Month: December 2017
Location: O’ahu & Big Island
Well, this was the big one.
Ever since I started on this journey Hawaii was always in my mind,
especially with the time – and expense – commitment that it would require. When I had classified the 51 destinations in
different zones, both, Alaska and Hawaii has been designated as “Outer States”. But, I had been to Alaska before and so it
didn’t seem that intimidating. While
I could have spent more time there, I was able to have a good visit in just 3
days. That would not be so easy with
Hawaii, especially since it would take a day just to get there. So I decided to do it over the week between
Christmas and the New Years, since things are slow in the office. Then came the decision on which island's to
visit, and while Maui and Kaua’i are often described as the most beautiful, I
wasn’t going there to lie down on a beach for a week. So I picked O’ahu - because that’s where
Honolulu was and I like cities - and Hawai’i or The Big Island, because there
was something that I desperately wanted to do and this was the place to do
it. I wanted to see the ‘Milky Way’.
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| The Hawaiian Islands |
On the Big Island is ‘Mauna
Kea’, which is the tallest mountain on the planet if measured from the
bottom of the ocean. My buddy had told
me about this tour which took you to the summit at twilight and once it was
dark, they turned off all ambient light so that you could see the stars the way
they were meant to be seen. I have never
been to a place which was dark enough to do this and this was my chance. So when I booked all of my travel back in
February, I also booked this. I also
booked a day trip to see ‘Pearl Harbor’,
and then did some research on ‘Volcanoes
National Park’, which was also on the Big Island. I was going to fly into Honolulu, spend 3
nights there, and then take an inter-island flight to Hilo, which was on the
East coast and closer to the National Park.
After spending a night there I would then drive around the island to
Kona, on the West Coast and visit ‘Mauna
Kea’ the next day. Then I would
return back to Honolulu for another night and take a “red-eye” back to Chicago on December 30th. Then I realized that I had no reason to be
back for New Year’s and why shouldn’t I just extend my trip.
On my way back I was connecting through LA and since I had
never been there, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to do
so. Well, I and the rest of the world I
suppose since the hotel rates were through the roof. The next option was to rent a car and drive
down to San Diego and that wasn’t a bad thing since I could make a day trip of
it. So I booked a hotel in San Diego and
then called the airlines to see if I could change. They were happy to oblige as long as I
mortgaged myself to pay the difference.
So I asked what would happen if I just left the flight in LA. They said nothing, as long as I had no
checked luggage and I wouldn’t even have to tell anyone. They would wait for me till departure and
then just leave. That was fine by me,
but it did present a challenge. I would
have to pack for 12 days encompassing 6 flights segments and 5 hotels, while
figuring out how to do it with carry-on luggage.
The month leading up to my departure I spent several evening
planning for my time over there, including where I wanted to eat, the bars I
wanted to go to and of course the places that I wanted to visit. It was by far the most exhaustive preparation
that I had done so far. I even called
all the tour places and the restaurants that I was planning to visit to confirm
my reservations – especially since some of them had been done months in
advance. My trip to ‘Pearl Harbor’ had a 5:50 am pickup from a hotel that was a few
blocks away from where I was staying. So
I checked and found that I could in fact cancel my reservation, switch to this
pickup hotel and pay the same rate. That
would make it ideal to just come down and board a bus. The night before I left, I laid out all of my
clothes and other stuff that I wanted to carry and somehow managed to stuff it
in a carry-on bag and a backpack. It was
good thing that the weather would be warm and more or less stable, meaning I wouldn’t
have to carry too many sweaters.
However, some of the restaurants that I was planning to visit had a
strict dress code and that took up a lot of room in the bag. But, I was ready for what would be the longest
domestic vacation that I have ever gone on.
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| Below that cloud cover is the blue Pacific |
At 7 am I took a ‘Lyft’
– I had diversified my “ride share”
options – to the airport and arrived well in advance of my departure time. Fortunately, my carry-on bags made it past
the person checking for the size limit and then it was just a lot of waiting
till my boarding was called at 9:30 am.
