An all-inclusive resort is considered the perfect vacation
for many people. They may step outside
their insulated walls for an occasional, structured excursion; but, they would
rather not leave the comforts of their hotel.
These folks tend to prefer the familiar foods from back home. They like to avoid the potential risks of
local crime and poverty. And they don't
want to deal with the headaches of driving or navigating around an unfamiliar
city.
There’s nothing wrong with relaxing at one’s hotel for
several days. However, this is not the
type of vacation that The Wife and I enjoy.
For us, visiting historical and cultural sites provides more
long-lasting memories of our trips.
Eating our meals outside the touristy areas can lead to more exotic,
tastier, and less expensive food. But,
above all, going on vacation means having the freedom and flexibility to go anywhere
or do anything we want.
On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, this autonomy can be
achieved by renting a car.
Unfortunately, "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" cliché
is true. We would pay a penalty for our lackadaisical
attention to details and learn that sometimes safety and comfort are not such bad things.
*****
Monday, October 5, 2015
The Wife found a great deal on airfare earlier this year. Although it involved our old nemeses, United
Airlines and O’Hare airport, it was hard to turn down roundtrip tickets for
four people to Oahu for under $1,500.
The added bonus was that it coincided with The Kids’ fall break from
school so that they would only miss a few days from school.
You get what you pay for.
No free meals or snacks were provided for the 9 hour flight from Chicago
to Honolulu. Sandwiches could be bought
from the food carts an hour or so into the flight. We had planned ahead and bought some tastier
options from Tortas Frontera near our departure gate in O’Hare. Somehow, we always seem to eat there when
flying through Chicago.
In order to save some money, we reserved a full-sized
vehicle from Thrifty for $220 per week.
After we received our luggage, we realized why Thrifty was cheaper than
its competitors. The service was
awful. We waited for about thirty
minutes for one of their airport shuttles to arrive to transport us to their
off-site location. Meanwhile, we saw at
least ten of the Enterprise shuttles pass by during this time. The same was also true of the other car
rental companies such as Budget, Hertz, etc.
Once the Thrifty shuttle finally arrived, about thirty people and all of
their luggage had to cram inside.
On arrival to their office, we found ourselves in a long
line staffed by not enough people to get our car. Surprisingly, once we were given our keys to
a Buick Lacrosse, there was nobody there to do a final inspection of the vehicle
with us to make sure there were no scratches or dents that we could get charged
for later. Heck they even did that with
our lowly Hyundai Accent in Turkey. We
had already lost more than 1.5 hours from Thrifty’s inefficiencies, so we left
as fast as we could.
We made our way through the heavy mid-afternoon Honolulu
traffic until we reached the
Hilton Hawaiian Village. With over 3,000 rooms, it is no village. It was more like a town or small city. This largest hotel in the Hilton chain is
composed of several towers that overlook the northern end of Waikiki
Beach. Adjacent to the resort are
several shops and restaurants that cater to the tourists who stay at this
resort. While the lobby of the Hilton
was packed with visitors, the rest of the hotel didn't seem any more crowded
than the other resorts on Waikiki.
That's not really saying much because all of Waikiki is a mad-house of
tourists--even during this off-season month.
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| We picked an oceanfront room on the 31st floor of the Rainbow Tower. |
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The view of Waikiki Beach and the Pacific Ocean from our hotel balcony.
In the background is Diamond Head Monument, an extinct volcano. |
 |
A sliding door to the bathroom allows bathers to see the ocean through the
balcony. With four occupants in our hotel room, this feature was not used. |
Since it had taken us so long to get our rental car and
drive to our hotel, we really didn’t have enough time to go to the beach. We drove a few blocks over to the
Ala Moana Center,
the largest open-air mall in the world. We
eschewed the high end stores like Louis Vuitton, Harry Winston, Hermes, etc.
and headed to the Japanese food stores.
 |
| This tosenka dessert made with a whole white peach set in jelly will set you back $20. |
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In addition to the usual suspects like Panda Express, Cinnabon, and Sbarro, the Ala
Moana food court has more exotic fare such as this restaurant devoted to abalone. |
We then had dinner at
the
Pineapple Room located on the third floor of the Macy’s Department store. Since Alan Wong is considered one of the top
chefs of regional Hawaiian cuisine, the food was very good as expected, albeit
pricey. Nothing in Hawaii is cheap.
