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Monday, January
21st, 2002 |
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9:54 am - Hawaii - Day 2
Our
view from the Sheraton Waikiki is spectacular and the one that seems to be on
numerous post cards. Diamond Head stretches before us and, as the sun moves
across the sky, changes colors from ominous blacks and browns to lush emerald
greens. I type this again sitting from our balcony overlooking the sparkling
aqua ocean with the sun glinting off the early surfers where, it seems, surfing
itself may very well have been invented. Waves can be of no more than 1 or 2
feet in height, so it seems this would be a perfect spot for taking a surfing
lesson were one so inclined. The incongruous music I hear in the background
is coming, I believe, from the Martin Luther King parade that is occurring on
Kalakuai Boulevard in front of the hotel.
Yesterday, Beth had her business meetings and the Opening General 
Session
of the MPI (Meeting Professionals International) PEC (Professional Educational
Conference). She mentioned that she thought it was the best opening session
that she has attended. I busied myself during the morning hours scoping out the
shops on Kalakuai Boulevard and picking up the general lay of the land. I
picked up the requisite touristy brochures and paid homage to the 
Duke
Kahanamoku statue on Waikiki Beach. I'm
debating going on a Whale watch on Tuesday when Beth has her day completely
tied up in meetings and conferences.
Our
strange weather luck continues. While walking the area, I counted 13 rain
showers followed by bursts of sun. These showers for the most part are brief,
but annoying through not of much consequence. One 10 minutes downpour, however,
was a doozy and I was stuck in the Royal Hawaiian shopping mall waiting it out.
There exists here a plethora of what are known as ABC stores. They are a
mixture of drug store, liquor store and all around tourist catchers. They seem
to multiply like Tribbles with up to 3 in the same block. As I was stocking up
on sundries (and purchasing an umbrella) in one of these ubiquitous little
shops, I noticed an item that, to my knowledge may not be available anywhere
outside the Hawaiian Isles -- Mai Tai flavored condoms.
Last night was the MPI Opening Night Networking Event and it took place at the
Hilton Hawaiian Village. I believe it was to have taken place outdoors, but due
to the threatening weather was in a ballroom inside. What a feast! Fish bars,
sushi stations, vodka stations, all kinds of beers and liquors, beef, chicken,
even venison; Hawaiian dishes so exotic that I had no idea what I was eating
except that it was terrific. We danced to a terrific Hawaiian rock band that
played terrific oldies and got the whole crowd going -- really great fun.
Today, when Beth gets back from her morning meetings, we plan to go to Pearl
Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. The tour desk told us to plan for two
and 1/2 hours once we get there because of the lines. Interest in the memorial
and Pearl Harbor in general has obviously picked up since the attack of
September 11th.
5:10 pm - Day 2 (con't)
After
a couple of false starts, we finally made it to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona
Memorial. Well, it was a little more than false starts. We didn't seem to have
the documentation on the rental car and we didn't know if I had been designated
as a driver. I called Dollar rentals (that being the best deal we had found on
a convertible -- c'mon its Hawaii, if you're not renting a convertible here,
when will you?) and they informed us that I wasn't allowed to drive. We were
told we could go to a neighboring hotel, 
the
Marriott Waikiki, and add me as a driver. They were open until 2:00 PM. As that
was just down the road, we thought we could easily make that and have plenty of
time to drive to Pearl Harbor. When we got there, there was a sign in the
window stating that they away and wouldn't be back for 1/2 an hour. We were not
happy.
The Honolulu airport where Beth rented the car earlier in the week was on the
way to Pearl so we decided to stop there on the way and get a duplicate rental
agreement and add me as an official driver. Beth expressed her frustration with
the Dollar agent at not only having not gotten a copy of the rental agreement,
but being given misinformation regarding the Marriott office's hours. The
Dollar agent agreed to wave the six dollar-a-day second driver fee because of
the mix up. It still wasn't worth all the tsuris.
The wait at the Arizona memorial wasn't nearly as bad as we were lead to
believe. I suppose it is odd to say, but is a beautiful setting. The weather
today, unlike previously has been spectacular and the with the sun beaming down
on the memorial, I believe the tone was just what the architects probably
intended. It is, indeed, humbling and frightening to think what happened on
that terrible day of infamy, December 7, 1941. The movie that proceeds the
short boat ride to the memorial has some simply 
outstandingly
emotional footage if the Pearl Harbor attack, the most striking obviously taken
from the Japanese aircraft that made the strike. The memorial itself astride
the rusting hulk of the Arizona is almost anti-climatic after the emotional
images presented in the film.
Returning
along the H1 highway with the top down in the convertible, I think we finally
got a chance to relax and enjoy Hawaii. We sat by the somewhat windy smaller
pool at the Sheraton and unwound with a couple of Mai Tai's. I finished most of
Beth's (the wind having taken some of mine) as she pinpointed the pineapple
acidity in the drink as having caused some earlier stomach upset. I was glad to
oblige.
Beth has made dinner reservations somewhere near the hotel for tonight and I'll
report our culinary judgments in tomorrow's posting.