Oahu 2 - The catharsis

Saturday Morning we ventured to the farmers market near Diamond Head . This was a great place with more great food including Portuguese sausage, fried green tomatoes and a refreshing concoction of lime juice, ginger, pineapple juice and mint. I don’t know what they called it but I will definitely return here the next time I am on Oahu .

Saturday Afternoon we visited the Bishop Museum where a lot of the history of Hawaii and its people can be found. In the hall dedicated to war they broke down the various pacific islanders into groups to describe how they are different and why they would go to war. Some would war to capture territory others to eat the opponent to gain their power. The Hawaiians would war to maintain control which explains a lot about my family as we are all control freaks. This had me laughing the rest of the day.

Saturday Night we had dinner with an old friend of mine and his family. It was so cool to see them and to spend time with them however brief it seemed. Times like this are like a magnet for me pulling me back to Oahu . I know we would be happy here if we could figure out how to relocate. Fortunately my friend on Oahu is a real

estate mogul so he has the tools to hook us up with a great place for a good price. I just need to figure out what I will do for a living.

Sunday was the big day. One of the primary reasons we came to Hawaii was to scatter the ashes of my dear departed Mom. She was a great and caring lady who would do just about anything to make sure the people she loved were happy. We scheduled the scattering for 11am so a quick breakfast we were on our way to the Pali. Nina and I were a bit late and got a Facebook comment as a result. My brother and his blackberry, always breaking the news before the other networks get a chance! I think the scattering couldn’t have gone better. There was even a bit of comedy as it seems that ashes had so many identification cards on them to verify that these were in fact my mother's ashes. There was one on the wrapping of the box, one on the box, one attached to the outside of the bag that held the ashes and finally a fourth in the bag with the ashes. Talk about attention to detail.

We went to one of my aunt Frances favorite dimsum places in Chinatown for lunch and wandered the streets checking out the little shops. About half way though our tour I had to go BAD so I wandered into another dim sum place and asked for the key to the bathroom in the hall outside. The guy inside was counting his money in the register and said "find the key". I said "where is it?" he said "FIND IT!!" and I asked where I should look for it and he said "AROUND!" I think he was upset because I wasn't a paying customer. I asked another

worker there and he pointed to a table which had the key (and just in time might I add). In the stall I snapped this picture. And I thought Hawaii was a liberal state.

Sunday night we walked over to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel where my brother was staying so we could carpool to dinner with the relatives. On the way I got a call from my uncle Paul, he is still the goofy dude I remember from childhood who introduced me to The Doors & The Police. He sounded good and said he hoped we could get together on the next visit (as our time was running out). As we proceeded I saw what had been described to me as "the concrete jungle that is Waikiki". The entire area north of the hotels that line the beach has been developed like "Anytown, USA". There were chain restaurants, coffee shops, discount stores, all the places that you find in a stroll down the main drag in downtown Pasadena or Brea, etc. In addition I found the Famous Amos cookie shop (now known as Chip & Cookie) at the Royal Hawaiian shopping center and bought some of my favorites from childhood like the butterscotch chip cookies as I regalied the shop keeper with stories of my Dad taking me the Famous Amos in Hollywood after visits to the Directors Guild Theater. He probably didn't care but humored me.

We met my brother and Cari at there hotel and checked out their room at the Royal Hawaiian. The hotel is quite grand with some amazing views. Each room has a hand carved door and gave me the feel of old Hawaii. Thou their room was small it was ornately decorated and comfortable. It's clear that staying at the Royal Hawaiian is a unique experience. We met the Aunties for dinner and lots of good conversation.

Monday morning Nina and met Auntie Ipo and Katherine at the Waioli Tea Room for lunch. It was a light refreshing break from the heavy local foods I had enjoyed. We discussed plans for future visits including attending Katherine's graduation next June. Too soon we had to head to the airport for our flight to Maui.

A couple notes on Oahu:

Despite the concrete jungle this place is still a great place to visit.

Side Street Inn is a must stop for food.

Avoid renting from Alamo if possible as it can take HOURS to get your car