Went to Kauai
and was blown away by the beauty
the weather
the vibe
and the people.
Aloha, they say
Mahalo, they say
have a nice day they say
and they mean it.
after all tourism is the main export.
Context and subtext.
a beautiful set of islands
mainly americans go on holiday
...where they try to turn everything
into the way it is back home.
wallmart
costco
macdonalds
and the scourge of healthy dining everywhere
the (french) fry.
anyplace I went
they served the same thing
burgers, fish tacos and the grill.
and the french fry
and the dressings..
ranch
thousand island and blue cheese
all with mayonnaise and all with sugar.
got any vinagrette? or lemon?
cue the blank stare..
we stayed at the marriott
and everybody bar us
was wandering around
with a 24oz plastic cup
which you purchase at the start of your week for $42.
refillable at any time
with the soda or coffee of your choice
as much as you want.
soda (used to be water) now high fructose
corn syrup.
and we know how they like their coffee
with a cow-load of milk
and sugar
and vanilla or chocolate
flavouring
weird we still have that hoarding
all you can eat
go get some more mentality
when we perceive things are
free.
Fish which could have been grilled
and served with lemon
all came fried with
a butter caper sauce
or a creamy basil reduction.
you get the picture.
abundant fruit and veges
beautiful seafood
and they felt compelled
to put my mahi mahi
with teriyaki sauce.
I ate too many fries
had my cheeseburger in paradise
got stuck into the sailor jerry rum
and had a ball.
put on 4 kgs in a 10 days.
but I tried to limit
my consumption
of all the above
it was hard
and temptation was everywhere.
I had to choke down my reply
when the check out guy
after charging me for my papaya and banana
asked me if I wanted to donate
a dollar to the american heart foundation.
paradise lost.
