We stopped by the Moanalua gardens to see what is called the Hitachi Tree which is all too famous among Japanese. The tree is known as the Hitachi Tree for Japanese, but is commonly called the monkey pod. This monkey pod has been featured in the commercial film of the Hitachi Group and its catchy tune is imbued in my mind. I was wondering where and what it was for a long time. When I visited Honolulu for the first time and saw it up close, I was happy. For my friends, it was the first time to visit the gardens and they looked very happy as I once did.
The Moanalua gardens used to be owned by the Hawaiian Royal Family. On my first visit, I missed a cottage which had been built in the time of King Kamehameha 5th in the late 19th century and I walked around the cottage this time apart from my friends. The cottage was well preserved. As we asked the driver to take us to too many places, we had only 20 minutes here. I'd like to have stayed a little longer.
(Vocabulary)
garden 〚通例～s〛公園, 遊園地; 屋外の軽飲食店
botanical [zoological] gardens 植物[動物]園
a beer garden ビアガーデン
日本人にはあまりにも有名な『日立の樹』を見るためにモアナルアガーデンに立ち寄った。日本人には『日立の樹』で通る木だが、英語ではモンキーポッドと呼ばれる。この木は古くから ー少なくとも僕の子供時代からー 日立がテレビコマーシャルで使っており、そのテンポの良いコマーシャルソングは頭に深く刻み込まれている。一体どこにあるのだろうと思っていたが、数年前に初めてオアフ島を訪れたときに、『ここにあったのか』と知って嬉しかった。同行の友人たちにとっては初めて実物を見るわけでもちろん楽しそうだった。
僕はといえば、初めて来たときに見落とした１９世紀に立てられたカメハメハ五世のコテージを見学した。戦禍に遭わず、ラッキーだったなと思った。受付でもらったパンフレットをスキャンして下に貼り付けておく。ドライバーに立ち寄りたい場所をいくつも注文したためにここでの滞在は２０分ほど。もう少しゆっくりしても良かったが仕方なし。
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