Made in Hawaii and afternoon tea

Hello all, it's the weekend!

I've actually done quite a bit this weekend, trying to pack in a lot of old favorite activities before school starts up for the fall. But I will go with the Made in Hawaii 20th Anniversary event and tea service my sister indulged both my mother and I in this afternoon.

Late morning found us heading downtown and severely lacking in parking. The Neal S. Blaisdell Center lot was full and I believe the overflow lot at McKinley High School was as well. (I'm not sure, I was reading "William Shakespeare's Star Wars" by Ian Doescher lent to me by my cousin. Star Wars in iambic pentameter. Very interesting indeed.)

We stopped off at a Ward complex lot and walked roughly half a mile back to the center. Tickets were $5 which we easily ate back in food samples! 

The Made in Hawaii event was held in the exhibition hall and arena of the Blaisdell and featured a host of local business ranging from Hawaiian food staples to shell earring trinkets and wood crafts to fine art. More than 500 vendors pitched their various goods to crowds over this weekend, Aug. 15-17.

Major local food staple.

We swung through the arena to start which held most of the foodstuffs. Lunch comprised a sweeping tray of exotic chocolate brownie butter, chocolate and potato chip cookies, taro bread, teriyaki jerky, macadamia nut-flavored tack, macadamia nut shortbread cookies, a wide assortment of chocolates, wasabi-infused brownie crisps, cool ginger tea and hot 100% Kona coffee. The arena also had live cooking demonstrations for each day of the event.

You wouldn't think to smoke meat with guava, but it's actually quite good!

Sill in the arena, these ocean-themed fabrics caught my eye.

Hawaiian Paradise candies had THE CUTEST Oreo cookie concoctions laid out on their table. My sister and I squealed over the little characters decorating the desserts. And their chocolate samples were to die for.

The Sugar Lips Cookie Company had the wasabi-infused brownie crisps which blew my mind. They start off sweet and then this burn kicks in shortly after you finish the sample. Absolutely delicious.

It wouldn't be a local kine event without a 'crack seed' vendor. This vendor was selling spiky red dragon fruit.

The Kona coffee vendor boasts that their 100% Kona coffee is grown on a single estate. I can't argue with the results.

After filling up in the arena, we all skipped over to the exhibition hall for a large selection of crafts. There were glass fusion pieces, gemstone jewelry, geode jewelry (I was particularly fond of these pieces, but not the prices), wood crafts, metal crafts, fine paintings, Hawaiian Christmas ornaments, silkscreen vestments, tropical plants, quilts, and a whole lot more. I was tickled by some of the more cleverly named businesses: Sew Sassy, Dressed'n case, and Bad Ash Pottery to name a few. The nice thing about attending the last day is a number of businesses will drop their prices to move their product. We scored big.

There were fewer food vendors on the exhibition side though Love's Bakery had a slot. I found myself perusing a lot of the quilting tables. I've been interested in making my own quilts for some time now but have lacked instruction. I DID make a Hawaiian quilt pillowcase with my mom in a 3-week class, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

I chatted up one vendor, Barbara Vasold of Quilted Images, who gave me a lovely piece of advice when I lamented the difficulties of applique: "You can make plenty of mistakes in applique, or as I like to call them, 'creative opportunities.'" I loved that! I can't wait to be a wizened quilting lady.

These colorful koi would go swimmingly with several of these garden decorations! 

I was fascinated by this metal piece of a metal figurine surfing a copper wave. 

My family and I were there a good four hours spying, spending, sampling...

All the way until 2:30 p.m. or so when my sister said it was time for us to go. She had a surprise for us and the reservation was at 3.

We walked back to the car with our purchases, yes we did buy the wasabi-brownie crisps, and drove farther east to Kahala. Our last hoorah as a family as it were. I had no idea what was in store and I was surprised when we hurtled out of Waikiki and its sprawl of hotels to an isolated hotel near Aina Hina.

Darcie pulled right up to the hotel agreeing that yes, we would have valet service, and we stepped onto the veranda of the Kahala Hotel & Resort. I had no idea this place existed until today.

