Category: Hawaii Culture & Happenings

A confluence of factors, algorithms, and introspection among them, compel me to write a blog about Hawaiian music. It’s a fool’s errand. Books have been written and graduate studies courses have been taught about Hawaiian music and the major players who constellate the firmament of beloved performers who have forged its modern and mainstream identity. […]

If you’re coming to the Island of Oahu, you will likely be heading to the island’s Windward side. This part of the island includes, among other sites, Kaneohe, Kualoa Ranch, and a small island off the coast called Mokoli’i Island or also named Chinaman’s Hat. Name Origins This small island is also known as ‘Chinaman’s […]

While Maui Ocean Center showcases marine life and fish, a tour offered by the family embraces Hawaiian culture and plants. Visitors to the Maui Ocean Center now have the opportunity to join a new tour dedicated to native plants and their significance in Hawaiian culture. Guided by a marine naturalist, the 90-minute tour was developed […]

The good folks that comprise the Hawaii Aloha Travel Ohana often field various versions of the same question “How do we go local in Hawaii?” Visitors are often looking for an authentic Hawaii experience on their Hawaii vacation, and we’ll submit here that you can’t get much more local than attending a University of Hawaii […]

We made a trip to the Hawaii Theatre Centre with some of the HAT Blog ohana recently and I was struck anew by the splendor of the 100-year-old edifice and its remarkable history as the “Pride of the Pacific”, named as such by the papers here and abroad at the time of its September 1922 […]

Over the past couple of weeks here at the HAT Blog, we’ve had the impetus, if not the time, to think about living and dying in Hawaii. Two friends, in the same age cohort, have passed away. Both fought their battles with pancreatic cancer to a draw. After all, the cancer within them died with […]

The Hawaii summer solstice has come round again (and for everyone in the Northern Hemisphere). Surely many in the Southern Hemisphere will be celebrating the return to longer days of sunshine (it’s their Winter Solstice). Here in the North Central Pacific, the summer solstice means that beach days will be getting shorter for the next […]

Iam Tongi is the new American Idol. With his angelic voice, inspiring backstory, and gift for songwriting, Tongi has captured the hearts of the show’s judges and millions of its viewers and voters. He became a national sensation when his audition went viral. His journey to the top of the world of music and entertainment […]

I’ve never been much of an American Idol fan. Not even a little. But the soaring success of Hawaii contestant Iam Tongi, or William Tongi, has changed that. It’s genuinely thrilling to see someone with such deep Hawaii roots receive international exposure and acclaim for his powerful performances in the 21st season of one of […]

We’re happy to report that the HAT Blog visited the Honolulu Museum of Art (HOMA in brief) over the weekend. We’re also ashamed to confess that we haven’t been there in years. We’re glad we returned to learn about what’s new at HoMA, what’s ongoing, and what is in store for the future of the […]

Every Hawaii vacation has its own soundtrack. You won’t hear it anywhere else. You can’t take the immediate intimacy of the sounds of the surf or the birdsong of the forest home with you, except in your heart and mind (or a low-fi social media clip, perhaps). That internal soundtrack should include live music in […]

We’re a week into the New Year of 2023 and it occurs to us here at the HAT Blog that there is a whole lot of “new” in this Year of the Rabbit. New Governor and Administration. New Legislature. New County Councils. Even a new eruption at Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii Island. We’re hard-pressed to […]