I left the ship fairly early and because we were allowed to drop our customs forms in a box onboard, debarkation was quick and easy. I found my luggage and was making my way to the Taxi line when a man asked me if I was interested in a shuttle. I asked when it leaves and he said 2 minutes. OK, I said because the taxi line was really long.
I schlepped my luggage to the opposite end of the terminal, had it loaded in the van and climbed on with the other 6 or so people. I asked if I could sit up front--sure! Then he said he would be right back. The 'boss' told him to fill the van. 2 minutes turned into 20 and we were pissed. He finally shows up with 4 people but only had seats for 3. OMG Can you say inept? So, the two people get on and then he is outside calling 'the boss' trying to find a ride for the other people. Thankfully, the air conditioner was running. So now we are 35 minutes into my wait (the others had been there even longer). Shuttle after shuttle after taxi were streaming out of the port.
I was just ready to unload my stuff and get into a taxi line when the 'driver' got back in. I said "Can we leave now?". He went off on all of us about how inconsiderate we were and how we were on Hawaii time now and all he was trying to do was get the couple another ride. And he looked at me and said YOU need to be nicer. I looked back at him and said..OH Really? I am usually a nice person. But, when someone LIES to me about the departure time being in "2 minutes" when, in fact, it's been 45. That is not even close to the truth. And just so you know, I AM on Hawaii time and I have a limited amount of it and you have cost me almost an hour of it. So DO NOT tell me I need to be nicer. I distinctly heard a "you go girl" and "you got it". UGH Not a good start. Offer it up. Offer it up.
However, the situation improved greatly once I was dropped off at my hotel. I took the escalator up to the check-in area. No LINE! Yay! And despite the fact that I paid for my nights using points, and was expecting a room facing a dumpster, I was upgraded to an Ocean View room on the 17th floor!!!And the best part, it was only 10am and the ROOM WAS READY! Life is very, very good.
The hotel is a typical looking Holiday Inn, but it does have some unusual fixtures--at least from an American point of view!
And that seat is heated! Lovely surprise in the middle of the night.
After I unpacked--just slightly, I realized I was hungry--I had skipped breakfast. So, off I wandered down the busy street in search of ..something...not sure what.
Ah, a fancy delicatessen/restaurant. Yum. A good sandwich. So I go in and there are tables scattered all over and up about a half of flight of steps, a bar. I say to the Hostess. A table for 1 please. She says, Would you mind eating at the bar? No, I'd rather have a table. I can't seat you at a table. WHY? Because these tables are for 2 or more people. I said, there is hardly anyone here. No, these are all tables for 2 or 4. We can only seat you at the bar. Is this a joke? Apparently not, because she stated once again, the only place I could sit was at the bar. Whatever.
I walked out of there and what did I stumble upon? Denny's!!!! Yes, Denny's, home of the grand slam and immediately decided on eggs! I get myself seated and order a big breakfast for lunch. It was delicious and not badly priced either.
As I'm eating, this Japanese (I think) family comes walking in. Father, Son, Daughter all dressed in American Style clothes. The Mother was stunning. I have never seen anyone dressed like this before. I wanted a picture of the entire outfit, but you will have to settle for a headshot and a description.
She had her head partially covered in this black cloth that matched her hair. Her make-up was gorgeous. She had on black lace fingerless gloves, a dress embellished with three large satin looking roses sheer black arms and bodice. A really wide belt around her teeny tiny waist (less than 20 inches I'm sure). This was black and lacy looking. Finally a hooped sort of skirt--not super wide but definitely a small sort of hooped number in a red and black with gold threads woven in to give it a sort of checkerboard look. WOW
She then proceeded to order red wine.... when told "This is Denny's" she asks for sparkling water.. again, not at Denny's. I'm not sure what she ended up ordering because I was finished eating. She was definitely the most interesting person I've seen in Waikiki.
My hotel is located in the center of a high-end shopping mecca. You name the designer, it's here. Jimmy Choo, Fendi, Oscar, Omega, Apple, Coach, Valentino, Harry Winston. It's crazy.
I walked and walked and walked some more. I stopped at a little grocery store and bought a couple of bottled waters, a container of watermelon and one of pineapple, 2 Diet Dr. Peppers (yes I know, soda is evil, but I was craving). Total $28. Dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow! Cheaper than a restaurant and oh so delicious!
Is anyone else irked that hotels seem to be taking ice machines off every floor and making you work for the ice? The last couple of properties I've stayed at took this approach. What a pain in the butt. I was going to just walk up the flight of steps to the next floor but when I opened the door, it looked like the perfect place for a murder, so I took the elevator. Which is not quick when you are staying in a 25-floor building with only 4 elevators. Personally, I think it should be delivered to your room if you call. After all, they are charging me $20 per day for a 'resort fee'.
