The Stay in Waikiki, and O‘ahu   O‘ahu looks on the map like it’s trying to be a triangle, but failed. It has a southeast point, which is its most interesting, with Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Koko Head, and more. It has a southwest point, out beyond Ewa. It has a north point, up at Sunset Beach. But then it also has a northwest point bulging out of its far side. This area seems like an add-on, and the roads don’t even go around it, so if you want to circle the island, the south and east coasts are fine, but you have to then connect them down the central valley between its two mountain ranges, essentially driving that triangle shape and ignoring that extra bulge. That mountain range along the east coast is of particular interest, described later.

But it’s the center of the south coast where everything is located, essentially all in a row. Here’s the sequence. About ¼ of the way in from the southwest point is (1) the town of Ewa, then the three watery fingers of the very large (2) Pearl Harbor, (3) the airport, (4) downtown Honolulu with Honolulu Harbor, (5) Waikiki, (6) Diamond Head, then another ¼ of the say to the southeast point at Koko Head.

This linear layout is remarkable, and it’s embedded into the consciousness of everyone but, perhaps, haoles (try not to be a haole if you can avoid it). It may seem incredible, but the two end points are used, just in this region, as directions, with Ewa meaning west and Diamond Head meaning east. I’m serious. For instance, you can say that Waikiki is Diamond Head of downtown, but Pearl Harbor is Ewa of the airport. Given this, do remember that Ewa is pronounced E.va (like evvah), which is why I discussed it earlier in the first place. I learned this in 1970, but when I arrived this time, it was confirmed to me on the map of the airport, which had an Ewa wing and a Diamond Head wing. Haoles might think “How nice, they’ve named ends of the building after local landmarks. Why’d they leave out Waikiki?” Others realize immediately, though, which is the west wing and which is the east.

Before leaving on this trip, though, I did my homework. Should I take a limo to and from the airport? Nonsense. I discovered that an excellent city bus system exists in Honolulu, and I was eager to try it (yes, that IS me talking positively about buses, but these are city buses, not tour buses). Among others, there are long routes between Ewa and Diamond Head that will bring you everywhere. It turned out to be an excellent decision.

Flying in from Seattle on my first day, when I was headed for the ship to start the “cruise”, I arrived in the early afternoon. Right in the airport were signs for the City Bus. It turned out route 19 was the one I wanted, and I used it to good advantage on four occasions. My destinations were strung along the route of the 19 like kukui nuts on a lei.

The buses were new, fully air-conditioned, and had the biggest front windows I’ve ever seen on a bus. The route numbers were well marked, and maps were available on board. The drivers were incredibly helpful with destinations. The $2 fare was reduced to $1 for seniors, and the machine took paper bills. It really was a pleasant experience.

As the 19 proceeded Diamond Head of the airport, we soon reached downtown Honolulu, close to Honolulu Harbor. Although I knew exactly where I was going, the driver was very helpful in finding my stop on King Street, just three short blocks mauka of the harbor. But this is just where I wanted to be, in order to see several things again before getting on the ship. It wasn’t any trouble walking around a bit with my wheeled bag, and I’ve done it before when it was the easiest way to proceed.

Without Waikiki, Honolulu itself quite frankly has little to see, which is why I consider this a visit to Waikiki. Ewa of downtown Honolulu, Pearl Harbor has its Memorials to December 7, 1941, Particularly the USS Arizona Memorial, but we’d seen that the last time. Otherwise, there is a minimum to see downtown. In the couple of hours I had before ship-boarding time, I just wanted to stroll past a couple of things we’d visited earlier.

Just one block further down King Street is ‘Iolani Palace (1882), which is worthwhile. We had toured this Rococo building and were impressed particularly by the throne room. It is the only royal palace in the US. I’ve already mentioned walking on its grounds and encountering the kapu bandstand. There is also a beautiful banyan tree on the grounds. Behind the palace, facing the modern (and uninteresting) State Capitol building across the street, is a statue of the well-known and well-liked Queen Lili‘uokalani, whose government was overthrown in 1893. The ongoing affection was shown by the fresh flowers at the foot of the statue and the fresh flower lei around its neck.

