Walking In Waikiki with Cloudia Charters -"Cookies at Shangrila "

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Walking In Waikiki with Cloudia Charters -"Cookies at Shangrila "
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Courtesy of Cloudia Charters Author of Aloha Where You Like To Go?

Walking in Waikiki
with Cloudia Charters
Cookies at Shangrila

How do you get to Shangrila? You can't just drive there. Even if you knew the way, there's no parking outside the tall, anonymous iron gate. So we lucky few waited behind Diamond Head in the parking lot of Kapiolani Community College. There a friendly guard checked our names off of a clip board list and told us the bus would be along directly. A magical mystery bus? The Cat Bus? No, just a normal smallish tour bus. We drove `round the venerable crater to the choice Makai (ocean) side, and turned into a normal looking street that I've driven past without a glance for twenty years. But that was before I knew that one of the most celebrated women of the 20th Century, Doris Duke, had created the jewel of her world-spanning collection of 5 mansions in this choicest of legendary locations. Welcome to Shangrila! Well away from the street, the houses entrance is a blank and impassive white wall fronting a quiet banyan tree. The simple door is flanked by cement camels. But to enter the home is to enter a rare atmosphere of artistic refinement. The foyer of this architectural jewel boasts an ornate antique cedar ceiling and illuminated stained glass. A Jali (stone screen) lets in light & air while cloaking the home's interior privacy. Photography is forbidden inside, so I cannot show you the museum-quality "Mihrab Room" at the foot of the foyer's stairs. It features (surprise!) a historic Mihrab, which is a tiled wall piece showing the direction of Mecca. Miss Duke obtained this treasure in 1940. Being a decorative element, it is not aligned to it's religious purpose; Miss Duke was not a practicing Muslim. (The mihrab was almost immediately de-installed, dismantled, and hidden underground after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack until the end of WWII.)

Miss Duke, known to tabloid headlines from childhood as "The Poor Little Rich Girl" had come by her zillion$ honestly; She was the only child of tobacco baron, James Duke (American Tobacco). Born in 1912, her life was one of unparalleled wealth and access. During her lifetime she even quadrupled that vast fortune, a "pile" so significant that when she re-married with a foreign national during the 1940's (her second and last marriage) the United States government drew up their pre-nuptial agreement And when her husband saw the amounts involved he fainted!

Doris had first married at age 22. After a two-year globetrotting honeymoon the couple built a home in the most beautiful place they had glimpsed: sweet Hawaii. The year was 1939, and they called the estate "Shangrila." It was built with an Islamic aspect, and Miss Duke spent her life collecting art and objects from Muslim cultures to fill it with. Shangrila is today a treasure box of fine art that is wholly owned and supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (A branch of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation). The lucky Honolulu Academy of Arts operates tours of Shangrila by agreement, and also displays objects from the collection in her Islamic Gallery at the Beretania Street Academy. Nevertheless, the presence of our hostess remains everywhere: in the choices she made, and in the larger-than-life stories that the docents tell of her. It felt to me almost as if she were only in another room and might soon return to us with a glass of wine in her hand. We guests had come not only to admire this fine home and it's grounds, but to hear an esteemed scholar present her work about the women of early Islam. You see, Shangrila is not a dusty museum, but a living and breathing home to history, art, architecture and learning. I was particularly fascinated by the 1000 square foot living room with it's glass wall that lowers into the ground! Quite advanced for 1939 - and it still works, they obligingly showed us. Miss Duke liked it raised only to shoulder height so as to keep out the 20 or so large dogs she kept on the property. Shangrila was always her favourite place - and she could certainly go anywhere she pleased!" I was deeply impressed by my visit to the home, and by it's very gracious and professional staff. Everyone from our hostess, Mz. Carol Khewhok, to the security guard breathed a deep commitment to the place and it's legacy. Miss Duke would be pleased, I'm sure. My imagination was simply inflamed by Shangila. I can't seem to get her atmosphere out of my mind. And the cookies? They were most delicious! Next time you visit Waikiki, be sure to experience this amazing place. <http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/>www.shangrilahawaii.org. Lucky we stay Hawaii, eh?

