Hawaii: The Wedding
We quickly shower and dress into our formal attire, quite out of place in this tropical isle, but none-the-less requested by my cousin as she wants a formal wedding for her eldest daughter. As we hurry across the lobby and street to the parking area, I feel self concious about the slinky black gown and white sequin-beaded jacket I'm wearing in the mid-day Hawaiian sun and almost envy the beach combers that they can leisurely lay in the sand while I in my displaced glamore with my handsomely suited husband trott across the lobby.
The church is located towards the mountain, just up the hill from Waikiki in the Moiliili district. It is a quaint small church built with lava rock exterior similar to stone masonry on the mainland. The bright colors of the stained glass windows accent the earthiness of the stark black lava with towering Royal Palms reaching above, creating a surreal atmosphere.
The bride is standing with her father and grandmother on the steps awaiting the cue for her ceremony to begin. Everyone is looking grande and I am about to meet my relatives again after a long overdue absence. The bride was only 7 or 8 years old when I last saw her and she has grown into a beautiful woman. She resembles her mother so hauntingly that many remark they feel they are reliving her mother's wedding. Many hugs and kisses are exchanged before we are seated. Many of my cousins look the same but some have families that I've never met before. The family elders look a little older but most have aged gracefully. It is hard to believe we are all 17 years older than the last time we've seen each other. It makes me reflect upon how fleeting life can be. I must not let so many years go by before coming home again.
The procession starts with the parents of the bride and groom and all are looking elegant and handsome and beaming with pride. The bridesmaids are lovely and their escorts charming as they proceed down the isle. The flower girls however steal the show, as the eldest of the two sisters must be counting the seconds between letting the single white rose petals loose from her fingers, as the procession has come to a long pause waiting for her petals to reach the silk covered floor. We patiently wait and chuckle at her meticulous efforts to create the atmosphere of anticipation. Little does she realize her added drama is not necessary but is appreciated with humor all the same as we anxiously await site of the bride. We are not disappointed, as she is beautiful! Adorning her handsome father's arm, her smile is fresh and unstrained and she looks like she is truly enjoying her special moment and day. Her father in his tuxedo is a stately sight with his polynesian sunned complexion and tall frame, his hair has greyed and thinned a bit, but it only adds to his charming smile. The two are beaming as they approach the alter and a few are wiping away tears of emotion and joy, eager to continue the ceremony.
Vows are exchanged and candles ceremoniously lit in acknowledgement of thier committment. After the wedding is official the bride and groom great their parents and in-laws with hugs and kisses and a few more eyes are blurred of their vision as all realize that we have just witnessed a beginning of two lives being joined together. Joyously the procession starts down the isle away from the alter to the door and it is a little sad that the ceremony is actually ending, but the festivities are about to begin.
The photographer takes over from here and the official wedding photos are in full swing. It is a two hour interval between the wedding and reception and my cousin Joella, visiting from the Big Island of Hawaii, wants to go downtown to Chinatown to hunt for some supplies to take back home with her. Visiting Honolulu is like going to the Big City for her, as the outter islands can get quite remote.
The three of us venture downtown and again it feels a bit out of place to be dressed so formal in the mid afternoon under the hot Hawaiian sun. I am wishing I were in my cotton tank top and shorts cruising the beach. We zoom down to the inner blocks of Chinatown where the shops are lining the streets like shoeboxes. Some have doors that fully open to expose the entire store to the street so that customers can readily wander into the shop without ever knowing they've crossed a threshold. I love the array of specialty shops ranging from martial arts supplies to lei makers to merchants of fine porcelain and stone artifacts to traders of dried goods packaged in celiphane of unidentifiable contents labled for the knowing gourmet. I love to wander through these stores to see what they have and to quizz myself as to my knowledge to see if I can recognize the contents of these packages of dried, sliced, loose and bundled food items. Some are earthy and and enticing to smell. Some are quite heady and make your nostrils flare with revolt, but all are quite mysterious even when displayed under bright flourescent lamps and the late afternoon sun.
I cannot pass the lei maker's shop without wandering in as I am in want of a pikaki lei for myself. It is a small white flower strung when in bud, but the aroma is heavenly and delicately permiates the air with it's lovely scent known as jasmine. My husband buys me one whose buds are halfway open, as they are more fragrant than when in a tight bud. He adoringly kisses me after presenting my lei and we continue on down the street hand in hand.
