Hawaiian Punch

Did you know that Filipinos make up the largest Asian group living in Hawaii? Some 198,000 Filipinos live there, and you have to wonder why. Could it be they’ve found another paradise right across the Pacific?

Sure, the Philippines is spoiled for natural beauty. No one can deny some of the world’s best beaches, marine biodiversity and topographical wonders are right here. But there are other tropical Edens to explore, and it may be worthwhile for Filipinos to check out the islands that make up America’s 50th state.

Philippine Airlines is hoping more Filipinos will do just that, and it’s offering tempting package tours to Honloulu, paired with attractive beachfront hotels and plenty of sightseeing — enough to make even locals stop and say “Ganda!” (Provided, of course, they can score a US tourist visa.)

PAL’s Swingaround Honolulu begins with a 10-hour flight to Hawaii from Manila, but you don’t really feel it, especially if you’re enjoying the in-flight meals prepared by gourmet chefs like Glenda Baretto and Myrna Segismundo. I thoroughly enjoyed my chicken binakol followed by beef medallions with feta cheese and settled in for the trip.

Hey, it’s the dude from Hawaii Five-0!: Statue of King Kamehameha, the only dynastic ruler of an American state.

After touching down at Honolulu Airport we hopped in a van supplied by Hawaiian Tourism Taiwan and toured the city, checking out the gold-leaf statue of old King Kamehameha (you’ve probably seen the dude in the opening credits of the new Hawaii Five-0), his family’s Iolani Palace, then on to the local Chinatown with its twin statues of Jose Rizal (bedecked in leis) and Sun Yat Sen, an early Chinese settler in Hawaii. In case you’re wondering, Japanese make up the second largest Asian group here, followed by the Chinese.

Our tour took us to Pearl Harbor next, which had a somber feel a few days after Sept. 11. But it was a sunny day, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial was scattered with Americans, US servicemen, families, Filipinos and Japanese tourists. On Dec. 7, 1941, some 350 Japanese fighter planes flew in low across the mountains to this harbor and dropped bombs on the US naval fleet. Submarines fired gas-powered torpedoes, further destroying the fleet. Some 1,402 Americans died and thousands more were injured in the sneak attack. Nine US ships were sunk, and the Americans shot down 29 Japanese planes. The highlight of the tour is a ferry visit to the USS Arizona memorial: the sunken battleship can be viewed through a glass platform below the water’s surface. Next to it is the USS Missouri, where Japanese foreign minister Shigemitsu later signed an unconditional surrender to the US, ending World War II. Also moving is a semicircular memorial wall near the harbor, bearing the names of all the victims in the attack.

Aloha Means Hello

‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky: Pali Lookout, which Jimi Hendrix wrote a song about.

By noon we approached Waikiki Beach and its spread of hotel resorts. (Cue: Hawaii Five-0 theme music.) The Hilton Hawaiian Village is one of the 5-star accommodations included in PAL’s Swingaround tours, which range from 3-star packages beginning at an affordable $590++ per person (airfare and two nights’ hotel stay included) to upper-market digs like the Hilton, the Marriott, the Hyatt Regency, the Outrigger and Sheraton. Hilton Hawaiian Village, with its seven themed towers, surfing lagoon and penguin habitat, is kind of a Honolulu institution; it also officially marks the beginning of Waikiki Beach. Rooms range from sweet singles overlooking the ocean to the fab Duke Suite at $2,000 plus a night.

PAL’s hotel offerings run the range from 3-star digs like the Aqua Maile Sky Court (two nights is $590++ for a twin, per person, including airfare) to popular mid-range stops like Waikiki Resort ($623++) where we learned a Philippine DOF group was staying for a pre-conference before APEC’s November meet here. (We breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t booked themselves into the most expensive resort in Waikiki.)

Waikiki Resort director of sales Loren Shim says the Korean-owned hotel with 275 rooms gets lots of Korean tourists (obviously), but also more Filipinos lately. “It’s priced right for Filipino tourists. We’d heard that Filipinos always stay with relatives when visiting Hawaii, but a number have been booking with us. So we’ve started a nice relationship with the Philippines Consulate here.” There’s also free lobby Wi-Fi and children under 17 stay for free.

Japanese Iron Chef Morimoto's hip restaurant at The Modern Honolulu offers dockside breakfast: try the Macadamia Pancakes or Japanese Yose Dofu with grilled cod, tamago and house-made tofu.