She had booked us a 3 p.m. tea reservation where we were promptly seated and ordered two classic tea services for us and the royal tea service for mom. I chose a 'Blue and Yellow' tea which had chamomile, lavender and cornflower floral flavors; Darcie asked for a Dragon Pearl oriental fusion, and mom got a lilikoi-flavored tea. We all rotated flavors after draining our first cup. They were all delicious but I liked mine best.

The services came with scones topped with mango and clotted cream spread, four types of meat and spices sandwiches, and four types of decadent desserts. We all chatted over our hot tea and finger foods just enjoying the afternoon. The afternoon tea bridged my memory back to the Australia trip which was a delightful pang of nostalgia. I felt super spoiled. Thank you Darcie!

Afternoon tea. Something I wish America would participate in with as much vigor as Britain and Australia.

We also explored the hotel after that, which reminded me how people visiting Hawaii experience Hawaii. It was luxurious.

Whew, this seriously ended up being a very full weekend. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of it!

Happy Sunday!

Trouble in Paradise

Hello all, this happened last weekend!

Surfing is a wonderful maritime sport. There's a magical combination of sun, salt, and surf that grants a wave-rider the ability to harness one of the ultimate forces of nature. And it's an experience I treasure enough to endure bruises, lacerations, sunburn, and sand burn for just one more wave. Last one, I swear.

Surfing has been a longtime staple in my family, but also a sport that seems to peak and settle through the generations as time marches on. Nearly all of my mother's immediate family found a haven among the waves off Diamond Head. My own immediate family have all hung ten at some pinnacle of Hawaiian living. (Whenever we're actually on the islands to enjoy it.) Mom and brother in their youth, dad during his military training.

The sport was something I had always had an interest in but did not pick up until my 25th birthday--chiefly because surfboards cost roughly $100/ft of board. Most beginners start on tankers, the 10'+ variety, which will set you back a dizzying $1000+. I nabbed my fiery longboard on sale for less than half of what it should have cost.

Now the trouble with surfing, beyond clueless newbies and self-inflicted injury, are sustaining dings in your board courtesy of reef or other surfers on the water. I've had my share of both but have not recorded how to repair the damages until now.

This time, I took my sister out to White Plains to get her a decent session since all of her other surfing experiences ended badly. I helped her pick out a board from the MWR and coached her on basics. We put in and away we went. It was a beautiful day, decent sets, gentle wind. My sister did extremely well, taking my observations in stride and picking up on the subtle nuances quickly. She caught several waves without my having to call out worthy faces. Toward the end of our session (or because of the incident), she came up close behind me just as a larger wave broke and shoved me back into her. Her nose hit my tail and this deep ding was the result of that collision.

Nothing huge, but deep enough to invite a waterlogged mess. No thank you.

We promptly got out of the water only to realize we had also cut up our feet on the reef as well.

Nothing huge, but deep enough to invite staph infections. No thank you.

So while both of us literally limped home, I realized I would not be able to hit the surf again until I repaired my board. Luckily for me, I still had leftover material from earlier surfboard repairs. This would be my third.

My repair kit components!

I had purchased a surfboard repair kit for $12 from the Navy Exchange a year or so ago in lieu of sending my board to professional shop. I often get beat up badly when I secure dings, so I end up with more than one. The one which prompted me to invest in my own repair was a surfer T-bone strike which ripped open more than 3 feet of my rail. (The jerk never apologized either.) A huge repair.

[I don't have a workbench to set my board on, so I laid it out over two sturdy chairs. I also wear sunglasses and a bandana over my nose and mouth while working with the mixing compound and the fiberglass. You really don't want to breathe that stuff in.]

The kit was a complete one! UV-curing resin, with a mixing chemical compound to fill dings, a sheet of fiberglass, razor, a spreader, and 4 grits of sandpaper. (200, 100, 150, 60.)

The UV-curing resin and powder compound drying in the sun after application.

The first thing I did, much like preparing a flesh wound, was cleaning the surrounding area of the ding. I sanded the area down and wiped it clean again. Then I got a spare plastic cup and mixed the UV-curing resin and the powder compound until it reached a peanut butter thickness. I had to fill a big portion because the ding itself was deep and the area around it had been compacted by the hit. This was my attempt to fill out the spot. I waited 10 minutes for the resin to set (no longer tacky to the touch) and brought it back in to my 'workbench.'