The good thing about taking a day flight was that it would put me in
Hawaii in the evening. It was almost 5
hours to LA, but each seat had a TV screen and so I spent most of it watching a
couple of movies. The 2 hour layover was
spent trying to get a really relaxed server to get me food at an airport bar, and
then I arrived at my gate for the flight to Hawaii. The number of people by the gate looked like
I was boarding an international flight and for all practical purposes it could
well have been one. This was one of
those aircraft's which had two aisles with 10 seats per row and a business class
that made me envious. I had a tight
schedule this evening and so a 20 minute departure delay did make me a bit
nervous. But we took off and were
immediately over the Pacific, which was as blue as described. For the next 5 hours and half hours we would
not see land and it’s incredible that something that appears so close on a map
is deceivingly far. Well, thank heavens
for video entertainment and it was a few more movies for me.
It was 7 pm and dark when we landed in Honolulu and it took
some time for me to get out. I navigated
through the long terminal towards the exit and at one stage walked over a
bridge which was open, thus confirming that I was in a much warmer place than
the one that I had left. I got into a cab and
as we drove into town, the thing that struck me the most was how much this
place reminded me of Mumbai; especially the
architecture. The lack of "chain restaurants" on the streets and other things made me feel that this was very much a foreign country. The gentleman driving me was giving me
pointers on things to do and about the island.
I was staying in the ‘Waikiki
Beach’ area with the downtown being a few miles away, though according to
him nothing happened there. We arrived
at ‘Ala Moana Hotel’ and it looked
huge. There was a lot of traffic near
the hotel, primarily because it was next to the biggest malls in the
city and it was after all the holiday season.
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| Dinner with a view |
I checked in and the receptionist said that they were giving
me a room in the quiet section away from the street noise. Well, that room was also far from the
elevator and a trek to get there. I had
been on the road for almost 17 hours and so gladly took a refreshing shower and
then it was time to leave again. I
called an ‘Uber’ to go to a nearby
resort called ‘Halekulani’ which
housed the restaurant ‘La Mer’. The evening was pleasant and this area was
quite busy. I arrived at the resort and
then after a few wrong directions, found my destination. This was a classic French restaurant and
despite my apprehension over the last month that I would be late, I was in fact
early for my reservation. So I went over
to the bar named ‘L ’Aperitif’ which
had a classic bartender in white jacket.
I had to double check the price of the cocktails because these were some
expensive drinks. I ordered something
called ‘Halekulani Cocktail’, which
was accompanied by a small container of ‘Rockford
Blueberry Syrup’. While I am not
sure if it justified the price, this was an excellent drink.
They came to get me for my table, which was overlooking a small balcony
beyond which was the beach and the ocean. They even moved my table closer so that I had an excellent view. There couldn’t have been a more perfect start to my week here and I
could have stayed there for a long time, just listening to the ocean at night. Plus, the food was excellent, though the
service was a bit overbearing at times.
But that is better than the other option I suppose. After dinner I stood on the balcony for a
while and then called a ride back. It
had been a long day and I was ready to turn in.
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| Early morning at 'Ala Moana Center' |
While not the worse night, I had been dealing with a cough
for the last couple of weeks and it did prove to be a nuisance. But even with that and the fact that I was late by Central Time standards in going to bed, I was wide awake at 7 am. Now that I was up so early, I rearranged some of my schedule based on when places opened and where they were located. Yeah, I was well prepared for this one. I got ready and found the bridge connecting my hotel to the mall, ‘Ala Moana Center’. As advertised, this place was huge, being open-air with a central
walkway and shops on either side spread over multiple levels. In fact, not only was this the largest
shopping mall in Hawaii, it was the 7th largest in the US and the
largest open-air shopping center in the US.
And it was also quite empty. This
wasn’t a surprise since it was just after 8 am in the morning. I did locate a coffee stand called ‘Honolulu Coffee Company’ and got
something called “Hawaiian Latte”. I also spend some time – unsuccessfully -
trying to locate the place where I was supposed to have dinner, since it was
supposed to be this secret entrance at the basement level parking lot. When they had called to confirm my
reservation, they had said that if I couldn’t find them, I should wait outside
a ‘Barnes & Nobel’ store and they
would come get me. Well, I guess that’s
what I would need to do.
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| Now that's what I call Breakfast! |
I returned back to my hotel at 9 am and called a ride to go
get some food. It was a place called ‘Koko Head Café’ which described itself
as an “Island Style Brunch House”. It was located away from the crowds in a
simple building, though once inside it resembled a brunch café. And a popular one at that since it was
full. I was lucky to get a table and
looking at the menu I saw a lot of Asian inspiration. I ordered a dish called “Chicky and Eggs”, which was, well, Chicken and Eggs over rice in a
hot bowl… a very hot bowl. As I looked
at the menu, I realized that rice was staple over here and present in almost
all dishes, even with eggs! Now while I would typically
not be found eating Chicken for breakfast at 9 in the morning, I was still
adjusting to the time zone, at least that’s what I told myself.
