Charlie & June

This short writing is about Charlie and June, a couple that Emi and I met while at the Hapa Haole Hula & Vocal Competition being held at the Hale Koa Hotel. The Hale Koa is a somewhat fancy hotel on the Western end of Waikiki close to Fort DeRussey, a location that Emi and I usually do not frequent, but this was a special occasion or so we thought. I did have a suspicion that the event put on by Kumu Victoria Holt Takamine, would be for the tourists and not a legitimate competition. Not to be prejudice we went to the show. As I watch the performance I found it just adequate. It is painfully obvious that the top name entertainers and halau were not there, which was disappointing.
Emi and I had been seated at a table with 6 mainland haole tourists. As the show progresses they began talking more than watching. I don’t recall exactly how we started talking, but I find myself talking to June, the lady sitting next to me. One does need to be sociable. She and her husband were from Florida and were staying at the hotel for two weeks with a short daytrip to the Big Island thrown in as a bonus. They knew very little about Hawaii. This ignorance was obvious when they asked me questions like, “Why is that British flag here? What does Hale Koa mean?” (The answers being the British flag looks like the Hawaiian flag because of their influence and hale koa means house koa or koa house.) I answered their questions. I try to be helpful, give them advice to make their trip more enjoyable but before I did I had to ask them, “What do you like to do? What kind of food do you like to eat? What interests you?” I asked them these questions, because it is my opinion that you can’t advise people what to do, unless you know what they want to do, otherwise you may give them ideas that are your interests, not theirs. My interests are swimming in the sea and eating poi, like a real kanaka. June answered, “I like history, and Charlie, well he was an electrical engineer so he basically only likes technological stuff. As for food….I don’t like raw fish or anything too strange.” All my suggestions melted away like Crisco in the hot Hawaii sun. No raw fish! She might just as well have said that they don’t eat rice, or macaroni salad, or kim chee, all essential food staples for the local population. The more we talked, the more it became clear that they had no idea what the real Hawaii was, beyond the general images put out by the tourist board and Hollywood. Further, I wondered if they had any desire to know the real Hawaii. When we parted, June’s last words were, “Maybe I’ll see you around on the hotel’s grounds.” I wanted to say, “Not unless I’m tied up and dragged here.” But I merely said, “Yeah, maybe,” with a weak smile on my face.
The freighting thing about June and Charlie is that I don’t think they’re unique. I have a deep fear that a large percentage of tourists come to Hawaii and leave with out any idea, in my opinion, of all that is Hawaii, beyond Waikiki and what it represents. The malihini (newcomer) cling to what is familiar and do not enter any zone of “strangeness.” I witnessed this conservative behavior while eating at Rainbow Drive-In. A visiting family was at the cashier and each and everyone ordered…can you guess? No not the beef stew, not the pork long rice, and not the loco moco. They all ordered a HAMBURGER, mainlander‘s comfort food. I wished that I could have shared all the great things that make me come back to Hawaii over and over, but I can’t, but I will share with you a few of the little happenings, sights, or foods that send Emi and I into another heaven:
And speaking of another heaven, that was the name of the play that Emi and I went to. Fred Dodge, who leads the Makua Valley hikes, told us about this play. Fred was one of the most gregarious person that I met here on the island, and to hear him talk you’d say that he was a pure haole, but he wasn’t. He had an aloha for Makua Valley that was pure Hawaiian. For example, before entering the valley he had a companion that made a vocal request in the form of a Hawaiian chant to enter. Only then were we allowed to enter. We were then instructed to stop at a close-by ahu (rock mound altar) where offerings were given. We had brought Hawiian salt; Fred had brought stream water from his neighborhood. I digress, back to the play…We went on the opening night. The seating surrounds the “stage.” which places you right next to the actors, within touching distance. The play was about Katsu Goto, a Japanese store keeper, who was lynched on the big Island back during the days of the sugar cane plantations. A bonus for us was meeting Jean and her husband Russell, who are season ticket holders. Russell did not say a word for the first 30 minutes of verbal exchanges, but by the end, he was non stop. As Jean noted, “Oh he’s like a child. Shy at first, but once he gets started, you can’t stop him.” You wouldn’t believe that he was an assistant attorney general for the State of Hawaii. Emi and I enjoyed his odd sense of humor. He said that he used to be somebody when there were fewer aag’s, but now that there are over hundred and he’s just one more, a nobody. Although, he said that his hand was famous, because it had touched Bruce Lee’s back. I then slapped his then open hand, and it visibly disturbed him as if I was taking Bruce from him. I think he was just acting the emotion; I hope so.
A nice and easy but still beautiful hike is walking the old Pali Road. You start from the lush Ko’olau golf course located on the windward side and at the foot of the Pali. It is a sedate hike, even for tourists and so there are tours for them that traverse the long abandon road. We went all the way up to the top, the lookout point. I don’t recommend doing that, because you have to go under the freeway and past portions that had recent rockslides from the winter rains, but if you want, you can. The State had made the area kapu, but we didn’t know that until we reached the top where the only sign was posted. Some nights later on the TV news they showed an elderly gentleman that bikes the path to reach his place of work five days a week. Now that everyone knows, the authorities will surely be waiting for him, better him than us. As for the tours, we met one on the way up. It was led by a man dressed in traditional Hawaiian garb and he warmly greeted Emi and I with “Aloha.” So I politely answered, “Aloha no.” The tourists were so thrilled to hear two kane kupuna talking in their native language. So cute, yeah?
