Oahu, Hawaii: Pearl Harbour

When you don't have too many days off, you have a tendency to pack your vacation days with itineraries just to feel that the trip has been truly worth it. When I booked my Hawaii trip, I bought a Lonely Planet as a security blanket. Some people laugh me off when they find out I get a Lonely Planet everytime I go somewhere. They say most of it is outdated. It has helped me a lot in my travels so I'm sticking to it.

My holiday started in the right foot. An upgrade to business class is very much welcome! I suddenly felt Philippine Airlines is my PAL. I arrived in Oahu (after 9 hours flight) 5 hours before my friend Benj's arrival from LA. Before I flew in, I already knew I will not be able to leave my luggage at the airport due to security reasons. The lady at the customer service was very, very helpful. I am sure she would have taken my bag if she had been allowed to. She help me get a private company to hold my bag for $20 (that's $20 for 1-4 luggages, no discounts!). I thought it was worth it than sitting around for 5 hours.

Pearl Harbour

I took TheBus. It was a little late (they have a bus schedule here unlike Manila buses) but the security guy kept me busy until my bus arrived. The Hawaiians seem to be a bunch of friendly people! I simply told the driver I wanted to get off at Pearl Harbour and I was there in about 15-20 minutes. Apparently, you are not allowed to bring big bags here (some people have stolen things over the years, a pity really) so it had to be deposited on one side and I had to walk back to the entrance.

The Harbour is nothing like the movie really. I would say it, it was very manicured and organized. I quickly checked the memorial for the soldiers who have died defending America. I realized to get on any of the ships, I have to shell out some money. Since I do not know much about Pearl Harbour and WWII, I took the tour for USS Missouri.


Our tour guide Jim is a WWII veteran who knew what he was talking about. (Here, Jim was congratulating a navy officer who just got "leid"!)



So instead of just walking in and out of the boat, I got a better understanding of the boat. That it takes more than a hundred men to simply maneuver the big guns. That it takes about 3,000 men to run the boat. That there are less than 300 men trying to maintain it right now. That they used bullets bigger than this kid!

Jim took us inside the labyrinth of cabins.

But the most special place is what I would call the "war room". Here, decisions were made. Make or break!



After an hour or so, it was time to go back to the airport to meet Benj. I was just right on time to catch TheBus.