Rex |

Good morning! Our hotel room has a nice view from the 30th floor.

I was determined to see a volcano in Hawaii. However, going to Big Island will take too much time and money so I psyched myself to be satisfied with seeing an extinct volcano on the island of Oahu. The Diamond Head crater is one of the few reminders of the ancient volcanic activity that formed Oahu millions of years ago. This volcano is at the southern end of the island and two bus rides from our hotel.

Honolulu’s bus system is aptly called The Bus and riding it was an experience. I was amazed just how accessible the bus is for disabled persons. The “kneeling” buses literally kneel to the right at every stop so wheelchairs can easily climb up. The first time I saw a bus do that I thought it punctured a tire! At every bus stop, a recorded voice and an LED screen indicate the nearby landmarks so you will never get down at the wrong place.

Check out the plate number. Neat!

I wish we had buses like these back home

After decoding the route numbers from a large map the bus driver gave us, we finally arrived at the Queen Kapiolani Park that provides a great view of the Diamond Head crater. The extinct volcano had the ridges I was looking forward to see in Hawaii.

The Diamond Head Crater

Just across the street from the field was the Waikiki Aquarium. The entrance fee was relatively affordable at $9. This public aquarium was established in 1904 and is one of the oldest in the United States. The displays were well-packaged, interesting, and informative. However, from my faint memories of the aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences, the Waikiki Aquarium is small.

Waikiki Aquarium

Good presentation but overall, it's a small aquarium

Nice giant clam and corals

You should see these squid ride the current

Clownfish in a meadow

A good presentation of the mangrove community

I think everyone loves watching these jellyfish

Grouper tank

Sea monk

A coral farm? Cool!

An aquaculture exhibit featuring threadfish

This is not a fish. I am just showing that some male restrooms DO have diaper depots.

After an hour of taking photos at the aquarium, we took a stroll to the world-famous Waikiki beach. Upon the grainy yellow sand of that Hawaiian beach I asked “This is it?” If Waikiki is so well liked by tourists, they should really see Boracay and the hundreds of other white-sand beaches in the Philippines.

Waikiki beach

Yello, grainy sand - check out Boracay guys!

Waikiki beach skyline

Now that I got to see some fish and an extinct volcano, it was my mother’s turn to steer our trip. Of all places, she wanted to go to Chinatown!

I didn’t see Honolulu’s Chinatown in any of the tourist or bus maps so I was worried when the bus traveled for over an hour and we were still surrounded by skyscrapers. No sign of Chinatown! Maybe there was no such thing after all?

It was only when the people boarding our bus looked more and more Chinese that I assured myself we were headed in the right direction. True enough, the street signs started having Chinese characters in them and soon the bus display blinked “CHINATOWN.”

Honolulu's Chinatown!

Honolulu’s Chinatown is modest when I compare it to San Francisco. The place was only a few blocks wide and there weren’t too many people walking around. The subtle chaos I was expecting was missing. Filipino stores were everywhere selling familiar items. I was amazed to see “Philippine Bangus” (milkfish) being sold $6 per piece and “Philippine Galunggong” for $2.99 a pound. We bought rice for lunch at $0.75 per cup.

You won't miss Philippine cuisine here

Nor Philippine shampoo... but they're selling at $4.99 a bottle!

Philippine bangus and galunggong fish sold in Hawaii

Coconuts at $2.50 each

Saw a real medical emergency response team in action at Chinatown! Haven't seen something of this sort at home yet. Lol!

After eating lunch back in our hotel room, I slept. I said to myself before that I should minimize my sleeping to maximize our two-day Hawaiian experience but I was just so exhausted from all the walking that I lost control of my body as it gravitated towards the soft comfort of the bed.

I woke up more than an hour later reenergized but remorseful of the lost time. As we hurried to a bus stop to get some last glimpses of Honolulu, we met a lady who was struggling to walk. She was clinging to the wall and her eyes half-closed. When we asked if we could help her she weakly replied “Yes please.”

She said she needed to get to Kona Towers and we had no idea where that was. The lady was much taller than I or my mother so we simply supported her arms from both sides as we trudged back to our hotel to ask some bellboys for directions. Luckily, Kona Towers was actually part of our hotel accessible from the 13th floor. Unfortunately, the queue at the elevators was long and people were already staring at us as we struggled to look as normal as possible while keeping the lady upright. After squeezing in an almost-overloaded-elevator, lumbering through corridors, and rummaging her bag for her key card, I was relieved we brought her all the way to room 1346 without needing to call 911. She assured us she could handle herself from there so we went on our way.

It was only later that my mother revealed to me that the lady smelt of liquor. She was very drunk! And I thought she needed urgent medical attention.

We rode a bus towards downtown Honolulu to see some historical sites. Unfortunately it was already past five so the attractions were closed. Nevertheless we got some free souvenirs – photos of the Hawaiian State Capitol, Iolani Palace, and the King Kamehemeha Statue among others.

Hawaii State Capitol

'Iolani palace is the only royal palace used as an official residence by a reigning monarch in the United States

King Kamehameha Statue in front of the Ali'iolani Hale

We also passed by some people along the road holding placards. I thought they were staging a protest rally but they were actually campaigning for Honolulu’s city elections. The two parties were basically side by side, waving at passing motorists. A Filipino couple campaigning for one of the candidates recognized us and called our attention. They remember seeing us at the airport being questioned by the immigration officers. They knew we were held because of a lost passport… hmm, I wonder if the other passengers were talking about us.

Some locals campaigning for incumbent mayor Mufi Hannemann and challenger Ann Kobayashi

Next stop was Wal-Mart. The store was full of people dong last minute shopping for Halloween. The event seemed to be a big deal for them. Outside the store, people were walking around as vampires, witches, and fairies. While I don’t support the idea of Halloween, I was happy to grab two cans of glow-in-the-dark spray paint for the price of one – $3. As I write this, I feel like I should have bought that pack of glow-in-the-dark cobwebs too. Mom bought a lot of chocolates for pasalubong. I thought of buying another box but, since I might end up eating a lot myself, I contented myself to the glow-in-the-dark spray paint.

It has been a long day and I was drained. Once more, I glided into a restful doze on the comfort of the hotel bed. It was not yet ten o’ clock and the lights of Honolulu continued to blink outside. Tomorrow, I will be on my way home.

Honolulu at Night

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