On The Write Path

Long walk to China...

...town.

The walk was long. The city streets ugly.

I followed an older woman in pink, passed her, paused to take a picture as she passed me, caught up to her again... and again... and again.

It was the highlight of my day.

It began s.l.o.w... I like to talk to fellow travelers. This morning: folks from Germany, Austria and Argentina. I didn't leave till noon.

By then it was time to eat. Long yellow noodles in a broth: shrimp, squid, pork, shiitake*, egg, greens. I picked them out with my chopsticks s.l.o.w.l.y... the ramen ankake was hot. So I ate the fried rice, even the small pink flecks that I couldn't identify. I dipped the gyoza* in sauce. Then I slurped the broth as it cooled down, tried to slurp the ramen as well (it is polite to do so).

Thank God for the glass of ice water!

I realized I had mis-ordered when I paid more than I expected to; but, it was a good lunch. And if I run out of money who needs supper?

I did manage to get to a bank later.

And bought mochi* and coffee packets!

I love sweets; I love coffee.

Maybe that was my mistake? I started my day without the fragrance, the warmth, the smell—hell, who am I kidding—the energizing wake me up caffeine!

So what did I notice today? The annoying noise of traffic, the pale shade of outstretched limbs, black and white wings headed ewa*, peach and magenta veranera*, a certain ugliness of a street bare of trees but not of rubbish, then... orchids in bloom.

I took a picture of a fan palm (as the lady in pink passed me by, plodding, slightly stooped; we didn't speak.); I listened to the coo of the doves; I felt the breeze in my face (and wondered whether it would rain; it didn't).

When the pink lady turned into a health clinic I kept on. The Iolani Palace* was open, but only for an hour. I wanted more time. I strode through a park where people were camped out. As I took pictures of the huge trees with dangling roots I wondered. Homeless? Street people?

Tourists may think Hawai'i is paradise. I already knew it was not. But so many?

I got to Nuuanu Stream where duck and doves were hanging out, drank a cooling chocolate milk, rested for a few minutes on a hard stone wall to watch older men play cards. I didn't know what language they spoke. I didn't recognize the game. I had arrived in China Town but I made no assumptions. I was in front of a Shinto temple* and Honolulu is home to many ethnic groups from the Pacific and elsewhere. I took a photo of a monument in a plaza that reminded me of Lisbon. Sure enough, it was dedicated to Portuguese immigrants.

It was a day of doing nothing. Even the botanical gardens where closed by the time I found it. On the way to catch a bus I passed another park, this one lined with tents, dogs and people with that look of the streets.) I heard a young man-of-color mention getting held up in Niagara Falls so we chatted. I grew up close to there. I have been there. I wasn't surprised at his story, although he was!

A troop of youth garbed for the Chinese New year passed me as I sat on a bench waiting for the express bus to the university. When I got on I sat by a young blond college student from Texas who has family from my home town...

So many reminders that the world is very small. And sometimes pink.

© Kåre Enga [travelday3] 28 february 2015

*shiitake mushrooms
*gyoza = potstickers
*veranera = bougainvillea
*mochi = rice cakes
*Shinto is a Japanese belief system
*Iolani Palace belonged to the Hawai'ian kings and queens before they were disposed by American businessmen. It is the only royal palace on American soil.

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