Don’t Self-Cater in Waikiki

Waikiki Sunset - Best things in life are free

The Air NZ flight of nearly nine hours was excellent. The individual video screens provide just enough distraction for me: two movies, a few short documentaries on food and wine, the fiordland film, Ata Whenua (Shadowlands), along with the meals and we’re there. I’d always dreaded these long haul flights because I can’t sleep on planes, but find they’re not so bad after all. Arriving at our chosen destinations makes it worth the wait.

Our entry into the USA goes very smoothly. Duncan is able to come through the short line with me as I’m traveling on my US passport (one advantage of being born a Yank) and we are ready to catch a cab, get into our condo and go to bed. Unlike the mainland, even the immigration officers are welcoming in Hawaii. It’s such a pleasure to come here. We meet a young Maori fellow and his wife while waiting for a cab; I joke and tell him to toughen up a bit – he’s in the USA. He laughs good naturedly.

All goes smoothly until the cab drops us off. Dunc has some trouble with the lockbox that holds the key to the front gate but finally works it out. Then we find that this low rise six unit condo has no elevator, and we have to get up to #402. Dunc goes up and counts the stairs on the way down, bad news, we have to drag our bags up 50 stairs – not an easy prospect at our age.  We finally manage and enter the condo. It was billed as luxurious on the internet, but in doing my search I found people commenting that Hawaii has no tourist standards like the Qualmark in NZ. I should have checked this place out on Trip Advisor, I usually do, but I didn’t this time. It’s certainly is not luxurious, let’s say it’s adequate, more like a slightly depressing motel. The patio door won’t lock - perhaps it’s a good thing we’re on the fourth floor after all.  It will do, but we’re disappointed. I wish we were going to Kaua’i tomorrow to our lovely house on stilts. Ah well, the location is good, down at the Diamond Head end of the beach; we’ll survive, it’s clean and the bed is comfortable though the one bedside lamp has a short circuit and fails to work. Listings on the internet are sometimes better than anticipated and sometimes worse; this is worse. We head out to buy some provisions but there is very little in the way of stores, just the convenience variety so we make some judicious choices and go back to retire for the night.

The following morning the place looks a bit better. I’m not sure why but places always seem to look better in the daylight. However there are two vacant lots near us so that adds to the depressing aura. They didn’t show those on the internet.  We don’t tend to like hotels all that much, preferring more space but I find myself wishing we were in the Hilton or the Hyatt, a stone’s throw away. We’ve already paid for the space so we decide to make the best of it. Ironically we end up eating out a lot because there are almost no food stores around, and we don’t have a car. Waikiki Beach is dominated by the big hotel chains. But breakfast in the condo is enjoyable with the provisions I brought from NZ, excellent dark roasted coffee and scrumptious macadamia nut granola fortified with local bananas and pineapple.

The first day we enjoy strolling along the Waikiki strip. The city is a shock after NZ with people everywhere buzzing in and out of the retail shops.  This is a place where the phrase “shop ‘til you drop” comes to life. This is probably the biggest week of the year here. It’s Dec. 26 (our second one because we crossed the International Date Line. I anticipate bargains but am disappointed;  these luxury shops are holding fast to their high prices. We spend our first day walking the entire length of the beach strip, ending up at the Ala Moana shopping mall where we find excellent bread and muffins in a Japanese department store. Duncan wore the soles off his running shoes so he replaces them, and I choose some Crazy Shirts from their wide selection of stylish tees.

We stop along the beach for pupus of coconut shrimp and ahi (yellow fin tuna) sushi and the infamous mai tais that hammered us on our first visit here.  Having seen a lot more of Hawaii now, I wonder why all these people pay so much to cram themselves onto this overcrowded beach. Kailua Beach is much nicer and only a half an hour away. However the area is probably crawling with the Secret Service right now if the Obamas are staying there again for their Christmas break.

Tokkuri Tei - note the wallpaper signed by celebrities

For dinner that night after much searching we find the sushi restaurant Tokkuri Tei that we enjoyed so much in 2010. To our delight we find that it has moved two blocks closer in toward the beach and is actually only a fifteen minute walk from our condo. I admit that I chose our location with this place in mind, I never forget an exceptional meal. While waiting we enjoy a cold beer and note how hard the staff is working. This is a local rather than a tourist destination and most of the diners are Asian. They all seem to be having a wonderful time. The sushi is as fresh and delicious as we remembered so we make a reservation for the following night. Our entire meal plus beer costs around $50, not too steep for this town. We can’t figure out which guidebook we used to find this restaurant before, but we’re so glad we were able to retrace our steps.

Hoards at Diamond Head

The next day we wait at the bus stop to take the bus to Diamond Head for a hike. I understand the hike will be hot and dusty but the view is supposed to be worth it. When a cab driver offers $3.00 each to the crater entrance we take up his offer and are glad we did. It’s a long walk from the bus stop so we’ll do it only once on the way down. We slog up to the top with what seems like thousands of others. The view is as anticipated if you don’t mind sharing it with five hundred others trying to cram into the same small space. This isn’t NZ, it’s America where the individual rules so one has to be a bit aggressive in order to see anything.  I’m not sure I’d recommend it, there are lots better hikes in Hawaii, though it is interesting to be in an look at the crater from above, but it’s crawling with people. It saddens me to see that the state government doesn’t allocate enough money to make this park attractive. It was the same at the Waimea Canyon on Kauai -  there are rusty signs, scraggly fences and unkempt greenery – depressing.  I find myself thinking of NZ again – 100% Pure!

Hard-earned view from Diamond Head

We walk all the way back toward town and stop for a coffee and a takeout pizza at some local hangouts. We’re glad we did this, because it gets us out of the tourist area. There is a nice park and the zoo to pass on the way back, and we vow to bring our books and sit in the park in front of the ocean for an hour or two. We’ve met two Canadian retirees here, both from the west - Alberta and BC. Hawaii is a popular destination for the western snowbirds, who spend the entire winter here. One woman told us she’s been to every island but, unlike me, prefers the action on Oahu. While in the park hoards of Japanese "salary-men and women" flock onto the beach dressed in their very best, suits and ties for the men and chic dresses and stilettos for the women. They all appear to be the same age so we figure this must be a corporate event rather than a wedding; a police officer confirms our suspicions - they are here for a group photo.

We stop at Waikiki beach to see the sunset - maybe this is why so many people flock here as it is magnificent. Dinner at the sushi place is a sure bet, and we note the servers are entirely different. Perhaps they work so hard they need frequent breaks. We retire early to be ready for our long anticipated trip to Kaua’i, we’re renting the same lovely house on stilts, and I’m really looking forward to it, especially after the motel!

We arrive early at the airport, and it’s a good thing we did because our bags are individually too heavy for the airline, and we have to shift things around to avoid paying an excess baggage fee. After some sweat we succeed. It was the dirty laundry bag that caused the problem, unbalancing our loads. I end up with some of Duncan’s (clean) clothes stuffed into my handbag. We haven’t acquired much on this trip, but we’ve needed clothes for different seasons so it was difficult to travel light. A kind employee of Hawaiian Airlines advises us to get an extra case next time and pay $10 for that rather than go to all this trouble. If the case is too heavy, they charge a fortune. It wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have to carry turtlenecks, a sweater and long underwear!