I rounded the corner on Kupuna Loop and checked the time at 0840. Good, plenty in time for the 0847. As I learned from my last bus outing, better to be ten minutes early than one minute late.
The 434-route bus rolled up on time and the half dozen of us gathered at bus stop 1107 clamored on board. Everybody else had some sort of a bus pass they flashed to the driver. Me, tail-end-Charlie, pushed $5.50 into the cash slot and the driver handed me a day-pass ticket. Black was the color of the day for Monday, 19 Nov.
Lots of room on the bus. Fifteen minutes later I downloaded at the Waipahu Transit Center, which is one block north of Farrington Avenue, behind the Times Supermarket in beautiful downtown Waipahu. Now don’t be too enamored by the grand title “Transit Center.” It’s just a big bus stop. Actually, two bus stops across the street from each other, one for eastbound buses and one for westbound buses. There was also a separate place for the 434-route bus, the Village Park-Waipahu local distribution route.
The Waipahu Transit Center is not that impressive, but it’s where I had 25 minutes to kill before catching the #40 route bus westbound. OK, so good time to talk about basic bus stop etiquette. That’s right, only my third day busing around Oahu and I’m ready to teach manners. Hey, I’ve been on buses and trains and subways in other states and other countries, so I’m not a mass transit rookie. Besides that, I just know stuff.
One simple rule for any bus stop is to mostly keep to yourself. Routine pleasantries are always in order, but don’t be in a hurry for a real conversation. People at the bus stop are often going to work, or to school, or coming home from same. They are tired, and they just want a peaceful commute. Don’t bother these people. Now the ones that aren’t going to work or school, are probably either retirees, normally not the chattiest commuters, or else out-of-work/school ne’er-do-wells, who you probably shouldn’t talk to anyway. Keeping lips sealed is tough for Waipahu Bob, who generally has things to say. In the words of my brother David, “Robert, you have a way with words. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong way. Now shut up!” Ah, good old Dave. In a similar vein of advice, he once told me: “You know, Robert, sometimes it’s better to be quiet and let people think you are an idiot, then open your mouth and remove all doubt.” This type of sage advice has helped curb my natural enthusiasm for conversation with strangers. At any rate, seems like good advice now, hanging around the Waipahu Transit Center. There was definitely a cast of characters on hand.
The #40 bus is on time at 0930. Not sure why the #40 route is called Makaha Towers. When I studied the route on TheBus app on my phone, looks like it ends in Maili, not even making to Waianae, much less Makaha. But it’s going through Kapolei, and that’s where I’m going, so I got on board.
As I settled into my seat, I relax, close my eyes and start thinking.
Kapolei was first envisioned in the Estate of James Campbell’s 1955 long-range “Ewa Master Plan.” The plan described a balanced range of urban land use, including agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential. Here are some notable milestones toward the development of Kapolei (thanks Wikipedia):
1958: James Campbell Industrial Park opens with its first tenant, Standard Oil Company
1977: The City & County of Honolulu designates the Ewa area as Oahu’s second city to accommodate Oahu’s future growth.
1990: Campbell Estate breaks ground on the City of Kapolei.
1991: Ground is broken for Campbell Square, Kapolei’s first office complex.
1993, several things happened:
- Campbell Estate moves its headquarters to the new James Campbell Building in Kapolei.
- Kapolei Shopping Centers opens with 27 retail stores and services.
- Kapolei Elementary School opens and the University of Hawaii Board of Regents selects Kapolei as the site for a future campus for UH West Oahu.
1998: The State of Hawaii dedicates the first government office building in the City of Kapolei.
2000:
- Kapolei Regional Police Station and the City & County of Honolulu’s Kapolei Hale open.
- Kapolei High School opens.
- Kapolei’s first big-box retailer Big Kmart opens.
- Kapolei Medical Park opens with Hawaii’s leading healthcare providers.
2010:
- Kapolei Judiciary Complex opens.
- UH West Oahu breaks ground in East Kapolei.
2011: The 20-mile Honolulu Rail Transit breaks ground in East Kapolei. It will connect Kapolei to Ala Moana Center.
2012: University of Hawaii West Oahu opens in East Kapolei with 2,000 students.
So, in the relative scheme of things, Kapolei is a new place, still developing. This is quickly seen as I download at the Kapolei Transit Center.
On this short trip to Kapolei, I will comb the city center to uncover the heartbeat of this new metropolis. First stop, Kapolei Hale, the offices of the City and County of Honolulu.
Walking up the street you appreciate the somewhat desolate surroundings of Honolulu Hale and downtown Kapolei. While the Kapolei area has shown tremendous growth in the last 20 years, the downtown center is still not fully fleshed out.
I’d been to Kapolei Hale one previous time, to renew my driver’s license. This was my first time striding through the front doors, an impressive entryway into a three-story u-shaped building with a large open area in the middle. Two main wings stretched out on the right and left of me, with open-air walkways along the first and second floors. The Driver’s License office was at the back left, bustling with business, lines spilling out the doors. I explored the opposite wing where not mush was going on, and the only doorway that was labeled, said “Section 8 Rental Assistance.” The only section 8 I know about involves being discharged from the military as mentally unfit for duty. I’m thinking these two Section 8 references aren’t related, but I didn’t step into the office to verify. No sense chancing it. No telling what was behind those doors.
