A erendipitous and pleasant day in Paradise!

169 Diana and I sitting on the overlook wall at Kahala Beach on Oahu.

178 Hanauma Bay Beach, maybe the best overall beach photo I’ve ever taken

226 Kane’ohe City and Bay from the Pali Lookout sight of the last battle for Oahu.

241 Nu’uanu Peak.  The overlook where we are standing is the site of the end of the last battle where the losing warriors were pushed over the edge.

 

Sept 29 – Honolulu, Hawaii.  We docked at the Aloha Tower again this trip.  The tour we have booked is a very retro itinerary but one that I have never done, the Grand Circle Oahu tour.  It does a lap around pretty much of the island.  I was worried that it might be one of those tours where there are several large busses but my fears were unfounded.  There were only 13 of us going and we went in a mini-bus, about 24 person capacity so we had lots of room.  We’re going in the counter-clockwise direction from Honolulu across the south shore up the east shore across the north shore and then down half of the west shore before cutting into the interior to go to the Dole Plantation and then back to Honolulu.

 

I spotted some things in Honolulu that I hadn’t noticed on prior visits.  One was the tall building where Steve McGarrett stood on the balcony while being filmed from a helicopter in the original Hawaii-50.  Its façade hasn’t been changed, the panels in the balcony railing are still aqua.  Serendipitous and pleasant addition to the day, #1. 

 

Leaving Honolulu we drove by Waikiki Beach.  It’s Sunday so the beach was packed with both tourists and locals.  We headed toward and around Diamond Head, past the Coast Guard Base and the old lighthouse, now automated. 

 

Our first stop was at Kahala.  There was an unusual tourist bus in the parking lot at the overlook.  It was enclosed at the very front back to the passenger door, behind that it was open with the last two-thirds of the seating three feet higher than the first third.  Atop the bus’ roof at the rear was a whale’s tail as you’d see it before a shallow dive.  The tail was maroon and the front part of the bus was also maroon and had the whale’s eye painted on the side just in front of the passenger door.  Swooping up the side of the bus along the bottom of the whale’s body were rainbow stripes that covered the roof under the raised whale’s tail.  Under and in back of the rainbow the sides are brightly colored and decorated with cartoon like characters.  The words ‘Oli ‘Oli are painted on the side.  Anyone know what that means or who it is?  Serendipitous and pleasant addition to the day, #2.

 

The waves at the beach were not large (5-6 feet) but were breaking nicely, providing a long ride in and coming in well-spaced sets.  A large group of surfers were taking advantage of the water.  One of the girls from the shops on board, also a Diana, took our picture sitting on the wall of the overlook.  After leaving the overlook we drove through a very exclusive neighborhood where the homes are all over 5 million dollars and are mostly in the 15-20 million dollar range.  One of the nicest is owned by the lady who founded Panda Express, a travel agency catering mainly to the Chinese market.  It wasn’t the largest but it was the most tasteful and pleasing to the eye.  It certainly didn’t hurt that there are two Pandas in the crest that’s affixed to the gate on the driveway.

 

Our next stop was at Hanauma Bay.  Often it’s hard to get a decent shot of a beach that shows it to good advantage.  Here is was easy.  We were on an overlook that had a view looking across the length of the beach to the hills forming the side of the bay.  You could see the reef through the multi-hued and very clear water.  I’ve taken beach pictures all over and this is very close to the best one I’ve been able to capture.  It’s a fairly small crescent shaped beach that tapers off into a rocky ridge that forms the western side of the bay.  There are trees at the back of the beach and palm tree on it.  The waves were breaking directly down the center of the bay right onto the beach.  They’re much smaller here, maybe 2 feet at the largest, mostly populated by body surfers and boogie boarders.  The calm water areas were filled with snorkelers. 

 

We drove past the rugged volcanic coastline of Koko Head with its crashing waves and jagged rocks dotted with tiny sand beaches.  We stopped on an overlook at one such beach at Halona Blow Hole.  The main blow hole was underperforming as the tide and wave action was not ideal but it was hitting about 15 feet.  The tiny cove that ended at the beach is narrow waisted.  This produces a very swift current as the waves go in and out.  One man was using this phenomenon to his advantage.  First, as the current went in he rode along with it, as it went out he swam with it.  When this moved him too far out he reversed the process swimming in with it and letting it carry him out.  He kept switching back and forth every few sets to keep himself at the narrow point where the current was the strongest.  I suspect this was a local resident as he was very skilled at working with and against the current.  Using his technique he could swim for miles while only covering about 20 yards.  Most of the people at this beach appeared to be locals, few cameras, lots of island style tattoos. 

 

Just down the way is Sandy Beach, a fairly long and not nearly so picturesque place.  It has no palm trees, no rocky cliffs and is not tree lined at the back but it did appear to be a great place to get into the water.  No cliff means easy access from the road that borders the inland side of the beach so not much of a walk either.  With no offshore reef to start the rollers breaking it isn’t a great surf spot but then it might be under other tide and wave direction conditions.  I don’t know.  We drove past the collapsed wall of the Kuliouou Volcano Crater with the more in place wall beyond it. 

 

After rounding the corner and turning onto the Eastern Shore we came to Makapu’u Point.  Just off the point is Mahana (Rabbit) Island.  They say it’s called that because it looks like a rabbit sitting with its ears back.  I think you have to be pretty high on Maui Wowie to see it that way and among the locals I think that’s a distinct possibility.  It’s been drizzling off and on and there were some dark clouds behind the island that added interest to the picture.  Just past the point we came to the pier that serves as the Coast Guard’s helicopter hanger and aviation center.  I recognized it immediately as the home and hangar TC’s Island Hoppers Tours in the TV show Magnum PI.  Serendipitous and pleasant addition to the day, #3. 

