Usually these beautiful bamboo trees in the courtyard of the building where my philosophy classes meet are a distraction. Watching them sway gracefully in the wind is mesmerizing. Today, however, they are completely still. There is no wind. In Hawaii, trade winds are welcome for many reasons, including the way they make it feel so much cooler. Weather forecasters mention when the “trades” will be returning as part of the weather outlook (along with the surf report).
When the trade winds are gone, like today, it feels slightly more humid. Locals complain about it, but anyone who has visited the southern states in summer has a better story. I moved my oldest daughter into a dorm in New Orleans one memorable August. The expression “like a sauna” has a whole new personal significance to me now. The slight mugginess in Hawaii is MUCH kinder and gentler than the mainland.
The wind is gentler, too. When my sister visited from Kansas, she commented that it is not windy here. We had trades during her visit, but they don’t compare with the kite-shredders in Kansas. Wind there rearranges outdoor furniture, sometimes relocating it in the next county. My sister was so happy to wear her pretty, big-brimmed hats while on vacation in Hawaii, where “you don’t have to nail them to your head to keep them on.”
The climate is so mellow here, with such slight variations, that it is easy to notice a few degrees warmer or cooler or an increase in humidity. Fortunately, the trades are never gone for long – they’re due back this weekend!
Having attended the 2009 Hawaii Underground Music Awards (HUMAs) at Honolulu Academy of Arts’ prestigious Doris Duke Theater, I was recently reminded that our island state and Honolulu in particular enjoy a wide variety of independent music. There are many euphemisms for music not produced by major record labels, and terms like alternative and underground are now saddled with mainstream recognition, for better or worse.
The event itself featured several local bands in a handful of genres, from pop-punk to jazz and hip hop. There were costumed theatrics and off-color remarks, pretty much everything you might expect from an awards ceremony honoring the unconventional personalities that make up an independent music scene in any city. About 150 people attended the event.
What got me thinking, however, was the emcee’s recollections of venues past, glorious havens to eclectic musical stylists that are now but fond memories for hundreds of loyal musicians and fans that made the scene back in the day.
I realized that although many of the legendary clubs that helped spawn a thriving alternative music scene way back in the 1980s and early 1990s are gone, more have sprung up around Honolulu and they continue to provide the spaces aspiring musicians need to hone their music in front of an audience. Places like Ong King, The Loft, Thirtynine Hotel and Next Door are at the forefront of discovering and exposing new talent to new audiences, and there seems to be no shortage of young and hungry bands to fill playbills every weekend. Anna Bannana’s near the University of Hawaii, a 40-year stalwart of local music continues to feature new bands.
Do to major changes in the recording and broadcast industries in recent years, it’s unlikely that local and visiting fans of independent, alternative music will be able to hear new music coming out of Honolulu unless they make the effort to make it to the venues those bands are playing. Some Hawaii bands have made it out on tour, in genres ranging from pop-punk to ska to hardcore metal. Bands like Pepper and Go Jimmy Go have toured all over the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. The reason those bands have been successful is that when they started out, there were venues willing to give them a shot at developing a fan base through live performances.
Thankfully, online resources like 808shows.com and 808scenezine.com make it easy for anyone with an interest in new music to find out when and where to catch the next show.
One of my favorite places in Hawaii reopened to tours this week. Shangri La is closed during the month of September each year for conservation work. Called one of Hawaii’s “most architecturally significant houses,” it is both a tribute to and collection of Islamic art.
The five-acre compound is secreted in a residential area behind Diamond Head. By today’s standards, the home itself is relatively modest in size. However, the building and grounds compliment one another as parts of the overall composition. Large windows form walls that can be lifted or lowered to open rooms completely to the outside. The grounds include beautifully arranged plants, stairs, reflecting pools and water gardens. The view of the shore with Diamond Head in the distance frames the small estate. It is this combination of Islamic focus with Hawaii as backdrop that I find most interesting.
