Chinese New Year in Hilo

It was an auspicious occassion to have heavy rain at the Chinese New Year celebration in Hilo, Hawaii. The year of the water dragon was celebrated Hilo style with an amazing monsoon storm, which didn't deter any of the participants to the yearly event. There were many dragons and dragon dances on display along with an endless supply of really loud firecrackers to the audience delight.

A surprise visit below is visible in the children's faces, they just loved it!

Rainy days are a sign of good luck and the colorful umbrellas go up and the fun keeps on going.

I loved this shot in black and white and all the little keiki (children) huddle up together to get up to the front to see the show.

That's our Chinese New Year Hilo style, thanks for visiting!

Cherry Blossom Festival, Waimea

 

This was my first visit to the Cherry Blossom festival in Waimea Hawaii, and I’m glad I finally made the easy trek out to Waimea to see all the amazing things happening at this fantastic celebration to the Cherry Blossom.

This of course is the annual blooming of the cherry blossums along church row in Waimea, the festival celebrates with a huge line-up of spectacular venues and events that lasts all day – it is a must see event - I wonder why it took me such a long time to finally see this – its fantastic!

The entire island comes to this event from the east and west side of the island and the streets and all the gathering places are packed with beautiful displays, programs, music and of course the delicious food –’ Onolicious’ is what we say!

I got to see highlights of every thing that makes this event a must see, take a look below.

 

The oldest church in Waimea, the Imiloa was shining brilliantly against a blue, blue sky and the inside was glowing with all this beautiful and exotic koa wood.

 

 

 

Bonsai displays were all over church row from various bonsai groups, I loved to capture the work in progress, along with the finished product.

 

 

 

The interior of the Honwanji in Waimea, the alter is ornate and filled with beautiful pieces including this dragon pot in front, and I’m wondering if they store anything inside to share with the congregation.

 

 

 

 

Tea ceremonies were being shared at the Parker home and museum…I have to say I was mesmerized and yes the Parker home is also quite stunning!

 

 

 

 

Well that shows some of the highlights to my visit, I’ll make sure to make this an annual visit in my calendar of events around Hawaii Island.

A Walk Through Waa Waa

 

Deep into the wild and thick forests at Waa Waa, an unruly and almost untamed part of East Hawaii.  Even the roadway to this wilderness is pock-marked with deep potholes, water filled ponds collect everywhere and make it almost impossible to move along the muddy dirt road especially after a heavy rain.

It feels very magical here, like time has stood still for a very long time and you can almost imagine dinosaurs from a very long time ago actually living in this Jurassic Park like zone, even though that only happens in movies.

 

 

Amazing plants abound and grow way up in the tree canopy including this wild birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus), the leaves growing over five to six feet in length alone. I wish some were closer to the ground for me to bring back a plant for my garden, but these plants live way up in the trees hard for the plant collectors to reach.

 

Here is a longer shot of the fern high above the forest canopy and magically

it up by the shaft of light illuminating its beautiful leaves.

 

Large limbs or aerial roots drape from these large trees and are very solid as you can see

from a friend swinging here to test the strong roots.

 

 

 

Eventually we make it to the clearing at the end were deafening sounds of the ocean crashing

can be heard…we see the huge waves battering the coastline and throwing huge boulders onto the rough shoreline.  I took a shot of this imaginary piece symbol with the two rocks lit up the waves in the background.

 

 

This huge arch at the end of the rocky beach is the highlight of the hike, the waves are fierce and hurling huge sprays along the shoreline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a wonderful and short hike, I’m glad this area is rarely traveled except for those who live in this area.

 

January Blues?

 

 

The days have been beautiful, sunny yet crisp during the early January days I was visiting Northern California.

 

 

Its beautiful to think that even on the west coast in Northern California, they can have such wonderful and moderate winters so you can actually enjoy being outdoors. Today there were clear blue skies, rolling hills and miles and miles of vineyards.  (Or is it just the days that I was lucky enough to have perfect timing to visit?)

