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I brought my family to Kauai for a 9-day
vacation during the last week of August. It was a fun vacation with a lot
of sun bathing, ocean swimming and snorkeling.
When I first arrived at Lihue
Airport in Kauai, I immediately
felt the tropical weather on the island which is very similar to the weather
in my home town Nhatrang,
Vietnam.
After checking in our condominium unit, we found
out we had a free up grade to an ocean front unit. We gladly accepted the
offer. Our unit is about 30 feet from the ocean. The management is kind
enough to form a half circle using the coral to make a safe swimming area
for the kids. From the balcony of our unit, I can feel the salty smell of
the ocean. It is hard to pass out an opportunity to swim in the calm sea
so we all jumped in the ocean for a short swim before our first dinner on
the island.
During our 9-day stay in Kauai,
we mainly went to different beaches to explore. The relatively calm
ocean and cool sea water make Kauai a
perfect island for swimming and snorkeling. In my opinion, Kee, Lydgate
and Poipu beaches are ideal for snorkeling. The good thing about
snorkeling in Kauai is we do not have to pay and it is less crowded
compare to Hanuma Bay on Oahu Island.
The snorkeling beaches in Kauai are on a smaller scale compared to Hanuma Bay but we can still see colorful
tropical fishes swimming around us. There are plenty of trees on the
beach making beach umbrella unnecessary. We also visited Anini Beach which is ideal for swimming.
The beach is very shallow and calm making it looks like a giant sea water
swimming pool.
When I was swimming and snorkeling in Kauai, I found back the feeling I thought I lost
forever after leaving Nhatrang in late 1970’s. The tropical weather, the
coconut trees, and the sound of the ocean waves made me think I was in
Nhatrang for a moment.
I had the luxury of visiting a land full of
tropical fruit trees courtesy of a local friend. We tasted star fruit
(trái khế); drank coconut juice from coconuts fresh picked from the
tree; tasted mãng cầu xiêm; trái ô ma (trái trứng gà); lyche;
chùm ruột; and papaya. I almost forgot the shape of trái chùm ruột
until I saw it again in this vacation.
During our last day on Kauai,
we tried the Luau dinner on the Smith’s family plantation. It was a good
dinner and the show was not bad either. My kids had a good time with the
buffet dinner. Surprisingly, they enjoyed the dancing show as much as we
did.
When I was vacationing in Kauai, I monitored my
positions for fun thanks to my niece’s lap top computer. Before I took
off for Kauai, I sold covered calls
against all of the stocks I currently own. I also sold several
conservative naked put positions with attractive premiums due to their
relatively high volatility. With my trading positions set up, I did not
need to do any trade during my vacation. I noticed one interesting thing:
The market closes at 10: 00 A.M.
in Hawaii
because Hawaiian Time is 6 hours behind Eastern Time. If I trade in Hawaii, I will be
off at 10:00 A.M. and
I will have the rest of the day for swimming and snorkeling.
Retiring and trading in Hawaii is an interesting thought, a
very, very interesting thought.
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