 

We made a short stop in Waimanalo for some Kona coffee and ‘summer room’ stop.  Our guide calls the restrooms ‘summer rooms’ as some r for him and some r for her.  I’m just telling you that to give you some idea of his sense of humor.  He’s especially adept at creating goofy stories about Hawaiian place names and words.  Most of them are actually very funny, even if your first instinct is to groan a bit.

 

Here comes serendipitous and pleasant addition to the day, #4.  In the little strip mall where we stopped they have a sculpture of Akebono, the first non-Japanese Yokozuna (Grand Champion) in the history of sumo.

 

Author’s Note:  I love sumo.  During the ‘90s, when Akebono was coming up through the ranks KSCI in SoCal had a program called Sumo Digest.  During the months when they hold the six annual sumo tournaments in Japan, all the odd ones, they would recap the day’s matches by showing only the actual combat sections of the day.  Sumo has a lot of ritual that uses up a lot of time.  It’s fun if you are there in person but it’s pretty boring, match after match for the whole day.  All the action for the day can easily be put into a 30-minute TV show.  Akebono was the heaviest wrestler of his day and one of the heaviest ever at over 650 pounds.  His weakness was that he was very tall and if you could get him leaning forward he could be beaten.  Remember in sumo there are no weight classes.  The 250 pounder has to face the 650 pounder at least once each tournament.  The amazing thing was that the smallest wrestler of the era, Mainoumi, at a little over 250 had a great record against Akebono and was actually his main nemeses.  Unfortunately he also ended Mainoumi’s career.  During a match, which Mainoumi won, Akebono fell across Mainoumi’s extended leg and blew out his knee.  Career over.  I’ve been to two sumo demonstration 2-day tournaments, one in LA at Pauley Pavilion and one in Vancouver at the Sports Arena.  The sumitori travel internationally once a year to do these demo tournaments.  If you’re ever near on you and you have any interest in cultural events you definitely should attend at least one day.  The ritual is colorful and beautiful.

 

We stop for the ‘summer room’ and coffee and there’s Akebono.  Today turning out great!!  Besides the tourist shop there was a small store run by a Hawaiian lady that sells dried fruit, nuts and other island food supplies.  She had fair sized packs of dried mango, pineapple and cherries for $2 a pack.  I’ve seen larger packs of these items selling for 3 times that much in SoCal and since I like dried fruit as a snack I bought some of each.  Oddly enough, so far this trip, of course there have only been two ports, I’m buying more than Diana, although I believe that her few purchases cost way more than my many.  Of course, I’m counting the ukulele as hers because of her instrument collection and I did buy that fan in Hilo.  Know what, I’m wrong.  I think we’re about tied.  That in itself is very unusual.

 

From Waimanalo we drove up the Pali Highway to the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout.  From here we could look out over Kane'ohe City and the bay of the same name.  This is a historic area both in the lowlands under the cliffs and the small plateau her atop the mountain.  We are standing atop the remaining half of the Ko’olau Volcano, the other half slid into the sea creating the flat land 2,000 feet below us.  In the centuries prior to Western contact this valley was home to farmers and fishermen, today it is filled with golf courses and residences and a very nice botanical garden.  Kane’ohe is one of the largest suburban cities on the island but up until two centuries ago it was the island’s most productive agricultural area.  At first they grew taro, the source of poi, then they moved into rice and after that pineapple and sugar cane.  Sugar cane is pretty much gone from the island but some very sweet varieties on pineapple are still grown here although it is not exported except by tourists heading home with one or two.  Some small amounts are shipped to the mainland for use in restaurants.  If you are lucky enough to happen upon a pineapple with smooth leaves in the crown, that’s one of the type grown in Hawaii.  If it has saw edged leaves it’s not from here and not the high quality species.  Our guide gave us a tip about eating the pineapple.  Place it crown side down for one or two days before slicing it.  All the sweetness settles to the bottom after picking.  So to restore it to the whole fruit keep it upside down and then slice it.  He said it works with both the smooth and saw tooth varieties.  I have to admit that in my ignorance I have just sliced the pineapples I’ve purchased and wondered why the bottom was always sweeter than the top.  I figured they just grew that way.  Oops!!

 

One major feature of the plane is the He’eia Fishpond.  This stacked rock wall at the mouth of the He’eia Stream covers 88 acres of the bay.  This fish pond was used to grow and harvest fish that were put in after being caught as small fish in the ocean.  It was not a breeding pond but more like a cattle feed lot.  Put them in small, take them out big. 

 

There were more fishponds on the Mokapu Peninsula that forms the northern boundary of the bay.  It’s home to the Kane'ohe Marine Corps Air Station and they protect the ancient ponds as a wetland habitat for endangered water fowl.  Next to the Air Station is the Kapa’a Quarry where stone is still produced for construction needs.  In ancient times the Hawaiians use the dense basalt quarried here to make woodworking tools.

 

The bay itself is actually a lagoon because it is protected by the only true barrier reef in Hawaii.  This lagoon is home to almost every kind of shallow-water coral that exists in the entire island chain.  There are two islands in the bay, Moku O Lo’e (Coconut Island) and Mokoli’i (called Chinaman’s Hat because of its shape).  In the 1800s Moku O Lo’e was a home for Hawaiian royalty and until 1980 it was a private resort.  It’s now home to Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.  Mokoli’i is said to be the tail of a lizard-like demi-god slain by the Hawaiian goddess Hi’iaka, the sister of Pele.

