Hawaii Day Four – Aloha Tower

We went to the Aloha Tower today. It’s supposedly ten storey high, the tallest in its time. It does look quite stately. Ten storey isn’t very high at all by today’s standards. But it’s plenty high enough if you want to go up and find that the elevators aren’t working. That’s what happened to us. As we were contemplating whether it would be worth our while to climb up the stairs, we noticed that the stairs were also sealed off. It was then that we realised that the tower was basically closed till some time in January due to renovations work.

It’s a little disappointing that many things seem to be closed. For example, the Maritime Museum that we planned to go to was also closed for a long period of time. Its seems the whole Aloha Tower area might have become a little side-stepped. There were also vacant shop units.

Lunch was at this Japanese restaurant Makino Chaya, which serves a big buffet spread of Japanese foods. It’s something like only just $13.99 for weekday lunch, 50% off for not so young kids, 75% off for younger kids, and free for kids as young as Vanessa (sorry, I forgot the “cut off” for determining which level of discounts you get). It’s quite good value. The food is actually not terribly fantastic, although there certainly are some nice items. There’s no sashimi, something I’d have sort of expected. You get free-flow fountain drinks for about another $2 each. If you’re there in a family with young kids, you’ll get plenty to eat for quite cheap.

We also made a stop at the Ala Moana Shopping Center later in the day. It’s a reasonably large mall, with the major stores like Nordstrom, Macy’s and Sears represented. Yes, there’a also an Apple Store, something I tend to look out for nowadays. I ran around to check some prices so to prepare for shopping at the Premium Outlets later in the week (or next). It wasn’t easy shopping around when you’re carrying 14+ kg of weight (i.e. Vanessa), but I managed to get around.

Earlier in the day, we brought the kids to a nearby playground (i.e. nearby to where we stay). It’s a public playground, nothing fancy. I suppose for the kids, just throw them a few slides and obstacles to climb around (on, under, over, etc), it’s enough for them to have fun.