If you’re going to be on the island of Oahu over the Labor Day weekend, there’s a festival just outside of Downtown Honolulu that local people love and you will be fascinated by.
The 5th Annual "I Love Liliha" Town Festival will take place on Saturday, August 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Prince David Kawananakoa Playground and Kawananakoa Middle School (at the corner of Nuuanu Ave. and Kuakini St.).
The Festival provides a venue for showcasing all the things unique to the Liliha community and features performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band, a special appearance by the Honolulu mayor, savory treats from local food vendors, (including Liliha Bakery’s world famous Cocoa Puffs, which you must sample while you’re here) and much, much more.
The ubiquitous saimin was born here, and is offered throughout the area in dozens of plate-lunch palaces, drive-ins, and ethnic restaurants. Beautiful Oahu Cemetery is the final resting place of royalty, national figures and local legends. Virtually every religious denomination is represented in the area. The purple pigeons of Puunui fly at sunset. While Kunawai Springs Park once housed an ancient natural healing center where bubbling mud carried elements of revitalization, the area now is home to medical facilities that represent all disciplines and traditions of health care.
Keiki (kids) can participate in fun activities, games and play in bounce houses, and your kids can interact with the local kids. Food booths will offer local staples, and there will be learning exhibits and a health fair for seniors.
It’s a terrific way to indulge in local Hawaii, have a good time, and even learn some of the lesser-known lore of this Paradise.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 19th, 2008
As you read this, three hardy people are sailing to Hawaii from California in very unlikely craft … for a cause.
To call attention to plastic marine debris, two men are aboard a sail-powered junk. No, not a junk such as the Chinese sailing vessels you’ve seen depicted in Hong Kong Harbor. It’s a boat made of … well, junk; 15,000 plastic bottles and other refuse held together by discarded fishing nets used to support a scuttled Cessna fuselage, appropriately named the “Junk.”
The other boat – a 24-footer named the “Brocade” is being ROWED by a woman for the same purpose as she attempts to become to first woman to row solo across the Pacific. The three sailors, Joel Paschal, Marcus Eriksen and Roz Savage, met last week aboard the Junk, some 600 miles northwest of the islands. Paschal and Erikson departed from Long Beach; Savage from San Francisco.
The focus of their efforts is to raise awareness of an area of plastic debris in the ocean called the North Pacific Gyre, a clockwise-rotating mass of water roughly twice the size of the U.S., where currents and winds slow down. It’s referred to as “a toilet bowl that never flushes." According to Savage, the ultimate purpose of the effort is to see greater personal responsibility for limited one-time use of plastics and a more responsible policy for limiting single-use disposables.
The Junk is expected to reach the Ala Wai Boat Harbor in Waikiki on August 27. Savage and the Brocade are expected in Waikiki a couple of days later.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 18th, 2008
Visitors to Hawaii are stimulating enormous growth in an industry whose scope is unique to the Hawaiian Islands: Tropical Specialty Fruits such as atemoya, longan, lychee, mango, persimmon, rambutan and starfruit.
It’s just been announced that Hawaii’s growers of those breeds produced — and sold — 2.3 million pounds of fruit in 2007, an increase of 59 percent from 1.4 million in 2006!
In the last few years, visitors have caught on to Hawaii Regional Cuisine, which uses locally-grown ingredients and flavors them with ethnic contributions from all over the world.
In most excellent island restaurants, the salads are special. The simplest “house salad,” enhanced by the simplest house dressing, somehow tastes more lively, and the leafy ingredients – simple though they may be – seem more robust, more “fluffy,” than vacationing diners are used to, and those visitors seem to love the difference. They also love the mild-yet-vivid flavors of the mild-yet-vivid flavors of the locally-grown fruits and vegetables used.