 

The area atop the outlook is very historic.  In the late 1700s King I (or Great) from the Big Island started to consolidate all the chain’s islands under one ruler, himself.  The battle for O’ahu started when he invaded at Waikiki in 1795.  The King of Maui had conquered O’ahu and was ruling here.  Both sides fought with Hawaiian spears and Western personal arms but Kamehameha had gotten canons from Vancouver and that swung the battle in his favor.  Kalanikupule’s forces had been cornered atop this mountain and were asked to surrender and swear allegiance to or die.  The battle on this hill top is called Kaleleka’anae (leaping of the anae fish) to remember the men forced off the cliff to the plane 2,000 feet below.  About 400 warriors died during this battle.  With O’ahu secured, the King of Kaua’i, Kaumuali’i signed an agreement with Kamehameha making him the first king of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

Atop the outlook they have an interpretive map of the plane below at the front wall.  On the side wall they have a sign telling the history of the Kaleleka’anae battle and displaying a copy of a famous painting of the warriors going over the cliff with the mountain’s peak in the background so it’s easy to place the event.

 

There was a family group on the outlook that wanted to take a group photo.  An obviously Polynesian little girl would not co-operate.  She’d go over to the wall but as soon as the person with the camera pointed it at the group she’d take off running with a huge grin on her face.

 

We departed the overlook and headed up the east shore to the Kualoa Ranch for lunch.  On the way there we crossed over the East-West oriented H-3 Interstate complete with the mainland style red, white and blue signs.  I’m pretty sure it was built with national tax money.  My question is, “Interstate?”  Please name the second state to which it connects.  As I learned English if an item did not connect or involve others outside the set to which the item belonged it required the “Intra” prefix, “Inter” meaning between.  They really should have called it an Intrastate but then no mainland funds would have been available.  I think Hawaii is just behind the city of Washington DC in its ability to suck funds from the national treasury and under our current administration that’s probably grown a lot worse.

 

The Kualoa Ranch would properly be subtitled ‘& Tourist Trap’, but the food was excellent.  The BBQ ribs were Kona style and delicious.  They served a ‘chili-style’ stew (it wasn’t really chili because it had beans in it, not allowed in chili).  Whatever you want to call it, the mixture was excellent.  It was not overtly spicy hot but the warmth was cumulative.  As you ate it, it became warmer and warmer.  We ate outside on the veranda so we could enjoy the light breeze.  Without that it would have been very warm and humid.

 

Our next destination was the Byodo-In Buddhist temple.  It’s a copy of the Japanese Byodo-In Temple in Uji, Japan but done mainly in cement rather than wood.  They have painted it mostly red and white like the original so you can’t really tell it’s not a wooden structure.  The entrance to the temple area is through the Valley of the Temple Memorial Park.  This park tries to cater to local needs.  Outside the walls of the consecrated grounds it’s a pet cemetery, inside the walls the consecrated ground is used by all types of Christians.  Further inside the area and outside the back wall of this area is the Buddhist cemetery.  I didn’t see a Jewish area; perhaps they have their own cemetery elsewhere.  Theological considerations usually do not permit co-interment between Jews, Christians or Buddhists.  This rule is generally ignored in military cemeteries, perhaps there’s an exception that covers this, I really don’t know but probably should.

 

When you arrive at the temple precincts you have to cross a long curved bridge over the valley to get inside.  As usual the structure has a main temple with a covered breezeway extending to each side terminating in two-roof tower that extends forward creating a very broad U shaped structure.  The tower to the left looked mainly decorative and for balance.  The right tower was a bit taller and open.  I’m sure that this one serves as the drum tower for the temple.  There’s a reflecting pond in front of the temple but lighting conditions did not provide a reflection at this time of day.  Just across the bridge and to the left is the Sacred Bell.  This one was cast in Osaka, Japan, is six feet tall, the bottom diameter is almost 60 inches and it weighs about 7 tons.  It’s a close copy of the bell in Japan which is over 900 years old and probably cast in India.  Visitors are invited to ring the bell as they enter the temple grounds.  The vibration and sound is thought to clear the mind of negativity and prepare you for meditation and give you happiness and tranquility.  I have to admit, it does have a pleasing tone of very long duration.  There’s a meditation pavilion slightly up the hill surrounded by trees and flowering tropical plants.

 

We entered the temple through the left tower and colonnade and proceeded to the central building, the temple proper or Ho-O-Do (Phoenix Hall).  Inside is the seated Amida Buddha (Buddha of the Western Paradise).  It weighs a little over 2 tons, is nine feet tall and is carved from Hanoki wood (Japanese cypress).  After being carved it was first covered in cloth after which three layers of black lacquer were applied followed by gold leaf.  The Amida Buddha is said to represent the infinite life and light surrounding all beings.

 

They have a large collection of koi in the ponds and streams that run through the temple grounds.  Most of them congregate at the small bridge in front of the gift shop off to the right side.  That’s because they sell the fish food inside the shop and most people just come out to the bridge to scatter the feed.  Today our guide and another lady were the only ones feeding them at the moment.  Both had attracted a large group of koi.  The lady had also attracted two black Japanese swans.  They are about two-thirds the size of a white swan in the USA.  Their silver rimmed black feathers and dark orange bill create an attractive image.  It was a nice place to visit even though we’ve been to a multitude of Buddhist temples before.  With the water features, Zen garden, natural surroundings and simple buildings they are always restful places with a very calm feeling to them. 

 

On the way out we drove by the Buddhist cemetery where the tradition is to have family graves.  Each is on a flat surface carved out of the gently sloping hillside with a concrete retaining wall to keep it from caving in.  On this flat spot there’s a granite altar-like rectangular table.  Atop the table is a long rectangular stone with the family name carved into it and lined with gold leaf.  Extending upward from this stone is a headstone shaped stone with the name in vertical Japanese script.  The base of the table is almost as large as the top and appears to have a door in it to allow then to put the ashes of the family member inside.  I know parts of the movie ‘The Karate Kid’ were filmed on the island and coincidentally one of the graves belongs to the Miyagi family.