One of the developers giving a facelift to New Honolulu is Aqua Resorts, which has some 125 properties in development or renovation, updating the look of this iconic city from old Hawaii Five-O to “Hawaii 2.0.” They recently took over the management of Waikiki Edition, an eye-catching Ian Schrager-designed boutique hotel, now renamed The Modern Honolulu. Its restaurant features celebrity Iron Chef Morimoto (for dockside breakfast try his Macadamia Pancakes or the Japanese Yose Dofu with grilled cod, tamago and house-made warm tofu), along with clever little touches like ukuleles as décor in each room and a lobby bookcase that swivels open to reveal a hidden bar and nightclub.

And… Action!

Besides great beaches, Hawaii has plenty of unique tour packages, such as a day visit to the Kualoa Ranch along the northeast coast of O’ahu. It’s a breathtaking 4,000-acre spread that will seem instantly familiar to TV and movie fans, because it’s where shows like Fantasy Island and Lost and movies like Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, Pearl Harbor and Windtalkers were filmed. In addition to its exclusive Secret Island beachfront, visit a WWII bunker housing a submarine from Lost or take a souvenir shot on Hurley’s Golf Course from that iconic TV series (though unfortunately, I didn’t get to climb down The Hatch; must be on another island).

It takes a village: 5-star Hilton Hawaiian Village is located at the start of Waikiki Beach.

Kualoa Ranch passed into the hands of current kin John and David Morgan from their great-great-grandfather Dr. Gerrit Judd, a mainlander who relocated to Hawaii in the 1800s, impressed King Kamehameha by providing medical treatment to the locals, and was allowed to purchase the whole ranch spread for a mere $1,500. (Must have been a princely sum in those days.) To their credit, the Morgans have not turned the beautiful location into resort hotels or condos, which might have been more profitable, but rather maintain it as a natural preserve — albeit one where Hollywood crews frequently come to blow things up. “The crews are actually very professional and they replant everything that gets blown up during explosion scenes, it’s in their contract,” says company president John Morgan, who’s impressed by Hollywood’s efficiency. “A lot of times, they’re in and out in a day.” These days, lucky tourists can spot actors filming the current TV show Hawaii Five-O.

Lei, Lady, Lei

Further north, there’s the Polynesian Cultural Center, for a taste of the other island cultures surrounding Hawaii. Take a boat cruise around seven different “villages,” learn to climb a pineapple tree, find out where surfing originated (Tahiti), take ukulele lessons or hear all about the hula. (Hint: it’s not just grass skirt dancing, but an oral history of the islands told through gestures and song.) We watched a hula presentation by a Hawaiian-born instructor whose standup act took visitors through pre-colonial greetings all the way to Don Ho’s Pearly Shells. If nothing else, visitors to the Polynesian Cultural Center will learn to say “Aloha” (meaning “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Peace,” “Love” and everything in between) and master the shaka or “hang loose” hand gesture — which legend has it mimics the fingers wrapped around a lei, with thumb and pinkie spread wide to place it around a visitor’s neck.

Jose Rizal gets his own spot in Honolulu’s Chinatown.

I couldn’t help noticing that Hawaii has mastered what I would call “Aloha branding.” Every place you visit, whenever you encounter a service or tourism person, they hit you with an “Aloha” and a “hang loose” gesture. Every. Single. Time. This may seem a little corny or repetitious to some, but note how it reinforces the brand: every visitor comes away from even the briefest stay in Hawaii imbibing the laidback attitude and spirit of the place. A great deal of the marketing for this tourist state is incorporated into a single word or hand signal. Sure, Hawaii’s culture is thus reduced to a surf cliché, but see how it bolsters a cohesive tourism image? Where is the Philippines’ single hand gesture? How can it get “Mabuhay” stuck in people’s minds?

