1234567890 The There’s much more to Honolulu than its famous beach [[1L]]

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01 • 2017 O ther

BY JANIE ALLEN

PHOTOS: © GETTY IMAGES X2 This page: Aloha Tower,This page: a Opposite: WaikikiOpposite: Beach, city landmark since 1926 landmark since city known surf. itsgentle for 1234567890 READER’S DIGEST 

OWNTOWN IS A GLUT of cultural diversity, innovative new res- highrises, their balconies taurants, emerging neighborhoods, and picture windows com- and live-and-let-live vibe. Honolulu Dpeting for a view of the huge appears on lists of top U.S. cities. harbor—glorious on this warm, sunny Clearly, there is more to this place February day. Fishing boats, freighters, than its famous beach resort. Glen and cruiseships and tugboats wait at nu- I want to know more. So, for a week, merous piers. Flights are coming and we put away our swim towels, turn our going at the airport to the west. I’m backs on the beach, and head off. reminded of Hong Kong, a workaday city going about its business. Yet, one WE’D HEARD THE BUZZ about the of the world’s most famous beaches is up-and-coming Kakaako (“ka-ka- just a 15-minute drive away. ah-ko”) district between Waikiki and My husband, Glen, and I are on downtown. The city is redeveloping the 10th-floor observation deck of this light-industrial area, and has set the Aloha Tower, located on Pier 9 in aside some warehouses and garages . The art deco tower for the arts and for entrepreneurs. We was once the tallest building in Hono- drive there early one morning. lulu; the large A-L-O-H-A letters at the The family-owned Highway Inn, top greeted visitors arriving by steam- known for its traditional Hawaiian ship in an earlier era. Nowadays, the food, isn’t yet open for breakfast so we Aloha Tower is eclipsed by downtown take a walk in the quiet back streets. skyscrapers but still offers incredible On Coral Street, we pass Hank’s Haute 360-degree views of city and harbor. Dogs, a little eatery that elevates the John and Evelyn Fisher of Honolulu humble hotdog to gourmet status. On are also on the deck, pointing out city and around Auahi Street, we marvel landmarks to a visiting friend. We join at dozens of large, extravagant murals them in looking out at the Capitol Dis- painted on warehouses. trict, Chinatown, the Punchbowl cra- “Amazing, isn’t it?” says a bicyclist ter, Pearl Harbor and Waikiki. who stops to admire a chiaroscuro We love Waikiki. The iconic cres- of a face covering a wall, created by Clockwise from top left: cent beach, framed by Diamond Head chipping bits of concrete from white Brooks Takenaka at the Fish promontory and lined with myriad masonry. Auction on Pier 38; a wall shops, restaurants and nightclubs, Farther along, we come across Na mural in Kakaako district; make it the go-to resort for more than Mea (Things of Place), a gallery Paiko, a botanical boutique on Auahi Street; an artist at five million visitors a year. and art studios in a converted garage. work at Na Mea Hawaii; a But as delightful as Waikiki is, it’s It’s a beehive of activity. Maile Meyer, a bronze of Kamehameha the just one district of Honolulu. I’d read slight, energetic woman in her late 50s, Great, Hawaiian conquerer

articles lauding the city for its multi- shows us around. She created it “to PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JANIE ALLEN; SUSAN SEUBERT X2; ALLEN X2 and king, at Iolani Palace. 1234567890 1234567890 [[1L]] | 01•2017 READER’S DIGEST

