{"id":2512,"date":"2012-06-27T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T02:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2512"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:59:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:59:29","slug":"a-loverly-bunch-of-coconuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2512","title":{"rendered":"A Loverly Bunch of Coconuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Honolulu, Hawaii <\/em>\u2013 \u201cThank you, thank you, thank you,\u201d they muttered as we applauded the procession coming towards us on the sidewalk. Ten blond California-stereo guys in grass skirts and coconut bras were catching the attention they sought on the streets of Waikiki, turning heads and generating laughter along the way. A pirate look-alike with a bright green parrot on his shoulder hung out mid-block offering opportunity \u2013 Pose with Polly, $10. Just in front of our hotel, a black man in baggy white shorts was turning circles to the count of two passers-by; when he got to 13 they yelled \u201cJump!\u201d and he did a backflip, barefoot, without falling down. And then collected his tip. Not weird, in this party town, where the sheltering palms seem to attract an odd assortment of coconuts. <\/p>\n

Waikiki Beach isn\u2019t where the natives live, it\u2019s filled with Mainlanders and Japanese and Aussies; with tourists and shoppers and surfer wannabes. The Japanese come for shopping, I\u2019m told, as high-end items cost a fraction of what they\u2019d cost in Japan. \"\"<\/a>The Aussies come for a good-time, mate, the 10-hour flight is about as close a vacation spot as any other, once you leave the continent. The Mainlanders come because, well, Hawaii is the warmest point of exotica you can get to without a passport. And tourism is the #1 revenue source; visitors emptied their pockets to the tune of $11.2 billion in 2010. So how do the locals feel about that?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate the way Waikiki Beach is today,\u201d Sylvia told us, as we rested on a bench at the Aquarium. Sylvia is a docent there, volunteering time each week. She pointed to the now-decaying natatorium on the beach. \u201cI used to swim there, way back. It was built for the Olympic Games, and has such a famous history, but they say restoring it today would be impossible, it\u2019s too far gone.\u201d Sylvia recalled the time when Waikiki was the site of only a few lovely hotels, living costs were reasonable, and everything had a friendly neighborhood feel. \u201cMy neighborhood is still fairly quiet,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I won\u2019t drive into Waikiki Beach, it\u2019s just too congested.\u201d I heard that remark from Lara in the bank on Kuhio Street, she drives in to work every day, but complained about the length of her commute \u201cWe now claim the \u201cmost congested\u201d traffic anywhere in the US,\u201d she said, shaking her head. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The wackiness seems to be mostly confined to Waikiki; someone who works downtown told me she would never venture there. But, on the other hand, Waikiki Beach is practically a synonym for \u201cjobs\u201d; the unemployment rate for this area is under 6%. I\u2019ve tried to get a handle on the number of hotels in this relatively small area; one source claims there are 74, with over 30,000 rooms, but I have not verified that statistic. Looking out the window of my own hotel, I would guess the number is higher than that. Now, consider the support systems that many hotels would require; besides maintaining the hotels, you need restaurants to feed the visitors, shopping and entertainment venues, and transportation to move everyone around (no one drove here for a visit!). That\u2019s a lot of employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I was overwhelmed by the variety of things to do and places to go that vied for my attention. The transportation options alone were astounding: \u201cThe Bus\u201d is the standard city bus although double-decker touring buses abound; \u201cThe Cab\u201d seemed to be the most reliable taxi although there are many independents. The Waikiki Trolley runs three routes promoted as \u201ctours\u201d \u2013 Red for historic; Green for sightseeing; and the every-ten-minutes Pink Line that takes you directly to Ala Moana Shopping Mall. Speedi-Shuttle gets you to the airport; stretch white limos are more prolific than taxis; and charter tour buses routinely edge out passenger cars, after all, they\u2019ve got 50 people on board eager to \u201cget somewhere\u201d within their allotted vacation time.<\/p>\n

My informal poll asking \u201cwhy do you live here?\u201d turned up the same response from every single resident I questioned \u2013 tour bus and taxi drivers, restaurant workers, hotel employees, office workers, retirees; native born or from Viet Nam or New Jersey. Despite the congestion, and noise, and never-ending parade of \u201ccoconuts\u201d that make up their daily routine, the answer was simple \u201cI may travel all over the world, but I wouldn\u2019t think of living anywhere else.\u201d \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Honolulu, Hawaii \u2013 \u201cThank you, thank you, thank you,\u201d they muttered as we applauded the procession coming towards us on the sidewalk. Ten blond California-stereo guys in grass skirts and coconut bras were catching the attention they sought on the streets of Waikiki, turning heads and generating laughter along the way. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,669],"tags":[703,772,3066,770,769,771],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2512"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15542,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512\/revisions\/15542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}