I used the 60 grit to sand down the cured resin.

I sanded down the cured resin with the 60 grit included in my kit until the repair was level with the rest of the surfboard.

Adding fiberglass over the repair.

 Next, I cut out a rectangle of fiberglass large enough to cover the affected area. I cleared the spot of resin dust with a wet wipe and applied the fiberglass. I saturated the fiberglass with just the resin and used the spreader to get an even coat.

At this angle you can see the resin-saturated fiberglass over the ding spot.

The resin by itself dries quickly so I had to work fast. You also want to be careful not to drip resin or build it up into ridges because it's harder to sand back down. After this coat of resin was applied, I set the board back out in the sun for another 10 minutes to cure.

More sanding. Sanding down fiberglass is hard work!

Now for the hard part. Resin sets like a rock. Resin-saturated fiberglass is rough rock. I used a stiff sponge to help stave off the heat from the friction during sanding. I started again with the 60 grit until I got most of the roughest edges smoothed. I bumped up to 100 for more buffing and refining. Once I was satisfied I could have applied another layer of resin to strengthen the repair even more, but I opted for a wet finish.

Prep for the wet finish.

I borrowed a bowl we rarely use and still operating with the stiff sponge, I used the 150 grit to smooth down the resin and finally the 200 for a fine finish. I was sweating something fierce by the time I was done.

Repair complete.

And there she is, fixed and sealed and ready to tear up the surf again. Now a professional shop would paint over the white patch. I probably could have spray painted the thing myself, but I chose to do something a little more my style.

I popped a Google search for tattoos and came up with several images and I felt torn between a shark and a manta ray. I ended up going with a shark curling its body around the white patch. I wish I could have gotten the waves to 'crest' into the white a little more, but I didn't want to crowd the shark either. 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the design.

 Happy weekend.

Ka'ena Point, North entrance (again)

 Hello all, it was the weekend!

I realize I've already hiked this trail from this side before with my sister in an earlier post, found here.

This time, however, I hiked with my mother since she had yet to do the trail herself. She also wrote about this particular hike in her blog "The Walking Hawaiian."

I'm of the opinion that even something done several times before always holds something new each visit if you look. Aiea Loop Trail, for example, surprises me with a fallen tree strewn over the path every venture along up its heights. Ka'ena had some treasures in store too.

Some things of note this time around,we left much earlier and arrived at 8:30 a.m. The route was already hot to start--maybe not as hot as midday when my sister and I went last (10:30 a.m. or so)--but the sun wasted no time beating on our backs and baking the ground. Thrice over and thrice over I agree this place is aptly named "The Heat."

The start of the trail abruptly begins in dirt road.

Mom and I went a bit more prepared for this hike; ice water, sun tan lotion, snacks, everything required for an afternoon dip, but she forgot her phone. So I lent her mine. All the images you see here today are hers!

There weren't too many folks passing us this early to start, but the numbers grew as time went on. Mom and I stuck to the main trail rather than sweeping left and right, dipping up and over the pockmarked 'beachside' road. Mom snapped plenty of pictures along the way, but I felt the real meat of the hike happened at the point.

Here we are at the point again!

It was a beautiful (if hot) day on the western point and we poked around a bit for any Hawaiian monk seals perusing the area. I kept an eye out for what seems to be these animals' favorite spot at a sheltered outcrop of rock and I didn't see any loungers. I indicated the spot to mom and she went to check it out.

Successfully.

"You're in my spot!"

I turned from my vantage point just in time to see this monk seal bark at mom. She said she thought it was a log until it dipped under the surface and came back up again. I trotted over to get a closer look but tried to stay a respectable distance so I wouldn't upset the seal. Mom got a few pictures and I warned that we were supposed to be 150 feet back, so we didn't stray long. Still, I can't argue with the great pictures she got.

I had quite a bit more energy this time around, possibly because we began early enough that I didn't feel so sun-bleached and I climbed all over. I was severely tempted to jump into the crystal cool water, clothes and all.