Queen Lili‘uokalani was an accomplished author, musician and songwriter. Her most famous song is Aloha ‘Oe from 1877. Although ‘oe means “you”, the title is usually translated as “Farewell (to) Thee”. That’s a tradition that’s all well and good, but at the very least, I’ll go with “Farewell (to) You”. But we can do better still.

Remember the times when some people said good-by by saying “Peace”? Now why does aloha mean “Good-by”? Simply because it REALLY means “love”. Please realize that when you leave someone and say aloha, you are wishing them “Love”. This is the beauty of what you find when you delve into language. Now my trusty Hawaiian dictionary goes one step further. It has a separate entry for “Aloha ‘oe”. It says it means “may you be loved”. That’s enough to melt one’s soul.

So how can you convey that beautiful sentiment? You can’t, very easily, especially since you have to impart both departure and affection. The traditional translation “Farewell to You” only implies departure. How about “My Love to You”? That implies affection but not departure. “Good-by, Go With my Love”, would be the most poetic way to imply both things. If you really wanted to get into the vernacular, how about “Bye. Love Ya”. Either of these two last ones work, depending on circumstance, but the best is, once you know what it means, don’t translate it at all and stick to the original! That’s how you also impart the ethnic element into it.

There is a standard English translation of the entire song. We’ll forget it. In the original Hawaiian version, there is a chorus, with several stanzas. We’ll just stick to the chorus. And here we have a curiosity. Queen Lili‘uokalani included right from the start two English phrases in this Hawaiian chorus, which follows.

I have looked at three online versions translating the Hawaiian lines, and am not satisfied with any of them, so I’ve used them as a guide for my dictionary research. I want you to follow along with me.

E KE ONAONA: E is “oh”; ke (and ka) is “the”; onaona (notice the reduplication) is “soft/sweet fragrance; gentle; sweet; attractive”. I find translations of “The charming one” and “Thou charming one”. Pffft. Even though I am not a kahuna in Hawaiian, I’m going with “Oh, my sweet”. I’d guess that the reduplication makes the person sweeter than ever! [Kahuna is another Hawaiian word used in English--often a big shot is described as a Big Kahuna. It actually refers to a big religious leader, even a sorcerer, but it also means “expert (in any profession)”, which is how I’m using it.]

NOHO I KA LIPO: Noho is “live, dwell”, and i ka is “in the”. Lipo is the problem. It refers to a deep blue-black color, so it implies darkness. It can imply the darkness of the sea, or the darkness of the forest. Since my sweet is hardly dwelling in the (dark) sea, we’ll go for “(dark) forest”. I find translations of “who dwells in the shaded bowers”, “who dwells among the bowers”, “dwelling in the dark forest”. I find this last translation acceptable, although I don’t know why my sweet dwells there either, but …

A HO ‘I A ‘E AU: This one’s tricky for me, because Hawaiian seems to be a language that uses single vowels as “particles” to show emotion, intent, or grammatical changes. Suffice it to say that ho means “go”, ‘i implies time, ‘e implies intent, and au means “me”. The standard translations I find are “ere I depart”, “before I now leave”, “before I now depart”. I’m going with “before I leave’.

I am clearly going for accurate translations here and am not attempting to fit the music. So we get: Aloha ‘oe / Aloha ‘oe / Oh, my sweet / dwelling in the dark forest. / One fond embrace / before I leave / until we meet again.

