If you’ve been following my journal for the past 6 months, you’d probably agree that the island of Oahu has earned the title of the above. From the American Indian Pow-Wow in the Autumn, the multiple Christmas shows, the nightly Hula and Polynesian performances nightly in Waikiki, the Chinese New Year’s 3 week celebration, the Mardi Gras and just this past weekend, a 2 day Honolulu 13th Annual Festival culminating with a 3 hour Parade through Waikiki. This Festival is sponsored by the Honolulu Festival Foundation of Japan, “with the purpose of promoting friendship b [View Full Entry]

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Is situated the Town of Wahiawa and 5 miles to the south, her much younger sister, Mililani. This past Sunday, I needed to go to Schofield Barracks a large military, Army installation located about 20 miles north of Honolulu. After taking care of business, I decided to take a stroll around the town of Wahiawa located about ½ mile outside the gates. The smallish town of Wahiawa was founded by a group of 7 homesteaders from California, in about the 1890’s. Wahiawa literally means “place of loud noise” which is a mystery as it located in a flat plain-like located just [View Full Entry]

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February turned out to be a month of Festivals, Foods, Friends, Folks and Fun. The smoke from the fireworks and Lion Dances of the 3 weekend Chinese New Year celebrations had barely cleared, and then again, the streets of Downtown Honolulu were being blocked off for another Block Party, this time for the 7th Annual Mardi Gras. A Mardi Gras in Honolulu, you may ask? Well, probably many here, like I, may be asking the same thing. After all, as far as I know, we have no large Cajun or Louisiana ex-pats living here. Of course any event that makes people [View Full Entry]

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Well, it’s the Year of the Pig, or Boar of the Year 4704 for most of the Chinese around the world. This means a month long celebration comparable to Christmas, Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras, rolled into one to the Western World. Time for friends and families to visit with each other, bringing small gifts, serving snacks and foods to guests, with many symbolic meaning behind them, having firecrackers and Lion and Dragon dances on the streets and town squares as well as entertainment of folk dances, martial arts, operas and what not. Like other cities with a fair size of ethnic [View Full Entry]

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About a year ago, there was an article in the papers announcing that the Pineapple Plantation in Kunia in Central Oahu, would no longer be planting after the present harvest. It seemed to have caught many off guard, especially the 70 employees of that Plantation. It surprised me also, but only for the reason to learn we still did have pineapples still being commercially grown on this island. I have traveled many parts of the island, seeing where there were fields and fields of sugar or pineapple, now replaced by new tract subdivisions, golf courses and vegetable farms. A designer Lettuce [View Full Entry]

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Another sunny weekend, so I decided to get my needed exercise and fresh air. The TV was advertising a Local Arts Craft Fair at the Kapiolani Park in Waikiki, so that’s where I headed. Actually it was a small affair, nothing compared to the one’s held near Christmas at Thomas Square, but was able to see what was new on the local art and craft scene. Noticed some ceramic work, which was shaped into conch shells, rectangle shaped lamps with colorful Aloha Fabrics, fabric leis which can command quite a good price and are given often for graduations, birthdays and any [View Full Entry]

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Decided to follow my Doctor’s advice and get some exercise, walking. Went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center and apparently every Tuesday and Thursdays, at 12 noon, the Polynesian Culture Center put on a mini-show to encourage customers to come to their show located near the North Shore in town called Laie about an hours drive from Honolulu. I hear mix reactions form tourists who’ve been there, some saying it’s a waste of time and others who really love it. For myself, I’ve seen Polynesian dances often and never tire of it. The dances are often very lively and music [View Full Entry]

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About 10 years ago, I remember reading an article mentioning that the meaning for the Town of “Waipahu” meant Water Drum and that water was sometime pour into drums to give it a desired pitch. This journal is basically about this town of about 35,000, which is not really a tourist destination. It is sometimes call “Sugar Town” as it basically was in the midst of sugar cane fields and also was the site of a fairly large sugar mill. The population is mainly inhabited by Filipinos, the latest of various immigrant groups brought into Hawaii to work the Sugar and [View Full Entry]

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Kaneohe, literally “Bamboo Man”, which has it’s name of origin in Hawaiian Legend, is a mid-size town of about 35,000, but covers a large area of mostly uninteresting buildings, homes and maybe a semi-high rise or two. It’s about a 20 minute drive from Honolulu. Being as described above, one may wonder why then am I writing a journal and posting photos of this seemingly boring town or city. They have a fair size shopping mall called the Windward Shopping Mall there. As I was being quite bored and jaded doing my Christmas shopping at our larger Ala Moana Shop [View Full Entry]

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Don’t Worry this journal is not really about roasting and eating dogs. In Hawaii, this is outlawed, though sometimes when a dog is missing, people may eye suspiciously the closest immigrant family in the neighborhood. As many of our ancestors here hail from countries that savor dog meat, the thought probably isn’t as repulsive to us here as it may be to folks in area where their descendents don’t. Even the native Hawaiians of pre-Captain Cook era, were believed to have eaten Fidos. Hence there is a popular comedic song played every Christmas here that starts with the abov [View Full Entry]

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