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Published: September 12th 2007
First sight of Hawai'i
The peak you see is Diamond HeadFor those of you who don’t know what I do in the USA, I am working on my PhD in Electrical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. I work as part of the
Radiation Effects Group , the largest of its kind I think anywhere in the world. And when we found out about a year ago that our annual conference- The IEEE Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC)
would be held at Honolulu, HI we became the envy of all that heard that news, not to mention the immense pressure to get a paper in! So long story short, I was one of the students who managed to get a paper in, and also one of the fortunate ones the department decided to fund. So this blog is about my official travel to
Honolulu, HI . If at any point you feel like I seem to have been doing more social activities than official stuff..it is only because I did not want to bore you with technical details and am only reporting the fun part here 😊
So I traveled between July 22nd -28th 2007 on American Airlines through Dallas Fort worth reaching Honolulu. It almost felt like I was going
to India as it was a 7 hr flight from Dallas to Honolulu, not to mention the change in time zones (5 hrs ahead of CT). The thing that annoyed me the most was that the airline did not offer any meal as complimentary during this long flight and you had to buy your own food on the flight! I think that is ridiculous what with security requirements that you can’t bring so many kinds of food including water- that they force you to shop in the airports!
Anways, we were about 10 of us from Vanderbilt on the same flight reaching Honolulu somewhere 3-4 ish.. already 8 ish CT time. The airport was very open- that’s the word that comes to my mind. It had corridors; open hallways everywhere- not enclosed spaces. No yellow/orange level security and stuff. Not to mention the
lei (Hawaiian) flowers everywhere and shell garlands. Hawaiian shirts everywhere and Aloha! we were in Hawaii. I can’t imagine they expected us to attend conference technical sessions, good joke I’d say. We were staying with the
Hilton group of hotels in the
Hilton Hawaiian Village right on the Waikiki Beach. We took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel for
$9. The fact that we were a group made things easy. On the drive from the airport, I decided that I couldn’t settle here for sure. The water on all the sides made me feel trapped despite the fact that everything was so pretty. Also, somehow I got the feeling that this place was trying desperately to be westernized. The natural beauty on one side and the monstrous hotels and buildings on the other side just did not gel.
Something I realized during this trip; Indians/Chinese (Non-Americans) who live here have seen more tourist spots in the US than the Americans here themselves. This was my first trip to Hawaii, which is understandable but even for most of my colleagues who have been here all their lives this was the first time. Am able to relate to it as I have barely seen any of India. This blog might seem patchy, as I have tried to highlight only the places I visited. The conference committee had done a cool job of making a list of restaurants/ attractions etc in the area that we could go to. After browsing through that and a few travel brochures and websites, we (a
Conference Luncheon
Proof I was there for a conference couple of my colleagues and my partners in crime) decided that we did not have enough time to go beyond Oahu (the island we were in) either to Big Island (to see the volcanoes) or to Maui (to see the waterfalls and rainforests). So we decided on an itinerary that would allow us to at least sight-see Oahu a bit. The fact that we were in the heart of downtown, a few miles from the attraction made it doable. On the downside, speed limits were low and we did not have a car..so we would have to walk or take the public transport which was very affordable but would just take a lot of time , especially as we were trying to see as many spots as we could in between the various technical sessions 😊 The common spots we all agreed on using these as a basic guide
Yahoo Travel ,
Trip Advisor were The Pearl Harbor, North Shore, Diamond Head Crater, Dole Plantation, Hanauma Bay and the International Market Place. The only restriction from seeing more was purely the lack of time and a certain other reason I’ll explain at the end of this blog 😊
Diamond Head ( Le‘ahi) State Monument Diamond Head
At Diamond Head
Note the crater's rim in the background is one of the most recognized landmarks in Hawaii. Formed about 300,000 years ago during a single, brief eruption after about 2 million years of volcanic inactivity, this was visible right from our hotel room. The Diamond Head was used for military purposes due to the panoramic view from the tip. Some interesting facts about the crater
• The parking lot and the start of the trailhead to the summit are on the crater floor; there is even a refreshment stand there
• The total height of the summit is at an elevation of 761 feet (232 m)
• The view of Waikiki shore on one side and of the endless ocean on the other side were amazing
It felt cool to be standing inside the crater… surrounded by its huge walls on the side. The view was so worth the climb. This place according to me is a must see if you are in Waikiki. Also it gets quite hot, as there are absolutely no trees during the 0.8 mile climb up, so it is much better to get there early. It was a very different experience, one that I enjoyed.
Pearl Harbor Historic Sites This was again another
place I was glad I visited. The wait was humongous and we were there at 8:30 am! The way this place works is they have three/four historic sites- there including
USS Arizona, USS Bowfin, USS Missouri and the
Pacific Aviation Museum. USS Arizona is a memorial and there is no entrance fee to it but all the others have an entrance fee. The wait is not bad for the other sites except the Arizona. We waited in line till about 9:30 am only to get our ticket for the show and the boat ride out to visit the memorial at 11:45 am -a good 2 hrs later. So lesson learnt: if you have to be up from bed at 5 am and be at the memorial at 6:30 am it is better than getting up an hour later and losing a whole day to do it. From where we waited, we could see the memorial and also the USS Missouri and the USS Bowfin. We took some pictures and got lunch there. Also, apart from a cell phone and a wallet… no purses, camera bags are allowed. You don’t want to stand 4 hrs in line only to go
back because you decided you needed to have your purse!
