Hula Halau Update: Tropical Polynesian Productions

Credit: Depositphotos.com/Deborah Kolb

On occasion I will post information that I receive regarding various hula halau and events across the country. Here is one update that I received that I thought would be interesting to those of you in the Glendale, Arizona area...

Tropical Polynesian Productions, a dance company is based in Glendale, AZ, is looking for reliable students/dancers and musicians in the Glendale/Peoria areas to join their dance company.

They also teach beginner classes in Hawaiian and Tahitian dance.  The classes are on Thursdays from 6 pm to 7 pm at the Arrowhead Montessori, 14801 N. 83rd Avenue, Peoria, AZ.  In addition, preschoolers that attend the Montessori have classes on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm.

This post reminded me of when I had the chance to see one of my keiki cousins (not exactly, but close enough) perform during Merrie Monarch week in Hilo.  At the time, I thought that my cousin (who was in grade school) was pretty young for learning hula. Now I know how wrong I was!  I guess that it's never to early (or late, for that matter) to start hula!  :)

Speaking of Merrie Monarch Festival...I had a great time during that week, and definitely encourage anyone who has not been to make plans to go...especially if you're into hula or would like to experience Hawaiian culture!  You really get to appreciate what an art form hula is and how important it is to Hawaiians.  (It's not like what many of the tourist places depict of hula....I'll save my rant for another time....).

Anyway...to Tropical Polynesian Productions.....hope to see you out there sometime!

A hui hou

Steve

The Missing Lei

Feather Hat Lei

Aloha and good morning to everyone!

I've been missing the blog for a while, but I think that I'm getting back into the groove!  Today, I thought that I'd just talk a little bit about a particular lei that's been missing from our site.  The lei pictured above is a feather hat lei that I have sitting around (for now).  If you've never seen these in person before, then let me tell you that these are some of the most amazing types of lei that are made.  From afar, and even from up close, it can be difficult to tell that these are lei are made from feathers.  They look more like a smooth silk or velvet (depending on the lei).  They even feel like velvet when rubbed in the direction of the feathers!

The hat lei came into being when the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) decided to incorporate a piece of their heritage into their role of cowboys by creating lei to put on their hats.  Today, you'll see people in Hawaii (both men and women) wearing either flower lei or feather lei to decorate their hats.  Also, if you go to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, you'll see some of the amazing feather lei that were made for the ali'i, or Hawaiian royalty.

The reason you don't see these lei very often today quite simply is because they are just so expensive and difficult to make!  The one pictured above would retail for about $400.  Why are they so expensive?  Well, this one took about 2 months to make before I received it.  Now...I'm guessing that it wasn't continuously worked on for that time, but it does give you an idea of the time that is required.

This particular lei was included in our store at one point, but after a while, I decided that it was getting very lonely.  (Poor little guy!).  With only one of these lei to display, I thought it looked a little odd...So, for now it's removed, but still for sale (final price is negotiable...).  If you're interested in this lei (or in just learning more about it), let me know.  I'm probably going to hold off on adding it to the store until we get some more to display...

A hui hou

Steve

Google maps is now underwater!!

Credit: Depositphotos.com/Lee Serenthos

I just found out today that Google Maps Streetview is now providing photos underwater!  I just tried it, and let me tell you....it's pretty awesome!  I actually didn't realize this at first, but in order to get the underwater view, you need to move your little man to the orange dot.  See the pic below:

Credit: Google Maps

In case you didn't know, the little blue dots are regular pictures that you can view from those locations.

I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed at first because I was hoping that you would be able to swim around the bay!  Unfortunately, you're stuck in one spot!  Oh well....the 360° pic is still really cool....and a step in the right direction!  Perhaps they'll eventually add enough photos to enable us to actually swim in the future!

Google has a little more information about this new feature on their blog.  Or you might just want to go straight to your favorite places, like Hanauma Bay or Molokini Island.

Please feel free to leave comments of your own regarding this...

A hui hou

Steve

A Day at Aloha Tex Fest

Aloha everyone!

