First of all, let me introduce Bosley: Bosley is the CEG (Chief Executive Gorilla) of my hotel, the Coconut Waikiki. Bosley is a very nice person and welcomes guests in the hotel lobby! You can chit chat with him at breakfast or after a long day at the beach.
The cool thing here in Waikiki is that you have free activities everywhere. For example, this morning (Wed 25/03) I took a ukulele class (1 hour) in a nearby mall (the ukulele is a small hawaiian guitar). It was my first time playing a string instrument: quite funny. I learned how to play “Mana ‘O Pili”. Well rather I tried to learn how to play it, sing it and understand the meaning of the song in Hawaiian. That’s a lot for just one hour. I was seated next to a retired lady from Montana: she told me she lives in Hawaii half the year because it’s too cold in Montana and she likes Hawaii. What a lucky lady! Anyway, she explained me how to put my fingers correctly on the strings. For the singing part, let’s not talk about it. Believe me, I’m a terrible singer: any frog would be better than me…
After that, I took the bus to Chinatown. The bus, known here as “TheBus”, is quite fantastic. First of all, you can go almost anywhere in the island with TheBus. If you want to travel in the city, the wait time will always be very small (a few minutes max, so NOT like in Belgium)! It only cost two dollars for a ride, and your pass is valid for three hours if you need a connection: so I use it as a return ticket. The other advantages of TheBus are:
- it’s super clean,
- there’re displays and speakers indicating the name of the next stop, with all the important things located to it, so you can’t miss your stop,
- the driver is always nice and helpful, you’re welcomed by a nice “Aloha” when you board TheBus (try this in Belgium and people will look at you like you’re a freak)
- TheBus is equipped with a hydraulic system that lowers the front suspensions of TheBus at each stop so passengers (especially the old ones) can climb more easily
I think we should seriously be inspired by this in Belgium: our transportation system really looks prehistoric compared to TheBus… Another funny thing: all the license plates of all TheBus I’ve seen so far begin by “BUS” followed by three digits.
The Chinatown in Honolulu is like any other Chinatown in the planet: stinky and dirty. I found some nice Chinese and Thai desserts, those I remember eating as a child when I stayed in my grandma’s house in Thailand. I was in Chinatown at around 3 PM and it was very quiet. I should go visit Chinatown in the morning to see the vegetables and fish market. Maybe I’ll do that Saturday. You find lots of Lei shops in Chinatown: the LEI is the famous fresh flower necklace worn by Hawaiians. You can find any combination of flowers: orchids, carnations, roses… for a few bucks.
Hereafter, a picture of Bearemy, a dear friend, dressed as a typical Hawaiian, with the Lei I found in Chinatown.