There’s a reason for that. Hawaii’s tropical climate provides a year-round growing season. That creates flavors more intense than the flavors of even greens grown in “seasonal” climates. In Hawaii’s farming areas, plants grow in volcanic, muddy soil that’s fertile, easily worked, and loaded with minerals. Chefs in Hawaii choose their salad greens with passionate care. They look for bright colors and greens that look crisp, moist and fresh. (Brown or dark green spots and withering leaves are a sign of aging.) They look for heads of lettuce that are tight. To determine whether a head of lettuce is fresh, a chef will turn it over and look at the base. If it’s starting to turn brown, he or she will look for one that looks more freshly cut. Most chefs establish relationships with farmers they trust to provide the very highest-quality greens, precluding the need for them to examine every plant that arrives at the restaurant’s kitchen.
Today, more than 40 fruits and vegetables are grown in Hawaii on more than 5,500 farms. 50 years ago, there were fewer than 3,700 such farms growing 28 varieties. Until settlers started arriving from other lands in the nineteenth century, Hawaiians had only mountain apples, sugarcane, bananas, coconuts, and kukui nuts for fruits, and only taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, yams, ti roots, and some seaweeds and ferns to serve as vegetables. Captain James Cook brought seeds of pumpkins, melons and onions. Farmers learned from Europeans how to grow watermelons, strawberries, oranges, and many Occidental vegetables. Don Marin, a remarkable presence in the islands, introduced other vegetables and a variety of fruits that have become staples: guavas, pineapples, limes, lemons, prickly pears and mangoes. Settlers from the Orient brought – or imported – the seeds or stocks of plants they needed to prepare the food to which they were accustomed: fruits such as persimmon, lychee, Satsuma orange, dragon’s eye and pummelo; vegetables such as daikon, won bok, gobo, dasheen, soybean, rice, bitter melon, and eggplant. Hawaii’s new wave of chefs uses the gamut, and diners in Hawaii’s restaurants are enjoying the results.
Accordingly, Hawaii’s visitors are invigorating a very important industry to these special islands.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 15th, 2008
China and South Korea have comprised little more than a niche market for Hawaii and the rest of the U.S. travel industry, but that’s changing now.
Now it’s being predicted that eased travel restrictions for both China and South Korea will double the number of visitors from those Asian countries within two years. Numbers are climbing slowly compared to other major international markets, but the percentages are impressive. Last year, Hawaii saw a 33.5-percent increase in spending by visitors from China and South Korea.
Already, South Korea is America’s fifth-largest source for foreign visitors, and has the seventh-largest Internet usage in the world with 90-percent of all households connected to high-speed Internet. Currently, 35-percent of South Korean travelers choose their travel destinations based on travel agencies; while another 25 percent rely on friends, and 18 percent base their plans on information they find on the Internet.
In the meantime, industry officials are urging agents and destinations to cater to the Chinese as a growing group, as well. Chinese travelers now are spending about $1,000 per person per trip, and that doesn’t include lodging or transportation. Statistically, about $710 is spent on shopping; but only about 120 percent is spent of food. The U.S. is trailing Europe and the rest of Asia in attracting Chinese tourists, but the U.S. numbers are improving, and that could be a good sign in the face of slow-economy-fed declining tourism numbers across the board.
Posted by: Jim Winpenny
August 14th, 2008
It looks like “Hawaii Five-0” will be a TV series again next (’09-’10) year. (When the official announcement is made, look for headlines in the entertainment sections that carry the words “Book it!”) For those of us Hawaii residents who watched the show reflect our islands so favorably to the rest of the world in the 12 years between 1968 and 1980, that’s great news.
Other series that were set in the islands (notably “Hawaiian Eye,” 1959-1963) had been filmed on Hollywood lots, but what you saw in “5-0” was the real thing: the beaches, the scenery and the lifestyle. It was, in fact, the first television show to originate from Hawaii. (Note: Hawaii had been a state for only nine years before the show’s run started.)
Oh, sure, we made fun of some of the expedient short cuts (A car might take a left from Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki and suddenly be driving along the North Shore Oahu coastline). We cringed at the over-the-top plots and the stiffness of the acting. Some of us deplored the violence and the suggestion that we got along with attitudes demonstrating something less than “aloha.” But we loved the show because it showed you the “real” Hawaii. Fans of the show, when polled, listed the authenticity and beauty of the scenery as its number-one draw. “Magnum P.I.,” which came along following McGarrett and company, was prettier, but it was more plot and character-driven, eschewing perfunctory settings and scenery that might attract visitors to our state.
