How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Hawaii Trip Report, Day 5: Foster Gardens, Iolani Palace, Lyon Arboretum; Day 6: Pearl Harbor Memorial, Wahiawa, Wiamea

Day 5, December 14, 2012:

Hotel Ramada Plaza, Honolulu

This is our hotel room.

Comfy beds,

Our backpack with camera, GPS, google maps. the other bed and the big window overlooking Hilton—we saw fireworks right from here.

Hilton across the road—the Waikiki beach was just beyond.

Sweet corn, green peas, carrot sabji, rice, curds in casserole, fruits from the botanic garden on the plastic cover.

Nice buffet at the neighboring Chinese joint as part of our hotel package... muffins. eggs boiled in tea, pickles, nuts. Very good peanuts—-we had a handful with our fried rice daily. Excellent spring rolls...tasty potato fry, broccoli. Noodles. pan cakes and fried rice.

Buddha and an aquarium.

Our table all week—-just near the window watching the resident robins frolicking around as we eat...

our blue water proof camera cover—made from our old rain poncho. ..essential for the rainy Hawaiian weather.

The time on the clock—-just past 7.

The fruit counter—had good pineapple.

The reception with cane cover

Xmas tree—and the airline hostesses who use the hotel as their base. Tree ornaments are all beach stuff—bucket, spade, hoe—can make a nice sand castle.

Gift shop that was never open during our 1 week stay—we left early and returned late—the shop must have opened and closed when we were out.

Kwan Yin Temple:

Foster garden opens only at 9am, We paid our respects at this Chinese temple as we had arrived earlier.

Traditional entrance. Red pillars supporting the nameplate.

The incense stand at kwan yin temple adjacent to Foster Gardens.

The familiar lion guards on the red background.

The drum and the bell which are beaten/rung during prayer.

Another side altar... gold leaf covered deity.... elaborately carved wooden frames.

the donation box.

All Hawaiian heritage sights have a name board with the figure of the Hawaiian in robe and head gear...

Foster Gardens:

Foster garden is one of the 5 main botanical gardens of Oahu. Foster Botanical Garden is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered, collected from throughout the world's tropics over a period of 150 years. 24 trees have been designated "exceptional" throughout the Garden. Criteria : Historic or Cultural Value, Age, Rarity, Location, Size, Aesthetic Quality, Endemic Status.

75,000 visitors view the garden annually. The staff said it'll take an hour to see this garden. We spent 3 hours.

Taaaa....ll palm trees.

This upper terrace has the oldest trees planted in 1853... they are huge.

In 1853 Queen Kalama leased a small area of land to William Hillebrand, a young German doctor. A botanist as well as a physician, he and his wife built a home in the upper terrace area of the present garden. The magnificent trees which now tower over this area were planted by him. After twenty years in Hawaii, he returned to Germany and produced the excellent botanic treatise, Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888).

The Hillebrand property was later sold to Thomas (Captain) and Mary Foster who added to it.

Upon Mrs. Foster's death in 1930, the 5.5 acre site was bequeathed to Honolulu as a public garden. Dr. Lyon its first director over a span of 27 years, introduced 10,000 new kinds of trees and plants to Hawaii. The Foster Garden orchid collection was started with Dr. Lyon's own plants.

Colorful bromeliads.

Crown of thorns.

Awesome buttress roots of the kapok tree—-it's silk cotton... there are huge red flowers and they burst and release silk cotton... which can be used for stuffing toys.

Bottle palm.

Our favorite cannon ball tree with the huge cannon ball fruits growing right from the bark... the purple pulp is foul smelling and eaten by pigs and chicken.

Saw these in plenty in Rio, Brazil Apr 2012.

Sausage tree.

Napoleon's hat... the man whom this hat will fit must be tiny!!!

Totem pole.

Tranquil Buddha.

Elephant foot tree.

Branches taking support on ground.

Colorful bromeliad entrance to orchid house.