encourage art with a native aesthetic the Great, Hawaii’s first king, who streets and small parks. The state and perspective,” she tells us. An artist united the Islands in 1810. But now, executive offices are here, as well as is mixing paint for a seascape; upstairs, he adds, the museum is in the process the Iolani Palace, built in 1882 by the another is planning a new exhibition. of receiving from Te Papa Museum in last king of Hawaii, David Kalakaua. Next door, artist Bill Reardon is weld- New Zealand the feather cloak of King The kingdom was overthrown just 11 ing a stair rail. He removes his helmet Kalaniopuu, Kamehameha’s uncle, years later in a plot by sugar planta- to reveal startlingly blue eyes and a big who presented it to British explorer tion owners to bring the islands under smile. He likes to create “found metal” James Cook in 1779. “It has been miss- U.S. control. sculpture, he says. “Have you ever no- ing from Hawaii for more than 200 Nearby is the Hawaiian Mission ticed how many discarded bedframes years,” he says, “it’s very special.” Houses Historic Site. The oldest there are?” We hadn’t until then… Culture educator Iasona Ellinwood house, from 1821, is a two-story New Back at the now-open Highway Inn, takes me to see Kamahameha’s full- England frame house displaying arti- painted wood panels and exposed length cloak, on display in a glass case. facts of missionary life. The first mis- pipes create a bright urban vibe. We The yellow feathers were plucked from sionaries created a 12-letter Hawaiian sit at the counter and order pancakes some 60,000 mamo birds. The extinct alphabet and printed a Bible as thick topped with a haupia (coconut) sauce Leis adorn the bronze statue of Duke mamo was mostly black. “It had just six as it was wide on a hand-operated and chat with front-of-house man- Kahanamoku at Kuhio Beach Park to eight yellow feathers,” he says. press—replicas are on display. ager Christina Martin, 47. She recently An expert guide to Hawaii’s history We explore the shady grounds moved to Honolulu from the main- gation equipment. Their methods of and native culture, Ellinwood has a where The Mission Social Hall and land. There are tradeoffs to living here, navigating by the stars and patterns of master’s degree in Hawaiian language. Café serves Hawaiian comfort foods— like high rent, she says, “but the people nature were not well understood until “Are you native Hawaiian?” I ask. No, marlin sandwiches and luau stew with make up for a lot.” the 1970s. The Plan- he says. His birth name is Jason. “One pork shoulder. Owner Mark Noguchi, Hawaiians’s hospitality is linked etarium in Honolulu played a role in of my Hawaiian language teachers 41, is one of a group of chefs who sup- to ohana—their sense of family, she recovering the lost art of Pacific navi- called me Iasona and it stuck.” port traditional food sources. Farm- explains. “Ohana extends to friends. gation, called “way-finding,” says Mike Just about 21 percent of Hawaii’s land in Hawaii was long ago given over Once they take you in, you’re part of Shanahan, director of Visitor Experi- 1.4 million people claim native Ha- to commercial crops such as pineap- the family.” ence and Planetarium. waiian heritage, while Asians make ples and coffee, and, today, seed corn. The Bishop is housed in an immense up 37 percent and Caucasians 23 per- Nearly 90 percent of Hawaii’s food is PERHAPS HERE, more than else- stone Victorian building in the city’s cent. In fact, most people here are of brought from the mainland. where, the more family you have—real northern suburbs. The Pacific Hall mixed ethnicity, like the shopkeeper I Noguchi recommends Glen and I or not—the better. The Hawaiian ar- features the Polynesian migrations. met earlier who told me his father was visit Chinatown, a gritty downtown dis- chipelago of eight islands is one of the The core of the museum, however, is Japanese and his mother Filipina, then trict that is reinventing itself as a desti- most remote and isolated places on the Hawaiian Hall. Its three polished- added, “but we’re all Hawaiians.” nation for art-lovers, foodies and club- earth; 2,400 miles from California. wood tiers display ancient artifacts of “Live here long enough and we’ll goers. We drive there late one weekday. Even other South Pacific Islands are Native Hawaiian culture. call you Hawaiian too,” said another Chinatown grew up in the late distant. For a long time, no one could When I ask Shanahan about the local. nineteenth century to serve Chinese understand how, over a thousand years most precious item in the museum, he plantation workers. Decades later it ago, Hawaii’s first settlers crossed more excitedly tells me that for many years it THE DOWNTOWN Capitol District is became known for prostitution and

than 2,000 miles of ocean without navi- was the feather cloak of Kamehameha PHOTO: SUSAN SEUBERT pleasantly walkable, with tree-lined the drug trade. For a few years in the 1234567890 1234567890 [[1L]] | 01•2017 01•2017 [[2R]] | | READER’S DIGEST 

