My flight to Honolulu was a morning Wednesday flight out of San Diego International Airport. So I had my friend drop me off at the Irvine train station to take an Amtrak train down to San Diego after work. The train ride was nice, relaxing, and only took about 2 hrs to make it down to Downtown San Diego. From the Santa Fe Train Depot, I made the short work over to my hotel located in Little Italy. It was called Urban Boutique Hotel.
After checking into my room and dropping off my bags, I walked over to a nearby ramen shop called, Underbelly, to eat dinner. I sat at the bar and ordered their crispy chicken wings and the Belly of the Beast ramen. I got the wings based on the recommendation of the bartender. They were okay, but not as spectacular as he made them out to be. I wouldn't get them again. The ramen was actually a very decent bowl of ramen. I thought it was a good change of pace from the typical Japanese style tonkotsu ramen that I've eaten numerous times. This place really reminded me of the Lucky Belly in Chinatown Honolulu. Perhaps they're affiliated in one way or another. They both have the same hipster vibe. It was a good prelude to my annual foodie trip to Honolulu.
Christmas time in Little Italy
Crispy chicken wings
Belly of the Beast ramen
After getting back to my room, it took a while for me to figure out how to turn on the TV. You had to turn on the TV, make sure it was on the correct HDMI input, and turn on the cable box. I watched a little bit of mindless WWE Smackdown before going to sleep. It was like soap opera for men. :)
Hard to figure out TV
Orton is with the Wyatt family now?
Wednesday 12/7
In the morning I checked out and decided to walk over to the airport. The sun was out and it got a bit warm carrying my bags, so I showed up super sweaty while going through the TSA security check. Apparently their scanning machine doesn't like cargo pockets and sweaty people. The TSA agent that needed to check me had to change his gloves after he was done with me. Next time I will request a Lyft ride.
For this flight, I had a window seat. I spent most of the time alternating between taking naps and watching the free Hawaiian Skies inbound feature video on the small screen in front of me. Their features are always very educational and interesting. I learned about the Hokulea and surfing Pe'ahi on Maui among other things.
Hokulea
Surfing Pe'ahi (Jaws)
A couple of hours into the flight we were served some snacks and choice of drinks. Then about halfway through the flight, we were served an inflight lunch. Hawaiian Airlines is proud to be an airline that still serves a complimentary meal on their domestic flights. They're usually pretty decent food.
Snacks and drinks
Inflight lunch
Almost there!
I arrived in Honolulu at about 3 pm local time. I took the bus into Waikiki for $2.50. The bus not only took me into Waikiki, it pretty much dropped me off right in front of the timeshare condo, the Kuhio Banyan Club, the place where I was staying for the duration of my trip. I checked in at the front desk where I paid the security deposit, got my room keys, and the TV remote. This time I was on the 4th floor. I unpacked while watching The Dark Knight.
Waiting for the bus into Waikiki
Awesome view from my room! :)
Staying at the usual timeshare condo
The Dark Knight
At about 5:30 pm, I walked over to the nearby Kings Village to eat paella at Pindan Foods with a fellow Marathon Maniac and Elite Yelper. I was there early, so I bought some drinks at the ABC Store just across the street. We were supposed to meet up at about 5:45 pm, but my friend took the bus and was stuck in traffic. There was a lot of traffic from the Pearl Harbor anniversary parade and other remembrance events in Waikiki. Once he arrived, we each ordered a portion of paella for $11 cash. It was good paella, but the portion was small. After I was done, I walked back to my condo to call it a night and get some rest.
Root Beer
Paella
Thursday 12/8
In the morning, I watched one of my favorite movies with Rachel McAdams called, About Time. The main character had the ability to time travel to change things that had happened in his life. One of those things was to get Mary (Rachel McAdams) to fall in love with him. After that I got ready and went to the expo at the Hawaii Convention Center to pick up my bibs.
Rachel McAdams in About Time
Mele kalikimaka!
They had a couple of signs up showing the post marathon schedule as well as a change to the location of the finisher certificate distribution. They won't be distributed at the Kapiolani Park this year. Instead it would be at the Hawaii Convention Center, room 313. That's a great change since they won't have to deal with the muddy ground at the park, setting up tents, or with the weather if it doesn't cooperate.
Post marathon schedule
New finisher certificate pick-up location
The pick up process was pretty much the same as the prior years that I've run this race. The only thing that changed was that this time I had to pick up another bib and shirt for the inaugural Kalakaua Merrie Mile race. After that I picked up my marathon bib and proceeded into the official merchandise area. I thought about buying a new bag or visor, but ended up not buying anything this year.