Doris Duke built Shangri La in the late 1930’s. Over the next 60 years, she filled it with an extensive collection of Islamic art. But to encounter Shangri La is much more than a tour of pieces of artwork in an unusual museum. This was the private retreat of one of the wealthiest women in the world for most of her adult life. She first visited Hawaii at the conclusion of her honeymoon, and immediately began plans to build a home. Duke already had several family estates at her disposal, including a Fifth Avenue mansion that she donated to the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. This Hawaii home was the only one that she built for herself and filled with the Islamic art that she loved.
This quote from Duke captures what many of us feel when first experiencing Hawaii: “The idea of building a Near Eastern house in Honolulu may seem fantastic to many. But precisely at the time I fell in love with Hawaii and I decided I could never live anywhere else, a Mogul-inspired bedroom and bathroom planned for another house was being completed for me in India so there was nothing to do but have it shipped to Hawaii and build a house around it.” (from Shangri La: Islamic Art in a Honolulu Home by Sharon Littlefield)
Photos in the book show Duke surfing and enjoying a luau with another Duke – Olympian and surfing legend Duke Kahanamouku. It says she became friends with the entire family and they became her social circle for many years — quite a change from her New York society upbringing! Not all of us have the option to live in various mansions or travel the world, but we all feel the special spirit of Hawaii that captured Doris Duke’s heart and led her to create this serene escape.
[Tours of Shangri La MUST be arranged through the Honolulu Art Academy. Due to the residential nature of the neighborhood, you must arrive on a van from HAA to be admitted.]
Music will fill the air Saturday for the 33rd annual Day at Queen Emma Summer Palace. The large "Hawaiian-Victorian" style home tucked into the Nuuanu Valley above Honolulu was the summer retreat of Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV. It is carefully preserved with furnishings and household objects of the royal family.
You can tour the summer palace at other times, but the annual celebration provides special treats. Last year, I watched women showing how Hawaiians pounded tree bark into cloth and then saw actual articles of kapa clothing that have been preserved on display inside the house. Men also were pounding taro root into poi alongside examples of traditional Hawaiian weapons (fierce despite a complete absence of metal). Throughout the day, musical performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band to traditional singers to contemporary groups alternated with hula performances of various kinds.
One of the surprises was a display of Hawaiian quilt-making techniques. Piecing quilt blocks was a popular pastime for women in my family in my younger years but the Hawaiian women took this basic technique taught by early missionaries and made it into a completely new art form. There was a completed quilt, a quilt-in-progress showing how it is composed, books on various aspects of Hawaiian quilt-making and small blankets or pillow covers available for purchase. It was like a one-stop shop for elements of Hawaiian history and culture.
I was amused that the house was described as a summer escape from the heat and dust of Honolulu – it can’t be more than a couple of miles from the beach and the buildings of Honolulu are clearly visible. It didn’t seem like such a short distance could really make a difference. But surrounded by lush vegetation on the palace grounds and protected from an afternoon light mist by the thick leaves of enormous trees, I was convinced. Hawaii’s microclimates allow this retreat to be a cool, refreshing escape within hiking distance of the beach.
The palace is an entertaining and educational stop for any Hawaii vacation. If you happen to be here on the first Saturday of October, it is also a slice of living history. Admission is just $6 for adults and $1 for children. Proceeds from the Saturday event help to support the preservation of the Summer Palace (Hānaiakamalama) and Hulihe’e Palace in Kailua-Kona.
The small Hawaiian island of Molokai is receiving attention of a heavenly sort.On October 11, Father Damien will be canonized as the newest saint of the Catholic Church and the first from Hawaii.A native of Belgium, Father Damien deVeuster arrived in Kalaupapa in 1873 at the age of 33. Unlike most residents of the leprosy colony, he came voluntarily as a Catholic missionary priest.He lived on Molokai until he died on April 15, 1889 after contracting the illness.
Leprosy was one of many diseases to ravage the Hawaiian islands after contact with the outside world.The thousands who contracted it (now called Hansen’s disease) were forced to live in Kalaupapa.Father Damien built homes for the exiles and a church.A float in this weekend’s Aloha Parade represented Father Damien’s church.The float was followed by young people from all the islands — their blue shirts created a wave from the parade’s beginning at Ala Moana Beach Park, across the Ala Wai canal and out of sight.The impressive parade presence is one sign of the local enthusiasm over Father Damien’s canonization.About twenty patients still live at Kalaupapa and eleven of them will travel to Rome for the canonization.They are among almost 650 people from Hawaii who are making the trip, including a troop of Boy Scouts who plan to document the journey online.
