Category: The DayBook

Went to the aquarium today.. Had a great time. Honolulu’s  aquarium is sort of fun sized. It’s not too big, just about the time you’re getting tired you’ve seen all the fish.  And most of the fish are local boys so they’re all friends from the ocean. 

 I once went all the way to Chicago just to see a jellyfish exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science..

 Then, after a little rest I went to my old shopping center, Ala Moana center. Back in the day it was a real people shopping center. We bought stuff. Underwear, pots, car batteries, the occasional washing machine.  Now it has one of the largest collections of high end shops on the planet. Most of the shops have black suited bouncers stationed at the door. And frequently the doors are locked.  I didn’t go into any of the shops. The bouncers most likely would not have let me in. I did go into my old grocery. It is seriously upmarket as well. But I got take out for dinner. 

An excellent day comes to an end.  But after walking 7 miles, I am tired. Damn tired.

In the center of the image there is a 6 or 7 story parking garage. The roof of the parking garage is the luau venue. 

Hotel luau are usually pretty bad. But this is exceptionally awful.

Enough snarkiness about the luau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

 I had a moderate day today.  I took the bus to the Bishop Museum.  The bus ride was interesting. Bus people always interest me. Heck, I am a bus person myself. 

The Bus is very much used. Many are the larger articulated models. The 2 buses I rode today transported 4 people in wheelchairs or  motorized scooters. This is more handicapped ridership than I would see in a month of riding back home. Not sure why the difference. 

From the bus Honolulu does not look like a glitzy tourist destination but rather like the sleepy colonial port that is at its heart.

Eventually I made it to the museum. Even though I am interested in its subject matter and understand the significance of most of the artifacts, I found the museum to be powerful with an uncomfortable undercurrent of terrible loss.

 I was blessed with 15minutes in the Kāhili Room all by myself.

Today, we tend to focus on the feathers, but the stick, pole, standard is the most important part. It is the named part of the Kāhili. This one is named Ka-ula-ho’ano-lani and dates from 1859. The pole has 6 brass and 6tin bands. The entire room is very dark, very chilly , very powerful.

These bowls decorated with human teeth are just creepy.  Exactly whose teeth did you use to decorate your spittoon?

Time for a change of pace.  The LEGO exhibit.

This is enough from me for one day. Tomorrow maybe the aquarium. 

 

 

Well, it was. busy for me. And hot. Gotta get better with the heat thing before I get somewhere really hot. 

I found the location of my Saturday morning wedding.  Stopped and talkstory with some old surfers who called me auntie. Honolulu my be too crowded.  It may have too many visitors. But surfers still surf. And old surfers still watch.

Then it was take your Grandmother to the office day. You all know that I love giraffes. This guy used to live in a petting zoo. So he is super r friendly. But big. Very big.

 I also got to visit some adorable fennec foxes. One of the nipped my fingertip. How cool is that? I didn’t have any alcohol. So, I stuck my finger in the listerine bottle. 

Might hit some museums tomorrow. Oh, and I walked over six miles today. I was really happy to have dinner stashed in the fridge. 

Nice south swell today, lots of action on the breaks across from the hotel.

Didn’t do much at all today.

Big adventures today include looking over the railing.

Also did a little reading. And little wandering around.

Can hardly stay awake, so good night.

From my room.

All’s well that ends well. Two hours after my tardy plane arrived I am ensconced in my hotel.

The #19 bus was right where I expected it to be. The trip from the airport cost less than $3 and took about 30 minutes.

The hotel had not lost my reservation.

I did not get rained on.

It all good. But waaaay past my bedtime.

Finished packing today. Only changed my mind 37 times about taking this and not that. Now all that is left to do is put away the dishes when the D/W is done. And back up Forbin the Computer. Also,  turn it completely off. Then take one last look around the Old Bat Cave to make sure it is ready for guests.

Might be a good plan to take one last look at my 2do and packing lists.

Just weighed my stuff – about 22 pounds. Which is about 16 pounds in my bag and 6 pounds in my purse/backpack.

