Scenes from O'ahu: Honolulu (Part Two)

Here is the high-rise part of town taken from the 10-story Aloha Tower which used to be the tallest building ... right where one docked back when one could sail to Hawaii.

This gives a good view of the mountains behind Honolulu ... plus part of the Manoa residential area not far from the University.

When I was there for a few winter weeks in 2010 and 2011 (see last week's posting), I found Honolulu an appealing city.  Writing about his 1866 trip in Roughing It in the Sandwich Islands, Mark Twain said that the houses in Honolulu were made of "straw, adobies, and cream-colored pebble-and-shell-conglomerated coral, cut into oblong blocks and laid in cement; also a great number of neat white cottages, with green window-shutters."  Using coral made for a better air flow.  (Coral was also used for filtering drinking water.)  As for the population, he put it between 12,000 and 15,000.  Today, it's somewhat less than 400,000.  I was intrigued to learn that there is no "majority" population.  The man who told me, a native Hawaiian, said that because of the balance in numbers, everyone in Hawaii was an ethnic minority whether they were Asian (mostly Japanese, Chinese, Philippine), Caucasian, or native islanders.  I liked that.  I liked being part of a cultural mix--and one in which I could still understand the language.

I found the city quite attractive too, all snuggled between the ocean and mountains.  Whereas the higher elevations (which weren't all that high) were often shrouded in cloud or rain, those of us down below were in our sun togs.  Rainbows often popped out during the day ... and are even pictured on Hawaii's license plates. 

Rainbow time.  The particularly excellent Bishop Museum (not pictured here) which highlights various Pacific cultures has a carving with the words, "Rainbows are the gods looking down on the chiefs."

To my mind, the weather was often perfect.  The trade winds kept the days fresh.  And coming from a place where the difference between summer and winter temperatures can reach 110º, I found it exceptional to discover that the average high in July is 82º ... and 72º in January.  Locals did occasionally complain about the "vog," however--the volcanic ash/gas smog that drifted over from ever-erupting Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island. The trade winds usually kept it away from O'ahu but when the wind shifted and blew up from the south, up from the Big Island, the vog came with it.  You could see the vog (I was told) because the days were not crystal clear.  And you might get a headache.  Personally, I never noticed.

Other than right downtown, Honolulu is what I might call "a low-rise city."  It's filled with bungalows, little apartment buildings, mom-and-pop stores.  There are excellent museums, pretty places to walk, a wonderful variety of Japanese grocery stores, Chinese eateries, public gardens, changing light.

Iolani Palace, the only royal residence in the U.S., once housed Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani.  It's now beautifully maintained though was almost turned into a parking lot.

The capitol building.  The interior design is said to represent the formation of the volcanic islands.

Chinatown is a viable part of the city.  This building was opened in the 1880's.

This is the Hawaii State Art Museum--opened in 1928 on the site of the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  It's modeled after a Florentine palace and housed military personnel during the war.

I took this outside the Honolulu Academy of Arts, a world-class collection of Asian art with a good Western collection as well.  You can get an elegant lunch and glass of wine in its courtyard cafe.

Inside is a particularly beautiful 11th century Chinese painted-wood statue (67" high) of Guanyin which I sketched.

These ever-interesting banyan trees are all over the place.

The Foster Botanical Gardens features a wide variety of trees including this baobab.

Downtown Honolulu has many attractive open spaces.

An especially intriguing spot is Shangri La, once the home of Doris Duke, the philanthropist who lived from 1912-1993.  To my mind, the name Shangri La denotes a Buddhist setting.  But Doris Duke picked it to showcase her exquisite Islamic art collection which fills every room in the house--painted ceilings from Morocco, Iranian tile work, Turkish textiles, lattice window-screens.  And the location is splendid--just next door to Diamond Head with waves splashing up her sea wall.

Here is a particularly beautiful display of Iranian tile work.

Part of the Shangri La property, this "Playhouse" is a modified copy of the Chehel Sutun Palace in Isfahan, Iran.  Diamond Head is on the left.

 Finally, there's the site most people want to see when they visit Honolulu:

Pearl Harbor.  The Arizona Memorial, built over the sunken ship, is to the right.  Apparently, oil still seeps out of the ship.  And the Battleship Missouri, on which the Japanese signed their surrender in 1945, has been brought in and positioned there to the left, thus juxtaposing the beginning and ending of the war. 

Scenes from O'ahu:  the Countryside (Part Three) will be posted next time