After all this, you will not be surprised that I have a YouTube clip of this song. It’s been recorded by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and others. I found a nice clip of Marty Robbins singing it, and even one of the German singer Freddy Quinn singing it in German. The version I’ve chosen is where the singer is: the Worthy Reader. It’s a very good karaoke version, and will put into practice what you and I have been learning together. Be very clear on your vowels, and hit those glottal stops! The ‘okina is very important and gives a lot of flavor. Now SING! “Aloha ‘Oe”

Sounded good to me. You’ll notice that they called it “traditional”, as though no one knew who wrote it—that’s how fundamental this song has become to Hawaiian music. Although she blended the two English lines into this chorus on purpose, frankly, once I got into the Hawaiian, the English seemed intrusive. What did you think?

Across King Street from ‘Iolani Palace is the famous statue of Kamehameha I, known as K. the Great. There were actually five kings, K. I to K. V with that name during the 19C before Lili‘uokalani. The statue of K. I is rather unique in style, since he’s wearing a Hawaiian helmet that looks like a rooster’s crest, a cape, and a sort of sash that could pass as a diaper (no disrespect meant). All these articles are in gold over a darkish body. A replica of this statue is in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol.

A block further down King Street is evidence of the missionary appearance, the Mission Houses Museum has a house brought around Cape Horn in 1821, and Kawaiahao Church dates from 1837. Backtracking a bit on King Street and walking makai, I reached the harbor where I wanted to see the Aloha Tower of 1921. At ten stories, it was once Hawai‘i’s tallest building. It still greets cruise passengers, but you must remember the time when everyone arrived here by ship, and the Aloha Tower was the local beacon telling them they’d arrived. Then, walking Diamond Head a few more blocks, I boarded the Pride of America for the one-week trip.

The following Saturday, after disembarking the ship, it was just a few steps to the bus stop for my second ride on the 19, going Diamond Head to Waikiki.

The Waikiki section of Honolulu runs along the shore some distance, a good part of which is Waikiki Beach. Waikiki ends at Diamond Head, the extinct volcano that is the iconic symbol of the area, as shown in a recent video. On the mauka side, Waikiki delimited by the Ala Wai Canal, so it’s really quite compact.

While side streets are neatly parallel and perpendicular to each other in Honolulu and Waikiki, I found that the major streets are a jumble. As a pedestrian, it wasn’t too bad, but the day I rented a car, I got the impression that the main roads were planned by someone who took some pick-up sticks, let them fall at random, and planned the main roads in that pattern. And to make it worse, some of them are one-ways. Still, I talked earlier about Kalakaua Avenue entering Waikiki from downtown. Where it approaches the water with no more buildings in the way on the makai side, is pretty much where Waikiki Beach begins. Earlier, as I mentioned, Kuhio street pulls off of Kalakaua on its mauka side. I got off the 19 right at Lewers Street, which is where my hotel was, right between the two K-streets (but aren’t they all K-streets? It only seems that way.) I found myself very well located right in central Waikiki.

Is there anything wrong with Waikiki? Yes there is. Into the early 20C it was a low-rise beach area. Now, there are so many tall buildings, it looks like Manhattan. Still, it has its charm. For a person not “into” resorts, I enjoyed being there. If you like upscale shopping, the Galleria Mall has Gucci and Prada. If you go for beads and hair-braiding, the so-called International Market Place is for you, with much of it located in a courtyard around a banyan tree.

Restaurants abound. Right down Lewers Street I went to a new branch of Roy’s, the chain about which I’ve written a lot. (The day I rented the car I had dinner at the flagship Roy’s restaurant out beyond Diamond Head in Hawai‘i Kai, which was the first one in the chain. It was nice enough, but not as special as I’d expected.) For the third dinner while I was there, I had found in advance a Thai restaurant named Keo’s on the mauka side exactly where Kuhio takes off from Kalakaua. Articles posted at the entrance even showed it had been written up in Thailand. I had an appetizer of both spring and summer rolls, each kind with their own sauce, and the house curry, along with a great imported Thai beer, Chang. For dessert I had Thai tapioca, which they had warned was a lot looser in consistency than the custardy American kind. Sure enough, the beads of tapioca were swimming in a milky soup, and apple bananas were sliced into it. I learned on inquiring that apple bananas were the small ones which I’m used to calling finger bananas. I also heard that Hawaiian term elsewhere in the islands.

