A Week in Waikiki
Blog Entry #4
Friday, 21 July 2017
Honolulu
The weather here in Hawaii has as little variety as it has at home in Tucson: "tomorrow's forecast is for clear skies, bright sunshine, and warm temperatures." But I will certainly not complain about that while we are here.
We get a late morning start as we take the short drive from the Hilton to Ala Moana Mall, the largest shopping center in all of Hawaii. Its three levels of open-air walkways include the anchor department stores of Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom's, and Neiman-Marcus--no slouching shoppers here--as well as all the high-end boutiques you find in Las Vegas and New York, and the more middle-priced typical mall shops. Oh, yes, there is even a Tesla dealership in the Mall, with car models you can sit in and buy.
Anita recommends a mall restaurant for lunch that serves excellent Illy Italian coffee. Of course, like everything else here, change has swept away the restaurant Anita remembers and replaced it with a post-modern designed oasis serving fusion sandwiches and salads, with unlimited excellent bread and rolls.
But since Illy coffee is not on offer here, after lunch we head to Nieman-Marcus, where there is a small coffee stand selling various concoctions made with the desired very strong Italian brand. I will attest to the excellence of the iced latte.
Both Will and Anita are suffering from various physical aches and pains and they decide to drive back to the Hilton for some R and R. I stay at the mall for a while, marveling at how expensive everything has become. I used to shop at Bloomingdale's often when I was living in New York in the mid 1960's, but even their sales and clearance prices today have soared mind-bogglingly above my comfort level. The 20-minute walk back to the Hilton, crossing the bridge over the Ala Moana Canal, restores my sense of self amidst all this over-priced luxury.
Dinner tonight is a large take-out pie from the pizzeria in the Hilton Rainbow Village food court (we do seem to be having many of our meals here, but the food is good and convenient). We bring the pizza back to our 12th-floor condo so that we can watch the Friday Night Fireworks in comfort from our private balcony--a great view!
Blog Entry #4
Friday, 21 July 2017
Honolulu
The weather here in Hawaii has as little variety as it has at home in Tucson: "tomorrow's forecast is for clear skies, bright sunshine, and warm temperatures." But I will certainly not complain about that while we are here.
We get a late morning start as we take the short drive from the Hilton to Ala Moana Mall, the largest shopping center in all of Hawaii. Its three levels of open-air walkways include the anchor department stores of Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom's, and Neiman-Marcus--no slouching shoppers here--as well as all the high-end boutiques you find in Las Vegas and New York, and the more middle-priced typical mall shops. Oh, yes, there is even a Tesla dealership in the Mall, with car models you can sit in and buy.
Anita recommends a mall restaurant for lunch that serves excellent Illy Italian coffee. Of course, like everything else here, change has swept away the restaurant Anita remembers and replaced it with a post-modern designed oasis serving fusion sandwiches and salads, with unlimited excellent bread and rolls.
But since Illy coffee is not on offer here, after lunch we head to Nieman-Marcus, where there is a small coffee stand selling various concoctions made with the desired very strong Italian brand. I will attest to the excellence of the iced latte.
Both Will and Anita are suffering from various physical aches and pains and they decide to drive back to the Hilton for some R and R. I stay at the mall for a while, marveling at how expensive everything has become. I used to shop at Bloomingdale's often when I was living in New York in the mid 1960's, but even their sales and clearance prices today have soared mind-bogglingly above my comfort level. The 20-minute walk back to the Hilton, crossing the bridge over the Ala Moana Canal, restores my sense of self amidst all this over-priced luxury.
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| Crossing the Ala Moana Canal |
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| Hilton Hawaiian Village from the Canal Bridge |
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