The Hawaii travel industry sees such shows as having a two-pronged favorable effect. The shows themselves let potential visitors see almost first-hand what this place is actually like, and the islands’ burgeoning film industry happily offers tax breaks and other incentives to those who consider island locations for their locally-lucrative productions.
Who knows? Maybe a new slew of up-and-coming (and down-and-going) actors will follow in the paths of Edward Asner, Buddy Ebsen, Andy Griffith, Helen Hayes, Rich Little, Dina Merrill, Ricardo Montalban, Victoria Principal, John Ritter, Marion Ross and Christopher Walken, all of whom were among the scores of “5-0” guest stars.
Check the listings in your local paper when the ‘09-‘10 TV season gets underway.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 13th, 2008
Okay, most people don’t plan on encountering wintry weather in Hawaii. Others come to escape the winter altogether.
But consider taking a day to ascend to the top of 13,796-foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Even in summertime, you’ll need to dress for cold weather.
Take A Tour
On a Mauna Kea tour (there are several), you’ll ride in a comfortable vehicle with plenty of visibility; learn about the island’s geography, cultural and natural history; gaze out on fantastic, otherworldly scenery; see the most jaw-dropping sunset in the islands (And that’s saying something!); and gaze at the amazing night sky through powerful telescopes from the best vantage point in the world. (A dozen observatories are perched at the summit, including the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared, and sub-millimeter astronomy, but you can see them only from the outside.) Most of the tours provide parkas and serve hot suppers.
Or Do It on Your Own
You can do it on your own, as well. Begin at the Visitor Information Station of the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy at the 9,000-foot level on the Mauna Kea access road. At the Center you can learn about the mountain itself, the telescopes and the Universe, buy souvenirs and view the stars after dark through portable telescopes.
But Be Careful
You’ll be roughing it. You won’t find any public accommodations, food, or gasoline service above the Visitor Information Station. There are no permanent restrooms. The only public telephone is an emergency phone in the entrance to the University of Hawaii 2.2-m Telescope Building at the summit. The road above the Center to the Mauna Kea Observatories is unpaved, rough, steep, winding, and dangerous. Only four-wheel-drive vehicles are permitted. The trip takes about a half-hour from the Information Center in good weather, but extreme caution must be exercised, especially going back down. Use low gear and be on the lookout for slide areas and loose gravel. Don’t ever drive faster than 25 mph. Use your headlights if it’s foggy. During the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, because of the low elevation of the sun, you’ll be driving directly towards the sun and it’s very difficult to see oncoming traffic. (Children under 16, pregnant women and people with respiratory, heart, or severe overweight conditions are advised not to go higher than the Visitors Information Station.)
Think About it Seriously
Mauna Kea is a very special place to be. An effort is underway to have a huge new telescope project built on Mauna Kea that is almost certain to be controversial among Native Hawaiians, who consider Mauna Kea to be sacred. U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye is proposing steps such as scholarships for Hawaiian students as part of an initiative to garner public support for the project, a $1 billion 30-meter telescope. (The largest on Mauna Kea currently is 15 meters.)
Think about including Mauna Kea in your vacation plans. A Hawaii-Aloha agent can help set you up for a thrilling, educational and unusual day of fun on the mountain. Pick an agent from our Web site home page (hawaii-aloha.com), or call 1-800-843-8771.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 12th, 2008
Suddenly, the Honolulu Zoo is Worth Your Time!
For a lot of years now, the Honolulu Zoo has been considered by Hawaii residents as a nice little zoo well worth visiting. It’s not expensive by national standards. The average United States zoo charges $37 for a family of four, the Honolulu Zoo charges $18.
But things have been happening, and suddenly the Honolulu Zoo is rated by The Intrepid Traveler, a travel publishing company, as being among the best in the whole country.