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| 'Bishop Museum' |
I called a ride to go to ‘Bishop
Museum’, which is actually the “Hawaii
State Museum of Natural and Cultural History”. They gave me a map at the ticket counter and
I saw that there were several buildings around a central lawn and besides the
main building housing the cultural exhibits; there was a “Planetarium”, a “Hawaii
Sports Hall of Fame” and even a “Science
Adventure Center”. There was a
guided tour of the main hall and since I had some time prior to that, I went to
the building with the Science Center first.
One of the more fascinating things here was a tunnel which I suppose was
depicting the flora and fauna of Hawaii as well as Native Culture. However, with its
dark passages and fluorescent objects, it looked more like the interior of a “Tiki Bar”. Besides this, there were some hands-on
activities for kids and perhaps the most notable thing in this building was a
giant "Volcano", which replicated flowing lava. Kids and their parents were
starting to assemble here and I left for the next building.
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| The grand "Pacific Hall" |
There was some sort of exhibit on animation in one building and
I walked through that before making my way to the main building called “Hawaiian Hall Complex”, for the guided
tour. The tour started with the docent telling us
about the history of the museum, which was founded in late 19th
century by a gentleman Charles Reed Bishop, in honor of his late wife, Royal Princess
Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
The museum houses Hawaiian objects, including those previously belonging
to the royal family. We walked through
the halls looking at these artifacts as we learned about how the Hawaiian
Islands were settled, which was through Polynesian natives voyaging across the
vast Pacific Ocean in nothing more than basic seafaring vessels. There were other rooms, including "Pacific Hall" which had galleries spanning 3 floors, and hanging from the ceiling was a
giant model of a Whale. There were several things to see in here and a lot of history and culture on display, but I just
took a cursory glance and then moved on to other buildings. The “Hawaii
Sports Hall of Fame” was a room with photographs and stories on Hawaiian
athletes, almost all of who were unknown to me.
The final place I visited was an exhibit called “NASA’s Earth Observing Mission”, which was an interactive exhibit
showing how NASA uses satellites to gather data. I walked through here and then back to
the main building to request a ride to my next destination.
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| The 'Capitol' |
I was going to ‘Hawaii
State Art Museum’ and it was located in downtown. The driver dropped me off and pointed to a
building which looked like a mansion. I
soon realized that I was at the wrong location and this was in fact ‘Iolani Palace’, the only palace in the
US. I had a ticket for a tour next week and would be back. After asking for some directions, I found the museum I was seeking. Although the name included “State Art Museum”, this wasn’t a very
big place, with just two galleries, albeit interesting; and was free to
the public. After walking through them I
asked the gentleman at the front desk how to get to my next place and he
pointed out the directions enthusiastically.
It was about a mile away and I was going to walk over there. He told me to check out the ‘State Capitol’ on the way, saying that
it was across the street. I had not seen
any building with the traditional dome and so was surprised to hear that. I soon realized that
unlike the buildings in the other state capitals, ‘Capitol’
of Hawaii was a rectangular building with a central courtyard, and which looked
more like a “Modern Art Gallery”.
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| 'Honolulu Museum Of Art' |
I walked to the ‘Honolulu
Museum Of Art’, which was on the side of a busy road. As I got my ticket, I learned that the museum
had another location up the hill called ‘Spalding
House’ and my ticket could get me into that place as well. This location was quite expansive and
reminded me of the ‘Heard Museum’ in
Phoenix, in terms of its architecture and layout. I walked through its many galleries and
outdoor courtyards and even got some “Iced
Mocha” to enjoy while sitting outside.
After I felt that I had gotten the most out of this place, I called an ‘Uber’ to go to the ‘Spalding House’. The driver
called and told me to go to the side street since this was a busy road and he
wouldn’t be able to stop. I did as asked
and saw him take the corner a bit more aggressively than he would have
preferred, thus causing the side of his car to scrape against the
sidewalk. He proceeded past me and
pulled into a small area on the side to examine the damage and seemed a bit
annoyed. Fortunately, he didn’t take it
out on me and we started our climb up to the house.