 

As we drove through the Christian section we had to stop in the line of cars waiting to exit the property.  In this section the gravestones are flush with the grass.  One of the small stones has a child’s toy trucks on it as well as some small plastic cartoon characters that might have come with a McDonald’s Happy Meal.  A sad sight for sure. 

 

Our next stop was at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet.  We got to sample some macadamias in dark chocolate.  Yikes!  They were excellent.  Outside the shop was a life sized wood carving of a man and woman in native Hawaiian dress.  Turns out it’s the farms founders, Harry and Mary Lake.  Each of them was part Hawaiian and the carving is from 1959 when they were king and queen of Aloha Week on Maui. 

 

As we reached the northernmost point of the island we passed the hill where the semi-experimental RADAR installation picked up the Japanese aircraft approaching Oahu.  How would things have changed if their report of the multiple flights of planes had been acted on and the planes on Wheeler and Hickam been scrambled?  We’ll never know because they didn’t.

 

We drove by Sunset Beach, Ehukai Beach (Banzai Pipeline), Waimea Beach and Chun’s Reef before turning onto Kamehameha Highway.  This road goes south through the valley where some of the Japanese planes flew to attack Wheeler Army Air Base and Schofield Barracks before heading further south down the valley to attack Pearl Harbor.

 

We stopped at the Dole Plantation for some shopping and pineapple.  They still grow some pineapple here but not much.  They did have an interpretive display about growing pineapple.  Apparently it takes 22 months for a new plant to produce one large central pineapple.  After that one is harvested in another 6-9 months two smaller but sweeter pineapples are produced, one on each side of the plant.  When these are harvested the plant is done and the field must be replanted.  The crowns of the harvested fruit are planted to produce the next generation.

 

The drive back to the ship took us past Wheeler and Schofield, places we visited last fall when we were here.  We saw two different rainbows on the way down the valley.  In fact there was a beauty this morning during breakfast.  It was very wide and you could see every color from violet to red.  Stunning.

 

This evening they're having a Luau by the Lido Pool.  A chance to eat outside and listen to some island music.  Can’t miss that.  There was a short performance by a new Polynesian Dance group.  They performed their main show at 9:30 in the Queen’s Lounge.  It was the same group they brought aboard last year with a few new dancers.  This time they have added a new boy age 6 to dance with the young lad from last year now age 7.  It was a nice performance and the crowd really responded.

Hilo, Big Island dry side. Hey bro, les talk story!

134 This is Diana at the Lyman House Memorial.

136 Prime Rib Loco.  Yumm!

138 Pounding poi, taro on the left and breadfruit on the right.

143 Tug of War, the near pair won but just barely.

147 Diana and our friend Gary with a Hawaiian racing catamaran. 

 

Sept 28 – Hilo, Hawaii.  We arrived pretty much on time but the maneuver to the pier took longer than usual so we actually docked a little late.  I got a phone call from my friend Gary that he could not go through security to the pier so we had to meet him at the pier gate.  It’s only a short walk from the pier, about 5 minutes, less if you hurry.  In warm humid climates, I try not to hurry.

 

Not suffering fools lightly note:  There are some people in the world that make uninformed assumptions about things and then act as though those assumptions are facts.  Usually I just chuckle and ignore them but when they are spreading stories that create negative feelings towards something I respect, I tend to jump in, lightly at first hoping they’ll just shut up but rapidly escalating to factual confrontation if they persist in their idiocy.  Today, as we were approaching the pier, there was a prime example.  A tugboat was following us after we got inside the breakwater.  Having been here before I knew that the turning basin was so small that they usually schedule a tug on the larger ships to assist in the turn and maneuver to dockside.

 

It’s fun watching the dance between the tug and the ship so I usually stay on deck for this process.  A guy next to me starts pontificating on how the tug is totally unnecessary and the only reason it’s there is the darn unions.  Now I do believe that unions in the US have done good things in the past but I also believe that the excesses of certain unions have resulted in severe damage to some of our industries and our governmental processes.  That is to say, I am currently not a big fan of unions, but fair is fair.  I knew why the tug was there and it had nothing to do with unions.  If he had just said it and then left it alone everything would have been fine but that was not to be.  He starts in on how this affects the cost of cruising and how it environmentally unsound, and on and on. 

 

When he paused for breath I told him that there were many and diverse reasons why a tug might be standing by on arrival, port regulations, insurance requirements, safety in case of a power failure or planned assistance in maneuvering.  Very low key, non-confrontational and pleasant in tone.  I guess I hurt his feelings, or maybe there was someone close by he was trying to impress because he starts a rant about how the ship has thrusters and would never need a tug to maneuver and did I know how many generators the ship had, how could there ever be a power failure and he’s been on many Holland America ships and they never need tugs, etc.  Again I waited for him to take a breath and then told him that I’ve been on a few ships too and if he would just stay on deck a few more minutes he’d see the tug help the ship’s stern swing about to get to our assigned pier.  I also asked him if he remembered the huge Carnival ship that had to be towed to Texas from the Caribbean because it was totally without power and reminded him that the Carnival ship actually had more generators than ours.  I guess that proved to be too much reality for the guy because he disappeared before the following tug nudged us around.  Golly travel in enlightening.  You just have to be a little discerning about the source of the enlightenment.  I felt a little ashamed of myself but in the moment it just seemed like the thing to do.

 

The short walk to the port gate was uneventful.  We has sailed into Hilo through a rain shower and the humidity had shot up significantly.  Gary was standing at the gate waiting to lead us to his car.  It was great to see him.  We hadn’t gotten together since I retired and that’s 12 years ago.  He retired the year after I did.  We jumped into his car and off we went. 