Merrie Mile bib pick-up
Marathon bib pick-up
Nice name!
Then I went through the rest of the expo to check out all of the vendor booths. Most of the same vendors were there and heavily geared towards the runners coming in from Japan. Even though they continue to use the same venue, the expo continues to shrink in size. I took a photo with a nice backdrop predicting that my finishing time would be about 5 hrs. Next I stopped by the graffiti wall to sign my name. It was still pretty clean since the expo had just opened. I signed my name by his butt cheek to signify that I would be pulling up the rear. :) Then finally before leaving the expo, I stopped by the Zippy's booth to eat a sample of their chili rice. Good to see them there as they haven't been giving out samples in the last few years.
Time goal
Graffiti wall
Pulling up the rear
Zippy's
Free sample of Zippy's chili is back!
After I was done with the expo, I walked over to the nearby Walmart to buy a bag of Kona coffee to bring home for my coworkers. While looking for coffee I found some Spam flavored macadamia nuts. I like Spam, but that does not sound like a good combination or else I'd buy it and give it a try. I picked up a couple of bananas while I was there.
Spam flavored macadamia nuts?
Lion Coffee
I then walked down Piikoi St and stopped in at Foodland Farms to check things out. It was a nice clean supermarket, however it did not have the Asian food and snacks that I like that are available at Don Quijote. They do have prepared food such as musubi, sushi, and poké. I probably would buy some on my next trip. Click here for a layout of the supermarket.
For an early lunch, I decided to eat at HI Steaks in the seating area of Foodland Farms. I ordered their Hawaiian smoked meats combo with Asian potato and a scoop of rice with furikake. The meat was served over rice and it was just the way that I like it. Everything tasted good. This was something that I could eat every day.
Hawaiian smoked meats
Since it was right across the way, I checked out the Shirokiya Japan Walk. There were a ton of food stands all with different kinds of food! I then walked over to the Ward Center to check out the movie times at Consolidated Theatres. I couldn't squeeze in a movie before meeting up with my local friends for lunch, so I walked back to the Shirokiya Japan Walk to wait until our meeting time.
So many different food stands!
When my friends showed up, we decided to eat at Gashoken where I ordered their shiro ramen and added ajitama (soft boiled egg). They had an opening special with an extra half order of noodles added to your bowl for free. This was a good bowl of ramen. The char siu (sliced roast pork) tasted different and so was the texture, it was nothing like what I've eaten at other ramen shops.
Gashoken
Shiro Ramen
After the late lunch, I walked back to the movie theater and watched Arrival in one of the 21+ theaters where you can drink alcohol and the seats were recliner seats. Even though I wasn't drinking, it was nice to sit in those comfortable seats and not have to deal with annoying teenagers thinking that they're so cool with their stupid comments during the movie. Sometimes I feel like I'm already starting to become a crotchety old man! :)
Friday 12/9
It had been raining on and off since I got to Honolulu, but that never bothered me since I hardly ever visit the beach. Instead I planned to watch another movie, this time it would be Moana. Before heading to the movie theater, I stopped by the Shirokiya Japan Walk again to eat an early lunch.
I ended up eating at Chanpontei since they were heavily promoting their stand for their grand opening. I ordered their Chanpon Gold and added a seasoned egg. They advised me to add vinegar a little at a time until it tasted to my liking. I'm not sure what causes it, but I usually have to deal with what I believe is traveler's diarrhea the first couple of days whenever I come to Honolulu. I was hoping that the vinegar would help settle things down. Their delicious light broth is made from a blend of seven types of seafood such as bonito, mackerel, and kombu. Along with small pieces of pork was a lot of vegetables. It was good and everything was all in my tummy before I knew it!
Chanpontei
Chanpon Gold added seasoned egg
Moana was a nice, funny, and entertaining movie that we've all come to love from a Disney produced film. I thought I was going to enjoy the movie in a quiet almost empty theater, however a few minutes before the start of the movie previews, the two rows in front of me was filled with boisterous little kids. For the most part they were all well behaved especially once they got their food and snacks in front of them. :) Even though it was just his voice, the Rock was pretty good with his style of humor as the character, Maui.
Moana
On my way back to my room, I stopped by Shirokiya Japan Walk yet again to pick up some food for dinner. Did I already mention that I love this place? Since I was having GI issues, I wanted to stick to simple foods until it completely clears up. I picked up a few Spam musubis at Musubi Cafe Iyasume to take back to my room. The three that I got were avocado bacon egg Spam, egg Spam, and shiso herb Spam. I also stopped in the ABC Store across my place to pick up water and some snacks for the night.
