YING AND YANG

Downtown Honolulu housed most of the offices. My orthodontist, Dr. Glenn, was in the Alexander Young Hotel Bldg. I don't remember it ever being a "hotel" but I do remember it had the best bakery in town and the first Longs Drug Store was across the street. Everyone took the HRT, the bus from school or home to their appointments.
And...on weekends we would meet our dates for a movies at the Princess Theatre. PT had "loges" ( a dark balcony where we would kissy face all through the movie...oh, and smoke! ) Yes, we smoked in theatres then.
One time in High School a bunch of us (with our drivers licenses) met downtown and went to the Swing Club where all the sailors and loose women would dance and play around..They had fabulous live JAZZ and we all loved to dance, didn't drink and we were totally oblivious to the danger that lurked at night in downtown Honolulu.
There was another time we went to a club down there in the depths of it all, that advertised male/female impersonators on stage......they were hysterical. And I am sure they thought we were too.

During the day, the area, also called China Town, reeked of fish, fermented duck eggs, creepy Chinese herbs in little dark hovels....jars of snake heads, goat innards, grasshoppers and other un- edibles. Shops sold Mahjongg sets and Chinese silk.

The HUGE Market on King St , colorful with rows of skinny defeathered chickens, pigs feet and heads and of course, all the fish came in from the docks fresh for auction if you got there early enough...Actually this place still exists in 2010.

During the war, the streets were filled with ladys of the night and drunk military men having fun .... and now it is mostly the Homeless, Art Galleries and Popular ethnic Restaurants. It's guess it has always been the Ying and Yang.