Yours truly overlooking ocean force meeting stubborn lava rock.

Look at that deep spot at center, it had to be 20' of plunge-worthy diving.

Scrambling over the rock, I shocked a coconut-sized crab from its chilling spot and it kamikazed into the water ten feet below, which surprised a modest school of electric blue fish. I want to say they were uhu fish. The most beautiful blue I've ever seen.

Still scrambling, mom eventually joined me and I called attention to some naturally drying Hawaiian sea salt. Also a number of shed crab exoskeletons. It's so neat exploring inter-tidal zones.

Hawaiian sea salt au naturel. 

On the way back, we pulled off at a spot more welcoming than most of the rocky 'beaches' and took a dip in the water. A school of fishes didn't waste too much time taking shelter beneath us and nibbling at my toes. "Is this dead? Can I eat it?" A couple of the more aggressive fish gave more than an experimental nibble and I felt bad for how hungry the fish must be. I wouldn't have ventured out into deeper waters if I was their size either.

I yanked a plastic bag out of the water, afraid some turtle might eat it thinking its a jellyfish, and I also found a rusty knife!

Acquired one rusty pirate knife.

I thought it was interesting because half of the handle had rusted off and the sand-blasted salt layer abruptly ended in a neat line which suggests the knife was stuck in the water up to the blade. For goodness knows how long. I carried out knife and bag to toss into a garbage can later. Between landfill and ocean, I would pick the landfill. Even if the waste still runs into the water at some point. Huah.

It was a lovely morning/afternoon and a great trail to re-experience! Thanks for the hike, mom.

Happy Monday.

Hiking Waimano Pools

Hello all, it's the weekend!

Quick Reference:

-Waimano Pools/Falls hike, valley
-Buried in Ewa Forest Reserve in Waimano Valley
-3 miles round trip
-Home of "Cardiac Hill" (700 ft elevation gain)
-Bring swimming gear!

This has been a hectic summer and it only seems to wind up as time presses forward.

Circumstances granted that my immediate family and I all be reunited for a week and we have been jackknifing all over the island at my brother's behest to visit some old haunts. We hunted down some favorite foods and eateries, lounged beachside and attacked the surf at White Plains (see previous post), along with those things you can't plan for like vehicle troubles. (The day my spare tampon plugged a rotted radiator hose and we went on our merry way.) It was such an event-filled week I struggled to remember which days we did what as I updated my journal.

Anyway, on to today--my brother and I had made plans to go snorkeling up North Shore and snag some Matsumoto's shave ice on the way back Friday. Didn't happen. Saturday we hit the swap meet at the stadium and had a huge family party for my brother. Then Sunday rolled around and my bro decided to do other activities, while my sister insisted we go hiking.

Panoramic of the ridge between two very narrow stretches of grove--almost at the bottom!

She chose Waimano Pools and we both fretted if we had already done this trail. It turns out we hadn't.

After a light lunch, Darcie and I headed to Pearl City and took off E Komo Mai [Welcome] Dr., following the road all the way to the end where the trail head sat. I knew we'd reached it when the tiny residence road was packed with vehicles parked on either side of the street.

A view of the west side from the trail.

Squeezing through the fence at the end of the road, we started down the Manana Trail and up a paved road to a water tank and promptly onto a dirt trail. It had rained a rare thunderstorm the night prior and the way was muddy. I always cringe finding soft trails at the start because the deeper into the valleys you go, the more muddy the trails become. Yes, I started with white shoes on this hike and they ended up caked.

The path split on us a couple times and my sister and I are the types who want to explore every branch, just to see where it goes.

We picked our way through the trees up and down gradual grades until the path narrowed and dropped into the valley. A sign pointed us to "Waimano Falls 1 mi" and my sister and I threaded our way over a large exposed root section. This had to be at least a hundred foot root system. We used the trees lining the trail for stability here on out. There was a few spots I would have tumbled headlong had I not been holding onto a guava tree.

A rocky section met us next with another steep grade we had to carefully negotiate because the rocks were wet and our shoes were muddy. The stream danced in and out of our path as it too wound its way to the stream at bottom.

