We spent today on two lines of the hop on-hop off trolley as well as the dining trolley we took to dinner at House of Wong — 4 1/2 stars on Trip Advisor. It was very good; best pot stickers, perhaps ever. But let’s start with yesterday. After flying all Wednesday night/Thursday early we arrived in Honolulu on. . .WEDNESDAY. Want to do a day over? Cross the dateline and start over. Ours wasn’t worth all that much. When we got to the Royal Hawaiian, which I have wanted to stay at since I was a kid, we were in for a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT: service workers are striking against all Marriott-owned or -managed hotels on Waikiki Beach. That includes the Royal Hawaiian. Great. Rooms cleaned only every other day, which I’m willing to live with, BUT NO RESTAURANTS, NO BARS AND NO FAMOUS ROYAL HAWAIIAN BAKERY are losses too far. I was so pissed yesterday! I’m better today as long as I don’t think about it, but having to go out on the prowl for every meal when I had dreams of dining in their fancy restaurant, drinking gins and tonic on the many lanais, etc. is pretty damn sadmaking for me. And considering the astronomical price the place costs with no amenities is really, really sadmaking! Having a veggie delite sandwich at Subway for breakfast was not on my bucket list for this trip, believe me. I expect to haggle over my bill tomorrow morning for sure.
But, we still had a lovely time here traveling around looking at everything. Interestingly, most houses here are kind of ugly. Plantation “Slave” Quarter is the architectural style. And then there are some very ordinary, unexceptional ones built in the 1950s and 60s that were boring, though their location near the beaches was que swell. The houses that are nice are very, very nice. Oh, and the lushness everywhere. OMG, the lushness: palm trees, plumeria, hibiscus, antheria (right, for plural of antherium???), golden and red rain shower trees, banana tree blooms, ferns galore, crocus, bromiliads, bamboos, on and on. And GRASS. Indian Banyan, Walking Palms, Monkey Pod trees and so many more, more on and on and on — Sandy, we sure needed you so you could name the palm trees. There’s one here that is really, really skinny and grows very, very tall. None of our drivers knew what they are. The best thing: all the trees, regardless of what they are, have the most amazing structures, so, so beautiful. They have the tiniest lizards you’ve ever seen. It’s pretty damn hot, though, and as humid as you would expect. We are hoping to see the state capitol tomorrow and the Iolani palace.
Oh, I forgot. On our second trip, our bus blew up. OK, it was its engine, not us. But while we waited, we were right next to the Kwan Yin temple, so we went in. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. Our best serendipity for the whole vacation, I think.
I thought of lots of other things to tell you during the day, but I’ve forgotten them perhaps for good. Oh well. It feels like bedtime, so I’m off. Mahalo to our readers and to Chris, a very special ALOHA.
lairdandjonelle 
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