Honolulu musings: the old and the new

Today was a less intense pace than yesterday when we took on Diamond Head Museum.

The plan had been to just use the hop on hop off trolley to see Honolulu in general and take in some history with a visit to the Palace and national museum.

Take this warning seriously though, whenever you visit Honolulu, check if cruise ships are in Port. For boy, 8 were in today and it was lines and crowds galore.

When we first came, the beach was relatively empty in comparison to today when there are cruise passengers all over the place.

So of course, when we went to the museum which is located in what had been the Polynesian Royal Palace, it was sold out.

However, they have a mini museum in what had been the kitchen of the Palace. Luckily a lot of the royal jewellery was displayed there, so I drolled.🙂

Then we took that in and spent some time enjoying the grounds.

All this is in the Administrative district downtown, where the architecture between the days when the Polynesians ran their own country and after the colonizers took over, is very distinctive.

The last Polynesian Queen

The royal emblem on the gate

The last King and Queen 

A cute sculpture of Momma Bear and her babies❤️

Front of the Palace

The Judicial building with the famous statue in front.

The gate of the Palace with the royal emblem

On the way downtown, the driver pointed to a bridge over the canal, behind which 

 he claims both Obama and Bruno Mars spent their childhood.  Of course the neighborhood looks nothing like when it was when they roamed, he was quick to add. For high rises prolifirate all over Honolulu these days.

It's beyond the bridge that he said Obama and Mars roamed as kids.

Because of the cruise ship influx, we waited for what seemed forever, for one of the hop on shuttles to return and because none came, had to end up taking an Uber back in order not to die from starvation.😡

That's when I learned that Chinese restaurants close between 2-5pm daily, in Honolulu.

It was a pleasant afternoon though as we simply idled at the hotel and rested our weary legs.

The maximum disappointment

 Have you ever had something you wanted to do badly and it fell through because You the idiot, messed up😭?

I can't believe I did it.

Around 30 years ago, I visited the Polynesian Cultural Village in Honolulu and it made such an impression on me, that I vowed to return one day.

Well we were booked on a family cruise of the Hawaiian islands to start 10/12/2025, so I jumped at the opportunity to return to the Village, by coming to our departure port, Honolulu, early.

Well today was supposed to have been the day  when Michelle (who also came here early) and I were to head out in the adventure of our lives, but thanks to this damn old age thing, we never got to go!

For would you believe that I erroneously made the reservations for November instead of October!😬

To make matters worse, I never knew it was my error until I was boiling and ready to blow up everyone and everything.

You see, I was going on the reservation number and date but not the month. 

So off we went to meet the bus, only to discover they couldn't  find our names or the reservation number.

The wonderful, competent Cara Phillips 

To cut a long story short, after calling every number and getting nowhere, I marched furiously back to the hotel, demanding to see someone in management.  For I was prepared to take an  Uber there, but they would have to pay for it, I insisted.

That's where I met the most competent Concierge  I have ever met in my life.

 She is Cara Phillips. 

 After we found to our alarm that the Village was booked out for today, not only did she manage to calm me down totally, but also she booked us a great adventure which we are taking later.

Better yet, we will be able to be here when Michele and Maddy arrive. For they are coming in at midnight from Colorado and I had left the key at the front desk in case we never returned from the Village, which is 30 miles away, in time.

Yes, old age sucks but thanks to Cara, all is not lost as she has guaranteed that it will be a great Polynesian experience and she even saved me some money on the price❤️.

As I always preach, All things happen for the greater good.  So looking forward to a wonderful adventure later.

More anon.

Proud of myself 😁.

 I am so happy that the monstrous hit Florida was supposed to have received from hurricane Milton did not materialize. For it would have made me feel bad to be in the peaceful Pacific region enjoying myself while my friends and neighbors are suffering in the Atlantic area.

(Some of the pics taken from Diamond Head Mountain.)

So I can tell you about the good day I had at Diamond Head mountain.

It was originally known as Lēʻahi, but was given the name Diamond Hill in 1825 by British sailors who discovered sparkling volcanic calcite crystals in the sand, and mistook them for diamonds. 

Remember the British empire prospered from stealing everyone's resources!

How it looks like from above. 

One of the beautiful monuments at the park 

It's less than a thousand feet high and you may be wondering about the title, (after all, our Blue Mountain is over 7000 feet high, and I have been there quite a few times) but here, it was in the blazing sun hot that we went to the top and my water even ran out. 

So yes I am proud of myself and happy I have been going to Tamarac Senior Center to exercise everyday. 

These concrete sections are for people to sit and rest.

The trail has several concrete sections where people can sit and rest and yes, I saw many people, both young and old, doing just that.

But I didn't. I just took it slow and easy while Michelle barrelled ahead.

The trail is deceptive too, for while it is beautifully paved at the bottom, as you keep climbing, you see how water coming from the top, erodes the pathway making it the perfect trail to sprain or even break your ankle😡. 

The path is nice and smooth at the bottom 

It's easy to twist, sprain or even break your ankle on the rough, eroded trail as you ascend.

I am also proud of myself for the tours to go up there can run you up as high as $150, but we just checked the local bus service, paid $3 each and found our way up to the Park and back! 🙂. When we got there we paid a mere $5  each to enter!

Lots to be proud of!

Of course as you ascend, the view of Wakaki and many angles of Honolulu, becomes more visible.

Now, I will admit, I never went all the way up to the top, for when I saw the stairs, I went on strike.

Besides, I was also out of water.

Mi strike!

But  Michelle who is quarter century younger than I, went up there and shared these beautiful pics.

Yup. Good day and we both feel accomplished.

And got some videos too.

Of course we are sore and tired, but happy😊.

Incidentally, we did 15,500 steps in this one day😊