We crossed a narrow bit of stream maybe midway through the trail and descended more, broke out into an open section of ridge that was breathtaking and plunged back into a very narrow section of grove.

The bit of stream we hopped on our way down.

We spilled out at the bottom at last, hung left at the fork, and followed the path upstream. The trail took us over an unfed split in the stream, back to the main branch and we tracked this all the way until we hit the falls.

Smaller panoramic of the stream winding its course through Waimano Valley.

The 'split' in the path had us cross over the active and inactive sections of the stream. Gorgeous!

The first thing you see is the smaller waterfall with a rope swing strung above it. Behind that is the larger falls which made an impressive sight.

The lower pool of Waimano Falls and the swinging rope. I loved the 'weeping rock' on the right.

I was not planning to swim. I usually do not swim as a precaution against contracting a nasty bacterial infection known as leptospirosis. The bacteria comes from infected animal urine or feces left behind in mud or in runoff and can be a waterborne illness in Hawaii. But when my sister (and a whole host of other people) ducked under the big waterfall, I couldn't help myself. I always ache to swim when I go to any waterfall and today I threw caution to the wind.

And the major fall! I could not resist its charms. The water felt great!

It was a blast.

We both swam beneath the big falls and I marveled at the sheer power behind that drop. We also both slid down to the smaller fall and swung off the big rope into the pool below that. Great fun. We must have hung around the falls for a solid hour before making our way back up "Cardiac Hill." And yes, I did have to stop twice to catch my breath.

But it was a gorgeous day and a welcome release to not only hike but hit the water. Here's hoping I came out as clean as I felt.

Happy Sunday.

Aiea Loop Trail

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

Aiea Loop trailhead sign.

Aiea (eye-ay-uh) Loop trail is one of my personal favorites here on the islands. It's a 4.8-mile loop hike set at the very end of Aiea Heights Drive. True to what the drive suggests, the trailhead is buried high and deep in the Aiea valley. I'm always amazed to climb and climb through residential roads and suddenly burst into jungle straight out of Jurassic Park. It's wonderful to escape the bustle on this trail, even if you hear the roar of vehicles along the H3 for the second half of the hike.

I've hiked this trail several times though I usually only go so far as the H3 overlook before heading back the way I came. The H3 as you can see in the bottom right corner of the picture below is one of three major highways in Oahu. The H3 connects the south to the east and is my family's thoroughfare to get to Kaneohe, Kailua, or Bellows (which was mentioned in a previous post.) Otherwise I have to contend with the mud of the 'lower' section and then push my already muscle-torn legs up the steep road back to the car.

I started recording my return trip from the H3 overlook, so really I hiked 3.16 miles.

There is plenty of skirting mud pits, picking over roots, ducking fallen trees, jumping fallen trees, and hills to fill in the first 'half' of the hike--so my roughly 3-mile stint is satisfying. It also doesn't take an eagle eye to see feral pig signs all along the trail--any spot with churned up mud details a pretty picture of pigs rooting around for, well, roots. And in the right season, the trees will either be in bloom or fruiting. It's not quite as fun catching the after-fruiting season because flora like this strawberry guava drop, rot, attract insects and generally stink.

This trail gets very muddy too. I remember thinking I would hike Aiea a couple days after a storm and it would be fine. Wrong. The trail started out dry enough but the farther you push into the jungle, the larger the mud puddles become. Being stubborn, I threaded my way to the H3 overlook and returned topside with brown shoes, brown legs to the knee, and funny looks.

These puddles will stick around for days and lift your shoes if you're not careful.

But when the trail is dry, it's great! There are some sections that are very narrow and you're rarely far from a drop off. You might have one hand on the wall as you lean away from sheer plunge. Every time I hike this trail there's some new surprise. A new fallen tree blocking the path or having torn out an entire section of trail. I'm not sure who comes in and hacks notches into the more stubborn trees, but it makes the going a bit easier--especially when the other options are belly-crawl under or risk a tumble over. 

Hand and foot notches in one fallen tree along the first half of the trail. 

