Diamond - Climbing up Diamond Head

Diamond

Diamond Head - Le'ahi

Like Basalt before it I am aware that Diamond is a mineral not an element. Rather it is a solid form of the element carbon, but it seems a more appropriate title for today when our main activity was climbing the dormant volcano called Diamond Head.

The name of Diamond Head was given to the volcano by British sailors in the 19th century, who mistook calcite crystals on the beach below for diamonds.

The local name, Lēʻahi, fits better. It means the lae (brow) of the ahi (tuna). With the shape of the ridgeline resembling the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin.

Sunday Mass

Walking to Mass

The day began at 4.30am, when I woke, got up and showered and dressed and headed out at 5:00am for the walk to Mass. St. Augustine by the Sea Church, here in Waikiki, has Mass at what I consider a very civilised time - 6:00am. I'm not sure I'd be able to persuade my Parish Priest to do the same.

From the hotel to the Church is exactly a mile, normally a 20 minute walk, but a little longer given the random slowness of pedestrian crossing lights in the country.

As I walked to Mass, praying my Rosary, it was nice to notice the City waking up, with people baking bread, others setting tables up for breakfast later and others washing floors (and in one case washing the pavement). I arrived at St. Augustine's at 5:25am and was pleased to see the Church was already open and well air-conditioned ready for Mass.

Before Mass

Saint Damien of Moloko'i

St Marianne of Moloko'i

Before Mass I had the opportunity to see the Shrine of the local saints - St Damian and St Marianne, one a Belgian another a German, via New York, both of whom dedicated their lives to the care of those who suffered from Hansen's disease (or leprosy as it was then called) a disease which killed Damian. My mother had special devotion to Fr. Damien and often told me the story of his life, so it was nice to remember him here in the State (then Kingdom) where he dedicated his life. 

Mass

Saint Augustine's by the Sea, Waikiki

The Mass was celebrated by the Pastor (Parish Priest in UK English) and about 200 of us were in attendance. We sang four hymns and the parts of the Mass, so no matter how early it was, it was 'the full works' as one might say.

I've mentioned before during holiday blogs that the different translations used between the UK and USA versions of English clearly show what George Bernard Shaw said: "two nations separated by a common language."

Today the Second Reading from the New Testament (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19) had this phrase:

By faith he received power to generate,even though he was past the normal age- and Sarah herself was sterile - for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.

Now generate is a word I associate with electricity, not anything else, but in context I can guess what it means. So I thought I'd better check how the UK version says it:

It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it.

What a surprise, she was able to conceive, not generate! And it was her faith that enabled this not his. An amazing variation between translations of the same piece of Greek. A quick check of five or six other translations seem to have this same problem of gender, so perhaps it is hard to translate that bit of Greek, but it shocked me to hear something so different to that which I am used.

It happened again in the gospel (Luke 12:32-48). Just looking at two different lines I get a very different impression. The US version had:

Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out … Gird your loins and light your lamps

and the UK one:

Get yourselves purses that do not wear out … See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. 

Now on this it is clearly a question of making sense or being literal in translation. I have no idea what a money bag is, and I don't want to be tucking up my loins just now. Whereas a purse is somewhere to keep money (but not note in the USA where a purse is a handbag) and dressed for action, is exactly what the metaphor about girded loins means, get dressed in what you need for what is to come. Of course it is partly a matter of preference, but for me the UK English version is much clearer as a call to action than the US version is, but of course I'm from over there, not over here!!

Apart from that the Mass was very prayerful and celebratory, with elements of the Mass prayed in the Hawaiian language, including the blessing.   

Walking back to the hotel

I left St Augustine's at 6:58am and what a difference an hour made. Now the street was busy and alive as I walked the mile back to the Hotel.

Breakfast

I got back to the hotel at 7:20am and we went straight down for breakfast. I think I explained enough about breakfast here yesterday. So here are my and Drew's breakfast plates.

Haydn's Breakfast

Drew's Breakfast

Blog

I have been blogging by 8:00am (6pm UK time) or earlier since arriving in Hawaii, so I hope I didn't cause any panic by posting yesterday's blog later, at 9:30am (8:30pm UK time). 

Unbeknownst to us, there had been some arson at hotels in Waikiki in the week before we arrived. The hotels were all over a mile from us, and days before, but they were enough for a friend to check that everything was OK with us. That was nice of you Lloyd, but the only delay to the blog time today was due to me getting to Mass, and no other problems.

Diamond Head

The Walk to Diamond Head

The image above captures the simple elements of the walk. Essentially we had a very gentle and pleasant walk along Kuhio Avenue and then after walking around the back of Honolulu Zoo we began the climb of Montserrat Avenue until we reached Fort Ruger Pathway which led us an even steeper climb up to the tunnel that leads into the crater.

Diamond Head this way

Entering the Tunnel

We stopped to replenish our fluid levels and then began the real climb.

99 Steps to the top

After a period of good open path, we began to go up a broken concrete path with lots of dips and breaks. This was fine with proper shoes on, but the people in flip-flops began to see the error of their ways.

After a mile of this sort of path the steepest bits of the climb began. Much of this was on steps and as long as you didn't look to far ahead (for fear of being put off) the pace was not a problem. Then came a very steep flight of 40 stairs. It took us four stops along the way to make it to the end of these. I seem to have flat walking sorted, but steep climbs up stairs like this get my muscles complaining and my breathing becomes more rapid.

