Tag Archives: Honolulu Chinatown

Terry Wong Salon

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I have been wanting to get my hair permed for a while now.

Straight hair just doesn’t suit my personality.

My hair stylist in Fairfield doesn’t provide hair perming service. My hair stylist in Iowa city needs me to make a consultation appointment and follow by another separate appointment after that. That means I need to go back to IC twice!

When I first set my foot on Chinatown, I immediately looked for a hair salon. Why in Chinatown? Because generally Chinese hairstylists know how to handle Asian hair with minimal instruction.

I walked around Chinatown, within five minutes, a salon on Maunakea Street caught my eyes. It’s a very small salon with T.W. Salon written on it. I opened the door and met Terry. I asked him about his hair perming service. He showed me a stack of hairstyle magazines and asked me to choose the style I like. I just pointed to the first magazine cover I saw. “That’s what I want”.

Terry said, “Sure!”

He seemed very down to earth kind of guy and intuitively I trusted him.

He fitted me in the first time slot available tomorrow morning, at 9am. 🙂 That was easy. 🙂

I came back to Chinatown the next day, around 7:30am. That was my third visit to Chinatown and by that time, I was pretty familiar with the area already. I parked my car at Cultural Plaza (recommended by Terry). The parking rate was only $4 forat the p(with validation)!

I stopped by two dim-sum places at Cultural Plaza but they weren’t opened yet. Finally I found one that was open at 7:30am. 🙂

Dim Sum at Honolulu Chinatown
Yummy Dim Sum. Too bad I had to enjoy it alone. 🙁

I stepped into T.W. Salon at 9a.m. sharp. Terry was there waiting for me already.

Before hair perming - Terry Wong Salon - Honolulu Chinatown
How about a before pic?

The whole hair-perm process took about two and half hour. Yawn!

So, I started chit-chatting with Terry in Cantonese/Mandarin. I don’t have much chance to talk in Cantonese in Iowa! Terry was born in Hong Kong and lived in San Francisco for a while. Then, he decided that S.F. was too cold for him and moved to Oahu more than 10 years ago. Oh well! I bet he wouldn’t like the cold in Iowa either!

Terry loves fishing. On the wall, he has photos of him with huge fish that he has caught.

Terry Wong Salon, Honolulu Chinatown
Still working on it

Yawn! I started flipping through H.K. gossip magazines. I haven’t been keeping up with H.K. entertainment world and I could only recognize a few “older” movie stars 🙁 and it was nice to read about their stories.

T.W. Salon, Honolulu Oahu
Done! Finally.

Then, Terry told me that he doesn’t accept credit card. OMG! I didn’t have enough cash with me. I totally forgot to bring more cash with me to Chinatown.

That was when Terry immediately said to me, “Don’t worry, why so rush? You go shopping first (I told him that I wanted to get some BBQ chicken for lunch). Go now. Pay me later.”

He then moved to the next customer. What? He has neither my full name, nor my phone number. And, he asked me to pay later?

I didn’t know the credit card pin number to withdraw cash (I have never withdrawn cash from credit cards before). So, I told Terry that I would need to go back to my apartment to get more cash, and that would take about an hour

Terry said, “Haiya, why so rush? I trust you.”

Again, he didn’t ask for my full name; didn’t ask for my phone number.

I left Terry’s salon.

I didn’t forget to pack some char siu (roasted pork) and roasted chicken before I left Chinatown. 🙂

Char siu, bbq chicken in Honolulu Chinatown
Good selection of roasted chicken, char siu, pork and duck are available at Chinatown.

I went back to my apartment, had my lunch, rested a little. Then, headed back to Terry’s to pay for my hair service.

I gave Terry the cash, and AGAIN, Terry said, “Why so rush?”

Hahaha. Terry, you are one of a kind.

I wished him catching big, big fish in the future.

And, did I tell you I LOVE my hair?

My new hair
My new hair! (Photo by Radim)

Something about the water, air and humidity on this Island – my hair is extra fluffy and full. 🙂 No wonder the local girls here have big beautiful curlyhair.

Plumeria Flower in my hair
I love my wild island hair! I had plumeria flowers in my hair (Karan picked them fresh from the garden). The flowers were next to my ear and I could smell the sweetness of the flower. 🙂

BTW, plumeria flowers can be worn by women to indicate their relationship status – over the right ear if seeking a relationship, and over the left if taken.

Honolulu Chinatown Markets

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4/27/2009 – 4/28/2009

Many people are wary of going to Chinatown because they’ve heard it’s scary or they think it’s a high crime area. Maybe this is partly true, but I still love going there since my Chinatown experiences have always been pleasant. You should come here and see for yourself.

Since I didn’t have a detailed Chinatown map with me, I just let myself loose and simply roamed around. The traffic police was extremely helpful. I have no problem asking for directions. There was one time when a couple police were trying to figure the direction for me, a few locals stopped by as well trying to help. We chatted a little. The police told me that you’ll get a $30 ticket if your parking meter expires. He was smiling when telling me this, so I wasn’t sure if he was telling a joke or it’s a fact. Anyway, just don’t let your parking meter expires if you park at the roadside.

A shopkeeper at a bakery saw me crossing the road and she told me that it’s $130 ticket if I get caught not using the traffic light. Oppps! I didn’t know that. Thanks for the advice from all these friendly people. 🙂

I visited Chinatown pretty early in the morning (7-8am ish). It was an indescribable good feeling to see the merchants open their doors one by one and get ready for business.

Guide book says Oahu Market has the freshest poke (fresh raw fish mixed with seaweed, sesame sees and other seasonings) on the island. So, Oahu Market, here I came!