Our records show that the hotel we stayed at in 1970, which apparently either no longer exists or has a new name, was an adequate one called the Waikiki Holiday, and that the total rate, with tax, came to $10.40 per night for seven nights. It is interesting to keep old records like this. The hotel I found for this visit was a charming boutique hotel called the Waikiki Joy Hotel. Its rates are quite reasonable, and it has a heavy Japanese influence. Every sign was in English and Japanese, and there was a large Japanese clientele. The hotel belongs to an American chain, but even the unusual name sounds to me like a possible translation from an Asian language. There was an open-air marble lobby, where a continental buffet breakfast was available, also a stepping-stone pool with koi swimming in it. Yet all of this was very compact, with the hotel in two towers of about ten stories each. I had booked a mid-range room, and was surprised that they upgraded me to a penthouse suite. I didn’t complain. I was on the top floor, with an outside walkway-style terrace in the shape of an L around both sides of the suite, but I didn’t use it. There was a kitchen, which I set up as my office for writing. I never used the living room. The bedroom was fine, and the bath was very large, and with a jacuzzi, but all rooms in this hotel had jacuzzis. It also had something very Japanese in nature that I’d only read about before. I’m a great believer of the personal hygiene available with a fountain-style bidet, and I have one in my places in New York, Tampa, and the Dominican Republic. But this hotel suite had the bidet built in to the toilet, which I’d only read about. There’s an arm on the side, and one button causes water to spray from the back of the toilet seat, and another from the front, as needed. A stop button stops everything. It’s a great alternative to a bidet.

I had one full walking day in Waikiki and one full driving day around O‘ahu. The walking day started with my third bus ride on the 19, bringing me close to the aquarium on Kalakaua, nearer to Diamond Head. The attractive Kapi‘olani Park is on the mauka side of Kalakaua, and the aquarium is on the makai side, as is a very wide grassy area before the beach. I have stated that I’m no longer an aquarium buff, since after your first thousand aquariums (or zoos, or science museums, and so on) the idea becomes old. But I had to see “my” fish here, and then walk back along the park/beach to my hotel, and it turned out to be a marvelous plan on a marvelous day.

The Waikiki Aquarium, founded in 1904, is the third oldest in the US. Since 1919, it’s been a part of the University of Hawai‘i. It specializes on the aquatic life of Hawai‘i and the tropical Pacific, and is logically located on the shoreline next to a living reef. I actually learned quite a bit about reefs, and finally understand about the thin outer layer of coral consisting of millions of polyps, therefore being a living organism covering the inner skeletal remains of older generations, and this thin surface can be damaged even by divers walking on it. There was a large shark exhibit, octopus, small jellyfish. There was the most unusual fish?/creature? that looked like a brown mushroom that looked like it was consuming itself every time its gills functioned. I saw numerous butterflyfish, that I later learned were also called lauwiliwilinukunuku‘oi‘oi, but I didn’t see my humuhumunukunukuapua‘a which was the original purpose of my visit, not even in an outdoor concrete area that looked like an above-ground swimming pool containing many kinds of fish. I went back to the front desk and they said they had one—one—in that outdoor pool. I went back, and a volunteer on duty searched it our for me, as she had just done for someone else that had asked. Mission accomplished. I’ve now seen my fish, have worn my kukui lei, but have yet to see a nene. Maybe if the nene’s name had been longer I’d have had more luck. (??)

Walking back down Kalakaua along the park and beach toward central Waikiki was really the best part of the day. The park strip between the street and beach started out to be very broad, then narrowed considerably toward the western end, but was always there, and helped define the beach. The western end of the park strip had fountains and man-made waterfalls, but the eastern end had numerous banyan trees. I’ve mentioned them a couple of times now, and I should discuss them more fully.

