We hit up the breakfast at the Voyager 47 lounge where I had a local coffee. Who am I? I don’t know! I also acquired some POG juice for good measure. The Voyager 47 lounge offered the usual breakfast staples like eggs and sausage and pastries, but there was a distinct lack of local delicacy — SPAM. Donut worry, there would be a remedy for this later on. After adequately digesting, I went off on my old running route that went around Diamond Head crater.
Now technically, I actually ran farther than my old running route because the Outrigger Reef is at the far end of Waikiki beach and my old apartment was situated closer to the middle. Anyway, you should all be super impressed by my 7.7 mile or so run. After my return, I had worked up a bit of an appetite, and a number of us went on a journey to 7-11 for some local style snacks. The closest one was about a 15 minute walk. Sadly, this is not that surprising because the average tourist isn’t really keen on local style snacks like spam musubi or manapuas. You want grindz in Waikiki, you gotta earn it, brah!
In addition to a classic spam musubi which I ate immediately, I also ended up getting a “Japanese-style” egg salad sandwich which was perhaps the best way to market such a beast. The egg salad sandwich is quite famous and popular in Japanese convenience stores. While the bread was soft and fluffy similar to the Japanese version, the mayo seemed all wrong. Japanese kewpie mayo is a light, somewhat sweet and tangy affair. This iteration seemed a bit too heavy with the mayo. I also got an indigo sando, which is another Japanese specialty — a sandwich made of strawberries and cream.
I flew with a first officer fairly recently who asked me what he should get for food in Japan, and I recommended convenience store ichigo sando, but I got a very odd look after I explained what it was. I think this is something you have to eat personally to appreciate. It’s really more of a cake than a sandwich because the Japanese style bread is so soft and airy. It was my snack between snacks. I will say, however, that the Japanese presentation of such a sandwich is superior. The American strawberries were a bit clunky in their appearance, but it still tasted good.
It wasn’t long before it was time to return the to the Voyager 47 lounge for pupus and drinks. The offerings were a bit different from the previous night and I tried a mai tai because one is supposed to do such things when on vacation in Hawaii. They probably go for $20 in the main bar areas, but to paraphrase George Michael in Wham!, “Club Voyager 47, drinks are free.” After the sun went down, I had to requisition Bran’s room to grab a few unobstructed photos of diamond head at dusk. Check.
Nicole and I then split a loco moco at one of the hotel’s other restaurants to supplement our pupus. Tomorrow we have rented vehicles to briefly escape the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. It does seem awfully crowded on the sidewalks sometimes. I honestly cannot remember if it was always like this, if it’s gotten worse, or if I just avoided walking around these parts and wouldn’t know one way or the other. More research tomorrow.