Orchids

Macadamia nut tree... picked a handful.

Why is it the costliest nut? it takes 300pounds per square inch of pressure to crack open the hard shell and it must be done delicately without breaking the nut!!!

We took the easy way out and bought 5 bags from the famous nut farm in Big Island after tasting free samples to heart's content.

Bread fruits... when cooked this pulp tastes like freshly baked bread. Hawaiians use its wood for surfboards and its sap for glue.

Why are fruits left to rot on ground??

Haven't caught even one-tenth of these trees,

Chicle tree... its sap makes a chewing gum... its fruits are delicious.

White powder puff flowers. Red powder puff flowers.

Teak

Lemon hanging from a branch.

Kukui nut is called candle nut tree... it has high oil content and is lit up as candles... the seeds are polished and made into leis (garlands).

Orange tree laden with fruit.

These fruits smell delicious—ripe mango smell.

Coconuts within reach. dwarf coconut tree.

Pomegranate—was quite tasty.

Noni again.

Christmas tree... isn't a cut tree kind of redundant in a garden with living, growing trees??

Iolani Palace:

At noon, we cut short our wandering through Foster gardens and made our way to the Iolani palace grounds for the Royal Hawaiian band's one hour concert... however, parking was difficult to find, we had to park far away, and walk.

Iolani palace grounds.. bougenvilla seat served as good lunch place...

we caught only the last number of the Royal Hawaiian band performance as they wound up by 12.30.

Iolani Palace features unique style known as American Florentine. On the first floor a grand hall faces a staircase of koa wood. Ornamental plaster decorates the interior. The throne room (southeast corner), the blue meeting room, and the dining room adjoin the hall. The blue room includes a koa wood piano where Liliʻuokalani played her compositions for guests. Upstairs are the private library and bedrooms of the Hawaiian monarchs.

It had electricity and telephones even before the White House.

It served as the official residence of the Hawaiian monarch until the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Beside Liliʻuokalani, Queen Kapiʻolani and other royal retainers were evicted from the palace after the overthrow. We did not take the interior docent tours but left.

Lyon Arboretum:

Here we are at the picturesque entrance to Lyon arboretum near Manoa falls. This arboretum has the added flavor of pristine rainforest surroundings.

In the lower grounds near the Visitor Center, we went to the herb and spice garden, the Native Hawaiian Garden, and the Beatrice Krauss Hawaiian Ethnobotanic Garden.

Chilean firebush—we saw these in Argentina in Dec 2013.

what are these??

This is Chinese ginger—shampoo ginger—-when squeezed gives a sweet smelling liquid which can be used for washing hair.

Anthurium.

Chinese ginger buds

Tiny jackfruits.

Views

Hale pili... grass house.

awwww... bananas.

Noni... supposedly a cure for all diseases.

Screw pine—Often called pandanus palms, these plants are not closely related to palm trees. Vary in size from small shrubs less than 1 m (3.3 ft) tall, to medium-sized trees 20 m (66 ft) tall, typically with a broad canopy, heavy fruit, and moderate growth rate. The trunk is stout, wide-branching, and ringed with many leaf scars. They commonly have many thick prop roots near the base, which provide support as the tree grows top-heavy with leaves, fruit, and branches.

In Indian cooking, the pandanus (screw pine) leaf is added whole to biryani. Kewra is an extract distilled from the pandanus flower, used to flavor drinks and desserts in Indian cuisine. Also, kewra or kewadaa is used in religious worship, and the leaves are used to make hair ornaments worn for their fragrance as well as decorative purpose in western India. fruit is eaten by animals.

Lush in all corners.

White hibiscus... quite rare.

Amakihi birds: look like spartows but are yellow. saw several... Upperparts are yellow-green and underparts are yellow. Lores are black, bill is black and decurved. http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1130/overview/Hawaii_Amakihi.aspx

We saw plenty.

