Hawaiian Airlines — 3 day Layover in Honolulu (written at the merger)
Recent news of the acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines prompted me to revisit my 3-day layover in Honolulu in 2018, 6 years ago, right around the beginning of my PhD. These two airlines, representing the two states outside the “lower 48”, with an old man and a young woman as their respective logos, are among the better North American carriers. Alaska claims to be preserving the Hawaiian brand (at least for now), but it seemed to have completely retired its 2016 purchase — the Virgin American brand, so we shall see whether the Aloha flights would continue roaming the Hawaiian sky.
I took Caltrain to catch my morning flight at SFO. This was my pre-Priotiy-Pass era so I actually had to pay for breakfast out of my own pocket.
The security video featured both English and the Hawaiian language, an Austronesian language with very few (only 8) consonant phonemes, which was and still is facing challenges for its survival. I even remember reading somewhere that haoles (outsiders) learning the language had worsened the situation by creating a hybrid version of the language that dominated its already fragile, relatively untouched form.
Learning indigenous languages is a much more nuanced topic, but controversies surrounding overtourism and influx migration from the mainland have been on the news lately. With its tremendous popularly and accessibility to a large number of very wealthy people, Hawaiian is not likely to be free from rich snobs owning huge villas (which leave local people homeless) anytime soon. Such exploitation had been exacerbated gravely in recent years, to the point that native people are vocally asking tourists to not come to Hawaii. Tourism of all forms may be seen as neocolonialism, and I’m still struggling to reconcile one of my biggest hobbies with my firm identity as an anticapitalist.
I’ve digressed too much. My interest in Hawaii partly came from Pokemon Sun/Moon, a game/anime based on the Hawaiian islands, which I personally regard as one of the best versions of the series. Unlike most people who came for pristine beaches, I personally travel to see history, culture, and how normal people in different corners of the world go on with their lives. Among the top of my list were relics of the Hawaiian Kingdom (illegally invaded and annexed by the US in 1893), WWII sites at the Pearl Harbor, and historical site of the Revive China Society (興中會), the predecessor of the Kuomintang (國民黨).
They were advertising the Hawaiian Airlines credit card in the cabin already then. I actually applied and got this very credit card yesterday, now that the miles could be transferred 1:1 to the more valuable Alaskan miles.
The flight was around 5 hours and light meals were served twice. The cabin featured vacation-themed colorful lights.
After the merger, Alaska Airlines would acquire Hawaiian Airlines’ trans-Pacific routes to Japan and Korea. My route was from SFO to ICN (Seoul) with a 3-day stopover in HNL (Honolulu). I booked the flight almost 1 year earlier due to its incredible $300 price. In fact, the flight was originally bound for Beijing, but then rerouted after a few months to Seoul instead, which I was completely fine with.
The most interesting destination Hawaiian Airlines flies to is probably Pago Pago, American Samoa, a good base to travel the South Pacific.
Arriving in Honolulu Airport. Even the ATM machine was showing Hawaiian vocabularies, while most people barely speak the language today.
First I took the bus (I think) to Honolulu’s Chinatown, probably not the first stop for most people visiting the paradise island. It is actually one of the more famous chinatowns in the world, one of the oldest in the US, and where Dr. Sun Yet-Sen once lived and founded the Revive China Society (興中會), the predecessor of the Kuomintang.
It’s still a pretty sizable neighborhood, with Chinese stores of all sorts, even a traditional market. There was also places (most likely) owned by Vietnamese Chinese diaspora who fled the country in the late 70s after the Vietnam War.
Chinese signs and architecture in Honolulu’s historic Chinatown.
Interestingly, standing across the statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen was the statue of the Philipines’ Jose Rizal, another doctor-turned revolution leader and “founding father” of a country. The two men were separated by a creek, just as their respective countries were separated by a channel. For those interested, I’ve visited Rizal’s jail and shrine in Manila and written extensively about it.
A Cantonese eatery right next to both men’s statues. Again probably not most people’s first choice of meal when visiting the paradise island. 牆上那首詩寫得很好，下次拜託別寫了。
Also next to the two statues were a Japanese jinja and a Vietnamese temple. All the love and hate back in East Asia was concentrated in a small block across the ocean in Honolulu. I went inside the jinja and received blessing from a priest. The Vietnamese temple was not open to visitors at the time.
Revive China Society (興中會)’s exact location was not clearly marked, but I guess the “Kuo Min Tang Society” sign did it? Today the building was the consulate from my country, the Republic of China (Taiwan), in Honolulu, also hosting cultural events for the local Chinese population. Oversea Chinese traditional played an important role in Kuomintang/ROC.
Another important site for Chinese history lovers is the cemetery where Zhang Xueliang (張學良) was buried, but that was outside Honolulu. I explored the city as I walked from Chinatown toward Waikiki beach. To my surprise, the 7–11 in Hawaii was of Asian style, full of Japanese bentos and snacks, rather than the horrendous American version. Hawaii is extremely popular with Japanese tourists. In fact, Japanese people had a long history on the island way before Pearl Harbor. They once constituted nearly half of the island’s population, and still constituted over 10% of Hawaiians today. (History buffs may have heard of the Niihau Incident)
The historic palace of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It was among the top of my list, but I for some reason planned to visit on the following day, and never had a chance to do so. Relic of a kingdom illegally invaded and stolen by imperialism and capitalism.
But I did get to visit a small judicial museum by the palace. Those who played Pokemon Sun/Moon would recognize this “Kapu”.
Another important site of the Hawaiian Kingdom is Kawaiaha’o Church, entirely built with coral stones, also dubbed “the Westminster Abbey of Hawaii”.
The second floor of the church showcased portraits of various Hawaiian royalties. A national symbol of Hawaii, the church was where the last Hawaiian kings took their oaths of office. It still provides service in Hawaiian language today.
As the evening approached, I took a bus to Waikiki beach, where I would spend my night.
The day was December 7th, arguably one of the most, if not the most, important days of the modern history of Hawaii. I did not pick the date on purpose, but I got to witness the celebration parade of the 77th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. WWII veterans and their families drove through the streets as the night fell.
I spent the night walking around the most famous, go-to shopping center in Waikiki. According to my photos, to my disappointment, I had something synonymous to Panda Express as dinner. So far my meals in Hawaii were probably not the most appealing to my readers.
The year was 2018. I even walked into a Gamestop to get the monthly legendary Pokemon passcode to redeem in the game — for Pokemon Sun/Moon.
I stayed in the one and only hostel in Honolulu, which cost more than $60 pre-inflation. It turned out to be one of my worst experiences with hostels (more on this in the next article).
The following day, I would go visiting the other side of Honolulu, the Pearl Harbor, and what happended on this day exactly 77 years ago.
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