In my opinion, no American should visit Oahu without
spending some time at the
memorials at Pearl Harbor. Not only was it one of the greatest tragedies
in American History, but this event also affected the entire world. This surprise attack by the Japanese on
December 7, 1941 compelled an isolationist United States to enter World War
II. Who knows what would have happened
without American intervention. Maybe a
Nazi flag would fly over the Eiffel Tower, maybe soldiers would cross Abbey
Road wearing jackboots, and maybe the Empire of Japan would have expanded so
far west that they would be the ones having to deal with Muslim
extremists. Either way, the Pearl Harbor
bombing changed the course of history.
The only issue we faced was how to make the visit meaningful
for The Kids. Since they were born after
9/11, The Kids can barely appreciate that tragedy, let alone one that occurred
almost 75 year ago. Instead of showing
them the Michael Bay train-wreck Pearl Harbor, we all watched Tora! Tora!
Tora!, the more accurate 1970 depiction of the attack. Although very informative, it was so dull The
Girl fell asleep within the first hour.
The Wife had anticipated that we would be awake very early
on our first full day in Hawaii.
Therefore, she had no qualms about reserving the earliest time available
to visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Although the site is free to the general
public, only a set number of tickets are allotted for the tours each day. Therefore, it is wise for tourists to reserve
tickets in advance at a dirt-cheap price of $1.50 a person. We went ahead and paid for the "Passport
to Pearl Harbor" package ($60/adult and $27/child) which included access
to the U.S.S. Bowfin submarine, the U.S.S. Missouri battleship, and the Pacific
Aviation Museum. We scheduled an 8 AM
tour of the Arizona Memorial. That means
we would have to be there an hour earlier at 7 AM to pick up the tickets so
that they are not given away to walk-ins.
I couldn’t believe that we would have to set our alarms for 6 AM while
on vacation! It turns out that we were all awake by 4 AM anyway.
The drive to Pearl Harbor took me under
half-an-hour because the traffic was still pretty light before 7 AM (and I
drive like a maniac). I was surprised to
see how many people were already there, lined up waiting to go inside.
We received our tickets and the audio guide included in our
package. While we waited 45 minutes for our reserved time to visit the
Arizona Memorial, we
visited a small museum containing artifacts pertinent to the Pearl Harbor attack.
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| The audio guide, narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, provided additional information for some of the displays. |
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Despite this code-breaking device that allowed the U.S. to secretly decode all of the Japanese
communications, the American military was still caught off guard on December 7. 1941. |
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| This chart shows how sorry a state the U.S. military was in relationship to that of Japan's. |
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The bombs and torpedoes that were
used at the attack on Pearl Harbor. |
 |
Only a few months before the attack did the Japanese develop a torpedo
that didn't run too deep for the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. |
 |
| On December 8, 1941, FDR gave the famous "Day of Infamy" speech to the U.S. Congress. |
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| These annotated notes show it could have been known as the "Day of World History" speech. |
When 8 AM
arrived, we entered a theater that played a film detailing the events
surrounding the Pearl Harbor attack. It made The Wife cry. I think The Girl took a nap.
 |
| We next boarded a small boat that ferried us across the harbor to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. |
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In the harbor were several mooring quays which showed
where the other battleships were docked during the attack. |
 |
The American flag remains at
half-staff at the memorial. |
 |
| Oil has continuously seeped from a hatch near the remnants of turret three on the Arizona's stern. |
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A memorial wall lists the names of all the sailors and marines who
died on the Arizona. The mood was appropriately somber inside. |
 |
| On the ride back to land, we spotted several modern U.S. Navy vessels docked in the harbor. |
 |
Their crews kept a visiting Japanese helicopter carrier in
check...just in case it decided to launch any surprise attacks. |
Back on shore, we walked over to the nearby area where the
U.S.S. Bowfin was moored. Commissioned in 1943, the boat served nine tours during World War II, sinking 15 Japanese ships and one Vichy France vessel (that will teach them to surrender to the Nazis!) Sadly, one cargo ship that the
Bowfin sank was transporting 1,500 Okinawan refugees. Over 750 children died in that attack.
 |
| Our destination was the U.S.S. Missouri, a battleship that served from 1944 to 1992. |
 |
On September 2, 1945, World War II officially ended on the deck of the Missouri as
representatives from ten countries signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. |
The Wife and I had seen the Japanese’s copy of the document in the Edo-Tokyo Museum about six years ago. The Allied version is in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
In addition to its prominent position in World War II, the
battleship had also participated in the Korean War and the Gulf War against
Iraq. It was subsequently decommissioned
and moved to Pearl Harbor. The idea was
that visitors to Pearl Harbor can see both the start (the
U.S.S. Arizona
Memorial) and end (the
U.S.S. Missouri) of the War in the Pacific.
 |
| The main armaments of this Iowa-class battleship were nine 16-inch guns. |
 |
| These massive canons hurled shells that weighed 2,700 lbs. |
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| Twenty smaller, but deadly 5-inch guns also guarded the port and starboard sides. |
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| The Boy manned one of the more-manageable 50-caliber machine guns. |
In modern times, the ship has gained prominence more in
pop culture. In Steven Seagal's best
movie Under Siege, the ship was taken
over by nuclear warhead-dealing terrorists.