Looking up the coast to Koko Point

All that being said, we made it, and the views from the top, both across Waikiki, across the sea and down to Waialae-Kahala, Kuliouou- Kalani Iki as far as the Koko Head in Hawaii Kai were spectacular. I almost said breath-taking, but our breath had already been taken by the climb. 😀

As usual there is not enough space in the blog to do justice to the photos, but over on Flickr you can see them all, starting here.

The walk back down was much speedier. Aided by a bottle of water of each we had brought with us, we managed it without any exhaustion or dehydration. 

Though having walked 6.5 miles already today, we decided we didn't need the walk all the way back to the hotel. So we caught the number 2 bus the 17 stops from Kapi'olani Community College to the hotel.

For the record our last few days walking has been:

Friday - 14,900 Steps - 5.4 miles
Saturday - 19,500 Steps - 6.8 miles
Sunday - 22,560 Steps - 9.2 miles

A little more than my usual 10,000 steps, 4 miles each day.

Dinner

I've explained previously on the blog that where we are in busy areas I had booked restaurants in advance. It is a bit scary as tonight's is our last booking before the last night in San Francisco.

When I did the booking I'd not made a connection between Eating 1849 on Kaua'i and Roy's here. Of course having been to Eating 1849 I had discovered that Roy Yamaguchi was the Chef Patron there, as he is here at Roy's. But we enjoyed the place in Kaua'i not to be worried about going to one of his O'ahu places.

Roy's - Waikiki

Roy's at Waikiki is an upmarket restaurant. Not just in food, but in ambience too. I guess it with Alioito's in San Francisco are the classiest places we have eaten so far. The dining room was air-conditioned well, so it was comfortable, and was absolutely packed. A busy night, and again I was so happy that we had booked.

As in Eating 1849 while we perused the menu we were given Endames to nibble on.

The menu was extensive and both of us could have chosen four or five of each course, so the decision process took some time,

Beef Carpaccio

I began with Beef Carpaccio with Pastrami Chimichurri, Pickled Oranges, Truffle Alioli and bubu. Drew tends to eat Capaccio more than me, but tonight he had chosen my first option as his first, so I went with my second option instead, and I was glad I did. The finely sliced beef had a rich chimichurri flavour, sharp and tangy, offset by the lightness of the oranges. The alioli was a delight spread thinly over the beef it brought out the flavour. The bubu, a sort of tempura breadcrumb, here used as a spice, was delicious. Indeed when I let Drew try a little, in exchange for his pork, I made sure he had a bit of the meat and the bubu, as that was a spectacular flavour. <<Co-pilot's note: I was forced, dear readers, to remind him to do the joke about the carpaccio, you know the one - 'that meat is a bit undercooked!!'>>

24-Hour Sous Vide Pork Belly

Drew opted for 24-Hour Sous Vide Pork Belly with Chili Soy Nam Pla, Coriander, Grape Tomato and Pickled Red Onion. The pork was soft and delicious, covered with a lovely piece of pork fat and a crispy, crispy skin. The Nam Pla gave it a lovely salty taste contrasted by the wasabi and tomatoes and the pickled onion sharpness. The whole thing went down a treat.

Hawaiian style Steamed Whole Branzino

For Mains I had Hawaiian style Steamed Whole Branzino stuffed with black garlic and Lup Chung with roasted pepper ponzu butter. The Branzino brought my mind to Spain, where Lubina is often a fish I choose to eat. Though the Branzino was larger than most of the Lubina I have had, it tasted very similar. What tasted radically different was the stuffing, the flavour of which had permeated the fish during the cooking process. The Lup Chung and garlic had a strong, meaty flavour, but the richness of the fresh Branzino was able to carry the flavour well. A pile of this stuffing with some bread rolls and I would have been happy, this with the lovely fish as well was enough to send my into ecstasy. The ponzu butter in which the fish was sat was like a bath of lemons. It gave a tingly zing to the already exciting flavours which brought them all to perfection.

Hudson Valley Duck Breast

Drew opted for Pastrami Rubbed Hudson Valley Duck Breast with BI Goat’s cheese fritters, bing cherry agrodolce and baba ganoush. The pastrami added a lot of flavour to the outside of the duck. The duck was pink, just as I like it, the fat was rendered perfectly. The cheese fritters were crisp and tasty and the other accoutrements  all added to the flavour. Lovely.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Our waiter recommend the hot desserts and Drew choose Roy’s Warm Big Island Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Lappert’s Hawaii Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. They tried to give a second spoon to me, but Drew made clear this was all his. Drew's previous encounters with Pineapple Upside down cake took place in Blaengwawr Comprehensive School, when the pineapple was provided by Del Monte in a tin. This was very different from that. The fresh pineapple was sat on a light and fluffy sponge cake into which some of the pineapple juice had washed through. The Ice cream was lovely, with specs of vanilla through out. Drew did say it was a little cold 😂 - the ice cream was sat on top of a crispy honeycomb biscuit.  

We finished the meal off with an espresso each. <<Co-pilot's note: I was, dear readers, a little surprised when I saw the amount of coffee that was in the cups. I then realised that it is quite common in this country to 'split' things. They clearly felt we wanted to split the coffee and have half each. Espressos should be served in espresso cups, not normal coffee cups.>>

We left the restaurant at 9:45pm and headed for the hotel and bed. Another lovely day having come to its end.

Next blog post

Between now (8:30am on Monday morning - 7:30pm Monday evening, UK time) and Tuesday afternoon (Wednesday morning in the UK) we will be flying from Hawai'i to Alaska. So I'm not sure when the next blog post will appear. It might be we get to do something at Honolulu airport tonight before we fly, or it might be the end of the day on Tuesday till we get to our hotel on the Kenai Peninsula. When ever it is don't panic if you don't hear from me for a little while.