Musubi Cafe Iyasume
Back at my room, I enjoyed eating the musubis and the macadamia popcorn crunch while watching the Star Wars Marathon on TNT. I believe they were playing all of the Star Wars movies nonstop in preparation for the upcoming Rogue One movie. While relaxing and watching these movies, I got my clothes ready for tomorrow's one mile race.
I love the Kalakaua Merrie Mile shirt!
Flat runner
"The Force is with you, but you are not a jedi yet!"
Saturday 12/10
The instructions for the inaugural Kalakaua Merrie Mile recommended that we get to the starting area a 6 am for the race that would start at 7 am. I got there, warmed up a little, and waited in the corral by 6:30 am. I made sure to stretch the right IT band as the race was only a mile and it needed to be ready to go from the beginning. The race organizers were trying to get all of us to do warm-ups to Radio Taiso, which was something very familiar for the Japanese runners.
The race started and immediately I was trapped behind 3 Japanese ladies intending to run at about a 8 min/mile pace. After I was finally able to squeeze through a gap, I was able to get into a higher gear. I pushed at about a 6:15 - 6:30 min/mile pace to the turnaround, which was about the halfway mark. It was pretty dang humid, so my head was starting to throb and I was sweating way too much. I decided to slow down a tad and cruised to the finish line.
Finish: 6:55
Click here for my Garmin data.
My goal was to run about a 7 minute mile. I wanted to run fast, but not too fast as to hurt my hip or another body part. It felt really good to be moving a little faster. After I got a medal, I walked through the finisher chute and was given a ton of post race snacks and drink. It was way too much for a one mile race. I waited for and bumped into a couple of my friends from Las Vegas. We talked a bit before going our separate ways. I walked over to the halfway mark to watch the elite race. Man, they were flying! The women were given a head start. Even so, a male runner was able to overtake the women just a little bit after the halfway mark and cross the finish line first.
Medal
Post run goodies
I got back to my room to take another shower before heading back out to the Shirokiya Japan Walk to pick up some snacks before heading over to the movie theater. This time I got 4 musubis from Musubi Cafe Iyasume. I had a Yelp check-in deal good for buy 3, get 1 free. I wanted to watch Allied or Dr. Strange, but I ended up watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them because it had the least amount of wait time before the next showing. I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books, but I was never really fond of any of the movie adaptations. This one was no different. They try to impress you with CGI and movie magic. Only I'm not interested in visual effects, I'm more interested in the story, dialogue, and substance. So I fell asleep during the early part of the movie. It was pretty much the same old Harry Potter type message, just the location was now in the United States. I would not recommend this movie. Just read the book and use your imagination!
On my way back to my room, I decided to stop at... where else? Shirokiya Japan Walk! :) I went back to Gashoken again. This time to eat their midori ramen. Again, I ordered it with the extra noodles added. The flavors were different, a strange combination for ramen. The best way that I can describe it was that it was not a typical bowl of Asian ramen. Not bad, definitely unique but it wasn't something that I would order again.
Midori Ramen
After relaxing a bit in my room, I started gathering my running gear and nutrition to make sure that I had brought everything that I needed for tomorrow's marathon.
Marathon flat runner
For dinner, I walked over to the nearby McDonald's to pick up my customary pre-race meal. I was hoping that they had some taro pie, but they only had the haupia pie. Too bad I'm not too fond of coconut. They did however have the McRib sandwich! I ordered the McRib combo and a Quarter Pounder Deluxe. I took it back to my room to enjoy.
Quarter Pounder Deluxe and the McRib!
Sunday 12/11
I got up pretty early to get ready for the race. The movie, He's Just Not That Into You, was on. I watched that as I ate my breakfast and got ready. It was so early that there was a bird sleeping on a branch just outside my door. It didn't even wake up when I shut my room door. As soon as I took the stairs down to the streets, it was only the party people that were out and about. I had to hurry along or else they will inevitably start hassling me.
He's Just Not That Into You!
Sleeping bird
I walked over to the nearby Holiday Inn hotel to walk a couple of Marathon Maniacs over to the zoo to catch the bus to the start. They were both running the Honolulu Marathon for the first time. We timed it perfectly as we got on one of the luxury motorcoaches instead of the tiny orange school buses. Once we were dropped off, I showed them the ropes, by taking them to the beach restrooms, so that they could use real toilets and wouldn't have to deal with the long lines at the portapotties.