 

Our first stop was at the Lyman House Memorial and Museum.  The Lymans were some of the earliest missionaries to arrive on the Big Island and Hilo in specific.  They started a school here and taught young boys farming and woodworking skills in addition to reading, math and writing.  Some of the boys went on to be doctors and lawyers.  Their school continued until the Hilo public school system was adequate to take on the tasks.  The school continued as a trade school for some time after that mostly self-funded from the crops they grew and the koa wood furniture they made in the wood shop.  They had some of the furniture made by the boys on display in the museum; it was very much like Shaker furniture, elegantly simple and finely made. 

 

The Lyman’s youngest daughter returned to the island in 1922 and had their old homestead moved up the hillside and reassembled and completely restored as a memorial to her parents.  Later a new museum building was constructed beside the home.  It has exhibits of early photos, historic events, ancient tools and ceremonial artifacts.  It also has a very nice land snail and seashell collection and mineral and crystal display.  There was a section on flora and fauna of the islands, especially the Big Island.

 

From there we went to the Astronomical Center of the University, Gary says they have a great restaurant there.  It’s Saturday so I expected it to be busy but it was really busy.  It seems like the local Star Navigation Society was having a display of boats and some traditional games on the grounds.  Our first order of business was to have lunch.  I ordered prime rib loco.  I wasn’t sure what it was but Gary told me that it was Japanese style rice (very sticky, just like I like it) with the meat, in this case prime rib, on top and then two eggs cooked to order on that.  They had a tradition of serving eggs with beef in South America from hamburgers to steak so I was ready to try this dish.  Diana had a tuna salad plate and Gary got Mahi Mahi, rice and eggs. 

 

When we were served I could not believe how much food they served.  It was dinner sized portions for lunch.  Let’s just say that no one went hungry.  I haven’t been eating that much for lunch so I was definitely full.  My loco was a large slab of prime rib over rice with savory beef gravy and topped off by two eggs.  Diana tuna salad wound up being a very large tomato filled to overflowing with tuna salad surrounded by a plate full of greens and vegetables.  I was the beneficiary of the fact that Diana does not prefer mushrooms.  She gave me all of hers and they were perfect for mixing in the gravy on my prime rib.  The food was great as was the conversation.  We talked about the old days and caught up on people we knew.  Both Diana, Gary and myself had updates on different people.  The biggest shock came after the meal was over.  Food on Hawaii can be expensive but this huge lunch for three people came to just about $30.  Let me tell you that after traveling in Europe earlier this year, that’s a bargain.  In Europe we were paying that and more for just the two of us unless we at at McDonald’s or some other fast food place.  Great food and conversation with a good deal thrown in.  Just can’t be beat. 

 

After eating we walked around the grounds for a while watching the locals make poi from both taro and breadfruit.  Traditional poi is the purple paste produced by soaking, shredding and pounding the taro plant’s root.  The breadfruit poi was a tan color.  There were spear throwing demonstrations as well as rock ball walking and tug of war.  The rock ball was an implement used in ancient Hawaii for games and entertainment.  The simplest thing to do with a rock ball about one foot in diameter is try to walk on it.  Some kids were giving it a shot with varying degrees of success.  Two young ladies took on a young couple at tug of war.  The obviously knew each other.  The guy and girl finally won but it was not an easy task. 

 

From there Gary drove us to Wal-Mart and Hilo Haddies.  Diana needed to pick up some antihistamines for the trip and I needed to replace my fan that had been broken in shipment.  We got those things at Wal-Mart.  Many people from the ship were in both places.  At Hilo Haddies I discovered a new culinary delight, wasabi macadamia nuts.  Apparently wasabi goes with everything.  It’s absolutely essential for sushi and the wasabi dried peas from Trader Joes are great.  Who knew it would go with the sweet, creamy taste of macadamia nuts?  Well I’m here to tell you it does!  I can’t wait to try these gems on ice cream, especially coconut.  I think it’s gonna be great.

 

After shopping we headed to a black sand beach not far from town and walked along the shore for a while.  It was fun but it was a muggy warm day and soon it was time to head to the ship so we could get cleaned up for dinner.

 

It was a wonderful day in Hilo and a great time catching up with a long missed friend.

 

Our entertainer was Lance Ringnald.  If that name is familiar to you, you are probably a fan of gymnastics, especially in the Olympics.  Lance made two Olympic teams and was a World Champion on the high bar.  He’s in the Gymnastics Hall of Fame.  His show is unique.  He starts our disguised as an old man walking unsteadily out onto the stage with a standard walker.  After he shuffles to the center of the stage he starts his act by using the walker like parallel bars.  Once the intro is over he works the silks much like you see in the Circ de Sole.  He also juggles and plays the piano.  Altogether an unusual and enjoyable show, very well received.

 

Well tomorrow’s an early day in Honolulu so I’d better get some sleep.

 

Last sea day, tomorrow Hilo

011 The Battleship Iowa at the Los Angeles World Cruise Center.

121 Me with my brand new soprano ukulele and one of the Polynesian group’s dancers.  I always get the tough assignments.

 

27^th:  Our last day at sea before Hilo.  Pretty much a normal day but I did attend the ukulele class taught by the Polynesian dance group aboard.  I had so much fun there that I bought a ukulele from them.  It’s a soprano type so it’s small and easy to take home.  Even if I never play it, Diana collects indigenous musical instruments and we have them from all over. 