Emi and I love the food here in Hawaii. So ono, but maybe not always the best for you. One of our favorite restaurant is “Ojisan” where the food is healthy unless you drink too much of the beer. It is a smaller Japanese restaurant located on Kapahulu. It is very family like but the décor is tastefully modern. When we went there it was packed by locals only, but the proprietor allowed us to stay even though we didn’t have reservations. We had croquette, chicken teriyake, oshinko, grilled saba, gobo, and a large beer. Excellent food, excellent beer. Only had two…two big ones. The croquette was so crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside, sort of like a Leonard’s malasada made out of potatoes. The saba was cooked just right. It was juicy and bone free. The oshinko was of a variety not usually served, natsu, takuan, and some green stuff that I didn’t know but loved eating it. The best part is the free parking at the rear of the shop.
Other food subjects…Surprisingly, we found excellent shave ice at a Korean restaurant called Home Style Cooking in Pearl City, although it took the guy about 10-15 minutes to make them. With nothing else to do we watched him the entire time. We were so hot and thirsty at the time, but then we‘re hot and thirsty almost all the time in Hawaii. Also, a surprise was finding ono malasadas in Ewa, just of the main road. They were made in a trailer by a Korean couple.
And then there was the night we wanted to have a drink at an establishment with a panoramic ocean view. We tried two places, but one was for the young types who liked loud music and the other didn’t have any music at all (E & O only have music on Thursday’s night). I decided to try a restaurant that we had seen located next to the Kawalo Marine Research Center. We only knew of the Center, because I was doing some writing that involved the place, and so we had hunted it down so that I could review the setting. It’s located in Kaka’ako in the middle of nowhere. Kaka’ako is a strange place. It is the home of a medical center, children’ center, the UH marine center, the homeless and surfers. The drive out there was down a very dark and lonely rutted road. Emi was sure we were lost and would soon be carjacked. She thought that we were still home where carjacking is a reality. We finally did reach the site. By then it was raining. Cars were parked everywhere. Walking into the establishment, John Dominis, we were shocked to see a huge restaurant full of well heeled, customers. We were more dressed for Zippy’s, but they didn‘t say a word as we walked in. There were large marine pools throughout the restaurant. It gave you the feeling that you were in a tropical lagoon at night. Multiple food prep stations abounded. Hugh fish lay on glittering ice as if they were resting for some unknown trip. The menu emphasized fish and sushi, but had everything else. Two local guys were playing recent oldie but goodies like Hotel California. The place was completely unknown to us, but not to the rest of the people, not to Al, my neighbor and ukulele mentor. Emi thought it was a throwback to the 70’s with it’s décor of dark exotic looking wood, lava stone walls, and fantastic view of Waikiki and Leahi (Diamond Head). She half expected to see Cricket or Jack Lord walk in.
The whole island is just waiting for anyone to discover the hidden gems in the most unlikely locations. All you need is a car, the money, time, and an appetite. June and Charlie will never know the gastronomical pleasures of local fare.
On Monday morning, Emi went to the Waikiki Community Center. A Japanese visiting couple told Emi about it. I left her there and walked to Sans Souci to swim. The current was so strong that I almost floated going one direction, but had to sprint swim to get back to where I started. When I came back to WCC, Emi and her fellow classmates were still at it. The kumu was Nalani Kealae. I was told his father was Moe Kealae who was one of the most famous Hawaiian singer. I didn’t know him; I do now. He was the one who made famous the “Hospital” song that Stan sang for us at the Shinshotei. I stood at the door and watched the wahines do their thing. I always like to watch hula. The ability level varied. The participants were not being taught Lovely Hula Hands or Hukilau. It was real hula. There were about 50 dancers and 95% were Japanese. Jody, my Kaimuki ukulele teacher, told me that Japan is like Hawaii with regards to loving Hawaiian culture, only 100x more. I didn’t believe him at first, but am now rethinking. These people come to Hawaii to learn as much Hawaiian culture, unlike June and Charlie. They know what they are going to do.
I wanted to explain to June and Charlie that Hawaii was unique, that Hawaii was the only place in the USA that sings their national anthem (Hawaii Pono I) as well as the American national anthem, the only place that race is not an issue unless you wanted to kid around, the only place that has their own conglomerate language, and the only place that has a foreign language as its original language. They wouldn’t know what I was talking about. While ethnic Hawaiians become more and more assimilated by all the other races, their culture grows and grows. How can a culture survive while the original population pass away? Just watch Hawaii and you’ll understand. Who will be the new “Hawaiian” ? A Japanese who comes to Hawaii months out of every year just to study the culture or a Pake who lives in San Francisco who was taken away from his “one hanau” (birth sands) when he was only nine, but never stopped loving all that is Hawaiian. Maybe even June and Charlie could become Hawaiian if someone showed them the real Hawaii.