Christmas in Hawaii

SUN, SAND AND SANTA: Santa Claus opted for an outrigger canoe instead of a sleigh for his Christmas Eve sunset arrival in front of the Halekulani Hotel. Keiki from Hula Hui O Kapunahala, under the direction of kumu hula Carolee Nishi, greeted the jolly elf. Some of the kids who surrounded Santa were junior high school students from Fukushima and Iwate prefectures in Japan -- two of the worst-hit areas in the March earthquake and tsunami. Some of the kids lost a parent to the tsunami.