Said Abd El Gawad

On the way to airport I stopped off for a few minutes at Sacred Hearts Academy, a private all-girls school on Waialae Ave.  The school's entranceway and courtyard were used for exterior shots of the church where our awakened survivors (and Penny) gather before moving on. In fact I had first stopped in the night before with fellow LOSTies on the way back into town from our cross-Island adventure.  Unfortunately when we arrived around 9pm the courtyard had already been locked (no pun intended). Academy of Sacred Hearts at night. Academy of Sacred Hearts, daytime. Locke arrives at the church. Ben waits outside the church. Church exterior from the Sacred Hearts courtyard. Ben looks on as Locke enters the church. Based on the position of trees and the rotunda in the screen cap above I believe Ben sat at the centre table (the one further from the lens) in the photo below. Ben's table (at the back). Ben speaking with Locke (reverse angle) A similar reverse angle at Sacred Hearts. A gr...

The Royal Garden at Waikiki is a Honolulu hotel which stood in for the Seoul Gateway Hotel in the season 2 episode "... And Found".  Jin is hired as a doorman at the hotel, but later resigns to protest his boss's treatment of a village boy and his Father. The Royal Garden at Waikiki The Royal Garden has a beautiful emerald exterior and, with a few strategically placed Oriental props, served nicely as a Korean high-end hotel.  The Seoul Gateway Hotel, as it appears in "...And Found"  Beautiful entrance to the Royal Garden at Waikiki Doorman at the Seoul Gateway Hotel Either the Royal Garden remodelled it front entrance after shooting took place, or the LOST prop department did another bang-up job.  In 2014 the Royal Garden has automatic doors instead of the pull-door, and the external vertical green pillars are nowhere to be found. Wider shot of the Royal Garden entrance. Jin at the door with the just-entered Sun over his shoulder.

The Ala Wai canal featured in several LOST episodes, most notably the one in which Jin met Sun for the first time.  See  my previous Ala Wai post  for more details. It was particularly special to re-visit the canal with Chris and enjoy his reaction as well. Walkway along the Ala Wai canal. Chris standing under some familiar trees. Michael and mini-Walt. View from the "other" side of the bridge.

No trip to Honolulu would be complete without a visit to the Hawaii Convention Center, stand-in for Sydney Airport in LOST.  One of the only disappointments of my 2011 stay on Oahu was the fact that the convention center was under construction and I didn't have a chance to ride the escalator. Happily the convention center was open this time around and I giddily rode up-the-stairs, down-the-stairs several times. The iconic escalators -- fully operational. Looking up. Beautiful view from the escalator. Almost at the top. Looking down into the convention centre. A familiar POV. Jack at the Oceanic Airlines counter.

I saw the Waikiki Landmark from a distance back in 2011, but this time around Chris and I got up close and personal with the building that served as a backdrop to one of the most dramatic moments of the series -- when Locke is pushed out of an 8th-story apartment window by his Father. Waikiki Landmark establishing shot. Waikiki Landmark. Long way up. Scene of the crime. Locke's landing pad. (Sans shrubs and Jacob's bench.) Jacob to the rescue.

Wednesday September 24th, 2014 was (for the most part) my final day in Oahu.  It was a morning of farewells and final location visits, an afternoon of relaxation interrupted by a frantic rush across town, and lastly an evening of delays and reflection. The day started off well, with a last breakfast at Lulu's. Last breakfast at Lulu's Yum! Afterward it was off to the Hilton Waikiki Beach to say good-bye to a few friends leaving that morning, and to meet up with Chris & MJ for a mini-tour of nearby LOST locations.  Although he had criss-crossed (no pun intended) the Island with us, Chris hadn't seen some of the key locations within Honolulu itself.  MJ and Chris were both flying out that afternoon, so after an hour or two of touring we said our good-byes and they dropped me off in Central Waikiki so I could check out one additional location that was on my list.  (As usual, I'll cover each of these locations in separate follow-up posts.) Afterward I walked back to my ...