The Aqua Equus, 1696 Ala Moana Blvd, bills itself as a
boutique hotel. That's overstating things a little, but the
place is actually kind of nice, aside from the door lock
being a little wonky, and I thought it good value.

Two double beds (comfy), ten pillows, a good bathroom;
fairly spiffy wet bar right next to my bed with a fridge
and a separate freezer compartment that actually froze.

The water jets of the pool down on the ground floor are on
all night and are audible; one gets used to it.

No chest of drawers - I used the TV cabinet for that purpose
as it was empty (the TV being replaced by a 28" flatscreen).

I was a little flummoxed by the lack of wireless signal;
turns out the hotel uses a proprietary Motorola system
called Clearwire, and I had to get a modem from the front
desk. No big problem, and it seems to work okay.

As promised on the thread, I went to Snapper's at 7, to
find that it was in the midst of an identity transformation.
The old name is evident only on the dot-matrixed old menu
in the case out front, and most things are being rebranded
with the name Margaritas, which is just a tiny bit more
genteel, don't you know.

The ownership and staff are unchanged, and the dubious
quality of the free wi-fi as well.

lili came by shortly after I arrived; we had a good visit
accompanied by juicy burgers done a bit rare in the middle
- almost as good as I remembered, which was about the best
I've had outside the continental US. Longboard Ale was fine.

Truly, not a late night was a good idea, and we toddled
back to our respective hotels (across the street from each
other); I slept well until one of my committee chairs woke
me at 5 with a phone call for some request or other.

Continental breakfast here was perfectly satisfactory:
orange or guava juice, cut fruit with coconut haupia, and
sweet rolls made with ube.

I was slouching through Ala Moana Center, wondering whether
the roast pork made by Chinatown Express would compare to
that I had recently had elsewhere, when the phone weakly
announced a voicemail from lili to the effect of we're at
the Aquarium, where are you. Hightailed it out there, but
by the time I arrived, she and KLC were done; but it was
just about time for lunch, which we had at Teddy's Bigger
Burgers. The meat here isn't as good as I recall, and even
at its best last year it didn't compare with Snappers,
though the sauce is interesting and the buns are excellent.

We left KLC to deal with her airplane fatigue and took the
bus to Lyon Arboretum, up at the end of the Manoa line.

The arboretum is a quarter mile uphill, and on the way we
were waylaid by a sign for Manoa Falls, so we decided to try
for that. It's a lovely trail that goes from 4-wheel road to
trail to billy goat material. We proceeded on to this last
stage, but as it was sort of raining, and lili was wearing
flip-flops, we found it the better part of valor to abandon
the last short stage and return to the arboretum, which is
lovely even in the rain. We did get our waterfall, though:
Aihualama Falls is at the end of the track that forms the
backbone to the preserve. It's only about 25-30 ft high, but
- as with so much on this trip - it was very atmospheric.

Back again on the bus, and lili had time for a freshen up,
and I hit my hotel's manager's reception, where the
signature boozle was the kai leo (or lio kai?),
indistinguishable from a very weak mojito. I was flattered
to be cornered by a rather intense youngish brunette, who
turned out to be the general manager. We talked mild hotel
vs. tourist talk for a few minutes, and then it was time to
rush to the Hula Grill for sunset and dinner. lili and I
bussed it, and we were there just a few minutes after
sunset, if there had been a sunset.

Table 1
karenkay
sjl
InsidethePlane
halothane
KenfromDE +1
(someone else? sorry if I forgot you)

Table 2
lili
KLC
BondAir007
bk3day
Ripper3785
tednugent (no relation) (arrived late)
violist