 

The Hawaiians owe their ukulele to the Portuguese cowboys that came to get control of the cattle that were roaming anywhere they wanted, destroying crops and disturbing the locals.  (Apparently in the beginning when Captain Vancouver brought cattle to the islands he gave them to the king whereupon the king retained ownership and declared them sacred.  (Who knew that the Hawaiian kings were Hindus J?)  That was ok in the beginning but the cattle population grew to huge proportions because they could not be killed or molested in any way.  With the end of the Kingdom of Hawaii the cattle lost their protected status and cowboys from Portugal were brought in to get them under control.)  All that to say that these cowboys brought their tradition of guitarras with them and thus the Hawaiian ukulele was born.  H. Nunes invented it in 1879 while living in Hawaii.  So while it is an indigenous instrument it is not exactly ancient.  Apparently ukulele is the Hawaiian word for ‘small person’.  The group’s uke player helped me pick out one with a good tone and easy action.  One of the dancers posed with me for a picture.

 

So far the rest of the day has been unremarkable, that is I’ve pretty much stuck to my normal schedule.  The captain is currently making his 1PM navigational announcement.  It’s been a very smooth crossing.  I’m glad that we are not on the usual route for this fall cruise.  We’d be in the Northern Pacific and Bering Sea and there have been several strong storms up there.  We’d have been locked indoors and quite a few people would not have been making it to meals.

 

I attended the second half of the Hawaiian culture and traditions show.  It started with the uniting of the islands by King Kamehameha I and the founding of the Hawaiian monarchy, went through the contact with Europeans, the arrival of missionaries, the dividing of the land, the founding of the cane, coffee and pineapple plantations, the establishment of the Bayonet Constitution, the end of the monarchy, the annexation by the US and the final step, statehood.  She spoke briefly about the arrival of mass tourism in the 1920-30s and the coming of Hollywood with Dorothy Lamoure, Bing Crosby et al and the last major invasion Elvis and the Beach Blanket Bingo crowd, Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello (sp?).  It was a fun presentation.  Every now and then they two hula dancers would come out and show how the hula was evolving from the traditional style (Kahiko) of yesterday’s presentation to the glammed up glitter style of the 20-30s to the cool style of the 50-60s.  Very entertaining.

 

Gene has instituted a new performance time for this cruise.  He calls it the 7:30 Spotlight.  Between 7:30 and 8PM he has asked some of the performers on the ship to do a short show prior to the 8:15PM regular show time.  Tonight is was Tomono Kawamura the pianist from last night.  A large contingent was in the Queen’s Lounge for her show tonight.  Again, she was excellent.

 

The main show was the Unexpected Boys, a Four Seasons retro group.  They started off with from Frankie Valle but soon branched out into some show tunes.  Unfortunately their set included some Andrew Lloyd Webber.  His stuff is so overdone I almost can’t stand to sit through anything from Phantom.  One of the members performed a very nice tap dance routine.  They ended the show with Four Seasons tunes, their true strength.  Very enjoyable.

 

Tomorrow we finally get to hit dry land again, Hilo, Hawaii.  We’re meeting an old friend and co-worker from California, Gary.  He was born on Hawaii and moved back here when he retired.  It will be good to see him.  Those of you who followed our trip last fall might remember that I called him to see if he was available then only to have him call me back from Honolulu, where we had been the day before.

 

Continuing across the Pacific to Hawaii or How to really have a good time while getting somewhere!

24 My version of Mongolian BBQ, not very colorful but absolutely delicious and guaranteed to clear your sinuses. 

27 They have about 12 chefs with hot plates ready to stir-fry whatever you’ve chosen to bring to them.

32 Diana in Hula class.  The man on the left in the blue shirt and tie is our cruise director, Gene Young.  The lady in red is the group leader and the girl next to her is one of the main dancers.

38 The Polynesian Dance group.  The man with the British sports car cap on backwards is the guitarist.

89 This is part of the dance demonstration they performed at the Hawaiian culture and traditions presentation. 

 

Sept 25 to 27 – At Sea.  25^th: The Pacific has calmed down quite a bit, there are very few whitecaps and the ship only moves occasionally.  I’m settling in to my routine, ham, onion, cheese omelet with toast breakfast, sushi appetizer, rice bowl with stir-fry lunch and then whatever for dinner.  Last night they had a very nice menu that is usually reserved for formal nights, filet mignon and lobster tail surf and turf, etc.  Tonight is formal so it will be interesting to see what they have available.  I usually get a cheese plate for desert but last night they had one of the chocolate desserts that are truly worth eating, chocolate lava cake, an almost flourless rich, creamy, dark, mousse like concoction.  Yum!  So I’m off to a bad start at dinner.

 

I made a good recovery at dinner tonight.  Mostly all protein, escargot, a salad, beef Wellington and cheese for dessert, Old Amsterdam at that.  It’s my favorite cheese of all time.

 

Our entertainment was the Amsterdam cast in a show that featured mostly 60s & 70s music.  The current cast is changed from previous iterations.  They have 5 singers, three ladies and two men and only 4 dancers, two of each.  Used to be 4 singers and 6 dancers to they’re down one crewmember in the cast department too.  This is not a complaint because the current cast is really good.  One of the singers is a black lady and she sang Midnight Train to George and flat tore it up.  Great voice, right on the notes first shot and a wonderful, controlled, expressive presentation.  All the singers were good but that song was perfect for her voice and no one in the audience missed it.  The only real change I would have made to the presentation is that I would have given the black singer Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness.  She would have stomped that tune into submission as well.  In all fairness, the guy who did sing it did a good job; I just think she would have been exceptional because she has the pipes.

 

Usually, of the 6 dancers they used to have, one was outstanding, two were excellent and the other three were ok.  In this four dancer configuration they were all excellent.  Could be they took the money that they paid the six and used it to hire 4 at a higher salary.  Hard to say on the basis of one performance but I was very favorably impressed. 