A brief recap of why this place is important: The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place for many of the battleship's 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. The Memorial commemorates the site where World War II began for the United States. Pearl Harbor is where the American battleships were moored and the naval base existed. It is still an active naval base btw. The Japanese were trying to occupy China and America interfered and asked them to stop, else their oil supply would be cut. Japan had no choice but either to surrender or fight America. So they decided to attack by air and destroy the American battleships altogether. So on the morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese fighter planes attacked and bombed the US Naval Base.
USS Arizona suffered the greatest loss of life in a single day by any ship in the American Naval history - more than a thousand people died just on that ship . However, of all the battleships attacked, except the Arizona the others were brought back to functioning within a 4-year period.
What Japan started America ended with the World War II and the attack on Hiroshima. The audio tour before our trip to the memorial was a great recap of how the attack happened, and never before seen images of the attack and survivor experiences. There is an engine in the sunken Arizona that till today leaks oil. I became very thoughtful during my visit to the memorial (a bridge built over the sunken Arizona). Made me appreciate and deeply respect all the people who fight for their country- who make that decision to pledge their lives, and more importantly their families who encourage and stand by them always. Made me feel really small and question what I had contributed. But, I am trying and will continue to do so.
Dole Plantation After Pearl Harbor we did not have time to go to the North Shore so decided to do this instead. Was a bit of a disappointment considering we drove just to see this. Would have been better to combine it with North Shore. Captain John Kidwell is credited with founding Hawaii’s pineapple industry. It was Jim Dole, for whom Dole Plantation is named, who pioneered the industry and
became popularly known as the "Pineapple King". The reason this plantation is famous is because it is the largest of its kind in the whole world. We took the train ride through the plantation and saw pineapple growing in various stages. We also walked through the garden and saw the various varieties of fruits and flowers grown there. Apart from that, there is the
world’s biggest maze - shaped like a pineapple there which we ended up not doing due to lack of time. This is a place that can be skipped if there is not enough time in Honolulu.
Paradise Cove Luau No trip to Hawaii is complete without experiencing a Luau. This was the social organized by our conference, we had to pay $40 which our research funds covered as dinner for that night. A luau (in Hawaiian, lū‘au) is a Hawaiian feast. For us it featured introduction into Polynesian customs, good food and entertainment, such as Hawaiian music, hula dances and a fire dancer (he was really good!).We went to Paradise Cove for our Luau. This was supposedly a Polynesian village and through such shows/dinner they share their culture with us. We were greeted by women in coconut bras (all
my male colleagues had their day made..did not need much more 😊, and scantily clad men ( the women were not very disappointed either 😊). We saw our main entree being dug out- it was roasted pig, so that was interesting. Surprisingly the food was good and I had quite a few options even though I was vegetarian. Not to be negative but coming from India with such a rich cultural heritage and amazing dance forms, I felt too much was being made of the Polynesian culture and the hula dance. Nevertheless, one should experience a luau when in Hawaii.
International Market Place The easiest comparison for this is Ranganathan street in Chennai. This is a local market for all Hawaiian touristy stuff. There are 10 of each- identical shops. You get all knick-knacks starting from real lei, artificial lei, chains, key chains, t-shirts, sea shells, couches and what not. Compared to other stores this place was affordable and you could bargain. It was quite pretty and we took a couple of pictures. I did not have too much time here and after seeing a bunch of identical stores decided to find my gifts quickly.
Hanauma Bay This is
a natural preserve and the rules were quite rigorous about leaving the bay as we found it, so no trash. Pictures do no justice to this place. The view was awesome. The shallow reef and the aqua-green water just make you want to keep looking at it all day. If you pay $12 to snorkel most of the companies will pick you up from your hotel and provide you transportation back too. I thought that was quite a good deal. So we went snorkeling though I had snorkeled only once before in my life in Florida in May. The water being shallow helped a lot. I stayed close to the shore and saw whatever marine life I could from there. Saw a bunch of fishes..too many people and too much noise for sea turtles 😊 This is another place that is best seen in the early hours of the morning so getting there by 7 am or so helps.
Places I would have enjoyed seeing if I had more time are
North Shore (the waves are about 9 feet tall during winter-since we went in summer I pacified myself saying I did not miss much),
Iolani Palace and just some
more sun bathing on the Waikiki shore! In the beginning I mentioned that apart from time there was another restriction that prevented me from enjoying my trip to the fullest. If you are still wondering: it was the absence of my husband, Karthik. I felt so lost emotionally during this trip, that I truly felt no place in the world was worth seeing if I am not able to see it through his eyes. Karthik- if you read this till here then you will know how much I missed you 😊 Muuaaaaaaahh!!
Mahalo (Thank you) everyone for reading my blog and being patient and encouraging me to post my travels even though a month late 😊😊😊😊
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balusubu
non-member comment
This is really cool !
I never knew that Phd conferences are so taxing and brain teasing ones !Vow! Now I know how Osama could send three planes simulataneously to hit what he wanted to hit !