Aloha! With the summer months creeping up, I decided to dig up some Honolulu videos from EarthTV.

When I hear “Hawaii,” images of coconut trees, straw skirts and food with pineapple slices on them come to mind. But lo and behold, instead of seeing hammocks strung on each end to a coconut tree … I see crowds of buildings, enveloped by the sea! (Each front is a beach front, Hawaii’s still an island, after all.)

That, to me, is just surreal. Having been brought up thinking that buildings, like the monsters of architecture that they are, only stood with nothing but other buildings surrounding them. Imagine chucking a paper airplane from atop one of the buildings in Hawaii — there’s a big, big possibility of that plane to land in the sea. (Imagine throwing a message in a bottle, even!)

Okole Maluna! (Cheers!) Honolulu, being the largest city, is also the capital of Hawaii. Forget the hula dancing — Honolulu is a modern city with the high-rise buildings and whatnot. It houses the Waikiki district, which serves as the state’s major tourism destination. The Waikiki beach, a reason for tourists to pack their bags and jump on planes attracts millions and millions of visitors each year. A good drop-off point for when you first arrive, hotels and shopping areas are everywhere. (Not to mention the nightlife, for when the sun sets and beach fun ends for the day.)

There’s also the Ala Moana Center, which is the largest open-air shopping center. It is a major hub for TheBus, twice honored as America’s Best Transit System, is Honolulu’s mass transit system.

Ono! (Oh-noh, the word for “delicious”) Pineapples are a trademark of Hawaiian cuisine, for obvious tropic reasons.

Much like any cuisine, the Hawaiian have their own unique dishes.

For some reason, the bane of everyone’s e-mail, Spam (the original one, the one from the Hormel company) is a much-loved foodstuff in Hawaii. They have something called “Spam Musubi,” which is a slice of sweet and salty marinated Spam tied to a rice cake with a strip of nori. (Their own brand of sushi.)

In as much as EarthTV can provide the videos of the beach, that’s nothing compared to tasting the salt in the water. Surfing, for example, has been noted to have been invented in Hawaii. Because of this, Hawaiian culture, myth and religion have been permanently tied with the sport.

Back in the day, the big kahuna (”Chief, Priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession.”) would demonstrate his authority by displaying skills in surfing.

Ohana! (O-ha-nah, the word for kinship, or, later on, the word that refers to anyone close, or someone you would treat as family.) The Hawaiians show values towards family much in the same way like other cultures. They show respect for their elders, are polite to one another, and value family above all else.

Hula! The grass skirts! The coconut bikinis! (Okay, so maybe none of the latter.) Hula dancing is a complex artform that shows love and respect for nature. It’s supposed to represent the movement of coconut trees. The soft-flowing ukulele gives hula dancing a relaxed, refreshed feeling when watching, but did you know that the origins of the dance has sacred roots? It is the chanting (mele) put into action.

Mahalo! (Muh-ha-low, the word for thanks, great appreciation) Thanks for taking this little virtual trip to Hawaii with me.

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