 

Being a formal night, I broke out the white dinner jacket, tux pants and my ‘abalone’ tie and cummerbund.  The good news is that I’m able to wear the white jacket I bought 33 years ago and had to replace several years later because it was too small.  I must be doing something right for a change.  It’s also the second of the three 25 hour days they owe us on the way to Hilo

 

26^th:  Today was a regular day until lunch.  They are having a Mongolian BBQ on the Lido deck by the mid-ships pool.  This is my favorite lunch.  You get to browse the veggies and meats for those you want and then proceed to the stir-fry chefs to pick your spices, sauces and herbs for the stir-fry.  One reason I like it is that I can get my lunch as spicy as I like it.  For the sauce I like garlic and ginger sautéed in sesame oil, with hoisin, sambal, soy and a dash of sweet chili oil.  I’m getting hungry just remembering it.  For veggies I usually pick green beans, snow peas, onions, peas, sprouts, broccoli and bok choi.  For meats I take everything but the beef.  That includes pork, chicken, squid, shrimp, mussels and clams.  They usually offer several types of noodles; I almost always select the Thai rice noodles they use in Pad Thai.  After loading up my plate with all this stuff I head to the chefs and get them to fry it up and put it on a plate with some white rice.  Really great!!

 

Right after the BBQ they continued the hula lessons being taught by the Polynesian dance group aboard.  Diana’s been taking the classes so I stayed around to get some video and pictures.  The cruise director, who is half Samoan, joined in and every one was having a great time.  The group consists of three ladies, all of whom dance but one is the teacher and group leader, the other two do most of the dancing and one man who plays the ukulele or guitar depending on the song.  Later in the day they presented a program on Hawaiian culture and traditions that was very interesting.

 

Our entertainer was Tomono Kawamura.  Oddly enough, she was also our entertainer last year on Sept. 27^th.  She is a fantastic pianist.  This tiny bundle of energy coaxes the most expressive statements both delicate and bold from her piano I’ve ever heard on a ship.  I remembered her as soon as she walked on the stage.  She played Mozart, Liszt, Chopin and a song she wrote when she was 12.  It was a very well received performance. 

 

I forgot to mention that we saw the battleship Iowa in the LA Harbor.  It’s berthed right next to the World Cruise Center.  I’ll have to get down to see it one day.  I love touring old naval vessels.  Plus we got our final hour back tonight and are now on Hawaii Time.

 

First of 4 days at sea.

Sept 24 – At Sea.  Both Diana and I got up early this morning.  Usually I get up first and blast off to some activity and meet up with Diana later in the day.  I like to have the same breakfast almost every morning, ham, onion and cheese scrambled and wheat toast.  On the HAL ships they make about 10 kinds of Eggs Benedict.  My favorite is Scottish Benedict, muffin, poached egg and smoked salmon with a mild dill sauce.  Every now and then I switch to that. 

 

After breakfast I usually participate in an activity.  On this cruise the morning Bible study and Tai Chi are at the same time.  When Tai Chi was at 8am and the study at 9am I could go to both.  Now I’m going to have to pick.  I went to the study this morning and it’s not exactly what I’m looking for.  It’s more of an old line Protestant service with formalized prayer, responsive readings and the like.  The actual study time is very short so since the ‘study’ is what I’m looking for I might just wind up at Tai Chi.  I know that Master on board and have sailed with her before.  She’s an excellent instructor and really knows her stuff.

 

I am overjoyed to report that HAL has finally figured out the art of sushi.  The rice is finally right and they have a pretty good selection of actual raw items to eat.  The tuna and salmon were excellent today.  And unlike Cunard, they have actual wasabi.  My usual lunch consists of a sushi appetizer followed by a rice bowl topped with something from the stir-fry station.  (What, you say?  I thought you said just yesterday that you avoid starches.  You are correct, but rice is my vice.  Gotta have it with Oriental food.)  I am also happy to report that the “keeping things mild method” is over for dishes that should be spicy.  Dishes that should have some heat finally have it.  Not necessarily to the level I prefer, but to a level that makes the dish authentic.  This is a big improvement for me.

 

Our table in the dining room is #16, the same table we had last year and perfect for Diana’s ears.  It’s not in the center of the room where she would be affected by multiple prep areas and we’re against the port side bulkhead so there’s only sound coming from one side.  It’s a rectangular table for 6 and she can hear everyone.  Ideal!  Our tablemates are all nice.  Good conversationalists and not a negative whiner in the group.  Everyone eats at about the same pace so no one’s holding up the service.  Should be a good dining experience.

 

Our entertainer was Glenn Hirsch, a native of Queens Borough in NYC transplanted to Santa Monica 29 years ago.  You can still hear a little of the NY twang in his voice but it’s mostly gone.  He brings it back to great effect when he needs it to punch up a story.  He was very enjoyable, sort of a Seinfeld type, maybe more David Brenner.  His show was funny but not over the top.

 

Tonight we have one of my favorite travel events, an extra hour.  I really enjoy the 25-hour days.  I probably won’t write an entry for each at sea day because my routine would be pretty boring.  After today I’ll probably write an entry covering the entire trip to Hilo.

 

The boat has been moving slightly since last night, just enough to remind you you’re on a ship and rock you to sleep.

 

On board, and on the way!

Sept 23 – Los Angeles.  Today started out at 7AM with Diana and I up and finishing our last minute packing duties.  All those items you need to use to get yourself together in the morning still need to be packed. 

