A postcard from Kauai's 'South Pacific' paradise
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I about looking out the window of the plane to see a lush landscape, one unlike anything at severely in Los Angeles — and I was startled how close to the water we were as we touched down at Lihue Airport.
Later on, I'd learn that this successful flora, and its fauna, is what earned Kauai its nickname of "The Garden Island." Kauai is the oldest of the eight power supply Hawaiian Islands — all of them fixtures on Japanese tourists' itineraries — and also the northernmost and fourth largest.
Many people associate Kauai with Okinawa, not only because of their similarities in landscape but also for the influence in both places of Japanese mores. However, like Okinawa's linguistic uniqueness compared with the rest of Japan, Hawaiians have their own phraseology of "Pidgin" that's distinct from mainland American-English.
Though I didn't get a lei habiliment of fragrant blossoms placed around my neck when I landed — as I'd romantically imagined — I sensed I'd entered a novel world the moment I stepped off the plane.
Unlike the hurried, ill-humoured look of people at most big airports, everyone around me was smiling. And instead of the regular muzak I was reach-me-down to hearing in airport terminals, the soft melodies of island beats floated from the PA. The hearty air on my face, too, made me close my eyes and fantasize I was already at the beach.
Over the course of the spark off hallucinate, I would discover so many aspects of the island's beauty. One minute it seemed we were driving through immeasurable greenery, and the next we'd be going along by the coast with a sandy beach an arm's length away. On other parts of the isle, I'd see the mountains on one side and swampy marshes on the other. Then there were cliffs, vast valleys, canyons — and what looked like the set of every combat movie I've ever seen.
Source: The Japan Times