Tag: Waikiki

Don Ho Show – Day 146

The Don Ho Show

Day 146 – August 24, 2003 – Sunday

A leisurely Sunday in Hawaii.

Room service breakfast always seems to taste mighty good. Just the traditional stuff — eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. No pie this morning.

I took a few minutes to submit news about our trip to the Food Network and the Travel Channel. You never know, maybe they’d like to do a story about the Best Pie in America.

One of my new Hawaiian friends, Ted Nakamura of Ted’s Bakery, called this morning. He made a special dessert just for me — one of their seasonal big sellers that they didn’t have the day I visited the bakery in Sunset Beach. He drove all across the island from the North Shore to bring it to me. Now how nice is this! He brought not one, but TWO big cakes. The Pineapple Cheesecake is a layer of cake, topped by a layer of cheesecake, topped by pineapple. The Chantilly Cake is a cake that Ted does for a lot of weddings. I had a slice of each before the Don Ho show and again after. I gave the rest to the staff of the hotel, and they were very appreciative.

I was planning to go see Pearl Harbor before the Don Ho Experience tonight, but my left foot was really hurting. Pearl Harbor has been postponed until tomorrow. I spent the day reading on the balcony of the hotel and down next to Waikiki Beach. I just kept to myself — didn’t even try to meet anyone or take any photos (as it’s been overcast all day, and I’ve previously gotten a number of great Waikiki photos in good sunlight). Just chilled.

The sun came out as I walked down the street to the Don Ho Show.

I met some really nice folks at the show. The folks I was standing next to in line, Sherry and Tony, just happened to be from a few miles away in the Atlanta area. Small world. Tony is the Treasurer of an intimate apparel company. He says they don’t cover all parts — just the best parts. Then I looked up and saw a man wearing a Texas Tech cap. I met Pat and Phyllis. Pat graduated from Tech five years after I did. He doesn’t like Bobby Knight (Texas Tech basketball coach) — first Tech alum I’ve met who has said that.

At my table, I met Paul and Bev from Portland, Oregon and their granddaughter, Haley from Clackamas, Oregon. Bev brought the lyrics to a song that Don Ho sings that was written by her stepfather, and she had a chance to speak with Don about the song. 11-year-old Haley is a star pitcher on a fast-pitch softball team. We’ll be looking for her in the Olympics someday! She learned to surf today. Kathleen and Scott from San Diego were celebrating their second anniversary on Oahu. They went to Las Vegas for their first anniversary and were really ill the entire time they were there, but all has been great on this vacation. Jim and Charlotte were also at our table — at the far end, so I didn’t get as much time to speak to them. They’re from Montgomery, Alabama, and they support the Ten Commandments statue! Jim played football at Mississippi State in the late 1940’s. I also met Pam and KC at the next table over. KC is a middle school teacher. We talked about the importance of education and the problems with inadequate funding for schools and the need for higher pay for teachers!

We were given the opportunity to meet Don Ho before the show. He seemed like a very nice man. I gave him my card and some pink beads, and I thought it was really nice of him to wear the beads during the show. Don started and ended the show with “Tiny Bubbles.” He said he did that because most of his fans are so old that they often forget he did the song if he only sings it once. The show was entertaining. Don did more talking than singing, and he had a funny routine. He joked a lot about how old he is and about his fondness for the ladies. Two teenagers were extremely entertaining. A lovely 19-year-old named Peilani danced beautiful hulas, and a 14-year-old named Harmony played a ukelele like it was a flamenco guitar.

