My earliest memories of Honolulu include my introduction to Japanese food; it had not yet become a cuisine. It was at a tiny Waikiki restaurant where each day a cook created four or five special lunches on two gas burners. One was for sauteing and frying, the other for simmering, steaming and warming. Piled-up pans were rotated as needed, and everything that was served from them was delicious.

Other memories during my recent Hawaiian vacation were of tree-lined paths now replaced by shopping arcades and fastfood outlets. Yet nothing can destroy the magic of the varicolored surf and sandy beaches with a distant view of Diamond Head. I was spending my final two days at the Halekulani, once a series of bungalows with shaded walks leading to the beach. Now they, too, are a memory, reflected, perhaps, in the steep-pitched roofs at various levels of the two low high-rise Halekulani towers. Now there are many new hotels along the beach but they cannot reproduce the Halekulani's quiet efficiency and gracious service. The hotel's premier restaurant, La Mer, is renowned for its imaginative but not overstated blend of French/Pacific techniques and flavors for one of Honolulu's most distinctive menus. A favorite sunset choice is the outdoor Room Without a Key, with Hawaiian music and hula dancers. The rest I will leave for you to discover for yourself. For additional information or to make reservations, call the Tokyo office of the Leading Hotels of the World, (03) 5210-5131, fax (03) 5210-3805, or in Hawaii call 923-2311.

There is a nice story about the beaches of Waikiki. In an earlier day, a boy wanted to swim at one of those beautiful beaches. He was told that it was private; he could not swim there. Not fair, he thought. He did not forget. He specialized in law and later led the movement to open beaches to the public for all to enjoy. Now pathways between luxury hotels lead to the public beaches of Hawaii.

On my flight back to Tokyo, my neighbor told me he had a seven-hour commute to work. He lived in Honolulu but his next assignment was at Narita for a flight to New York. He was a United Airlines cabin attendant. We talked about surfing. I told him about the assistant chef at the Halekulani, a surfer during his leisure hours. I had asked him about the surfers I saw early that morning, far out from shore, patiently waiting for a wave. What do they do out there? I asked. Well, they talk, he told me, about surfing of course, but other subjects, too. Many question him about cooking, asking about the preparation of gourmet dishes. I would not have guessed that surfers waiting for their exhilarating ride to shore would be discussing fine cuisine.

Now, I would like to write about something that bothers me: the negativeness of recently written air-travel articles that emphasize discomfort, inconvenience and delays. I travel a lot, both economy and business, but I rarely experience what they describe. Certainly, there are problems when a number of flights are delayed, most often by weather, but it is amazing to me how fast the backlogs are cleared and how airline staff members remain pleasant considering the anger level of some passengers. On the whole, though, passengers, too, are reasonable.

What seems to be overlooked are the tremendous numbers of people traveling today. Once, flying to exotic destinations was only for the wealthy. Now everyone's doing it, many on affordable discount tickets, and if they do it often enough, they will earn enough points to try business class some day. By plane, we can explore places that only a few decades ago most people could only read about in adventure books and the National Geographic. I remember the first "jumbo jet," as we called them then, to make a PR flight to Tokyo. When I saw it next to one of the conventional planes of the day, I wondered at the dreamers who thought they could fill them with passengers. Now much larger planes are taking off and landing within minutes of each other. At the Halekulani, I saw a picture of Pan Am's Hawaiian Clipper that first brought passengers from San Francisco to Honolulu in 1936 in 20 hours. Now it takes five. Occasional inconveniences cannot negate the fact that air travel has enriched our lives.