At 10AM our friends, Shirley and Ken, picked us up at the house, loaded our luggage and took us to the port.  The drive could have been really bad.  For some reason the San Diego freeway was stopped even at that late hour.  Fortunately Ken is one of those people who likes scenic routes, not necessarily the big roads.  He took us off the freeway and through all the little beach cities, Seal Beach, Belmont Shores, Long Beach, San Pedro, etc. all the way World Cruise Port in Los Angeles Harbor.  It was the first time I’d been along the coast in that area in at least 20 years.  Since I attended college in Long Beach it was a little nostalgic to be back in the area.  Ken and Shirley had just returned from a cruise to Alaska so we talked about our travels on the ride down.  That was great because we hadn’t gotten together since last Feb.  I met them both working at May Co. Department Store in Redondo Beach when I was going to El Camino College in 1969, yikes, that’s 44 years ago.

We arrived at Pier 91 at a little after 11AM, dropped off the larger luggage that the stevedores will use as medicine balls to get their morning workout.  Anything critical, computers, cameras, medicines (including supplements) I keep with me and carry on myself.  We really only had one large suitcase because we shipped 3 suitcases and one box to the ship a little under two weeks ago.  I love that freebie they throw in if you book early enough on a Grand Cruise.  That, and the fact that they also prepay all your onboard tips, makes it worth booking early.  Since they pay the standard tips it leaves me free to reward those crew members that go the extra mile.  I always did that anyway, now it just costs me way less because HAL covers the basics for me.

Check in was very smooth, no line, and after getting our room cards and turning in our passports we only had to wait about 10 minutes for boarding to begin.  On board we went directly to our room and then to lunch in the dining room.  I’m usually don’t like to eat breakfast or lunch in the dining room because it takes too long and the menu is more set.  At the Lido buffet you can take only the things you want and that makes for a better meal and more ability to avoid stuff I don’t want to eat. 

When you pick an entrée in the dining room you can ask the waiter to leave this or that off and add this or that but it makes his job harder and often the details get lost in translation (that is between the waiter and the assistant waiter and the chef in the galley, not from one language to another).  In the Lido you watch as they put it on your plate and you can ask for less or more with very little hassle for anyone.  I avoid starches and love green vegetables.  So easy to deal with at the buffet.

After lunch we went back to the room to discover that all our bags where delivered, both those we shipped and those we brought today.  I unpacked in about 35 minutes and got out of the way so Diana could unpack.  It’s much easier that way.

I walked around the ship to see who I knew from prior trips and found that I had quite a few friends aboard both staff and passengers.  It’s fun to see people you’ve sailed with before, especially those you like.  Our travel agent, Cruise Specialists, has two hosts aboard.  I’ve sailed with Tom Mullen many times.  He’s a very funny Englishman and always adds to my enjoyment of sea days.  I’ve never met Bill Krupa but I’m sure I’ll see him tomorrow.

They only had one show this evening, an introduction special hosted by Gene Nelson the Cruise Director.  He introduced his staff and had each of the bands from the various lounges play a song for us.  The jazz combo is excellent and the orchestra is good too.  It’s getting harder and harder to think of the showroom group as an orchestra.  They are now down to 5 members, piano, drums, sax, bass and guitar, about half of the compliment they had just 10 years ago.  The latest casualty is the keyboard player they added when the dropped the brass and the second woodwind player.  Since a brass chart is important to almost any type of music, rock and roll, big band, show tunes, etc. I don’t know who’s going to play that part for the on board acts that use live music.  They used to let the keyboard player do it, not ideal but at least the notes were there.  Sometimes they make the saxophonist fill in for the brass and while they usually have an excellent one, it’s far too mellow and not immediate enough to adequately reproduce the effect of the brass line. 

While I’m talking about reductions in staff, there are a few more worth mentioning.  The string trio that plays in the Explorer’s Lounge in the evenings is now a duet of piano and violin.  A couple of years ago it was usually a quartet, last year it was a trio, piano, violin and bass.  To be fair, the violinist is the best I’ve ever heard in the Explorer’s Lounge on any ship so the quality of the music has not suffered at all.  It’s just a change. 

I love cruising and for the most part the changes over the years have not really affected my enjoyment.  In fact, the price of cruising is actually less now than it was in the early 80s, if you adjust for inflation it’s actually less expensive.  I just like to catalogue the changes that I notice so I can remember when they happened.

For the first time ever when I’ve been on a ship they are having an on deck BBQ the first night out.  I always go to the dinner BBQs.  The food is great and you get to eat outdoors, in this case as we were sailing past Catalina Island at sunset.  Georgeous.

It will take four sea days to get to our first port, Hilo, Hawaii and I’m going to enjoy each one of them.

 

Some reminders and a trip alert.`

Hi everyone,

 

We’re leaving on Monday AM so I thought it might be time for some reminders.  I write this journal in stream of consciousness mode and I don’t take the time to edit or revise it.  There will be typos, words omitted (I think much faster than I can type), and all sorts of errors, please overlook them.  I write this mainly for myself although it’s in narrative style, it’s the only way I write that doesn’t sound like the technical writing I did so much of while I was working.  Depending on the situation I may have to send some reports from my old AOL account.  Don’t write me at that address as I don’t really check the inbox.

 

Often I include events and thoughts that are not really travel related.  They are for my own amusement and sometimes do not show me in the best light.  I type these in italics and usually precede them with something like Author’s Note or Cultural Observation.  When you see that please skip over that section if you are easily offended and have a thin skin.  I strive to be honest and open and in my mind both of those virtues are in direct opposition to political correctness. Anything PC involves as least some element of prevarication and obfuscation.    

 

If anyone wants to be removed from the mailing list just let me know by email or a comment on the blog and it will be done.

 

I’ve been doing some background reading on the places we are visiting and many of them are closely tied to important events in WWII.  It should be an interesting and somewhat unusual trip.