There are three markets in Chinatown, namely Maunakea, Oahu and Kekaulike. They are all next to each other, but on different streets.

Maunakea Market, Honolulu Chinatown
Maunakea Market. It has a food court inside.

Maunakea Market, Honolulu Chinatown
Maunakea Market, second entrance

Kekaulike Market, Honolulu Chinatown
Kekaulike Market

Oahu Market, Honolulu Chinatown
Oahu Market

Pig, Honolulu Chinatown
Hey. Look at me! Now, that is a bit scary….

Fresh produce, Honolulu Chinatown
Lots of fresh produce – the turnover is high

Fresh fruits, Honolulu Chinatown
Fresh fruits, anyone?

seafood, Honolulu Chinatown
Fresh seafood is abundant. You can get sweet island shrimps here

Pig head, Honolulu Chinatown
I tried not to look at this pig head when I passed by this stall.

Fish head, Oahu Market
How about fish head soup for tonight?

POKE!!!! I found you!

Poke, Oahu Market
Good selections of poke

Limu Kuku Onion Poke, Oahu Market
I tried this Limu (seaweed) Kuku Onion Poke

There were three stalls selling poke. I just randomly picked one stall. I am a big fan of raw fish and seaweed. But I didn’t like the poke that I bought. The taste of seaweed was too overpowering. 🙁 No regret for trying though.

Karan and Radim joined me for a late lunch/early dinner at the Maunakea Market food court. This food court offers a good assortment of Asian food stalls: Singaporean, Malaysian, Thai, Filipino, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese.

Maunakea Market Food Court, Honolulu Chinatown
Maunakea Market Food Court

Maunakea Market Food Court, Honolulu Chinatown
Some vendors offer fully-cooked meals ready to take, as well as short-order items like fried noodle cooked to order.

Of the more than dozen stalls here, almost half offer Filipino foods. Radim and Karan ordered Abodo Chicken and loved it. We intended to have a snack here but ended up sampling different regional foods.

Maunakea Market Food Court
Happy camper Radim tries some food from Karan’s plate. $3 for a plate of white rice and Abodo Chicken. Can’t beat that!

Maunakea Market, Honolulu Chinatown
Before leaving the market, Radim didn’t forget to tease the crabs/lobsters in the tank.

Roaming Around Honolulu Chinatown

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4/27/2009 Monday

I woke up at 4am today- jet lagged.

Our apartment is located just 2 blocks away from Waikiki beach. I could hear the constant traffic from my apartment and that didn’t help me to sleep better.

So, I got up and made breakfast.

Later, Karan and Radim had to go to work. So, I was alone and ready to explore Honolulu. With guide book in my hand, I headed towards Honolulu Chinatown.

In an unfamiliar place, I always like to study the road map in advance so I get a general idea about the main highways and directions. Driving in Honolulu is not difficult. However, the road signs are small and the road names are not the usual – 3rd Street, Washington Street, etc. The road names here don’t mean anything to me and they could be long and hard to remember, such as Keeaumoku, Waiakamilo, Kanekapolei, Liliuokalani, etc. Luckily in Waikiki area and even Honolulu downtown, the speed limit is only 25-35 miles/hr. There are lots of traffic lights (if you are not using the highway), so that gives me chance to make quick reference to the map when I come to a red light.

I didn’t have a detailed map of Chinatown with me. So, I had trouble finding a good parking spot that was close to where I wanted to go. There were lots of one way streets. I drove round and round and finally found a parking that I was happy with (since I wasn’t ready to pay $10 for full day parking and the roadside parking is only for 1 hour).

I have been to Chinatown in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle. Honolulu Chinatown is on the small side. There are a few vacant shops. What I like about this Chinatown is it’s not very touristy and not filled with souvenir shops. I visited this Chinatown three more times in the next two days at various times. I found that the markets weren’t too busy. The shoppers here were so laid back. They didn’t seem rushed when doing their grocery shopping.

I passed by a hair salon and made an appointment for tomorrow (see next post). 🙂

Honolulu Chinatown Riverside
People hang out at Chinatown riverside, play chess, drink tea etc

Honolulu Chinatown
The street signs in Chinatown are pretty distinct, as they’re written in both English and Chinese words.

Honolulu Chinatown
Getting blessings from Guanyin

Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (Father of modern China) statute in Chinatown

Pho To-Chau Vietnamese restaurant
A line outside Pho To-Chau Vietnamese restaurant, just like what is described in the guide book. I love Pho soup, but I wasn’t hungry when I passed by this restaurant. So, I didn’t try the food. 🙁

Golden Palace Restaurant
Golden Palace Restaurant

chinese food in Honolulu Chinatown

Although fresh local and imported fruit selections are unparalleled here, I specifically looked for fruits from Oahu, not imported from Mexico or China.

Local Hawaii Fruits
We found local Oahu fruits here (Hotel/Maunakea Street, see the shop banner below).

Local Oahu Fruits
The very friendly shop owner told me that Oahu produces limited amount of local fruits. So, they have to import fruits from other countries. But he specializes in local fruits. 🙂 And, he gave me discount. Yay!

Karan and Radim joined me at Chinatown after their work. We stopped by Summer Frappe to have a very refreshing fresh fruit smoothie.

Summer Frappe smoothie, Honolulu Chinatown
At Summer Frappe (Pauahi Street). Yummy fresh fruit smoothies. The lady in the middle is the shop owner, Summer Chau. No artificially-flavored powdered smoothies here. I had aloe, mango and papaya smoothie. 🙂

After that, we stopped by the Maunakea market to have a bite (see next post).