I also visited the snarky concierge to ask about the most efficient way to get to Pearl Harbor. He asked me when I planned on going. I told him tomorrow. You should have seen his face--it was like I committed a mortal sin. He said, most people book with me 6 months in advance. I said I already booked and I have a time of 11am. He said, that means nothing. What? He said you should still show up early. Well, actual experience the next day proved him wrong. But when I asked around at the front desk about cab fares and then called a cab company to get approximate rates it would be $40-$50 each way. WOW The city bus is $2.50 but it takes several hours to get there. So, I booked a tour with Mr. Expedia, the Concierge. $95 and included the USS Arizona plus the battleship where the treaty was signed to end the war.
Be across the street from the hotel at 6:50am. OMG It was already going on 9. So I headed up to the room to finish adding pictures to previous posts, called for a wake-up call, set my phone alarm and went to bed.
Despite having a super comfy king bed, triple sheeted and great pillows and my relaxation music on, I was not doing any sleeping. The people next door decided to come into their room and make a ton of noise, blare the TV and slam their balcony doors 84 times. Add to this mix, an urban area--where being 17 floors up does not really tone down street noise--Sirens, loud cars, motorcycles. I'm just not used to that. It's really quiet where I live.
Anyway, finally fell asleep at some point and was startled into consciousness by the phone. The room is pitch black, I leap out of bed, round the bottom of the bed and promptly trip over the bench at the foot of the bed. OUCH. I have 2 rug burned knees and a bump on my forehead. Thank you, thank you, just call me Grace. Super way to start the day!
I did manage to get a shower and get dressed without further injury. Made my way downstairs and across the street on time. A Gray Line bus pulls up on time. There are already people aboard and we stopped a few other places to pick up more people. We had a brief driving tour of some historical sites in the downtown area and then we were off to Pearl Harbor.
We had tickets for the 9:45 showing of the movie and then tour by boat afterward. Plenty of time to meander through the 2 museums. I got the headphone tour so all throughout there were numbers you could punch in and here commentary about what you were seeing. Well worth the $6.50.
The Movie they showed you before you went to the actual Memorial contained quite a bit of actual footage and a lot of history about the reasons we were attacked. It was very emotional for many of us in that theater. The mood was very subdued when we left to board the boat. There were also instructions about how to behave while at the memorial. I thought that did not need to be stated---once again mankind proved me wrong
Once at the USS Arizona memorial, I felt like I was in a church--someplace for quiet contemplation and prayer. The headset tour had several different explanations of what we were seeing. And after I viewed the submerged ship, I moved to the separate room that lists the names of all the men that were killed there. There are two separate small memorials in front of that. These contain the name and year of veterans that did make it off the ship alive, but chose to have their remains interred with their fellow soldiers.
Oil that is still seeping from the wreckage. They call it Tears of the Arizona
I saw a video of this on the government website when I was researching this. It's a beautiful ceremony conducted after the last tour of the day. There have been a few veterans' remains added since this video was made. It's not a long video and very worthwhile viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgE2KiPd3xg
It was a very moving experience for me. I learned so much more about the war than I ever knew before. Amazing experience.
As I was walking around the grounds back on land, I saw there was a Veteran sitting in his wheelchair, posing for pictures and answering questions. I spoke to him and thanked him for his service. What a cute little man. There was a sign to this left that said be careful of his hands--they bruise easily. Awww.
After that, it was back on the bus for the drive further onto the Military Base for the next part of the tour. We boarded the USS Missouri. The ship was decommissioned in 1992 and now is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor. You can walk all around the ship and see not only the deck where the surrender was signed, but also the cabins of officers, enlisted men, mess halls etc. It was fascinating.
Afterward, we had time to get something to eat at a place onsite that was set up to look like an actual Barracks, cantina etc... I got my first shave ice.
It was so good on this hot and sunny day.
Shave Ice--pineapple & coconut
Then it was back on the bus for the final stop at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. For whatever reason, we were not allowed to actually stop there, only drive through.
We finally got back to the drop-off point about 2:30. I went up to the room, freshened up a bit and hit the streets once again in search of a birthday present for my mom and maybe a new bracelet for me. All I saw in my travels today were stores so high-end I couldn't afford to breathe their air or cheap junky looking stuff. Sigh.
Shopping was unsuccessful, so I decided to stop for an early dinner at the Hula Grill. The food was highly rated on Trip Advisor and the view was perfect. I couldn't decide what I wanted so I ended up ordered two appetizers--which turned out to be too much food. Tons of food here is made with macadamia nuts. I got Crab and Macadamia Nut Rangoons and Spare Ribs. Both were excellent and I couldn't finish either one. They also served Foccacia Bread with Olive or Chili dipping sauces. YUM
For dessert, I had an iced macadamia nut coffee. Also very YUM!
And I set out walking again. This time, I found the perfect sunset on Waikiki Beach! AND the perfect present for my Mom. Mission accomplished.
As the sun was setting, I went walking again and have come to the conclusion that this city reminds me of NYC with a beautiful beach. Shoppers would lose their minds here. The street people are also here doing beautiful and sometimes crazy artsy things. They have their resident people statues here too. All in all, a very nice 2 days in and around Waikiki Beach.
Tomorrow is the Eco-Turtle Tour!!!