Modern treatments control Hansen’s Disease and the patients who remain on Molokai do so voluntarily.Those who wish to may live there for their lifetimes.The area is still under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Health.But the National Park Service is preparing to restore and preserve the old sites.Kalaupapa is a small peninsula of less than 5 square miles that juts out from the high sea cliffs on the windward side of Molokai.Tours are now available but it is a remote location, chosen for the leper colony because it was (and still is) relatively inaccessible. The beauty of the area and the allure of the saintly story are likely combine to attract visitors in increasing numbers.
Hawaii loves a good parade!Events and celebrations are frequently marked by parades but I think one of the most impressive is the Aloha Parade.I happened upon it by accident last year and was amazed at the sheer beauty of the flower-covered floats.This year, it has been on my calendar for months.In addition to the tropical beauty, the parade serves as an illustration of many facets of life in Hawaii.
The parade begins with a ceremonial blowing of the conch shell calling everyone together.The United States and State of Hawaii flags are carried by riders on horseback.There are always horses in parades in my hometown on the mainland but I didn’t realize how central they are in Hawaii.Just as parades in the midwestfeature cowboys and rodeo princesses, the "paniolo" presence is celebrated in Hawaii.In fact, there were paniolos in Hawaii before other western states.The first cattle were brought as a gift to King Kamehameha in 1792 and by 1836 Hawaii had working cowboys. This heritage shows up several times throughout the Aloha Parade.
The first float honored the royal heritage of Hawaii, unique among the states.Other floats marked important historical events and celebrated the importance of hula.This parade was the first time I realized that hula is not just a dance for young, attractive girls to entertain onlookers in a performance.It is an activity for men and women of all ages with deeply spiritual roots and implications.Silver-haired women dance alongside very young girls, passing on the movements and love of hula to new generations.
Throughout the parade, groups on horseback represent each island.Each of Hawaii’s eight islands has its own color, flower and title.For example, Maui is the "Valley Isle", its color is pink and the official lei flower is the Lokelani, or rose.In the parade, a woman in a beautiful pink gown represented Maui, followed by three young women and three men on horseback, also dressed in pink.
Another interesting feature of the parade is the prominence of high school marching bands.Hawaii has no professional sports.Many here are passionate about the University of Hawaii’s team sports (it is not unusual to pass restaurants where patrons gather to watch the UH women’s volleyball team).But the big rivalries are among high schools.The respective marching bands strut their stuff in the Aloha parade - beginning with large letters that spell out the name of the school.Some have traditional dancers, costumes or instruments, all have flags and rows of uniformed students playing instruments as they march.
I was so fortunate to have this illustrated welcome to Hawaii.It piqued my interest in many ways about my new home.Any time you visit, check to see if there is a parade — you may get lucky as I did because they are fairly frequent, marking most important occasions.Hawaii loves a parade!
I managed to sneak off to the Big Island a couple of months back, for four days and three nights with family and friends living there. What I thought would be a quiet weekend getaway some turned into a golfing trip. I arrived in Hilo on an early flight. A “calabash cousin” of mine living in the lush Puna District picked me up with two surfboards strapped to his roof, so I gathered we were in for a surf. “Yeah, man,” he beamed, “We’ll go for a surf and catch a twilight round up at Volcano.”
I’d heard of the Kilauea Volcano Golf and Country Club course up there, and had even spent some time in the area touring the nearby Volcanoes National Park (the golf course is just before the entrance to the park on the Hilo side), but I had never seen the course. After a fine surf at a spot along the jagged Hilo Coast, we gathered the necessary provisions for a round of golf on an active volcano with a first tee at an elevation of over 4000 feet: sunscreen, umbrellas, plenty of water and beer. The beer may not have been necessary, but I was on vacation.