I now learn that a banyan tree is a member of the fig family. The central trunk of a mature tree (that’s all that I saw here) usually seems to be many layers of smaller trunks, and its massive heavy branches reach out considerable distances horizontally, making one wonder how the tree supports them, and that’s the uniqueness of the banyan. The banyan grows aerial roots, that is, roots not in the ground (yet). Little groups of these descend down from mid-points on these extended branches, and develop into what are known as aerial prop roots. The roots reach the ground and take, well, root, while the exposed part coming down from the branch develops a woody exterior just like the main trunk. Thus, the tree develops its own props for its branches, just like a gardener might fashion a wooden post to support an extended branch of an apple tree. The name banyan comes from India, and means “merchant”, since early travelers noted that Indian merchants would set up business under the well-shaded and widely spreading branches of this tree. The tree is so “hospitable” that in India, village meetings also take place under the protection of a single specimen.

I stopped under one banyan after another, surrounded by grass, and with the beach nearby, and decided the banyan is one of my favorite trees, so I decided to make a mental list. I first had to dismiss flowering cherry trees (that I go and visit each spring) and magnolias—flowering trees should really be in the category of flowering shrubs and plants. I would then say that my favorite trees are the banyan, for the welcoming, cool, dark shade of its spreading branches (do you suppose the word “lipo” from the above song could apply here?); the eucalyptus, for the marvelous scent you can get just driving by, and certainly from crushing one of its long, slender leaves between your fingers, even one that’s on the ground; and the redwood, for the feeling of smallness one gets standing next to one, especially in a dark, silent grove with no one nearby. I’ll bet “lipo” definitely would apply to a redwood grove.

As I walked along, the park narrowed, the beach came closer, and when I saw an outdoor showering area I knew it was time. A few weeks earlier I had stood in the Atlantic in the Dominican Republic, and then I, to my surprise, walked into the Pacific in San Francisco, so it was time again. I was fully dressed, but at least didn’t need a jacket as in San Francisco. I stuffed my Michelin in my belt, took off my Birkenstocks, and rolled up my slacks, then walked across Waikiki Beach and stepped into the Pakipika Ocean, just for a bit. Afterwards, the fact that I was the only person fully dressed and not in a bathing suit that was rinsing the sand off my feet in the outdoor beach shower didn’t bother me one whit.

There are also historic markers as you walk along Kalakauka on the park strip’s edge, often where those streams used to be that Waikiki is named after. One pointed out that Robert Louis Stevenson spent five weeks convalescing in Waikiki in 1893. At first that surprised me, but then I remember how attached Stevenson was to Samoa, and even moved there. I’ll see Vailima, his house in Samoa, the last day in January.

Another marker pointed out that by 1900, surfing had almost been eradicated by the missionaries, who told people it was a waste of time and took people away from religious obligations. (This philosophy also affected other parts of local culture, but I won’t go there now.) But surfing was revived in the early 20C and spread first to California and Australia. Although the waves that day were not particularly huge, there were still dozens of young guys (Has anyone ever even seen a female surfer, even in a picture? I’m sure they must exist.) paddling out and waiting in a row in the distance to ride a wave in. The marker pointed out that Waikiki can have some of the best waves in the world, from 2-8 ft / 1-3 m high and up to 35 ft / 10.7 m high. A ride can extend 100 yards/meters.

But the most pleasant marker about surfing was the one involving Mark Twain, and here is one of the two places he’d been that I visited as well. We have the image of Twain as a portly, mature gentleman, and forget about his younger years. Twain was in Waikiki in 1866, and wrote the following, that I took down from the historical marker:

As I said, I’d arranged for a car rental for my second full day and took off in the pick-up-sticks tangle of local urban roads. Although I would say the interesting part of O‘ahu is really limited to its southeast corner, including Waikiki, I wanted to repeat the circle trip we made years ago, up the east coast, and back down the central valley. I left along Kalakaua for a drive past the banyans, and then went around Diamond Head. It’s the iconic volcano at the end of Waikiki given that name by 19C British sailors who thought it contained diamond crystals. I drove around it, and was ready to enter it as we had years ago, but a police barricade stopped me. It seemed the interior was closed for a week, which is done annually, in order to clear away boulders and other debris that accumulates during the year. Curiously, they do this via helicopter. No matter, I’d seen it earlier.