1990s, a Chinatown revival flourished, a 400-pound marlin,” he tells us. We warehouse on Pier 38. Brooks Take- graves. A worker asks if we need help associated with a new generation of watch two sea turtles chasing each naka, general manager of United Fish- finding one. No, we’re just enjoy- chefs who developed Hawaiian Re- other in the water as he banters with a ing Agency, leads us in. Big-eye tuna, ing the peace and quiet, we tell him. gional Cuisine, also called Asian Fu- nearby boat owner. “Wait and see, it’ll mahimahi, swordfish, snapper and It’s true, the city sounds have disap- sion. Today Chinatown is gentrifying. weigh in at 250.” more, many weighing well over 100 peared; we hear only birdsong and Art galleries, upscale restaurants and “Maybe 280,” comes the reply. pounds, wait on iced-down pallets. distant mowers. bars are starting to move in. When the boat docks, the crew se- Wholesale buyers huddle around After a stop at a viewing platform “There are still places I wouldn’t cures a chain around the marlin’s tail the auctioneer, who fires off numbers on the crater rim that overlooks the walk late at night, but things are and hauls up an astonishingly large as bidding starts on a tuna at his feet. city, we make it back to Waikiki by changing,” Noguchi had told us. fish at least ten feet long. The man at Seconds later it’s over. The auctioneer sunset. At Kuhio Beach Park, we join Lucky Belly restaurant, located on the scale calls out, “Four-oh-five!” jots a note and drops it on the fish, and the throng gathered for a hula show. Hotel Street, which was once famous The marlin may well have ended the group shuffles to the next one. Lilting melodies, swaying hips and the for its brothels, is one of the most pop- up on the block at the Honolulu Fish About 100,000 pounds of open performers’ joy charm us. ular new eateries. We get there just as Auction the next morning. Tours are ocean fish are sold this way six days a The sun is setting in an orange- it opens for dinner and are seated near offered a few times a month. We leave week. “It’s the only fresh tuna auction streaked sky, silhouetting a bronze of the large windows. Wood, exposed Waikiki at 5:30 a.m. and in 20 minutes of its kind in the U.S,” Takenaka says. Duke Kahanamoku. An Olympic gold- brick, mahogany-stained cement floor are standing outside a refrigerated Most fish sold here is consumed in the medalist swimmer in 1912 and 1920, and Japanese pop art on the walls lend islands, he says, adding that Hawaii’s he introduced surfing to much of the the room a cool, contemporary ambi- fishery operates within sustainable world, and is a Hawaiian hero. In his ence. TRAVEL TIPS limits and under stringent regulation. later years—he died in 1968—Duke We order the intensely flavorful ox- “Do you eat much fish?” I ask him. was Honolulu’s first “Ambassador of tail dumplings and the “Belly Bowl.” “Almost every day,” he replies, with Aloha.” “Aloha means love,” a plaque The ramen-noodle speciality arrives in LODGING Shoreline Hotel Waikiki, a smile. about him says, “the key word to the a king-sized dish with generous por- from $179, www.shorelinehotelwaikiki. universal spirit of real hospitality.” tions of pork belly, bacon and sausage com, Vive Hotel Waikiki, from $153, ON OUR LAST afternoon the trade “Come, get to know my city,” he may steeping in a rich broth. www.vivehotelwaikiki.com wind that had been with us all week as well be saying, his back to the ocean We leave the restaurant at dusk. DINING Highway Inn, Kakaako, disappears and temperatures rise. and his arms outstretched to encom- Darkness comes quickly at this lati- combo plates $14-16; www.myhigh- Seeking respite, we head to the Punch- pass all of Honolulu. In a recent arti- tude. With the old markets and shops wayinn.com; Tommy Bahama, Waikiki, bowl crater, site of a U.S. national mili- cle, a writer opined that the city con- entrees $24-44, www.tommybahama. shuttered and our footsteps echoing tary cemetery, on the city’s outskirts. sider turning Duke’s statue around so com; Lucky Belly, Chinatown, ramen on the near-empty sidewalks, we head bowls $9-14, www.luckybelly.com We drive down to a shady lane in a that he looks out at his beloved ocean. back to our hotel. vast lawn, where flat markers denoted I think he’s fine just where he is. NIGHTLIFE Renowned jazz and blues entertainers and Hawaiian favorites at ON OUR NEXT-TO-LAST afternoon the Blue Note, Waikiki, www.blue- in Honolulu, we return to Kakaako to notehawaii.com stroll the Kewalo Basin wharf. We chat BREVITY IS WIT SIGHTSEEING Honolulu Fish Auction, with a man at a counter selling deep- www.hawaii-seafood.org; tickets Twitter to lay off 8% of its workforce, reduces character limit to 128.8. sea fishing trips. $25/$20 “We’ve got a boat coming in with @MICHAELIANBLACK 1234567890 1234567890 [[1L]] | 01•2017 01•2017 [[2R]] | |