Don Ho had been entertaining for something like 50 years, though taking a page from Jack Benny’s book, he said “39.” He was the King of Entertainers in Hawaii, and I was very glad I was able to see his show. See www.donho.com.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Honolulu Hawaii — Waikiki — The Don Ho Show
 

Betty Shimabukuro is Hawaiis Pie Expert – Day 145

Betty Shimabukuro is Hawaii’s Pie Expert

Day 145 – August 23 – Saturday

Betty Shimabukuro is the Food Editor for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper. We became acquainted when I emailed the Star-Bulletin asking for recommendations on the best pie in Hawaii. Betty suggested Ted’s Bakery in Sunset Beach (where I had a wonderful time yesterday), and she invited me to join her for pie this morning at Yum Yum Tree Restaurant in Honolulu. (Here is a link to Betty’s story about Ted’s Bakery — http://starbulletin.com/1999/04/07/features/story1.html.)

Betty and I had a good chat. She had the Yum Yum Tree’s Apple Pie, and I had the Macadamia Nut Pie made by Ted’s Bakery. The Macadamia Nut Pie was excellent.

During our breakfast pie meeting, Betty mentioned a local restaurateur who used to make a pie that she felt was really special. Then she picked up her cell phone and called Kelvin Ro. Kelvin has a new restaurant called the Diamond Head Market & Grill. He isn’t making the Banana Pie anymore, but Betty asked if he would make one just for me. I didn’t want Kelvin to feel obligated to make a special pie, so I spoke with him and told him I would come by and sample what he regularly carries.

I drove to the Diamond Head Market & Grill. It was reasonably close to my hotel. Unusual place — best described as a gourmet drive-in restaurant. I asked for Kelvin, and there he was with a bowl of bananas — making his special Banana Pie just for me. But he wasn’t expecting me until dinner time, and I was there at lunch. I told him I’d be back at 6, and I ordered a Portobello Burger, crispy fries, Plantation Iced Tea, and Diamondhead Torte for dessert. Everything was outstanding. The Portobello Burger was a huge mushroom, a big thick hamburger, and sauteed onions. The Plantation Iced Tea was homemade tea sweetened with pineapple juice. The Diamondhead Torte had a chocolate cookie crust, a layer of peanut butter, a layer of chocolate, a layer of bananas, another layer of chocolate, topped with whipped cream. An outstanding dessert — a great lunch.

I decided today needed to be a day of rest for my injured feet, so I bought a book at Border’s and spent the day on the balcony of the hotel room reading and napping. There are sights still to be seen, so I hope there’s enough time on Sunday and Monday.

Five lovely ladies in town for the American Society of Association Executives were in the elevator as I was heading out for my dinner pie. Harriet, Paulette, Cynthia, Pam, and Barbara. Paulette asked about the beads, so I told a 30-foot version of the story, and they went to their banquet wearing shiny new Round America beads. I met a number of nice people today — Lance at the hotel, Betty, Kelvin and Jan at Diamond Head Market & Grill, Taxi Driver Kevin (who says he gives great Oahu tours — 808-223-2000), and Tracy at Andy’s Arco Service Station.

I headed back to Kelvin’s place about 6:30, and he gave me a slice of the Banana Pie. A traditional pie crust on the bottom and sides, topped with fresh bananas cooked in a secret sauce, and topped with an oatmeal crunch topping. I’ve eaten Banana Cream Pies on many occasions, but never a Banana Pie. It was heavenly. I wish I had asked Kelvin if I could buy the whole pie. When you come to Honolulu, be sure to plan lunch or dinner at Diamond Head Market & Grill, and make dessert part of the experience!

As I walked along Waikiki Beach, there was a spectacular sunset. I was able to get some great photos. I planned to grab dinner somewhere, but the pie was so good that I just didn’t want to eat anything else.

A man on a street corner with a sign that said Waikiki is a “Violent Crime Area” caught my eye, so I went over to ask about it. I met John Cook. John was violently attacked in Waikiki eight years ago, and the person who kicked him into a coma (and was never punished for it) recently did the same thing to someone else. John goes out with a sign and stands on the corner to warn others. I walked back to the hotel a little faster than I would have before meeting John. I wish him the best of luck with his crusade. Before the trip, I would have seen John Cook and thought he was a nut. The lesson from this encounter is to try to avoid prejudging people.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Honolulu Hawaii — Diamond Head Market & Grill — Waikiki
 

Hula Hula – Day 143

Hula Hula

Day 143 – August 21, 2003 – Thursday

It was a nice day in Waikiki. Not the most beautiful Hawaiian weather I’ve seen, but it is beautiful here at all times. The sun was out off and on, but there were quite a few clouds, and big clouds along the horizon stole the sunset. I was out walking from 8 am to 8 pm, and my face picked up little or no red.