It was then used to fight invading aliens in Battleship. The vessel even
starred in Cher's 1989 music video for "If I can turn back time." She was dressed so risqué in a fishnet body-stocking
that the Navy prohibited use of their ships in future music videos. Even
MTV initially banned the video.
Although there are tour guides for the 35 minute tour, we elected
to see the ship on our own with the audio guides (which we barely used). If you have seen one battleship, you have
basically seen them all. The Wife and I
had visited the
U.S.S. Alabama (
Under Siege was actually filmed on this vessel)
in Mobile Bay previously. Nevertheless,
the immense size of the
Missouri was still impressive. The interior of the ship is really a small
city with so many amenities available for the crew.
 |
| Unlike the wardrooms of a submarine... |
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| ...those in a battleship were much more spacious. |
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| Cracker Jacks for 15 cents! Ain't that a gas! |
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| Mmm...donuts. |
After finishing our tour of the
U.S.S. Missouri, we decided
to skip the Pacific Aviation Museum as The Kids were battle-fatigued. We hopped back into our car and headed over
to
Helena's Hawaiian Foods for lunch. There
was little parking in this area, so we had to create our own spot and hope that
we didn't get a ticket or be towed. This
unassuming restaurant has been serving traditional regional fare since
1946. It has received several accolades
including a James Beard Award. Like many
smaller eateries that we would encounter on Oahu, payment is by cash only. They served several dishes which can be
commonly found in a luau. The luau squid
made from stewed Taro leaves was by far the best dish.
 |
Clockwise from top left: fried butterfish collars, Pipikaula
beef shortribs, lomi salmon, luau squid, and Kalua pig. |
 |
We were given some complimentary haupia, a sweet dessert
made from coconut milk and thickened with arrowroot starch. |
After lunch, we headed over to the
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Admission was $20 for adults and
$15 for kids. The museum is composed of
several buildings with different exhibits on display.
One area contained memorabilia from the life
of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Olympic gold medalist, surfing pioneer, and overall goodwill-ambassador
of Hawaiian culture. The Kids enjoyed some interactive props and games pertaining to his aquatic hobbies.
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| The Wife and The Girl ogle the Duke's masculine physique. |
The Kids also enjoyed the Bishop Museum's collection of exotic and bizarre-shaped seashells from around the world.
The Hawaiian Hall with exhibits about Polynesian myths and history was a bit of a yawner. The Science Adventure Center was lame.
 |
| However, we did enjoy the travelling exhibit on the World of WearableArt. |
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There were several bizarre outfits from
this New Zealand design competition. |
 |
This woman's top and hat was
made entirely of zip ties. |
 |
| This brassiere was created using common kitchen tools. |
Our last planned destination for the day was
Iolani Palace, the only royal
residence in the United States. Since this landmark is located in the heart of downtown
Honolulu and across the street from Hawaii's main judicial and
administrative buildings, we figured that parking would be difficult. After driving around the block twice, we were
able to find an empty metered parking spot on King street in front of the
palace. A quarter only gave us 10
minutes of parking. At 2:15 PM, we walked over to
the Iolani Palace offices to purchase tickets ($15/adult $6/child) for the
self-led audio tours. Instead of
allowing us to go directly inside, we had to wait almost an hour for our 3 PM
entry time. I dumped the rest of our
quarters into the meter giving us a good two hours for parking.
The Wife and I were furious as we went through all of the "what
if" scenarios. What if we didn't
have to wait almost an hour to gain entry into Iolani Palace. We would have been done touring the building
and on our way before 3 PM. What if we
had known that there was metered parking behind the Palace. These spots would have been valid
indefinitely and our car wouldn't have been towed. But most importantly, what if we had just
read the sign that was in plain sight.
We had just assumed that a paid meter would equate to valid
parking.
There was no indication which company towed us, but the
Iolani Palace knew exactly who to call.
In fact, their gift shop actually has a sign giving the number for Ace
Towing Company. Apparently, many
visitors to Iolani Palace fall into the same predicament as us.