Visitor numbers to the zoo are up, the operating budget has been increased, and dramatic additions and improvements have been made. The Keiki (Kids’) Zoo, a $5.1 million complex that opened in 2006, has been a regular hit among families with its interactive displays, including a koi pond with a tunnel that kids can climb through. A new veterinary hospital, an improved orangutan exhibit and a second tiger exhibit with space for a mother to raise cubs are among the zoo’s recent projects.
Zoo annual attendance has increased by more than 100,000 over the past five years, and about half of the zoo’s visitors now are tourists.
The tourist attendance is not surprising. The zoo is within easy walking distance from all the Waikiki hotels, the weather is almost always perfect for ambling through the zoo’s splendors, and neighboring Kapiolani Park, at the foot of Diamond Head, is always a great place to be. The Waikiki Aquarium, founded in 1904, is the third oldest public aquarium in the United States, and it’s in the same neighborhood.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 11th, 2008
At last week’s annual Hawaii Tourism Conference – attended by more than 700 travel-industry professionals at the Hawaii Convention Center – analysts cautioned that the current high airfares show no signs of easing back any time soon. Since the year 2000, the price of jet fuel has gone up 265 percent. The portion of ticket prices needed to cover fuel is now more than 40 percent compared to 15 percent in 2000.
While we tend to think that added airline charges – snacks, beverages, luggage, pillows – are simply ways to gouge us, the fees actually are means of offsetting operating costs to keep airfares somewhat manageable.
So if you’ve been thinking of postponing your vacation plans until the airfares come down, it may be a long wait.
As always, your best shot at good rates to Hawaii lies in booking through Hawaii Aloha Travel. We’ll get you here as economically and as comfortably as it can be done. That’s what we do. Give us a call at 1-800-843-8771.
August 9th, 2008
Visitors rarely have the opportunity to enjoy one of the great traditions in Hawaii: the family luau. If you are invited to attend one while you’re in the islands, by all means leap at the opportunity!
Where you live, there surely are pot-luck parties, where everyone brings his or her own favorite dish to share. The same thing happens at a local family luau here in Hawaii. The family luau is essentially the same thing as the commercial luau attractions that are available, for a price, to everyone. The differences are that everybody knows almost everybody else, the music is more spontaneous, and an occasion of some kind – a baby’s first birthday, for instance — is usually the catalyst.
Imu are dug and pigs are roasted according to tradition, and local food – sashimi, rice, poi, chicken long rice, bean soup – is served. But the food isn’t all “Polynesian” or “local.” Just like anywhere else, favorite family recipes are shared and the results of the various ethnic influences are amazingly enjoyable. Yes, plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers, too.
Especially for a big family luau, catering can be involved; and professional entertainers may be hired to play. (Professional entertainers also play for Auntie or Tutu or Mom and Dad simply because they’re family.)
The fun usually runs well into the night. Anyone who plays a musical instrument brings it. Everybody eats too much. Drinking is part of the fun. Throats grow raw from singing. Unattending neighbors are tolerant. Clean-up is shared by family, neighbors and friends.
It’s a wonderful experience. Try to wrangle an invitation if you become aware of such a gathering during your visit.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 8th, 2008
The Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full-rigged ship, and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. She’s a veteran of the 19th-century India trade and one of Hawaii’s national landmarks. When the Republic of Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1900, it took a special act of the U.S. Congress to secure the foreign-built ship the right to fly the Stars and Stripes.
Falls of Clyde was donated to the Bishop Museum and opened to the public in 1968; declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1989. It’s been a museum, moored at Pier 7, Honolulu Harbor, as part of the Hawaii Maritime Center.
Now it’s really endangered. Unless a buyer steps up with the millions of dollars needed to save it, it’ll be sunk by September – on purpose – 15 miles off Honolulu Harbor.
The leaky Falls of Clyde is currently being kept afloat by shore-based electrical pumps. If efforts to save her are successful, you’ll have one more maritime venue to explore when you visit.
In the meantime, if you have a few million discretionary dollars to spend on your Hawaii vacation …
Posted by Jim Winpenny
August 7th, 2008
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