It was their monthly excursion, and come heck or high water, nothing was going to slow them down.
"Walking in the rain is actually kind of nice," said club president Dorothy Otsuka. "We keep busy. We meet every Monday, and once a month have an excursion, once a month a speaker, and the rest of the time, games and exercises."
This day's outing was a walking tour of Chinatown, culminating in a grand lunch at Doong Kong Lau restaurant. There were 101 members of the club present, not their biggest showing, but a fair number nonetheless.
The club has 180 members, and the number never varies, because that's the official capacity of the meeting room at Moanalua Gardens, and there's a waiting list of more than 90 senior hopefuls.
"I waited more than three years; I applied even before I retired," said Gretchen Yong, who's in her 60s. "Moanalua was our first home after we were married, and I love it there. Trips like this let us see places I
wouldn't go by myself."
Activities director Erin Uchida works with the group as a city parks employee. "It's great to get out with the seniors," she said. "They don't come to Chinatown by themselves because of the driving and parking and the crimes, so this is perfect."
"Don't want to be a couch potato," said Kenneth Hagino, community relations contact for the group. "Being active means staying healthy. We even do exercise before each meeting."
One of the surprises was how few of these seniors were familiar were Chinatown. Many had not visited in decades.
Eddie L.S. Chun (stands for "Lucky Strike," he winked) was one of the tour leaders. "I'm surprised that these people don't come down here more often."
One stop was the new senior housing area in Chinatown. There to greet the seniors was Michael Shiroma, the city's Housing Development branch chief, and Sun Hung Wong, for decades the honorary "mayor" of Chinatown.
"You know, this is the first seniors club I can remember touring here," Wong said.
"There are 8,000 to 10,000 residents in Chinatown right now," he said. "They're the insurance for the small businesses. It becomes a neighborhood."
"Right. The best way to get crime out is to get people to live and work here," said Shiroma.
Maunakea Marketplace caused purses to fly open. "Look at the price of this ahi!" said tour leader Bob Chang, 78, "When you pay that much, you know you're going to enjoy it."
"The Chinese like everything fresh every day," said one woman. "You know, I was scared to come here before, because of the crimes and it seemed dirty, but this is nice."
Past president Larry Morisako held up what appeared to be a twisted clump of wire. "Oh, me," he said. "Robert Tachikawa lost his glasses. Check it out. Cars ran over it. It's like modern art."
Larry, 67, and wife Alice, 66, joined together. "Once you're retired, you have to get involved in things," said Alice. "The group is also a good way to keep up with Medicare and Social Security information."
Larry said, "It's a feeling of satisfaction to do something useful. We also volunteer at Kaiser Hospital. And right now I'm in charge of stragglers. We always get a few."
Chang has been leading Chinatown tours for more than 20 years, and he led his group right into the Ramsay Gallery in the old Tan Sing Building.
One lady stroked the surface of an oil painting. "Very good, very nice," she said. "It feels so ... Matisse. Now, where's the bathroom?"
A line formed.
"When you lead seniors, you gotta have many bathroom stops," explained Chang.