What made it worse was the towing company required that we
have the car's rental agreement in order to pick up the car. We had left it back at our hotel instead of keeping inside
the glove box. We would have to go back
to the Hilton, pick up the documents, and then backtrack all the way back and
more to the impounding lot. The towing
company recommended that we just call up Thrifty to see if they could simply
fax or email a copy of the documents over to them. They told us that Dollar and Enterprise Car
Rentals had already done that for their customers earlier that day. Unfortunately, the local Thrifty representative
refused this request stating they "didn't have a fax machine or
email." What type of business has
neither of these! After our experience
with them the day before, I wasn't surprised by their lack of customer support.
On the flip side, I was impressed by how friendly the local
Hawaiians were about our plight. The guards
at Iolani Palace quickly called us a cab.
A lady who overheard us talking even offered to drive us wherever we
needed to go. Even the tow truck driver
from Ace Towing Company (he came back to get somebody else's car on King
Street) was sympathetic over our problem and tried to offer us assistance. Unfortunately, our journey would have been
too unreasonably far for us to accept any help.
When we finally arrived at the impound lot, we joined a long line of fellow tourists who also had their cars towed after making a mistake similar to ours.
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| King street? Yep. King street? Yeah me, too |
We ended up spending about $80 on cab fare to go to the hotel and then
to the towing company on Sand Island plus an additional $145 to retrieve our
vehicle from the towing company.
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| To add insult to injury, a $50 parking ticket was waiting with our rental car at the impound lot. |
The entire ordeal took over two hours meaning it would be
too late to make it to the beach by the time we fought the rush hour traffic
back to our hotel. Two days in Hawaii
and we still hadn't touched the water yet!
Instead, we headed to a nearby Costco to stock up on discounted Kona
coffee and Macadamia nuts. We did discover
some unusual local favorites including coconut-flavored coffee, marlin and tuna
jerky, instant haupia mix, and cases of Spam.
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| Although it looks like any other branch, this store in Honolulu is the busiest Costco in the world. |
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| Costco's $1.50 hot dog and drink is always a good deal... |
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| ...but we eschewed that for some spicy ahi (tuna)... |
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| ...kajiki (blue marlin) and sea asparagus... |
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| ...and garlic shrimp pokes. |
We enjoyed the view of Waikiki at night as we dined on our
Costco poke from the balcony of our hotel room.
*****
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
After our towing debacle from the previous day, we settled
for the safety and comfort of our hotel and the surrounding touristy areas of
Waikiki. Early that morning, we walked
down the length of Waikiki admiring the surfers wiping out on the waves.
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| A boardwalk connects some of the individual beaches on Waikiki. |
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| To the south of our hotel, the sand was softer and finer, but the crowds were more dense. |
 |
A statue of Duke Kahanamoku greets
visitors (and their money) to Waikiki. |
We left the beaches and visited a few of the food and beverage shops. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee. Because of the high costs of labor and land on the Hawaiian islands, the price for locally-grown beans are much more expensive than those from developing countries around the world. Prices for 100% Kona coffee can be found for $50-60 per pound online. The Wife and I hoped that we could get some better deals at some of the local coffee shops. We stopped inside two of these stores for some refreshment and shopping.
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| At Kai Coffee, their macadamia nut latte was delicious. |
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| Unfortunately, at $70 per lb., the 100% Kona peaberry beans were a little too rich for our taste. |
The steep Waikiki prices weren't limited to just coffee.
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| Four cupcakes (salted caramel, strawberry shortcake, shave iced, and sweet potato) cost over $15. |
On the way back to our hotel, The Boy and I made a brief stop at the
Hawaii Army Museum. I had visited the place back in the 1980's and don't remember being too impressed. It seems pretty nice nowadays with a handful of nice exhibits. But most importantly, the admission is free and the air conditioning was a nice respite from the hot sun.
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| A Type 95 Ha-Go Japanese light tank guards the doors of the museum. |
Later that
morning, we finally got a chance to enjoy some sand and water.
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| The Hilton has an adjacent lagoon with calm waters that are safe for smaller children. |
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| We rented a stand-up paddle board for The Kids for $35 an hour. |
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| Sure it is relaxing, but I really don't see the fun in SUP. |
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| Afterwards, we walked a few yards across the beach to frolic in the more active ocean. |
The water in the lagoon was pretty chilly, while the ocean was actually fairly warm. Unfortunately, there was quite a number of painfully-sharp rocks in the shallow waters off our hotel. The Kids still had a blast at the beach. After our foray in the water, we participated in some of the activities
offered that afternoon by the Hilton.
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| The Wife and The Kids learned how to string up some leis. |
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