The upper grounds have the Economic Section, the palm collection, and another native Hawaiian garden. Such a cool and pleasant time ... had whole gardens almost to ourselves.

Sealing wax palms— NOT used for making sealing wax. Also called lipstick palm. The lipstick palm is generally grown for its brightly colored and unusual foliage. Because of difficulties propagating them and their striking color, the palm has been offered for sale at prices as high as $1000 USD to collectors and gardeners.

Bid goodbye to Lyon arboretum reluctantly... it's in such a stunning site!!

Wanted to trek to Manoa falls but people we met on the way said it was very slippery and dangerous; also a movie shoot was going on and vans were parked at the entrance giving no space for other cars. So we decided to drive on.

Lanikai Beach:

This small stretch of thin beach has the most clear and blue water, and with views of the two beautiful offshore islands, known as the Mokuluas.

Water sport guys wrapping up for the day.

Swimmers/sunbathers had left... had a few peaceful moments almost alone on the beach... which is touted to be the most beautiful in the world.

Sun was starting to set. Some final moments and then off we went ... back to Ramada.

DAY 6 DEC 15, 2012:

7.40 AM: AT ARIZONA MEMORIAL.

This is the Pearl Harbor attack site and has the memorial inaugurated in 1962 for the battleships that were sunk here in 1941. The memorial marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces .

This attack led to the United States' direct involvement in World War II The memorial can be seen in the distant background.

We had collected our breakfast and driven to the site... the memorial is free to tour but there are only 4500 tickets for the free boat trip and they get picked up fast....we had reserved the 8am tour online and had to collect our ticket one hour ahead, otherwise they will be given to people who turn up for the tickets. Since we chose the Saturday 1st tour, we banked on the fact that there won't be early visitors grabbing our tickets. No bags are allowed inside, only the camera, wallet is allowed. Forgot to load the new batteries which were in our bag... so had to buy new batteries from the gift shop.

Pearl harbor grounds were peaceful in the morning. When we returned after our tour, the place was milling with crowds.

This bell is from the sunken battleship Arizona.

Military sites.

After the 20 minute orientation movie got on boat ride.

On the boat to the sunk battleship Arizona.

Inside Arizona memorial...the central hall contains an opening in the floor overlooking the sunken decks. The shrine at the far end is a marble wall that bears the names of all those killed on the Arizona.

The center opening to sunken Arizona.

The rusting remains...

The "tears of the Arizona". ..Oil slick that looks like tear drops is visible on water's surface above the sunken battleship....

This is battleship Missourie... the mighty Mo as it's called... standing guard over Arizona.

There is a surfeit of info... often with jingoistic pride.

This is the entrance to the memorial...

it does look like a crushed milk carton.

Upon the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II.

The pairing of the two ships became an evocative symbol of the beginning and end of the United States' participation in the war.

This boat had given us the ride to the memorial.

It was nearly 9, we elected to miss the tour of Missourie and opted to buy tickets for submarine Bowfin alone.

This is the actual picture of battleship Arizona going down after the Pearl Harbor attack.

The flag is perpetually at half mast. This is the memorial walk with commemorative plaques... a rainbow framing the whole scene.

USS Bowfin Tour:

On USS Bowfin... the submarine which was in US naval service during World War II and is now a museum. Audio tour is very elaborate and informative.

Missourie and Arizona memorial in the distance... critics feel the Arizona memorial is shaped like a crushed milk carton... yes... true.

We are getting into the hatch. They can close the door and seal off leaks as doors don't extend to ground.

Pantry/breakfast room here. Clock shows 10.

Should be pretty nifty to get in and out of these bunker beds.

There are 36 of these in one room! Imagine how difficult it's to slide into and out of these beds! The mattress and pillow are comfy though.

Not many take the $10 tour... so we have the whole submarine to ourselves.

Virtual tour available on website is awesome as well.

CPR chart here.

After a great tour, we came on the deck.

Really powerful telescope.