We got a discount kama’aina rate of $19 (wow!) at 2:30pm, and arrived to find the course all but empty. There were a few seniors finishing a late morning round, but the course was otherwise all ours. An empty several hundred acres of some of the most beautiful tropical forest in the world is a dramatic backdrop for a casual round of golf. It also makes for a whole lot of opportunities to lose golf balls.
We needed all of our provisions, as conditions at that elevation in that part of the Big Island can change quickly. It was blazingly sunny for most of our round, an afternoon punctuated by one brief but heavy downpour. There was no one behind us, so we took our time taking pictures of the breathtaking views and wild turkeys, native Nene Geese (the State Bird, incidentally) and the exotic tropical birds singing to us from the trees. We only got in 14 holes before the sun dove behind the volcano, but it was some of the most gratifying golf I’ve ever played.
I met up with a dear old friend the next day, and we decided on an impromptu round at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course. Being a Saturday, there was a minor throng milling about the clubhouse, either waiting for their start time or musing on the round they’d just completed. It was an obviously proletarian group, with many single players getting away from work, family or whatever for a quiet, solitary round of golf.
We paid very reasonable green fees and even sprung a few extra bucks for a cart (gotta put the beer somewhere!). My friend and I were paired with two singles, a Big Island native who has been living on O’ahu for years and a Japanese national who had been coming to Hilo on business for more than twenty years. We got along famously, alternately praising and chiding one another’s performances.
There are no sand traps on the course, which makes it perhaps a little more enjoyable for a high-handicapper like me, but there are plenty of trees which, if you ask me, are capable of uprooting and jumping into your shot in the blink of an eye.
As the Hilo side of the Big Island is windward, it receives steady rain. It makes for a soft and green course that I’m sure is as pleasurable to walk as it is to ride. The sky threatened to downpour while we were out there, but mercifully only drizzled on us with a lovely mist and painted a vivid double rainbow.
The leeward side of the Big Island (Kona, Waikoloa) is home to some of the most famous and opulent golf courses anywhere in the world, but there are clearly some lesser-known courses on the island that offer similar beauty and challenge that even a writer/musician can afford.
Before I moved to Hawaii, I knew what a palm tree looked like.It was tall and skinny with big green leaves on the top, like the ones in beer commercials, or lining Hollywood streets or on Gilligan’s Island.Now I know that is what ONE palm tree looks like, but it has many cousins.
On campus, many palm trees wear nametags.They are tall or short.They are sleek or shaggy.There are many varieties of palm trees, all roughly similar.When I see them, I’m pretty sure they are palm trees, but I’m also pretty sure they don’t fit the stereotyped image that I had in my pre-Hawaii mind.
I spent lot of my first year here thinking, "who knew?" and never more often than when finding new varieties of palm tree.It was a revelation that this term describes a class of objects, not a single instance.I am fortunate to spend time on the Manoa campus of the University of Hawaii.There is a special brochure for the many special plants and gardens on campus.One garden near Hawaii Hall is devoted to palm trees.
The brochure explains "many of these palms were planted in the early part of the 20th century by botany professor Dr. Joseph F. C Rock who envisioned the campus as an outdoor classroom."The brochure describes many other wonderful gardens on campus.It is published by the Manoa Chancellor’s Office.
I might have encountered the wide variety of palm trees in other places in Hawaii.But I wouldn’t have known what the palms are called or had such ready access to variety without the campus collection.I don’t really know much about Dr. Rock, but I’d like to thank him for providing the visual display that I pass daily.The Manoa campus is truly an outdoor classroom; enhanced by Dr. Rock’s many palm tree varieties.
It amuses me to see the way palm leaves are collected each morning by grounds keeping crews.These leaves are HUGE!They only look small because they are very high up.One time, a palm leaf was lying beside a car and they were the same length!On early morning walks across campus, I watch the daily collection of fallen leaves and the pink puffy clouds behind the leaves still on their various palm tree hosts.
My favorite memory of the Honolulu Symphony at the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall is a performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf when I was a schoolboy. When I say that I’ve never slept better, I don’t mean to imply that it was boring. I mean that it was one of the most sublime experiences I’ve ever had (so was a Blues Traveler concert I saw there once).