Backtracking I came across the pictures of Honolulu’s finest politicians, headed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
What I couldn’t find was a list of building occupants. I wanted to know what offices of the City and County were here in Kapolei. I approached the security desk and asked the security officer if there was a building directory. He seemed taken aback at the question and countered with, “What are you looking for.”
I told him, “Nothing, just want to know what is in this building. I’m just looking around.”
“You can’t be just looking around. They don’t want you looking around, especially on the second and third floor,” he said a bit defensively.
I could have informed this good man that I was an honest citizen with a right to know how my tax dollars were being spent in this large edifice. Or, I could have informed him of the lofty calling of Waipahu Bob, to explore at all costs, mostly by bus, the farthest reaches of Oahu.
I opted instead to say, “Well, I’m going over to look in the Driver’s License Office. I may have some business in there soon and I want to check it out.”
“That will be fine,” he said, seeming to relax a little. Not sure, but I think his hand moved away from his gun holster a bit, once it was clear I would not try an assault on the second or third floor. No telling what’s up there.
As I walked down Ulu Ohia Street away from Kapolei Hale, I thought to myself, what’s the world coming to, when a solid citizen like Waipahu Bob can’t aimlessly wander around a government building with a black backpack and indiscriminate purpose.
The next main stop is Kapolei Library, where I want to get my city library card renewed, and also see if they have a book I’m looking for. But first, I need to swing by the Post Office. Why, because during the Google search of the area, I noticed this Post Office, and also noted the 1.9 star rating, out of 5 stars. Most of the 27 ratings were actually 1 star, lamenting the lack of parking, long lines, and surliness of the employees. 1.9 stars was the lowest Post Office rating on all of Oahu. I needed to inspect this place.
I rolled down Kapolei’s main drag, Kamakila Blvd. On my right was a big block building housing the University of Phoenix. It was similar in size and layout as Kapolei Hale – block-long beige-colored three-story U-shaped building with open space and walkways in the middle. It also had the same greenish-colored tile roofing. Kapolei was definitely a “planned community” in that all the main buildings looked the same. Hmmm, why University of Phoenix here? Why not, I guess.
On the next block was a similarly styled building, the Kapolei Building, which housed the infamous Post Office at the far end.
I dropped into the Post Office to see it from the inside. Sadly, not much to report. Six people waiting in line, two more being served at the counter by two cheerful-looking employees. A couple more customers packing and labeling on side counters. I checked out a couple of the standard-size mailing boxes as my spidey sense beamed wide for any clues on the Google review discontent. Nope, just seemed like a basic Post Office to me. Personally, I’d have to give it a solid 3 rating.
I examined the rest of the Kapolei Building, ducked in the middle front doors and was greeted on the back side by another large open green area, meticulously groomed, with a giant Christmas tree in the middle. Across the open space was a separate, but identical building, the James Campbell Building.
Onward to the library.
The library did not disappoint. In my current non-working status, it was nice to be able to read what I wanted to, as opposed to all of the professional crap I had been consuming for the that past decades. I’ve currently got my sites on American Tabloid, a fictional account of the rise and fall of the Kennedy dynasty in America. I heard the author, James Ellroy, talk about his 1995 classic in the BBC podcast series, World Book Club (ref: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswssl). He read the Forward section, and I was hooked from there. Here’s a piece of the book’s Forward:
“The real Trinity of Camelot was Look Good, Kick Ass, Get Laid. Jack Kennedy was the mythological front man for a particularly juicy slice of our history. He talked a slick line and wore a world-class haircut. He was Bill Clinton minus pervasive media and a few rolls of flab.
Jack got whacked at the optimum moment to assure his sainthood. Lies continue to swirl around his eternal flame. Its time to dislodge his urn and cast light on a few men who attended his ascent and facilitated his fall.”
The Hickam Library did not carry this book when I inquired there last week. But guess what, the Kapolei Library was sporting a paperback copy of American Tabloid, so I got my library card renewed, and I checked it out. Once again, Waipahu Bob shoots and scores!
Across the street from the library is Kapolei Regional Park, a distinctively great part of Kapolei. Campbell Estates donated the land for the 73-acre Kapolei Regional Park to the City & County of Honolulu in 1994. Its goodness is in the vast unencumbered acres.
There were a few homeless squatters sleeping it off around the park. No permanent encampments, but a couple of shopping-cart anchored sleeping tarps and a few other disheveled types sleeping in the rough under shade trees. But only a handful of such poor souls, and spread over a 73-acre park it was almost insignificant.
The last objective of this trip was to eat at the new barbeque joint, Dickeys, that just opened up near Walmart on the east side of Kapolei. If that looks too busy, I’ll check out Jersey Mike’s, the new sub place also in the same area as Dickey’s.
Dickey’s wasn’t busy, so I got the two-meat plate, with cole slaw and fried okra on the side. The official Waipahu Bob rating is a solid 3.5 stars; that’s good ‘cause I’m stingy on handing out BBQ stars. Pulled pork was good, and the brisket was tender with a bit of smoke taste. Good portion of pork, but a little stingy on the brisket portion. I really liked the regular/original BBQ sauce, as well as the spicy. Go on down and git ya some!
Caught the eastbound bus on Farrington Avenue for the short swing back to Waipahu. Got off near the Don Quijote store and backtracked to Leoku Street, to my standard bus stop to catch the 434 route bus.
After a 20-minute wait, caught the 434 for the short hop north. Got off the bus on Kupuna Loop. With the sun still high in the sky, I walked the final mile home.
Waipahu Bob 