When I was a kid my family lived on the windward side of O'ahu. He never said why but my dad rarely took us to Waikiki. Our life on the island was definitely the "country" experience. Sometimes we did visit my parents' worksites and occasionally drove around the island. Always avoiding "town".

I remember when I was a teenager. We passed through Waikiki on our way to Kahala to pick up visitors or some such reason. I was just amazed. It was a whole other world I didn't know existed in Hawai'i. I can only liken it to how

I felt as a child on my first visit to the local carnival. I was attracted by all the people walking on the streets, the smell of coconut oil, and the many bodies lying on the beach. Everyone seemed so relaxed, confident and happy. It seemed to me a positive departure from what I had experienced in my little life to that point.

In the early 70s when I ran away from home I hung out at a nightclub called Red Noodle in Waikiki. I knew my parents would never look for me there.

Mamo Kim, 2003