Wednesday, February 16 – Honolulu

Sadly, nothing very exciting to report today folks. I spent the morning working on the journal and then decided to head out on my favorite Waikiki/Honolulu walk – the loop around Diamond Head. Never gets old!

I took my camera along, but nothing new or different really stood out along the way. Well, there was one…

Thursday, February 17 – Honolulu

Today I visited the Bishop Museum on the west side of Honolulu. The museum provides information on the cultural and natural history of the state and the Pacific Islands in general. Some of you may have heard of the Polynesian Cultural Center located here on Oahu. Well, I considered visiting that as well, but thought the Bishop would be similar, but less touristy. Plus it was easier to get to! The bus ride took about 40 minutes. The museum entrance fee was $25, plus another $3 for a planetarium presentation.

Correction: So, I was wrong when I mentioned previously that bus fares would be decreasing for HOLO card users beginning March 1st. I received further information when I rode the bus today. It turns out that the fare will remain the same, but the cost of the card itself is going to increase from free to $2. So my indignation was not justified; I have, in fact, actually saved money in this case. Whew! I feel better now! (and as Georgina rightly pointed out, it seemed odd that bus fares would be going down as fuel prices were spiking…)

I ended up spending a fair amount of time at the museum. A very interesting place!

Sidenote: Near the bus stop for my return to town was a McDonald’s. The temptation was too great. I had to get a cone! And the price here was the lowest I have paid yet during my time here – $1.77. This makes three different prices I’ve paid for cones. (Not included the highest price I rejected at a restaurant in Waikiki) It just seems odd to me that the prices would not be consistent throughout the city. I haven’t been to a Madison McDonald’s in forever, but I would think the prices would be the same at every location. Maybe I’m totally off on this? I guess I’ll have to do some research when I get back!

Friday, February 18 – Honolulu

I’m kind of in Honolulu wind down mode today. (I depart on Sunday) I spent the morning doing some travel prep – reviewing all my reservations (flights, cars, hotels, parks) and decided to go to a FedEx Office and print them all out. I figured having hard copies might come in handy. And in the case of the park reservations, they’re actually required.

Just ended up walking over to Magic Island to hang out on a bench for part of the afternoon. Very relaxing! And for dinner, I went back to Mama Kim’s to pick up a Poke Bowl…