Pau Hana means "after work" time. Today it mostly means "happy hour" but we residents still say: "I'll meet you pau hana" and another local person knows what we mean. Yesterday sure was a hectic day of work! But one thing kept me cruising along through my tasks. All day I was secretly hoping to make it to Cyril Pahinui's pau hana birthday gig at Kanikapila Grill at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Gabby, or "Pops" as everyone called him, was Cyril's father and a giant of Hawaiian music. His ki ho`alu (slack key) guitar stylings, and his unique -but deeply Hawaiian- vocal style preserved and inspired to such a degree that it would be impossible to imagine our musical legacy without him. Cyril, a great artist in his own right, has a new Grammy nominated CD He`eia. I know there would be old timers, great music, and tons of authenticity if I could just make it there. I wasn't disappointed!

As the sky mellowed to dusk I happily found myself in a miraculous little remnant of sweeter times. It felt like a back yard jam, and all the Kupuna (seniors) were there; how I love their rare Hawaiian faces! The Nahe Nahe (sweet, melodious, soft, gentle) sounds of guitar, ukulele, and beguiling lyrics in the Hawaiian tongue worked the old healing magic on me as they always do. I was positively oozing well-being by the second song. Surely, this is what the angels listen to at home.

You "no need" be young or thin to dance Hula. And when da Kupuna get up to dance, everything crystallizes in an exquisite Manawa Kolu, an everlasting "Now" of perfection. All shines then with beautifully felt meaning, and gratitude surges like the eternal surf only steps away.

I knew that I was going to hear wonderful music, but discovered an unexpected vein of pure gold when Ben Ka`ili and Bruddah (Brother) Ocean got up to play and sing for the first time in Waikiki. They have a regular weekend gig at the Emerald Orchid Bar on the Big Island and sure brought the "good stuff" here to da city with them! Their guitars rang out filling young and old with delight. Ho! Good times!

Take me out to da ballgame! Not far from Waikiki, in the Makiki neighborhood, recreational leagues play baseball at Cartwright Field, a Honolulu City Park. I bet lots of kids (and adults) never give the field's name a second thought. But fanatics of the game are lobbying for an A. J. Cartwright postal stamp, and there is talk of launching a web site. So how is this a Hawaii story? The roots of baseball lie far to the east, it's true. Her legends are enshrined in Cooperstown New York, but every year on April 17, true devotees of "America's pastime" make their way here to Honolulu. Gathering at historic Oahu Cemetery before a handsome pinkish monument, they oft find baseballs, bats, flower lei, and even baseball cards, waiting there on the hallowed ground for them. For this is the grave of Alexander Joy Cartwright, prominent Honolulu citizen, and the real inventor of the game of baseball. This year marked the 189th anniversary of his birth.

Looks like Castle Resorts is now managing a favorite little "boutique" hotel of mine: the fortunately located Waikiki Grand Hotel <http://www.waikikigrand.com>www.waikikigrand.com. She sits near the corner of Kapahulu & Kalakaua directly across the street from Kapiolani Park, the Honolulu Zoo, and just steps from the Queen's Surf beach area. The Grand boasts Hula's Bar & Lei Stand, and Teddy's Bigger Burgers on site. Here the hustle & bustle of Waikiki Beach meets the giant green park. Check the epic view (close!) of Diamond Head from the Grand's tenth floor sun deck! Bonus: guests at the Grand often hear animal noises from the zoo close by.

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii! Kapiolani Park was filled with flowers for the 82nd Annual Lei Day Celebration on May 1st. Lei Queens held court, judges picked the best lei, children learned Hawaiian crafts and heard the old stories at Tutu's (Grandmother's) Hale (Hah-lay, a Polynesian house) while the Royal Hawaiian Band and other wonderful musicians filled the Spring air with the gentle sounds of Hawaiian Music. If I know our mayor, Mufi, he sang a song or two, while I was off stuffing my face with all the ono (yummy). Then on Saturday morning, all the lei were presented at the final resting places of Hawaii's Kings and Queens. Lei Day is a sweet custom, one of many here in this Land of Aloha. It sure would be wonderful to see YOU enjoying yourself under tropic skies. . . when I'm out there Walking in Waikiki. . . ALOHA!

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Kaimuki, Hawaii News Item

Kaimuki, Hawaii
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