We spent the evening at Jimmy Buffet’s Beachcomber in downtown Waikiki watching the Magic of Polynesia dinner show by illusionist Japanese-American John Hirokawa, who made helicopters and racecars levitate and disappear onstage, in between deadpan comedy patter with audience members from China, Japan, Australia, Korea and the US mainland and feats of fire twirling. Our transport was arranged by Howard’s Tours, which also booked us on the Ali’I Kai Dinner Cruise the night before. While our Filipino group lined up for the all-you-can-eat buffet, the real fun of the cruise is the stunning sunset as you drift toward Diamond Head (an extinct volcano), and the dance contest that brings the night to a raucous end. “I’ve never seen Chinese tourists get up and dance like that,” marveled our Hawaiian Tours Taiwan liaison, Kelly Lai. Yup, there were sexagenarian Chinese getting up and doing the bump and grind with our hula-clad hostesses, who also doubled as bus guides. It helped that the music was hipper than the usual traditional luau music, a recipe that tired Philippine attractions like the Loboc River Cruise in Bohol might want to consider adopting.

Polynesian Cultural Village brings you closer to Hawaii’s surrounding island cultures.

Aloha Means Goodbye

We weren’t done with O’ahu, not by a long shot. Our last days were spent at the Marriott Waikiki Beach (part of the PAL package at $718++ for a twin room), roaming the local shops — not just the ubiquitous ABC stores, but the downtown Ward Center, where communications manager Sean Morris took us around the best of homegrown Hawaiian shopping. Everything from wooden watches, surfboards and sunglasses made of termite-proof koa (Martin & MacArthur) to psychic readings, hip Oprah-endorsed curios (Red Pineapple), and awesome cookies (Honolulu Cookie Company). We had an “Obama Burger” at Kua ‘Aina (the Hawaii-born US President favors a big slab of beef with red onions and melted cheddar), checked out a 400 XL size Hawaiian shirt at famous local fashion outlet Hilo Hattie, then visited Waikele Premium Outlet for a spot of pasalubong shopping among the A/X Armani, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Barney’s New York outlets. Dinner was at a Hello Kitty-themed seafood buffet back in Honolulu called Makittii, a (not-so-surprising) hit with Asian tourists here, according to Hawaii Tourism Taiwan director Jemy See.

Jurassic Park was the movie that first put Kualoa Ranch on Hollywood’s location map.

We had breakfast at one of O’ahu’s most exclusive hideaways, Kahala Resort (alas, not part of PAL’s Swingaround Honolulu package) and explored its luxurious suites, where every US president since Lyndon Johnson has stayed, not to mention the Emperor and Empress of Japan and countless state dignitaries. We checked out the suite where George Clooney chilled out for a few months and gawped at the “celebrity wall” that included photos of everyone from Anthony Hopkins and Bon Jovi to George Lucas and Puff Daddy draped in leis. Ever see Richard Nixon in a lei? You’ll see it at the Kahala.

Our tour wound down at Hanauma Bay, climbing the coast of O’ahu where we took in the famous “Blow Hole,” an area of spectacular waves slapping the shore, causing a mist-like spray to rises up from the rocks. Our group then headed into Pali Gap’s winding mountain roads to gaze upon yet another mind-bending display of nature’s beauty. As the wind whistled a Hawaiian greeting through the balmy air, I thought about Jimi Hendrix, who played a concert on Maui’s Haleakala Crater in ’69 shortly before his death and wrote a song about this very spot.

Nothing like Hawaii to remind you you’re on the third stone from the sun.  

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On the Pearl Harbor Tour, visit the USS Arizona Memorial site.

Fly PAL now and Swingaround your way to Honolulu. PAL’s Swingaround Honolulu package is valid until Dec. 18, 2011

for as low as USD590++ per person (based on twin-sharing accommodation and subject to change without prior notice. Seats subject to availability; surcharges, fees, taxes and restrictions apply).

The package includes:

• Round-trip fiesta class airfare

• Airport-hotel-airport seat-in coach transfers

• 2 nights hotel accommodation

• Pearl Harbor & City Tour on Day 2

• Daily breakfast for 2 persons per room in selected hotels

For bookings and inquiries, call PAL Reservations. In Manila: (02) 855-8888; Cebu: (032) 340-0191; Davao:  (082) 222-0366; or call your travel agent.

For more info on tours visit:

www.hiltonhawaiianvillage.com; www.robertshawaii.com/oahu/alii-kai-dinner-cruise.php; www.kualoa.com; www.polynesia.com; www.magicofpolynesia.com; www.editionhotels.com; www.marriottwaikiki.com; www.aquaresorts.com; www.kahalaresort.com.

The “Obama Burger” at Kua ‘Aina: The Hawaii-born US President favors a big slab of beef with red onions and melted cheddar.