A couple of weekends ago, the Aloha Tex Fest came to town in Houston, Texas.  I attended, but didn't get a chance to post anything until now.  I took a lot of pictures, and hope you enjoy!

The first thing that I noticed as we were walking into the pavilion was the number of Hawaiian stickers on many many of the cars there.  Everyone was showing their Hawaiian pride, from their car decorations to the aloha shirts, muumuu, and lei.  Very cool!

Of course, the first thing that we had to do was get some of that Hawaiian food that we get to have on our rare occasion.  Onolicious!  (Yeah...I think I just made that up!)  They had the typical Hawaiian fare.  We got the kalua pork, laulau (my all-time favorite), and the huli huli chicken.  (The pork and laulau are pictured below).

GPS Lady Tries to Speak Hawaiian!

Credit: DepositPhotos.com/Shaun Wilkinson

We had a lot of fun with our GPS on this last trip!  Let’s just say that the “very mainland-American” GPS voice had a little trouble with some of the Hawaiian names, much to our delight, amusement, and sometimes confusion!   To help you with the imagery of the voice, imagine Paula Deen trying to say the Hawaiian street names without at all trying to sound Hawaiian!  (Nothing against you Paula….I loved your restaurant!).  Our favorite was when “Paula” would instruct us to turn onto Aay-la-moh-na Boulevard (Ala Moana Blvd.).  We just about cracked up every time that we left the hotel!

New Lei Creations from 2Honu!

One of the cool things about this job is that we get to create new and interesting things to bring happiness to others.  While this is not the best of photos, I just couldn't wait to post this.  Nani made some red ti leaf roses to add to a song of india lei.  I thought that it came out great and wanted to share this with everyone.  Also, this was a good reminder for our customers to be flexible and imaginative with their lei orders.  We really encourage it, and honestly, we enjoy opportunities to be a little creative and unique!  Hope you like this example...or at least get inspired for your own unique lei!

Stay tuned for some more unique inspirational photos!

Malama pono.

The Golden Days of Flying are Gone (Part II) – My Most Recent Flight to Hawai’i

Credit: DepositPhotos/Monkey Business

A few days ago, Jim Kilpatrick wrote Part I of this two-part piece in which we discuss the changes in the flying experience over the last few decades.  I thought that it would be a good idea to supplement his recount of his first experience flying with my most recent flight to Hawai’i, just a couple of weeks ago.  As you will see, and should expect, much has changed over the last few decades.  I believe that it is true that the golden days of flying have gone, indeed.

The Best Poi Ever!

I have never liked poi – at least, not until I tried real hand-made poi.  This is my story about how I finally had the BEST POI EVER!

I’m very willing to try new things…I grew up considering curried goat to be my favorite food. I’ve had all sorts of sushi. I’ve tried almost all of the options from the menu in Chinatown!....Well, ok, there are some things that are really hard for me to try…but I do know from experience that you NEVER know if you will like something unless you try it. So, I’m always willing to at least attempt to try new things….especially if I’m around others who say that they like it, or say that it’s “not bad”, or say that this is a “signature food” of some sort. So, when my wife and mother-in-law encouraged me to try poi for the very first time, I had to at least try it!

The New Jawaiian Blog

I’d like to tell all of you who are reading this a little bit about our company, why we started it, where we plan to go with it, and what’s in it for you!  ….but first, a little bit about our name.  You see…everything in our website, and in our company, has purpose, has reasoning, and has symbolism… and I think that it would be interesting to tell you what it’s all about.

Our company, as opposed to our website, is called Jawaiian Trading Company, Inc.  (Crazy name, huh?).  Well, I’m actually Jamaican…and as you may have guessed, my wife is Hawaiian.  So, our kids are… Jawaiian!  ….Actually, as a lot of Jamaicans and Hawaiians are, we’re both mixed with a bunch of other stuff. However, we both have native Jamaican and native Hawaiian, which is pretty unique!  Our poor kids, on the other hand, are just all mixed up! :) They might as well just check off every box in the ethnicity group!  (They really need to just get rid of that box anyway!!).   …So, there you have it!  Jawaiian Trading Company, Inc was born!