Anytime that I have WiFi or cell signal – I will update the blog. Leaving The Asylum at 0830 ETA Honolulu 1800 hours which I think is midnight here on the east coast.  I will be a tired old woman. 

 

One last dinner with Asylum Sisters. The food was only average but the company was great.

The garden boxes will be tended by others. Hopefully, Mom Nature will help by providing nice rains. 

Guess this is really going to happen. 

But wait. I just checked the blog around the days just before my Australia B4 Alzehimers adventure in February 2018. AND, I  had decided to take the Pen F with the 35mm lens. And, why did I decide to take that combo?

This picture. That is why. It was the best picture I took in 2018. And the best picture I took in 2017 was also made with that lens.  SO, the zoom lens stays home and the 35mm prime goes. And, I have lightened my load a little.

Yesterday I was as energetic as a three-toed sloth on Xanax. And I was almost too sore to put my clothes on. But, as I planned, I am all recovered today. And, I graduated from PT.  And, my friends are having a Going Away Dinner for me tonight. (At our age, we might not make it back.) 

The Old Bat Cave is awash in packing. If I didn’t live alone, it wouldn’t be such a production. But, it is sort of “the task expands to take up all available space” or some such thing. 

• • • • Honolulu – 89°
      • Tokyo – 83°
      • Singapore – 91°
      • Dubai – 97°
      • London – 65°
      • Bermuda – 72°
      • Falls Church – 75°

Exactly why am I leaving spring to go to blazing hot? Oh right, I am going to a wedding. And, if not now when?

This orchid plant was a welcome home gift and it was loaded with flowers. That was in early March. Now, in late May the last flower just fell off. Surely an indicator that it is time to take another trip! Wonder if I can make it bloom again. 

I have been enjoying poor health all day today. Yoga and PT and a Shingles shot all in one day just knocked me out. So, I napped. And listened to an audiobook. And napped some more. I did laundry but folding my underdrawers tired me out. So I had another nap.

I intend to be all better tomorrow. 

Four days to get things together for my trip. How hard can this be? In many ways, my lap around Australia was harder to get organized. It had planes, trains, buses, visits to friends, lots of moving parts. This trip just has planes. So far. I’ll complicate things in UK. But, I still have 4 weeks to get that sorted. 

I accidentally got my second shingles shot today. I dropped by the pharmacy and asked to be removed from the wait list for June and added to the wait list for July. Well, guess what? They had some unclaimed shots for May and did I want one? Well, not really. But I didn’t want shingles either. So, I gave them $171 and they gave me a shot. 

Oh, let’s ask Alexa about the weather:

• • • Honolulu – 88°
    • Tokyo – 75°
    • Singapore – 88°
    • Dubai – 96°
    • London – 67°
    • Bermuda – 77°
    • Falls Church – 71°

Needed a little cat fix, so after dinner, I went to say howdy to a friend’s cats. The cats had gotten a new toy. Sort of a rumpled-up rug. With holes in it. Now, I always thought that cats rumpled and put holes in rugs all by themselves. 

I still need a robot cat. Sony still sells Aibo the robot dog for $2,900. But no sign of an acceptable robot cat yet.

I did very little work today. Took a group picture of our “resident council”. Think high school “student council” but with old people. And, I went to yoga. That was about it. I seem to be winding down my “real life”. Getting ready for the adventure ahead.

Our women’s political activities committee seems to be suffering from crisis fatigue. We are all saddened that our granddaughters are going to have to refight the battles that their grandmothers and great-grandmothers fought and won back in the last century. The committee is just now getting fatigued. I tossed in the towel months ago.  They are better women than I.  When to going gets tough I get going (out of town).

Because duct tape mends everything, I figured I couldn’t start off on a lap around the planet sans duct tape. Now, the millennials most likely buy cute little travel size rolls of duct tape. But, old school old women roll their own. (All you need is duct tape, which you have because it fixes anything and an old plastic card.)

I have an old room key card at the center of my duct tape. But you could hide your Amex Black card there!

Decided on my camera kit for the trip today – had to take it out of a test drive.