Showing a couple of Honolulu Marathon newbies the ropes
A trio of Disneyland legacy runners
After using the restrooms and 4:30 am approached, we made our way over to the nearby tennis courts for the Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo. We all went our separate ways after the photo. I made my way to the starting line as I didn't want to be stuck behind walkers and people stopping to take pictures of the fireworks.
Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo
Start line
First Half:
The race started promptly at 5 am shortly after the wheelchair athletes were released. I was pleased to be able to move relatively okay from the very first mile. I ran fast enough to see one of my faster friends. We ran a little bit together until we got to about the 5k mark. I took a quick walk break as the humidity was starting to get to me. I eased up on the pace as planned. A couple of my local friends caught up to me as we ran by Ala Moana Center. Even though I eased up on the pace, my head was starting to throb again. I started taking water at the aid stations and poured it on my head. For the next few miles I focused on just moving at a comfortable pace and not caring about the current pace on my watch as I made my way through Waikiki along Kalakaua Ave. As I approached the Kapiolani Zoo, the course turned left onto Monsarrat Ave towards the 10k mark. This is one of my favorite sections of the course as we start heading towards the climb up Diamond Head Rd. The climb is followed by a couple of good downhills on 18th Ave and Kilauea Ave. This would take us to the Kalanianaole Hwy. As usual they passed out PowerBar Gels before getting on the highway. I was surprised to find myself feeling pretty good reaching the halfway mark.
Second Half:
My second favorite part of the course is the left turn on Hawaii Kai Dr at about 15.5 miles. It's about a 2.5 mile beautiful loop around Hawaii Kai. After the loop, we hop back on the Kalanianaole Hwy where every step will take you closer to the finish line. I like the out and back nature of this course. I get to see my friends that are behind me.
Heading for the finish line
It's Don!
It was pretty cool that a couple of my local friends spotted me again near the same area as last year as I approached mile 22. Like most years, the sun is out in full force by this time, so my pace slowed a bit. I was leapfrogging with a guy dressed up in a Pikachu onesie. I don't know how they do it! Then it was the 1 mile climb back up Diamond Head Rd. The majority of the last mile would be a downhill path to the finish line.
Finish line
Finish: 4:43:36
Click here for my Garmin data.
Except for the Lincoln Marathon back in May, I had not come close to breaking 5 hrs in the marathon all year! So I was surprised with what my legs were able to give me today. To my surprise, I had finished about a minute in front of my local friend that passed me earlier at Ala Moana. He was having knee issues. We got our shell necklaces and finisher medals. The medal was pretty big and had a little weight to it! After exchanging stories and congratulating each other, I made my way over to collect my finisher's shirt.
Finisher medal side 1
Finisher medal side 2
Finisher shirt front side
Finisher shirt back side
After getting my shirt, I made my way over to get some bananas and malasadas! They've been passing these malasadas out for the last several years and this was my first time taking one. Normally I can't stomach much after running a marathon, but today was an exception. I was famished! I used a portapotty before heading back to my room.
Malasadas!
After getting cleaned up, I made the walk back to the Shirokiya Japan Walk to eat lunch with one of my local friends. He was also a fellow Disneyland legacy runner. I settled with eating a beef steak bento from Steakhouse Pineapple. The menu pictures looked way better, but I guess I shouldn't expect too much as it was only about $10.
Steakhouse Pineapple
Beef steak bento
After we were done talking about our races and what we have in store for the upcoming year, he gave me a ride back to my room. Before heading up to my room, I stopped in the ABC Store to buy some water and pineapple juice. I always try to hydrate as much as possible after running a marathon. Dehydration is your enemy! :)
I would proceed to lounge for the rest of the day in my room, watching whatever was on TV. For dinner, I rolled outside to find what I can eat without having to walk too far. The line for Marukame Udon was long as usual, so I walked across the street to check out the newly remodeled fancy International Market Place. They had several higher end restaurants up on the third floor.
Since I wasn't in the mood for spending too much money on dinner, I settled with eating at Marukame Udon. The line overlapped in an out and back fashion. The line is always long, but not to worry, it always moves fairly quickly. It's a nice spot to eat at especially if you're by yourself. If you have a bigger group, most likely you will have to be lucky in finding an empty table or end up splitting up your group. When it was my turn to order, I got the nikutama udon along with a couple of shrimp and sausage tempura as well as a spam musubi. The sausages were new and were pretty gross. I would not get them again.
