Hawaii 2011, Day 8

What did we do that last day? We mostly puttered around Honolulu. Mrguy took me to the Queen Kapiolani Hotel, where we tried to find the painting featured on the cover of the Na Kane record. It took a while, but we did it. And we set foot in the Peacock Room, where Na Kane used to play. Mission accomplished! The lanai at the Queen Kapiolani has this terrific closeup view of Diamond Head. They also have live entertainment there, so I think we'll come check it out next time we're in town.

It started to get hot. HOT! We tried to have lunch at Ojiya, but it was closed for the day. So we dragged our hungry sweaty selves into Pho #1, which turned out to be amazing. The goi ga was so delicious. The restaurant was cold like a refrigerator. No screaming children. Few tourists. We will definitely be back.

Then off to Antiques Alley, where I picked up a little something for someone. AA is what the antiques stores in Kailua could be if the people who owned them had taste. There is still way too much crap, but the owners buy interesting stuff and are genuinely nice. I love this store. It is a feast for the eye. And the owner gave me a Konishiki POG piece. What a sweetheart.

As is often our ritual, we drove around for a while doing an architecture tour, and we also tried to find some of the sculptures from Sculptures in the Sun. We revisited the Queen Emma Building and took many pictures of the Hawaiian Holiday Apartments, a true fiesta for the eyes. Hawaiian Holiday Apartments feature a three-story cement bas-relief by Hon-Chew Hee of people in all manner of activities, even dancing the hula, fishing, and eating breadfruit and pineapple. For a good time, go to 1320 Wilder St. in Honolulu and have a look:

Time for another shout out to Sculpture in the sun: Hawaii's art for open spaces. I've been trying to locate Hawaiian Holiday for years after seeing it on a previous trip, and it was listed in this wonderful book.

After architecture gawking, we went back home for a little rest before seeing Cyril Pahinui.

Cyril was good. I wish he spent more time talking about himself and less talking about his talented young bandmates. You can't really fault him for his generosity of spirit. He's a real mensch. A wedding party was seated next to us, so after his first set we moved next door to the Halekulani.

The Halekulani was...the Halekulani. The mai tais are $12 now. There are no chips and dip on the menu. Good thing I figured out the recipe for the tobiko sour cream! I make it at home when I can. The lovley Kanoe Miller is as wonderful as always, and the music was fab.

And that's Hawaii 2011. I don't think we could have done more than we did. We let go of a lot of old stuff, found new stuff, and have new places we want to go for next time (more Kailua, music in Waimanalo, and I definitely want another mochi anpan from Nene Goose Bakery).

Here's to new stuff and the next trip to Hawaii.