Black and White Night 2012

East Hawaii people really know how to party and have a great time, especially when it comes to the annual Black and White Night celebrations in Hilo town, and last night was no exception. Everyone on the island was out in force in beautiful Hilo to enjoy and be a part of the all the night time festivities. Being part of this small island community is such a wonderful experience and everyone here loves to be out on special evenings like this.

It was a beautiful, star lit night with soothing cool breezes mixed in with the sultry night air and revelers were in a seen and be seen mode decked in their eclectic black and white attire for the theme de la nui (of the night).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Patterns, checks, stripes and geometrics all work in black and white)

It was a mixed bag of entertainment, crazy get-ups, impromptu performances and an all around fun time at all the venues in Hilo. A local circus group even added some juggling and fire spinning to wow the crowd last night.

                              

 (fire spinning peformances were a fun show to see late at night)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Live performances got the crowd up on their feet and shaking their groove thing on the streets. It looked like everyone was on the street dancing last night and just enjoying the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

( Boas with outfits fit right in with the black and white theme)

Created initially to support local business,  Hilo merchants galvanized and created an annual event for Hilo and open up their businesses to new and regular customers. Offering delicious snacks, promotions and entertainment to their venues and inviting all to enjoy a wonderful evening in town and revisiting some favorite and new places of interest.

(Even the dogs where out last night for a good time and some quality petting)



( The federal building lit up magically at night time, a beautiful colonial structure)

It seemed like everyone was in a very good mood and just enjoying all the venues and appreciating life in Hilo one of the best places to live in all of Hawaii nei!

Here are some more photos from last nigh's event from my flickr site, enjoy

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/12701042@N04/sets/72157631919905640/

Hilo in Full Bloom with the Rainbow Shower Trees.

 

 

(click on image for full view and the slideshow)

Hilo is in full bloom again with the rainbow shower trees or Cassia x nealiea lining most of the major roads coming in and out of town. These beautiful trees are showy with their long cascades of red, yellow and orange flowers in large clumps dripping down their many branches.

Beautiful blooms next to huge monkey pod trees and the large bandstand.

 

It’s a beautiful time to see this in town and even just to enjoy a brief moment to really see them in their full glory, wouldn’t you agree?

Watery Wednesday on Hilo Bay

Aaaah, being on the water again is exhilarating here in Hilo, Hawaii, especially in a really fast sailboat. Even though these small hobies are small, they are quite zippy and easy to manuever.  Feeling the sun, wind and occasional splashes of water is such a rush.

Hilo has such a picturesque bay with beautiful vistas of the town, the Hamakua coastline and the Mauna Kea Volcano in the background. Today the weather is cooperating and the sun and wind is quite amazing. Yes, its good to be out on the water especially on these really fun boats and engaging conversation.

For other watery views this Wednesday go visit http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Photohunt Challenge = Public

Our Saturday photohunt challenge was to interpret the word public and here in Hawaii everything is open to the public. One of my regular haunts is this beautiful japanese garden in Hilo called Queen Liliuokalani Gardens right off banyan drive, this is a scenic area with beautiful views of Hilo bay,the town and the Hamakua coastline.

This authentic japanese garden was built in the early 1900's as a tribute to Queen Liliuokalani who was the last reigning monarch in Hawaii before its annexation to the United States. The gardens are also a memorial to the many japanese immigrants that migrated to the Big Island to work at the many sugar plantations during the turn of the century during the annexation period.  Many nationalities of immigrants including the japanese went to Hawaii to work at these plantations and build a new future for themselves and create this new melting pot called Hawaii.

This thirty acre garden is filled with amazing Hawaiian and oriental plantings, intimate and grand walkways, pagodas, beautiful ponds, bridges and vistas to Hilo, the bay and large green areas for picnicking.

One of the favorite areas is this shaded dell with thousands of impatiens blooming underneath these huge monkeypod trees...it just illuminates this shady corner of the park and creates a magical area don't you think?

I just love public gardens like this. Isn't this a great park to just explore and wander, or find a nice shady tree to relax and take a nice long nap with the wind blowing behind your back.

To enjoy other interpretations of public go see http://tnchick.com/

A WorldWide Photowalk

I can't believe I'm waking up at 5am Saturday morning to take some morning pictures with a photo club I've just joined recently here in Hawaii. And now my first photo tour with them is to do a photowalk around Hilo Bay with an early sunrise start.  But this will not be any morning excursion, its a world wide photo walk and competition with over 30,000 registered participants that will compete in one single day of shooting to submit only one photo for consideration as their best work.

A tough thing to do even with our small gathering of over 30 photographers, taking photos in a small area to come up with a unique image captured and explemplify our own work.
It was very hard to choose my best picture since I did quite a few pictures that day, some good, some deleted very quickly and here are my final choices...please help me decide which ones I should submit including the top photo.

This one is tough for me to decide which to submit, please help me decide with your comments below and thank you for your suggestions. 

To view other beautiful scenic sundays today go visit http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

Aloha Friday, Lets Take a Walk Around Hilo Bay.

Aloha,




My friend Devany (A fantastic food blogger) and I take regular walks around the Hilo bay front early in the morning. Your welcome to join us if you feel like seeing some of the bay this morning and doing some brisk walking, I promise it will be a great walk.


Here's where we usually start along the bay front. This is where all the canoe clubs in Hilo keep their large canoes so the teams can practise along the bay, its a big sport here.

Its a very pretty warm day today and just a few clouds in the sky.

 We cross a few bridges along our hike and even go to a little island off the point called Coconut Island and of course its filled with coconut trees.

Aren't the views here beautiful? Everyone seems to be out on the water today.

There's a large schooner that just came into the bay a few days ago and makes a striking contrast to the mountains.

I love walking pass these dramatic autograph trees everytime we pass by Coconut Island.

 

I know they have alot of old stories to tell, please tell me?

We also walk next to this beautiful Japanese Garden adjoining the bay front, its really beautiful at different times of the day. I'll have to do a separate post on this park soon!

Well we usually do our two laps around the park and Coconut Island so time to head on back to our cars...alot of shopping to do at the Hilo Farmers Market this morning also.


Thanks for joining us on our walk, it was fun!