pool to cool off from our crazy hike. As irony would have it the wind picked up just as I got into the pool, cooling me down too much. Daisy took a picture as proof. For once Leah was cold. I think it was one of the first times in the history of our friendship that she had ever heard me say I was cold. I am almost always too hot, even in the frigid winters we have in Calgary. Unable to take the chill any longer I left Daisy at the pool and went to our room to freshen up and get dressed for dinner.

We didn’t get very far for dinner. Just across the street from the Starbucks on our corner was Ono Philly Cheesesteak. I had noticed another Ono close to the KFC where we had had lunch that day, and me being a cheesesteak lover I could not pass up the opportunity that was now presenting itself once again.

I <3 Ono Philly Cheesesteak. Oh my god, just reminiscing about it makes me want another one pronto! Mmm.

Side note: I looked into Ono Philly Cheesesteak on the internet after I got back from my trip. Turns out it was started by a Filipino family from California! Who would have thought? And the reason why they taste so good? The ingredients are flown in daily from the East Coast. Talk about authenticity! (Mind you, I could be talking garbage right now. I’ve never had a real cheesesteak from Philadelphia so I don’t know how close they are to the real thing….but Ono is very good!)

After that we wandered the shops again. Just like in Lahaina, stores close really late. We made a note of a few clubs in the area, the Hyatt Regency had Deep Blue, while a shopping centre down Kuhio had Fashion 45 and Zanzabar, and across Kuhio from those two was a “casual club” called Scruples. I then had the misfortune of seeing a roach scurrying around a garbage bin on the street. Roach sighting no. 2. Gah.

Satisfied that we had maxed out our day we headed back to our room and drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be another action-packed day.