Route 6

Riding on alternative bus routes just to avoid tourists has become a nightmare. Old codgers prefer a stable routine, not one that changes on a semi-daily basis. The morning exodus from Waikiki is accomplished by boarding either the Route 8 to Ala Moana Center for a “pit stop” before transfer to either Route E, 60, 65, 67, or 6 (reluctantly) to town. Or, if fairly empty, the Rout 2 is boarded to head directly to town. Returning to Waikiki is now accomplished by riding the Route 6 to Ala Moana Center and transferring to whichever Route 8 bus is not full of tourists.

The Route 6 is the geriatric route. Nearly all of the passengers are senior citizens of varying decrepitude. The reason? A number of “old folks homes” are situated along the route. The 15-minute ride is fairly depressing unless some kind of “zone out” can be rapidly achieved.

Last night, after a huge Panda Express® meal at Ala Moana Center, a decision was made to alight the bus at the International Marketplace during the 7:30pm return trip to Waikiki. The whole area was packed with tourists. Restaurants and eateries had long queues of people.

The International Marketplace was teeming with tourists, although all of the retail stores closed at 7pm. Unlike Ala Moana Center, though, face masks are still required even when walking along the main promenade. However, very few tourists complied. Inside seating was very limited. What is quite astonishing is that the stores are still closing early with so many people milling around. That’s the same situation at Ala Moana Center. WTF?

The local news article, cited a couple days ago in Notes, about the Waikiki “clusterfuck” is definitely worth reading. As reported, customer service has declined. And, not surprisingly, tourist satisfaction has dropped drastically. Nearly all of the tourists are currently from the mainland empire. Yet, many of them apparently believed that there were no “super-duper corona” restrictions in place here. How stupid is that?

Miscellany: After some analysis, the battery drain and, hence, the rapidly shortening battery health, has been narrowed down to one culprit. Cellular data is consuming a lot of power, far more than Wi-Fi®. One hour using Wi-Fi® is unnoticeable, but one hour using cellular data consumes 10% or more of battery life.