The Honolulu Symphony kicked off its 2009 Halekulani Masters Series last weekend with an appearance by the seemingly unlikely trio of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, composer and double bassist Edgar Meyer, and North Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain. It’s been a long time since that wonderful afternoon of Prokofiev when I was a kid, but I’m happy to report that the Honolulu Symphony continues to provide that same rapturous experience.
Executive Director Majken Mechling gave a moving speech about the Symphony’s goals and its hopes for the future. A longtime symphony supporter was recognized with a warm ovation before the symphony thrilled the room with The Star Spangled Banner and Hawai’i Pono’i. It was a deeply stirring start and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A furthered my belief that the Honolulu Symphony is among the finest orchestras in the world.
After the intermission, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer took center stage to perform a triple concerto for banjo, double bass and table Meyer himself composed. A tapestry weaving elements of classical, bluegrass and otherworldly table, the piece was masterful in its incorporation of the symphonic element. By the time the lights were turned on, the trio graciously accepted no less than three standing ovations. At one point, Hussain joked, “Sit down, we’re going to play some more.”
It’s hard to discern locals from visitors at an elegant affair like the symphony, but I’m sure there were a more than a few lucky and akamai tourists who were able to fit it into their vacation itinerary. If more did, maybe concerns about its financial future would be less grave.
Recently I wrote that I try to schedule a stop on the west coast to break up the flight to Hawaii. (Plane Facts)A reader commented: "I agree with wanting to stop in LA, but I worry about changing planes another time for fear of them losing my luggage! I would hate to be on vacation with no clothes! Plus we will be getting on a cruise ship 3 days after arriving in Hawaii. What are your thoughts?"
It is fairly rare to loose luggage en route to Hawaii, but I would still have the same worries.Who wants to think about a dream vacation in Hawaii in whatever you wore on the plane?Relax.It’s actually as easy as answering two questions.First, what is easy to replace in Hawaii, and second, what would make your vacation really unpleasant if you didn’t have it?
First: tropical-weight casual clothing and swimwear are probably easier to find in Hawaii than your hometown.And, unlike many cities on the mainland, they are in stores year-round here.Honolulu has world-class shopping, everything from big box discount retail to extremely high-end luxury stores are within easy access by walking, cab or bus from hotels in Waikiki or where cruise ships dock.Replacing clothing might be an extra expense, but it is not difficult.You might want to under-pack deliberately and consider your Hawaii purchases to be wearable souvenirs.
The second comes in two parts.First, shoes: although there are shoes from drugstore slippers (flip flops) to designer creations on sale here, it is harder to be comfortable in new purchases.It doesn’t matter so much if my pants are a little long or my jacket is a little loose, but if shoes don’t fit correctly they leave blisters.Second, what are you pickiest about?If replacing your dinner jacket (for a man) or evening wear (for a woman) concerns you, make a note of that.For many women, swimsuit shopping is one of the rings of hell.Although you might find a fun new swimsuit here, don’t make it your only option: bring one you like and plan to purchase a spare.
OK, now you know everything necessary to insure your Hawaii vacation is successful from your carry-on bag.You already know to first include any prescription medicine, eyeglass prescriptions, camera and other electronic equipment in your carry-on.So, you have space for one or two items plus what you are wearing.This is what I do: wear my broken-in comfortable walking shoes (think sneakers not hiking boots), a pair of long pants (the only ones I bring) and a light semi-dress jacket (again, the only one I bring).In the carry on, I pack a swimsuit, a tank top that can be worn under the jacket or a blouse, or alone with a long skirt or sarong, and one pair of shorts.I have a pair of slippers that can double for beach or dress - if I didn’t have them, I might be tempted to squeeze in one pair of dress sandals that already fit and are broken in.I’m not much for jewelry, but even if I were I’d leave most of it at home and look for fun, casual pieces in Hawaii.
Anything extra can go in your checked bag, but only fill it half way to leave room for the wonderful things you find to buy on the islands!
Before I moved to Hawaii, I knew what a palm tree looked like.
