Chilean Sailing Vessel at Aloha Tower

Aloha Tower Marketplace

Haven't been here in years, but the little hula girl statue is still welcoming visitors.

She seems a tad lonely, looking at the empty halls that were once filled with stores.

I like the romance of the seas and have read all the Master and
Commander books by Patrick O'Brien.   When Ry said the Chilean Navy Tall Ship Esmeralda was docked in Aloha Tower harbor we stopped by and it was open to the public. 

Nice young ensign showed me around.
He spoke in pretty good English, but I wish I knew Spanish so I could've asked him more questions.

The cumbersome wheel is more for decoration.

Chilean flag proudly flying in Honolulu skies.

He said every morning before breakfast they have to run up and down the ropes.  His position is on the second mast from the bottom.  Looked awfully high!

Hmm, inspecting the ship?  Probably just looking at the fish.

Netting on the bowsprit on which they can rest on breaks.

He pointed out their motto: Vencer o Morir

And the Chilean Coat of Arms.  A Condor and what I thought was a horse, but is a huemul, a rare animal like a horse.

A good view from the top of the Tower of the ship Esmeralda.

After the ship, we went up the Aloha Tower.   It used to be the tallest building around, but at 10 stories, it of course, no longer is.

Still a pretty view, though.

Raining in the Koolaus.

Now, part of the Marketplace has become the dormitory for Hawaii Pacific University.

How did we ride out  Tropical Storm Darby?  Very enjoyably by getting together to celebrate what would've been Grandma's 99th birthday.  She passed away a year ago.

Grandma's favorite, Orchids.
She would've  loved celebrating her birthday with her family who flew in to Hawaii.

Halekulani's famous Coconut Cake.

Even sweeter - Grandma's great granddaughter.
Brains and beauty!

Nor did it (the coming storm) stop 'the girls' the next day from having our Salmon Teishoku at Rokkaku Hamakatsu in the Mall.

Nor did it stop us from having our Fillet Tonkatsu at Bairin in Waikiki.  Their freshly steamed rice in a kama pot is great.

We all love the airy cabbage and tender pork fillets.
Having to grind your own sesame seeds for the sauce makes it even better.

Tropical Storm Darby's coming!  Whirling winds and rain after dinner.

Next day..

Ocean's in the Outrigger Hotel overlooking Waikiki beach.
The waves were loud and the skies were turbulent because of the coming storm.  Just after  dinner the rain came down in torrents.
This lead to thunder and lightning later in the night.
Poor Penny was so scared she spent most of the night under the bed.

Open house today for the new Diamond Head Wing of the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.
The glass orange and gray building is beautiful.

The bright lobby was the beginning of the self tour, with a treasure hunt and games for children.

A mosaic of fish and birds spanned the first and second floor wall.

The fifth floor houses the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Medical-Surgical Unit.

Intensive care pediatric room

There are cheerful murals along the walls in restful color schemes.

And cute artwork on the floor.

Many children friendly waiting nooks.

Fourth Floor is the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Third Floor is Rehabilitation Services and  Multidisciplinary Clinics

Children's lung and cardiac testing room

The Rehab Gym is so welcoming and bright.

The Chapel on the Second Floor.

And the large auditorium was playing a video of the history of Kapiolani hospital.
There will be a next phase opening in a few months which will also include a cafeteria .  According to the flyer, the Campaign for Hawai'i's Children raised more than $34 million for the first phase of construction.

Cinnamon's Ilikai Hotel

We were looking for a light repast so  decided to find Cinnamon's, which about a year ago opened a branch in Honolulu.
Very famous in Kailua, we very rarely had a chance to have breakfast there .
This branch in the Ilikai Hotel also serves dinner.

We parked in the public parking next door and walked over the bridge to the Modern Hotel.  This bridge connected directly to the Ilikai Hotel once when we last used the parking .  When
dining at Sarento's we used the valet at the Ilikai's entrance so we didn't know that Cinnamon's doesn't validate.
It is $4.00 for 30 minutes and we were there for a little over one hour!

We had to wind our way through the Modern's poolside lounge and finally came to the familiar Ilikai area.

The dinner service starts at 4 pm so  since it was still 3:30 decided to have drinks and pupus in the outdoor bar area.

The nice waiter said we had to try the famous Guava pancakes.
He didn't have to try hard to convince me.  I love waffles and pancakes, even in the afternoon.

It was such a hot and humid afternoon, so I also had to try their famous Bloody Mary.  Plain.  Mmm.

Celery, lime, olives and tomato juice.  Sounds healthy to me.

The little waterfall and greenery next to our table was pretty and little birds were taking their bath in the water.

The guava sauce was pretty good, and the pancakes were pretty okay.  The Kalbi chicken was okay too.

The front doesn't look like it did in the Hawaii Five-0 TV series anymore.
The architect was John Graham, Jr.
If we had used the valet here it would've been only $1, the waiter told us.