The next stop is a pricey looking shop full of wonderful collectibles of fine porcelain and stone carvings. There is a soapstone carving I would love to take home to my indoor atrium or mansion, as it is a 3 foot carving of carp and lotus leaves complete with lotus flowers in bud and bloom. The piece is spectacular and so is it's price tag. I shall not be the fortunate new owner this day. The next shop we find my cousin meandering amongst the many rows of shelves of food items, most of them dried and wrapped in celiphane packaging to show off their contents. I can recognize most of these, but manage to find a few large packages of strange looking dried things that I'm not quite sure if it's of an animal or plant. It looks like the skin of a snake, but it doesn't have scales, it has thin, crinkled lines of grey along a dark charcoal background. It could be the bark of a tree or root, I'm really not quite sure so I ask the clerk who of course doesn't speak much English and she can't assist me except to say it's not snake skin. Okay, so I guess I don't buy any to make soup this time around.
Then next grocery shop is a bit more quaint and just as mystifying. The counter top has a half dozen large glass jars that have a local favorite, "cracked seed" or preserved fruit or other delectible. We are able to sample them before purchasing and we walk away with 4 pounds of an assortment of preserved plums in a sweet/salty licorice cure, candied kumquats, pickled green peaches and dried, spicey hot cuttlefish (a real local favorite!). It's time to head back towards Waikiki to the hotel holding the reception and it is not quite rush hour in Honolulu, so we manage to find our way without much mishap despite the one way streets mazing around the towering hotels and neighborhood bungalows.
The lobby of the Hyatt Regency is a botanical marvel with palms, ferns and orchids in bloom. The atrium is 5 stories tall and there is a two story waterfall cascading in the center creating a sense of tropical wilderness in this cavernous lobby. The mild thunder of the falls washes away any tenseness that has hitched onto the shoulders of the hotel's guests. The reception is held in a stately ballroom with tables beautifully draped in white linens. The wedding cake is towering over us with it's tiers of white frosting and fresh pale orchids and ivory roses. The bridesmaids and their chapperones are all beaming in the festivities while the bride and her groom bask in their smiles. The clinking of silverware on the crystal disrupts the newly wed's dinner as their audience demand a kiss to be viewed by all. With good humor they abide more than once during the evening. The couple initiate the evening's dancing and they are a treat to watch as they glow in each other's love. They are truly having a wonderful time sharing their special day with friends and family.
We manage to escape the loud music and remainder of the evening's festivities to be alone at our hotel room and from the lanai overlook the darkened ferned pathways watching the shadows of late night strollers stretch by. The palms are singing to us with their winded music and it's nice to be together, alone in this peaceful paradise.
To The Beach Hideaway
The next day we need to pack to relocate to the beach cottage that we've reserved on the other side of the island and I need to attend to a few family obligations. My mother has requested that I purchase some flowers for my grandmother's grave and while the cemetary is at the foot of Diamond Head it will be easier to do this on our way from Waikiki before going off to Kaneohe side. The cemetary is a picturesque one and almost cheerful with all the tropical flowers budding up from the graves of loved ones that have been recently visited by their living relatives. The silhouette of Diamond Head crater extends it's regal presence as it faces out to the ocean. It has been almost twenty years since my grandmother's funeral and I don't recall where her grave site is. My husband and I meander around in the mid-day sun for an hour and have to give up our search and come back another day when the office is open to inquire on the location. I manage to stumble onto the grave of an uncle whom I met only once, but his name was unusual and he is remembered as being a generous, handsome tall man with a deep tan from many years of playing professional golf in the Hawaiian sun. A loved one has placed a cigar atop his bronze marker along with birds of paradise most likely from their own garden. I say "Hello" as I pass by remembering him.
We whizz along the freeway to the more remote side of the island. We are headed for the beach bungalows of Bellows Recreation Center. Along a two lane country road we spy a towering forest of pines and a small sign that we are approaching the camp. A quick turn off the main road and we pass the public accessable beach area and check through the guard's post to the restricted military camp site. The cabins are rectangular boxes of cinderblock painted a nuetral sandy beige dotted along the strip of wooded beach. They are practical, not aesthetic, but will provide a restful stop away from the hustle of Waikiki. Our cabin is at the edge of a pine grove and they tower above us some 50 feet or more. The shore breezes make their needles whisper their secret songs to us as we unpack the car and take a quick look at the nearby shore peaking from just beyond the pines. It is not a "beach front" cabin but it's location is actually more appealing because the trees provide such a serene comfort from the ocean's wind and a sense of protection is given from the constant thunderous roar of the waves.
Hawaii continued: Valley of The Temples
