Part 2

MANILA, Philippines?The next morning, bright and early, we took off for the Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor, followed by a city tour.

Part of the itinerary was playing golf at the exclusive Ko Olina Golf Club in O'ahu's premier Ocean View Championship Golf course, which most of the hotshots who brought their golf clubs did.

The following day, it was a choice between a shopping tour or visit to the exotic Polynesian Cultural Center and the fab Luau at the seven Polynesian nations.

Next stop by 8 p.m. was to watch for 90 minutes 100 gorgeous dancers perform an awesome Polynesian show. Yeah! Real Polynesians with their real culture. This is definitely what makes Hawaii unique.

The shopping tour had us going gaga at Hawaii's Ala Moana Center, which spans over 50 acres. It holds the distinction of being "the largest open-air shopping center in the world."

Most of us dashed into Neiman Marcus for our first mad shopping, then went around at other trendy boutiques the rest of the afternoon.

That night, Mons Tantoco had our gang meet one of Hawaii's most charmant couples, courtesy of Apples Aberin, and husband Raj Sadhwani, who are close pals of Ed D' Ascli and wife Karen, former PAL flight attendant, and her son Mathew, owners of Excel Wetsuit, the biggest surfing company in Hawaii.

Before taking us out to dinner, our host, the D'Asclis, drove us around Diamond Head's chi-chi area, where the rich and famous' gorgeous mansions can be found.

One of them belonged to the late Tobacco heiress, Doris Duke, no less. We stopped for cocktails at the posh Kahal Hotel, and later, had an excellent dinner at the scenic tres exclusive Outrigger Canu Club.

Next day was our free day, which meant more shopping around Waikiki and also at the Ala Moana Center.

During a night cap at our hotel terrace, we were joined by former Manille gal, vivacious, eye-catcher Bernice Arsenas, wife of Patrick Parsons and mega brilliant achiever Vince Espino, who is one of the most successful young Filipino businessmen in the island. He owns a chain of restos specializing in pancakes simply called Ihop plus other vast businesses in the island and in San Francisco. The next day, we met his wife, adorable Sarah, a successful woman in her field of dentistry.

On our last night, it was dinner at the swinging Mexican resto, Senior Frogs, where one is served superb dishes and entertained endlessly with drinking competitions, band music and super good-looking waiters who did a dance number that drove the women wild. They screamed, whistled and applauded for more, more, more, which they did, every hour or so.

Before hitting our bed, we had another nightcap at Surfrider's Hotel open terrace fronting Waikiki beach. We were joined by another former Manilan, handsome Joey Brias Manahan, now Hawaii's State Representative and Vice Chair for Tourism and Culture-Hawaii State Legislature, and his fantastic, witty wife Maan Santos, also a former Manille resident.

Well, sadly, all good things had to end for some of us. It was time to fly back home the following morning courtesy of our host, Hawaiian Airlines, naturellement.

The flight back was absolutely smooth and the service was fantastic, with the ever smiling flight attendants who wear flowers on the side of their hair. They never seemed to get tired of attending to all our needs.

Hawaiian Airlines offers its passengers "the world's first portable video-on-demand system, the digEplayer." For $15, the digEplayer includes two headsets for share viewing and is fully loaded with tons of awesome entertainment from newly released films to TV shows and great music.

There are only two classes on Hawaiian Airlines flights. The main cabin (economy) holds 246 seats and 18 seats on First Class.

The airline also flies to several Hawaiian islands including beautiful Maui and lush, exotic Kaua'i islands. From Honolulu, they jet over to the mainland which includes San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Jose and Phoenix.

Internationally, Hawaiian Airlines routes are the Polynesian islands of American Samoa, Pago Pago, Papeete, paradise of Tahiti, Sydney, Australia and now Manila.

As in the Hawaiian greeting mea no okipa which means "I am your host," this definitely expresses the spirit of hospitality you'll find on all Hawaiian Airlines flights.

Yes, this is what makes Hawaiian Airlines reach such great heights. And Hawaii is truly a special place to visit.

Call 8193993 to 97 visit www.HawaiianAirlines.com.

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