We had spent more than an hour on the submarine...time flew away.

Here's an anecdote worth noting... Tsushima Maru was an unmarked Japanese cargo ship that was sunk by Bowfin between 10 and 10:30 a.m. local time on 22 August 1944 — the ship was carrying hundreds of schoolchildren from Okinawa to Kagoshima. Tsushima sank close to the island of Akusekijima. 1,484 civilians including 767 schoolchildren were killed; 59 children survived the sinking.

On her sixth patrol, Bowfin destroyed a pier at Minami Daito that contained a crane and a bus. Thirteen small vessels were sunk by the Bowfin's deck guns... these facts are not mentioned in the museum.... may be they should display a tiny note of apology.

The museum was included in our ticket...did a fast tour.

Here's the famous koa wood.

Submarine dive suit here.

We then went through the memorial walk looking at the plaques.

This is the anchor(almost 20000 pounds in weight) recovered from the wreck of warship Arizona.

We got this personalized souvenir from Pearl harbor—$10

Wahiawa gardens:

We drove off to Wahiawa gardens next....

golden bamboos here.

Tree trunk has toes. Another fat trunk... no offence.

Aerial roots.

Felt privileged to sit in nature's bounty.

Red, red berries—Berries are typically of a contrasting color to their background (often of green leaves), making them visible and attractive to frugivorous animals and birds. This assists the wide dispersal of the plants' seeds.

Under the arch... photo hasn't picked up the beauty.

On the rustic trail...

Finished off with the rustic trails and reached a terrace with fruit trees. Strawberry guava here/

There were lots of strawberry guava in the Wahiawa fence... saw plenty but didn't know what they were... would have eaten them if we had known... anyway, a sad miss.

Structured garden here.

Our fav man in royal robe sign again.

All houses have a boat as well as a car in their garage!!

Let's go for a sail today must be a familiar phrase in their lives!!!

There was not a single soul in sight... don't know if that's good or bad.

These are vines... with light blue grapes...looked almost plastic!!

Looked into a valley inside the wahiawa garden from a bridge nearby.

Waimea valley:

We then drove on further north and reached the beautiful Waimea valley by 3PM. 1875 acres of this ancient valley is now categorised into 41 zones representing 5000 plants/trees.

We had spent some 3 hours at Wahiawa and had our lunch before our drive... if we had known how beautiful Waimea is, we would have cut short Wahiawa exploration.

The pretty board is a sign of things to come... we got 50% discount on the tickets as the Waihi falls and the stream are dry due to drought... but the whole valley is awesome and totally worth the admit price.

Hale is house... hoike is show. Historically it has been home to kings, chiefs and high priests... their 'mana' (life force)... still lingers.

Matching strides with a peacock.

Our peacock friend again...or is this one different?

We took several of the side trails on our way to the falls... wished we had more time to relax in these surroundings.

Perfect specimens of heliconias,

Extreme left: Chinese ginger/ zingiber zerumbet... also known as Pinecone Ginger or Shampoo Ginger. Zingiber zerumbet is one of the deciduous gingers that multiplies rapidly and blooms reliably every year. It is also known as Pinecone Ginger or Shampoo Ginger. The "shampoo" is the copious amount of fluid produced by the plant inside the mature flower cones. When squeezed out, the fluid can be used as a fragrant hair rinse or body wash.

There was a a hibiscus—hau— section with so many different colored specimens. White haus here. Very rare.

There are hundreds of colors in hibiscus—yellow with red core here.

Tried to capture all the different colored hibiscus we saw... orange here.

Visually very aesthetically designed garden.

A sad tale of the loss of a lovely species of tree... with this tiny displayed bark... this is the reason why botanical gardens should be supported.

A 2800-year old tree belonging to the species of the gigantic morus bcninesis had been cut a century ago and was found lying undamaged for 80 years on a wet jungle floor without decaying....unfortunately only sterile trees of this species survive... tragic end of the line!