Nikutama Udon
Monday 12/12
Since the finisher certificates were being passed out starting at 9 am, I got up fairly early, got ready, and packed up my bags for my trip home. I grabbed the TV remote and went downstairs to check out. Can't checkout without returning the TV remote! During checkout, I had to pay the $15 per day resort fee. It was a total waste on me since I didn't use any of their beach equipment.
I then made my way over to the Hawaii Convention Center. I didn't get there right at 9 am, so there was a large stream of people coming down the escalator, leaving as I got there. There was no line or wait for me to pick up my finisher certificate. I had to swim through the merchandise area as I tried to exit the hall. At the exit, I got a copy of the race newspaper which had the finishing times of each participant. Then I came up to a long line of people waiting to meet the male and female winners of the marathon. I didn't wait in the line, but I was still able to take a picture of them as I walked past them.
Finisher certificate
Winners: Lawrence Cherono 2:09:37 and Brigid Kosgei 2:31:10
After taking a short break while checking on the bus schedule, I walked back yet again to Shirokiya Japan Walk one last time to eat a meal before heading to the airport to catch my flight home. This time, I checked out Mazesoba Onoya. I ordered the Taiwan mazesoba and added 3 pieces of gyoza for an extra $2. Once my bowl was ready, I just had to mix it all nice and good, then eat! It was pretty dang good! It was definitely a nice change of pace from eating the usual tonkotsu ramen or udon that has been getting rather plentiful in Honolulu. The gyozas were some of the best tasting that I've eaten. This was one of my favorite stands at the Shirokiya Japan Walk.
Mazesoba Onoya
Taiwan mazesoba and gyoza
After finishing my meal, I used the restroom before heading over to the bus stop. I thought that the restrooms signs were a bit stereotypical with their idea of a male and female especially with the hyper politically correctness of our society these days. It was a bit warm outside while waiting for the bus. The bus for the airport was late and quite full when it arrived. Please kokua! The bus driver kept making sure that the people that were standing in the aisle kept moving all the way to the back to make room for more passengers. It wasn't until we were close to the airport where I was finally able to sit in a seat. I guess I could've just gotten a Lyft ride, but it was a good way to save money at $2.50 a ride.
Geisha or Samurai?
Once I got inside the check-in area, I noticed that the airport looked a lot nicer than years past. I was there pretty early for my flight, so I took the time to finish drinking my water. After I was done with my water, I got in the long line to get through the TSA security check. I have to say that I hate certain aspects of traveling. Some people from other cultures have no sense of personal space. The guy behind me kept bumping into me even after I gave him the stink eye. Dude, what is your problem?
Once I got through TSA as well as the agricultural check, I waited at my gate by one of the few power outlets to charge my phone. I quickly noticed that my plane had the Raiders emblem on the side. Seriously, what the heck? Why would you have a Raiders emblem on a plane heading for San Diego? :) While waiting, I got to meet and make a new friend who happened to also be a Marathon Maniac.
Raider plane heading back to San Diego?
During the flight, I sat in an aisle seat in the middle row. The other seats were occupied by teenage girls. Man, they were really into taking selfies during the entire flight. Is that what kids do these days? I spent most of the trip alternating between taking naps and watching the complimentary Hawaiian Skies outbound feature video. This time I learned a bit about the Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships as well as Hawaiian Extreme Sports. We got an inflight dinner which I inhaled. I'm one of those few people that likes airplane food. :)
Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships
Hawaiian Extreme Sports
Inflight dinner
The local time was about 11 pm when we landed. I thought about taking the bus to my hotel, but I was tired and it was late. So I looked for the Lyft pick-up location which was up on the departure level. They had signs directing people to the location. It looked like there were way more Uber drivers than Lyft drivers. It took a while for my driver to show up and he was quite talkative. He asked me what I thought about professional athletes using banned substances. :)
Finding the Lyft pick-up spot
I checked into the same hotel, Urban Boutique Hotel, in Little Italy. This time I was given a room on the 4th floor. The room wasn't quite the same, but it had pretty much the same amenities. I was pretty tired, so I set my alarms and went to sleep shortly since I had an early train to catch tomorrow morning.
Tuesday 12/13
I checked out early in the morning and walked over to the Santa Fe Depot to catch the Amtrak train up to Irvine to go into work. They didn't announce which track my train was on. Turned out that I was supposed to wait in a line by the depot. Fortunately there was an employee driving a cart that told me which train to get on.
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