Flat Mary Day 1

Day 1 - Friday, March 14, 2014:

Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Shopping Center

Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background

 My flight to Hawaii took a long time. I was too excited to sleep much. The airplane landed at the Honolulu International Airport. A postal worker delivered me to my host, Gail, who was waiting for me at her mail box. She said it is tradition in Hawaii to call grown-ups Uncle and Auntie, even if you are not related. She asked me to call her Auntie. I told her my name is Flat Mary.

Auntie gave me a hug and said, “Aloha.” That means hello. She put a lei, a garland of flowers, around my neck. It was pretty enough to eat. But a stewardess had served me food on the airplane. I wasn’t hungry, only tired. I took a nap before we went sightseeing in Waikiki.

 

Purple lei for Flat Mary

             

                                                           Statue of King David Kalakaua

at the entrance to  Waikiki

                

The bus in Honolulu is called. "TheBus"

Auntie has a special bus pass with her name and picture on it. The bus driver said I could ride TheBus for free because I am so small. We rode the bus to Kalakaua Avenue.

David Kalakaua was the last king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He has a very, very long Hawaiian name: David La’amea Kamanakapu’u Mahiniulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalakaua.

On Kalakaua Avenue, we walked down to Waikiki. I spotted a shiny nickel laying on the sidewalk. I picked it up and stuck it in my pocket. Maybe it is a lucky nickel. I hope something lucky happens to me during my visit to Hawaii.

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is painted pink. I don’t know why. We went inside to look around. Sometimes movie stars and presidents of countries stay there during their visit to Hawaii. The hotel has lots of fancy decorations. The vases are filled with colorful flowers.

 

  

                          The hotel has a nickname:            See me waving from the fancy vase?

                           Pink Palace of the Pacific               The purple orchids are pretty.

 From the beach behind the hotel, I could see Diamond Head. That is an inactive volcano near the far end of the island. Its real name Leahi. That means ‘the brow of the tuna.’ I think it is a funny name for a volcano. Auntie told me that next week we will walk all the way up to the top of Diamond Head. We will look down on the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Diamond Head looks small enough for me to walk all the way to the top. 

   

        Here I am at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel         This is a copy of a picture taken at the same

          pointing to Diamond Head in 2014.                spot in 1937. (Original at Fort DeRussy)

 People lock up their surfboards along a walkway to the beach. It is easier than taking them home every night. I am too small to surf on the ocean so I just pretended. The red dot on the black and white surfboard is me. At the beach, I tried to foot-surf. The waves were very strong.

 

                 

               So many surfboards. The red dot is me!          Foot-surfing in the Pacific Ocean

We walked to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Auntie Gail’s friend Gavin is a Security Officer there. He asked me to help him patrol outside the restaurants and stores. We had to watch that no one took anything without paying. No one did.

 

Flat Mary patrolling the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center with Security Officer Gavin Ching

In Hawaii, turtles are called honu.

After patrolling the whole shopping center, my feet were tired. Auntie Gail and I went home. Tomorrow we will meet with her book club at Barnes & Noble book store. I put my lucky nickel on the dresser before falling asleep. Maybe something lucky will happen to me tomorrow.