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| The garden's of 'Spalding House' |
I was glad that I had not chosen to walk since it was quite a
hike up the hill. I was dropped off in
front of what looked like, well, a house.
The lady inside saw the museum sticker on my shirt and waved me in. Though the exterior was like a house, the
interior was unmistakably like a museum.
There were a few galleries, including a library room, where I pulled out
some books on photography and spent some time looking at them. There were just a couple of visitors besides
me and it was a quiet place. Outside was
a garden with some sculptures, on a manicured lawn overlooking a great view of
the city. There was also a path leading
down through the bushes and I went down part of the way before turning back,
realizing that this looked exactly like a never-ending pit which they tell you
to avoid in the movies! Speaking of
creepy, there was another small cottage with an exhibit called “L’Enfant et les sortiléges” roughly
translated as “The Child and the
witchcraft”. It was a dark room with
florescent paintings of a garden and several objects resembling animals. One in particular looked like a Panther about
to pounce and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
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| "Monkey Pod Mai Tai" |
As can be expected, it took over 10 minutes for my ride to
get over here and by now I was tired. I
was going to this bar which was known for its cocktails, but there was some
time before it opened. So I popped into
a place near it, called ‘Moku Kitchen’. There was something on the menu named “Monkey Pod Mai Tai”, and I suppose it
was called so because there was foam on top which tasted like a banana. It was delicious and a nice start to the
evening. ‘Bevy’, the place I was going to, looked like a “speakeasy” with its dark entry and
interiors. Plus, the cocktail list was
interesting and the bartenders seemed to know what they were doing. I got a drink called “Mai Thai”, and that isn’t a typo.
It was an Asian play on the classic and the flavors were spot on.
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| The hidden entrance of 'Bar Leather Apron' |
I have always tried to go to the top rated cocktail bar in
each city that I have visited and the one over here was called ‘Bar Leather Apron’. It was about a mile away in the heart of
downtown and I decided to walk there. It
road took me along the waterfront, next to the pier with massive “cruise ships” and into what looked like
the financial district. The problem was
locating the place, because there was no sign and there was nothing resembling
a bar at the stated address. I tried
calling them, but reached a voicemail and now I was truly stuck. I entered a high rise building and asked the
security guard if he knew where the place was and to my surprise, he pointed
upwards, saying I should go around the corner and up flight of stairs. Now I found it and even though it had been
just a few minutes past the opening, there were already several folks here. I was directed to a table and ordered their signature
drink, “E Ho’Opau Mai Tai” or “World’s Best Mai Tai”, apparently
having won the award in 2015. While it
was quite good, I didn’t even think it was the best “Mai Tai” I have had this evening.
But, they made a production out of presenting it, with smoke and all the
pretentiousness that the best bar in the city carries. People were now coming in droves, including a
group who said that they had come straight from the airport – my kind of
people. I called an ‘Uber’ back to my hotel, making sure I identified a landmark first,
and arrived with plenty of time to spare before my dinner.
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| And the hidden entrance of 'Vintage Cave Club' |
In my research, ‘Vintage
Cave Club’, had been identified as the most exclusive place in the city;
with President Obama and the First Lady having dined there. Initially I had made a reservation for later
in the evening, but with my early morning wake up call, I had moved it to 7
pm. I walked over to the mall as before
and descended down to the basement. Once again, I was unable to see the place
and so called them. I waited outside ‘Barnes & Nobel’ and very soon a
lady appeared and guided me towards a narrow alley. I entered though some doors and into an
elevator that deposited me one floor up, meaning that they could have had their
entrance in a much more respectable location. But where’s the fun in that? The interior looked like a dungeon…and a
museum. There were paintings and display
cases lined up against arched brick walls and the only thing missing was
flaming torches. I loved it.
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| The interior |
The service was excellent, as can be expected of a top notch
place, though we did not start off well.
I ordered an ‘Old Fashioned’
and when it appeared in a glass full of ice cubes, I asked the server to make
it with just one big one…as this drink should be. When he said that they did not have it, I
said that I would change my order. Now,
this was me being a jerk, but I was also paying a fair sum for this
experience. While I would never do this
is a normal bar, any place who claims to be known for their cocktails or a
place like this which charges one an arm and a leg, should know better. The dinner itself was outstanding and well
worth the visit. At the end I emerged
into the same alley, climbed up the stairs, and through the mall towards my
hotel. I was back at a decent hour and
if today had been a long day, tomorrow would be even longer.
To Be Continued…
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