Hawaii - October 01, 2003

We got out much earlier in our efforts to see the USS Arizona Memorial. Even though we arrived just after they opened, we still had a 30-minute wait before our tour started. It gave us a chance to look around the museum and look at the crowds.

As with everywhere we went, the throngs of Japanese tourists were amazing. Hawaii must certainly be their number one US destination. As I'm sure it must have been pointed out elsewhere, there's something disconcerting about all the Japanese coming here to see the destruction from the attack on Pearl Harbor all those years ago. At one point, some Japanese tourists arranged a group of US Sailors who were also visiting to pose in front of the memorial so they could get a group picture.

During the movie, Michelle began to scream. Rather than ruin it for everyone else, Chu-Wan took Michelle outside the theatre, while I remained to watch the film. The film contained some very powerful imagery and it had the effect of subduing the audience to the point of remaining quiet through the rest of the tour.

Chu-Wan opted not to take Michelle over to the memorial, so I went with the tour alone. The memorial itself is somewhat anti-climactic as the real impact is given during the movie. The mood of the memorial is contemplative as you look down into the water at the rusting hulk resting below.

A little further down the harbor is anchored the USS Missouri, the battleship on which the Japanese surrender was signed. It's now open for tours, but we decided that Michelle was getting hungry and her behavior so far today hadn't been its best.

We headed, once again, towards the northwest point, stopping along the way at one of a local chain of restaurants called L&L Chopstick Express.¹ We didn't actually eat there because Michelle fell asleep in the car on the way there, so we took turns going in and ordering food which we ate in the parking lot. It was... OK. Hawaiian food seems to be rather greasy and have a lot of unsatisfying macaroni/potato salad served with it.

This time we reached the northwestern most point of Oahu and spent some time playing on the beach. Even though we were still on the "wet" side of the mountains, the character of the landscape had changed dramatically from elsewhere on the island. I could only imagine what the desert side of the island looked like.

After returning to Waikiki and resting for a while, we headed out to Chinatown again, this time is was open. Chu-Wan wasn't too impressed, but I'd hardly expect anyone who grew up in a Chinese speaking country to be. I; however, thought it was considerably more well-stocked and authentic than anything we have back in Arizona - not a big surprise there, either. Chu-Wan purchased fresh floral leis for her parents who were scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. If nothing else, flowers in Hawaii are unbelievably inexpensive.

Later in the evening, we stopped at a ramen shop near our hotel. I forgot to record the name, but the food was pretty good. It was a Japanese-style restaurant and I even tried ordering in Japanese. That's when I found out it was run by Chinese. I recovered quickly and apologized in Chinese. We conducted the rest of our transaction in English, but I left feeling downright smug that I'd demonstrated my considerable command of Asian languages.

For our final excursion of the day, we searched for the Kahala Mall. The drive took us around Diamond Head State Park at night, which we planned to visit the next day when Chu-Wan's parents arrived. The mall was just a typical mall, although I was surprised at the number of teenagers who were sitting in the food court and communal areas actually studying school books. I've never seen that before in the US. Perhaps it is necessary, as Hawaiian schools are notoriously awful.

On to Day 4 ==>

¹They seemed to have changed their name to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue since our departure.

Oahu - USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor	Oahu - USS Arizona memorial	Oahu - USS Arizona memorial	Oahu - Oil still rises from the wreckage of the USS Arizona	Oahu
Oahu - USS Arizona Memorial	Oahu - USS Arizona memorial	Oahu - USS Arizona memorial	Oahu - USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor	Oahu
Oahu - USS Arizona's anchor	Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - North Western tip of Oahu	Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - North West Shore
Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - End of the road, north-west Oahu	Oahu - North West Shore
Oahu - North West Shore	Oahu - End of the road, northwest Oahu	Oahu - End of the road, northwest Oahu	Oahu - North West Shore