I drove past Hawai‘i Kai and around Koko Head at the southeast corner of the island, then up the east coast. I should emphasize the ridge of mountains that runs down the entire east coast ending at Koko Head. It had historically been an impediment for land access to Kailua and other towns on the east coast from Honolulu (more later), and the coast road around Koko Head is a later phenomenon. The entire circle route is essentially uneventful, but I did make a stop, just west of the northernmost point of the island, at the famous Sunset Beach. Areas facing the west seem to get a fuller brunt of the incoming wave action, and Sunset Beach is known for its waves and its surfers. Take a look at YouTube: Surfing at Sunset Beach, O‘ahu. This video was taken on 13 Oct 08, and as you see, waves were predicted that day at up to almost 12 ft / 4 m. I was there just a month later, on 17 Nov 08. The waves were not that high, but the surfing was still spectacular.

Swinging down the center back to Honolulu, I then wanted to cut back to the east coast the “old” way—sort of—via the Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout. This was the only land route available to the east coast before the coast road had been built around Koko Head. The same old road, now a parkway through pleasant forests, goes close to Nu‘uanu Pali, but instead of going over it as the old coach road had, it now goes under it in a tunnel, to reach Kailua and other towns, which are now bedroom communities of Honolulu because of this easier tunnel access. I did go through the tunnels afterwards, but first took the parkway exit before the actual pass, where the old road used to go over the top, this area now being a state park.

Just walking up the short way from the parking lot on what is the old coach road you start to feel the wind that this spot is known for. At the top, you have a spectacular view, high, but not too high, up and down the coast, of Kailua, some offshore islands, and the coast below. I was there while it was still light, but twilight was rapidly approaching, and lights below in the towns and on the roads started twinkling as darkness approached. (Maybe the falling blue-black darkness in THIS treed area illustrates the dark forest in that “lipo”?) Take a look at YouTube: Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout, O‘ahu

Queen Lili‘uokalani had been visiting an estate on the east coast where she had witnessed two lovers saying goodbye to each other. She contemplated that farewell on the coach coming back, and had the lyrics and music to Aloha ‘Oe set in her mind as she crossed over the top of Nu‘uanu Pali.

The previous video didn’t give any indication of any great amount of wind at the lookout. I suppose it comes and goes, but when I was there, you could have leaned forward into the wind without falling. Forget about wearing a hat, I held onto my glasses for fear the wind would tear them off my head. Look at this: Wind at Nu‘uanu Pali. The place is a veritable wind tunnel, so I looked up the name. We know that pali is “cliff”, but nu‘u is “height, high place”, and anu is “cool, cold”. This is the translation I’ve come up with for Nu‘uanu Pali: Breezy Heights Cliff.

The last morning I took my fourth and last ride on bus 19, right from my corner, through downtown, to the airport, and this is the time I want to bring up light rail. It had occurred to me before leaving home that this strip nature of the locations here would be ideal for light rail, and I was surprised to find when I got there that that’s just what they were planning. It’s controversial because of the expense, some people saying the buses are good enough. While I was there, they were arguing if the central part after Ewa should go through the Salt Lake neighborhood near the airport to please some constituents, or to the airport itself. To me that was a no-brainer (yet a political football) but they did decide on the airport route. The controversy that disturbs me very much is that, instead of making it a surface route, they want to make it an elevated line. The sketch I saw showed a white concrete structure, but I do not like that idea. Neither did the American Institute of Architects, who came out against that style. Worse, if it should be extended into Waikiki, which is proposed, and logical, it would go down Kuhio, which is not wide enough for something like that. We shall see what happens.