Royal Aloha Waikiki

Monday, 9/2/19 Labor Day

Today was moving day again. We were scheduled to start our week in the Royal Aloha Waikiki condo, so this morning I called the number on the reservation form to see what time we could check in. The recording said the office was closed for the holiday so please call back tomorrow.

A twinge of panic crossed my mind because the reservation was pretty straight forward about today being check-in day, with no mention of prior coordination due to the holiday. I called my exchange service Dial an Exchange (DAE) to see if they had any special instructions on file. Another recording. DAE was closed too.

 I figured that if we couldn't move to the condo I could reserve another night at the Hale Koa. But first, since it was early in the day, I decided to walk the mile or so to the condo office to see if they had a sign posted giving check-in instructions for those who were to come in today.

Arriving at the office, I was relieved to see it was open. Only the main office was closed. I popped in and asked about check in. "No problem," I was told, "if you leave your phone number, I'll call when your unit is ready."

Walked back to the hotel and told Ikuko the good news, then we decided to walk down the street to have lunch at Nakamura's famous ramen shop.

The large black letters across the top of the window say, "okusuteru" (oxtail)
with "ramen" below that.

Oxtail ramen is their specialty. I've had it before and it is good. But today I worked up a sweat walking back and forth so I ordered "hiyashi chuka" (cold ramen), and it hit the spot. Good flavor but cold. Ikuko ordered the Hakata ramen. She enjoyed a taste of her childhood home. We also shared a six-piece order of gyoza (pot stickers) which were tasty. Other diners were enjoying their ramen as well.

Lots of slurping as people enjoy those good noodles.

There are only 24 seats in the shop and their is usually a waiting line. Today we got there about 1315 and had to wait about 20 minutes to get seats. Being so popular, they have the luxury of taking cash only in payment. There are several signs saying, "No credit cards. US Dollars, Japanese Yen or traveler's checks of $100 or less only."

Even with the signs, while we were eating I saw what looked like an older Japanese man come back in the door and hand the waitress some dollars. They must have trusted him to go get some money from an ATM. 

Back to the Hale Koa, we killed some time waiting for the 1600 check-in time. I took a couple parting shots of the nice grounds.

A breadfruit tree with young breadfruits.

The mature plantings in the hotel gardens are quite attractive.

A Spider Lily in full bloom.

As it came close to the time to check in, I walked back over to the condo office, checked in then walked back to get luggage and Ikuko and I took a taxi with bags to our new digs. This condo turned out to have been recently remodeled so, with a happy wife, I helped get things settled.

King bed with large walk-in closet around to the left.

Remodeled kitchen was appealing.

Living room with large screen TV and hide-a-bed for a second couple. if necessary.

After having a late, and substantial, lunch at Nakamura's, we decided to pass on dinner and go out for breakfast in the morning. 

My Pacer app said I walked 7.8 miles today so I was ready for bed even earlier than usual.