 

 

 

Spending the day up at Sonoma County up at the Russian River Valley at Martinelli Winery for a simple gathering  and potluck is a wonderful way to spend the day and visit with old and new friends.

I really enjoy the day visiting, eating some delicious foods and drinking some amazing Sonoma Valley wines and just admiring the amazing views on this day.

 

 

It’s fun trying out all the old farm equipment, even if most are antique and rusting away.

 

 

Wild turkeys roam the entire county, even though these are family pets.

 

 

Ah yes, eating is a fun pastime and the cup cakes were too good to pass up!

 

 

Such a nice visit, I’m glad I got to visit and enjoy the day here at the Russian River valley.

 

Time for Playland at Ocean Beach

I just love trains….

 

I always come back to the conservatory of flowers during the holiday’s so I could visit the holiday train exhibit – its one of the pleasures of visiting San Francisco during the holidays.

 

 

This years exhibit was geared towards the old Playland which originally was along the ocean front of San Francisco and had its heyday during the forties and fifties and ran all the way to the early 1970’s. The exhibit was a lot of fun seeing recreated parts of the ocean front and the huge cliff house along the edge of the cliffs.

 

A close up detail of the many trollies from the city going to Playland.

 

 

The ornate Cliff house, hugging the cliffs of the city and facing the expansive ocean beach into Playland.

 

 

I never saw the large victorian Cliff House here, I think it burned down in 1907, just one year after the great earthquake of 1906. It must have been the place to visit while in San Francisco back then.

 

 

As usual the place is packed with children coming to see the train exhibits and jostling to have fun at the toys and props that they can play and climb on.

 

 

How do you make this go, I’m sure this kid is wondering?

 

 

I love these special exhibits and am fortunate to see this when I visit during the holiday’s. Hope you enjoyed the visit also!

Happy New Year From Hawaii Island

Its such a beautiful day today, in fact the whole week has been amazing with beautiful blue skies. 

Even so this is our rainy season and the weeks prior were filled with non-stop days of drizzle, slow rain to bucket loads of rain coming down in one day. It wouldn’t be unusual to have a day with over ten inches of rain in just one location.

 

But today. it’s a gorgeous day and we do go outside to enjoy the day and just sit to watch the magnificent views.

Happy New Year to all from beautiful Hawaii!

What a Wonderful Parade.

To say that this is a totally zany parade is an understatement. Welcome to the Pahoa Christmas parade in East Hawaii, where you wont find the typical types of floats, people and Christmas cheer everywhere else.

 

Here, we celebrate the unique, crazy and fun that happens to everyone in this neck of the woods and the parade, really manifests the entire spirit of this community.

 

Don’t you think this is different?

I always love antique cars, especially when they are dressed in beautiful

flowers

 

 

 

Look even Aunty Claus’ sister made a guest appearance today!

 

 

I think this little tot, was going for the best float award in the parade, what a cutie!

 

 

Plenty of free hugs to go around today from the teletubbies.

 

 

 

Whats a parade without our local ukelele marching players?

 

 

one of my favorite troups, Da Puna Wieners all dressed up…

I’m dressed up and still looking for my treat, have you seen it?

 

 

Roller derby is hot in East Hawaii, these are the champion Hilo derby girls.

 

 

Past USO performer and still going strong, doing it for the Toys for tots drive, way to

go!

 

 

 

Horses and tinsel, whats not to like?

 

 

Chicken man is a well known attraction here in Pahoa town…want to buy a souvenir

chicken?

Our local circus group, does a very colorful show with unicycles, twirlers and sweet kids.

 

Our local version of santa on a sleigh, here he comes in a Big Yellow truck, courtesy of our

local fire department.

 

 

That’s the Parade at Pahoa, hope you enjoyed the whole show, it was another

special parade for participants and marchers alike.