I planned to walk around Waikiki a bit and then hop in the glow-in-the-dark-yellow Mustang Convertible for a drive to some other spots, but I just kept walking and walking and walking. I met some nice folks, and I stopped a few places and just sat and watched the world go by.

Waikiki is prettier than I remembered from previous trips. From some reading I had done, I get the impression that the area may have gotten a bit run-down, so the area has been greatly improved in recent years. The landscaping was beautiful, and I saw crews hard at work making it even more beautiful. There were a number of sculptures that weren’t here when we last visited, including surfboard-shaped sculptures that are signboards for the Waikiki Historical Walk.

We had stayed at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki on previous trips here, so I stopped in. It’s a beautiful hotel built over and around lovely shops. I met Carolyn at the American Express Travel Service there. She fixed me up with tickets to see Don Ho. I figure one must see Don Ho when seeing the biggest sights in Hawaii. Don Ho was Mr. Hawaiian Entertainment for about 50 years. I bought a ticket for Sunday night.

We had our first smoothie in Hawaii 20 years ago. We flipped over them. I decided to have a Mango Smoothie for breakfast just to see how it compared with the Mango Snowcone at Freddy’s Fast Lube & Snow Cone Stand in Escobares, Texas (Day 16). Sorry, Hawaii — no comparison. Freddy’s was infinitely superior.

Hula Pie was a must-have while in Waikiki. I found myself at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel in front of Duke’s Canoe Club at 11 am, so I had an early lunch of Fish Tacos followed by a gigantic slice of Hula Pie. I’ve never had Fish Tacos before, and they were excellent. The Kimo’s Original Hula Pie was also a first, and it was really good. It was developed at Kimo’s Restaurant on Maui, one of several restaurants owned by the folks who own Duke’s. The pie has a chocolate cookie crust topped with vanilla macadamia nut ice cream, chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and roasted macadamia nuts. Pools of hot fudge are poured on the side (so they don’t melt the ice cream prematurely). It was soooo good. I was amazed with how the ice cream remained frozen — served to me outside on the patio where the temperature was in the 80’s. The serving was huge — easily enough for several to enjoy. Sheila was my server, and she was delightful. The manager, Yvonne, brought the pie and sat down to tell me about the pie and about Duke’s. It was a most enjoyable pie-time and lunch-time all around. See www.hulapie.com.

I mainly saw colors, flowers, beach, swimmers, surfers, sunbathers, outrigger canoes, sailboats, catamarans, hula dancers, hotels, shops, water, historical markers, and lots and lots of people. Colors are so vibrant here.

The waves aren’t big. I understand they are big in the “winter.”

I saw quite a few flags here — far more than in Alaska. The military presence and history undoubtedly have a big influence on the patriotism here.

At 5 pm, Diamondhead appeared to be just a short walk down the beach. Wrong. It was 7 pm before I reached the Diamondhead Park and another hour or so before I got back to the Marriott Waikiki Beach. After wearing white socks and my dirt-colored Rockport Walkers for the last four months, I decided “Topsiders” and no socks was more appropriate for Hawaii. The look was better, but I was about halfway into the Diamondhead Marathon when I realized I was getting blisters on the bottoms of both feet. Half dollar sized. Back to the dirt-colored Rockport Walkers.

Hawaii became a state in 1959. Oahu is the third largest of the six main islands. About 850,000 folks live here. There are 112 miles of coastline. Oahu is 60 miles long and 30 miles wide at the widest point.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Honolulu Hawaii — Waikiki — Duke’s Canoe Club — Diamondhead