Americans Can Finally Make Decent Coffee

My morning started way too early with the alarm going off at 6.30am (that's 2.30am home time) and me trudging down to the hotel buffet. The filter coffee on offer was its traditional atrocious best. I reluctantly sipped on it while awaiting my hand prepared omelette. Starvation averted for another day I headed off into downtown Honolulu and took in the sites. The American city is very much built around the automobile. I passed shops advertising all the big US brands; Bloomingdales, Macy's and Walmart just to name a few. None of them accessible from the street. These were just signs advertising their parking garages. Craving a decent coffee Dr Google told me there was a cafe called Ali'i Coffee Co. with a 4.6 star rating near me. I ventured in and they even had a "flat white" on the menu, an unheard of indulgence in this part of the world. What can I say but the coffee was excellent. Many things have changed since my last visit here but the one change for the better is drinkable coffee.  

I headed across the Honolulu Lawn Bowls Club where the members were out in force readying themselves for todays play. I met with Randy who was preparing the green and Club President Tamy. We traded gifts and had a quick chat about the number of Aussies who had played at the Club over the years. There were Australian club flags displayed all over the clubhouse. Their four day barefoot bowls tournament in February is when things hot up and the international visitors roll in. After some pleasantries I made my escape and headed off to the Bishop Museum to check out their dinosaur exhibition. 

The Bishop Museum seems to play a significant part in curating Hawaii's heritage. A few people I spoke to seemed to imply that it had become too political. The fierce independent streak you see in many parts of the US is also to be found in Hawaii. The monarchy was essentially overthrown in the 1890's when it then became a state of America. Like Texas, Hawaii had been its own country and there is still some resentment about this still not being the case in parts of the indigenous population. However I wasn't here for the politics, I was here for the dinosaurs so I headed to the Castle Memorial Building and was swamped, firstly by kids and secondly by animatronic dinosaurs, all twisting and turning and waving their tales and roaring as I walked by. And that was just the kids. Along with the animated models they had digital sandboxes, fossils to unearth, specimens to analyse and a helicopter (?). Who knew I thought they were a much more recent invention. 

Anyway this was all very diverting and the kids (and quite a few of the adults) were having the time of their lives. However my body clock is still a little out of whack and my bed was calling for an afternoon nanna nap. Sweet dreams everybody. Tomorrow its time for the fun stuff, its out of bed at 5.30am. I'm off to Pearl Harbor to play with the big boy toys and do all the war buff stuff.  

Aloha.