I do have a couple favorite spots along the trail as well. The sudden wide expanses of eucalyptus trees are a heartsore for me. The dapple of light and whiff of faint but sharp citrus is what really makes me love this hike. There are no falls here. There is a creek hikers cross at what I lovingly refer to as the humid 'lower' section of the trail; literally a hop or skip or jump to ford before you wend your way back up out of the valley.

My favorite spot--a paperbark grove roughly one mile in from the upper parking lot.

I notice most folks seem to pass me in the opposite direction, which means they start the trail in the lower parking lot and enter the nondescript tunnel of floral to begin their trail. I enjoy starting in the upper lot which I believe is the actual trailhead because all the signs and warnings are listed there. Granted, you do have to make that horrible long haul up at the very end when you're already exhausted.

For any interested in hiking Aiea Loop: Bring plenty of water, sunscreen, bug spray (although I usually don't have any bug troubles), an umbrella, and ignore the smaller 'branch' trails. Those are pig trails. There are also a couple other trails that branch off from the Loop but the Loop trail is often the wider course, so stick to that and you shouldn't have any troubles.

Enjoy and happy Saturday!

The H3 overlook as seen from the crest of Aiea Loop. 

White Plains, white wash

Hello all, it's not the weekend!

I apologize for the delay of post. I had a few fires to put out this weekend.

Pushing into Monday, my father is in town, and to my surprise he suggested we go surfing. Both of my parents surfed back in the day--my mom and her siblings out past Diamond Head and my dad at Barber's Point to the southwest of the island. I've since shouldered that mantle and I often go alone when the water calls. (Which is often.) It's a vigorous workout if you don't have a channel to paddle past the breakers, otherwise you're swilling whitewash trying to get into position.

My haunt is Waikiki. I torture myself getting up early, slogging through our horrible, horrible traffic (top 5 worst in the nation behind L.A. and San Francisco), walking a good half mile, paddling for a quarter, and finally catching that first glorious curl.

Welcome to White Plains beach!

This time, however, we headed out toward Barber's Point and the White Plains beach, which is a spot I have never surfed before. It's supposed to be sharky out this way and while I didn't see any in the water today, I'm sure I scared several attempting to dismount waves gracefully.

The surf report said the heights were 3-4 feet for southern facing shores and I would agree with that assessment. I swear I had a few 6-footers rollers that shunted me back toward shore. "Fun size." If you know what you're doing.

A glimpse of the breaks at the beach.

The lifeguard tower and Diamond Head in the background!

The nice thing about White Plains is there are plenty of breaks so surfers get to spread out. You're not all fighting for waves, 20 surfers taking off at once. The bad thing about White Plains is there are plenty of breaks, you have to fight the surf the entire way. And moreover, today was a little bit choppy. I'd crest one curl, tumble down the white wash out the back, and whoop!, here comes another one!

Waikiki is great for beginners with three distinct breaks. (At least where I go.) And I notice if you're in just the right spot, the waves will hit each break in turn. So just as you're losing speed, the wave will hit the next coral head and give you another burst of speed if you can adjust for it.

White Plains was weird because the waves were more roly poly. I'd pop up on a sharp face, slice a bit and drop back down and the face was suddenly gone, but I'm still catching...something. I can't slice anymore either without going right out the "top." I also had to avoid the swimming area which I accidentally broke past once. I thought I'd cleared the left buoy. My bad.

A stage set on the western side of the beach and...

...the cottage rental reception! I believe this is strictly for the military?

We only have one surfboard, my beautiful orange-flame one, and we had to rent the other one from Hickam's MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation); a slim 7'10" board. I caught a couple waves on my board and traded with my dad about 20 minutes in in the wash. Losing almost a foot of board made me purl my first attempt. Never fun. But I caught a few more and wish I'd popped up faster to see just how maneuverable a smaller board could be. But you know, between purling and the waves closing out, I didn't really get the chance.

Turns out Barber's Point has an MWR.

And a wall-full of monster surfboards! We wish we'd known so dad could have gotten a tanker.

Surfing haven through and through.

Next time. It was still a fun day on the water!

This weekend, I...might be in New York. Stay frosty.

Happy Monday.