First Fridays in Hilo

First Fridays in Hilo are really a fun event in town, considering....

     that Hilo is usually a sleepy place after 8pm, but look -
                 *** everyone is out and enjoying the evening,

                                    entertainment
                                                and of course
                                                        the food trucks


 

Lots of great choices - the food vendors were lined up by the bandstand....it's great to have a fun venue to check out all the ono (delicious) foods in one spot.

       How about some wood fired pizzas?





I just love watching  food actually cooking by a fire, don't you?






I had to try some of the meat on a stick from Mister 'D', it was pretty good and the sauce - finger lickin' good BBQ!










Mr. D giving the shaka (hang loose) Hawaiian style...








You have to try these in Hilo, they are not just ice snow cones, they are flaky soft snow globes, almost like soft flaky sorbet....This one below is liliquoi (passionfruit) with Li Hing Mui topping, also ono!







Walking around was an interesting parade of quirky, corny but fun, hey it's Hilo anything goes and the entertainment is free.



There's always a dog dressed up for the party, don't ya love the polka dots?





Everyone is into yoga here in Hawaii....of course there's always the 'Latest' trend and this time it's called Acro-Yoga (self explanatory)










Lots of art galleries open with all the new work from local artists on display - some good, some strange....I actually like the street graffiti that's just starting.

 

 




This one was free standing....I think it's made of jelly bean, want to sample?







More acrobatics, but this time the adult version...anyone want a free lesson?





Okay time to stick to G-rating, lots of families out for First Fridays, here's a little circus performance just for the kids....

Gotta take some of these home for breakfast, lunch and dinner - Hawaiian mangoes are oh soooooo gooood...

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 Lets check out the bandstand, there's always some cool and funky local bands playing, besides I like watching the crazy people dance in the dance floor!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it nights over, it was fun, my friend Atma and I had fun at First Fridays and bumping into so many friends. That's Hilo, a friendly small town in Hawaii, just the way we like it!

A Korean Feast in East Hawaii

A Korean feast in store overlooking Keaukaha bay


There's no shortage of cuisine that our international food group hasn't covered from around the globe. Even though our island lacks many of the wonderful cuisines of the world, it's great that food groups like ours can experiment and share our cooking discoveries with our monthly themed events.

This month we are discovering Korean cooking and the many different and exotic dishes that our cooking group is presenting today, come join us. Usually we start off our get-together with pupus (small plates) or in Korean, they are called banchan. Usually the banchan covers an assortment of 2- 10 small side dishes in which kimchee is the most well known and popular offered at every meal.


Would you like to try some of these delicious offerings, some marinated quail eggs and pickled vegetables?





One of the most popular was this baked potstickers or mandu, these dumplings were filled with avocados with a soyu based sauce. It didn't take too long for this banchan appetizer to be devoured quickly.







Some of the members were already starving and couldn't help themselves to taking a quick bite.





Prior to our big feast, it's our tradition to have a quick discussion of the dish we prepared with the main ingredients and the cooking process. The crowd was pretty hungry at this point so the explanations went rather fast so we could chow down right away. All right, it's finally time to dig in, everyone get in line and lets get started.  Let's see what are the main offerings for our luncheon





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First up, marinated chicken wings and drumsticks in a sticky sweet and sour marinade.





Next we have some fried green onions in a light batter and a soyu sesame glaze sauce - who wants to try?





How about some succulent pork belly with pickled onions and wrapped in lettuce like a Korean burrito.




This savory Korean noodle dish called chapchae are delicious and made with sweet potato noodles which surprisingly is not that sweet, but the noodle is quite flavorful and spicy with all the sauce that it absorbs.






You can't have a Korean meal without some marinated barbecue and this beef barbecue was melt-in-our mouth perfect and oh so good!





Another barbeque with sesame chicken to be wrapped with fresh lettuce below.




What did I bring you may ask? I'm presenting a fried tofu dish with spicy bell pepper and eggplant in a mild sweet and sour sauce. Would you like to sample some, there's enough to go around.

Koreans usually don't partake in dessert but our group absolutely insists! The dessert offerings were amazing and to die for - very different from typical Asian sweets or desserts. Our first delicious dessert that were these wrapped persimmons with walnuts called gotgamssam, have just one bite and you just might want to eat the whole plate.

Oh so flaky and flavorful manju or baked sweet pastry, this one was filled with a sweet bean and lilikoi (passionfruit) paste.




This is a fun and social group, we even had a slippah fashion show after the luncheon and a few made it out to the gorgeous lagoon for a quick and refreshing dip, it's all for fun and enjoying the day out by the ocean.

 

 

View out to the bay with many little inlets from the dining pavilion at Keaukaha park.  

 

 

  Delicious Korean food, good wine and the company of friends that love to cook, what a fantastic end to our cooking event by the ocean in East Hawaii.

 

©Noel Morata, All rights reserved


Come and visit my photography travel website at http://travelphotodiscovery.com/
 

Following the waterfall to the coastal overlook in the Hamakua

Ever follow a waterfall in Hawaii to where it ends in the ocean? I've always been fascinated by this simple hike but have never done this type of hike before. So when the occasion came up recently to visit a private garden in the Hamakua with a waterfall and trail that eventually falls into the ocean, I was excited.

When I arrived at the property, I talked with the other guests and everyone seemed to be distracted with the beautiful and expansive garden which in itself was worth spending most of one's time enjoying. Since no-one was ready to hike, I started down the precarious staircase leading down to the waterfall. The paths were tricky but nicely planted with colorful anthuriums and other shade loving plants.

Then I noticed after taking a few pictures, I was totally being eaten up by mosquitoes (no wonder the guests were not interested in coming down) I was the feast that morning for all the mosquitoes swarming around like breakfast time. Needless to say, I didn't stay idle in one spot for a very long time.

I could hear the waterfalls directly ahead and in no time arrived at this beautiful waterfall framed with lush fersns and greens of every color. It was beautiful and I had the whole scene to enjoy on my own. Quickly, I followed the stream bed down a worn path dotted with palms and coconut tree along with many large-leafed plants. Finally, I make it to the edge of the coastline along the cliffs framed with  huge ironwood trees and supporting the cliff sides below - quite an idyllic spot to relax. The soft breezes at this point were keeping the mosquitoes at bay and allowing me to relax and enjoy the scenic views at my leisure.

I hear the waters loudly as they cascade down the cliffs into the ocean. It was a little tricky trying to get a good view of the waterfall falling into the rocks below, all I could really see was the rushing water from the top view, but the coastline views from the edge was quite spectacular.

It was an enjoyable moment even though I couldn't see the waterfalls cascading directly to the bottom of the ocean.  Now, it was time to make that arduous hike back up those 100 plus steps to the main house, well at least if I go quickly I won't be harassed by the mosquitoes on the way back uphill.

©Noel Morata, All rights reserved

Come and visit my photography website at http://noelmorata.photoshelter.com/
 

Beautiful leis for Lei day and May day celebrations

Lei day in Hawaii is a popular and fun way to cherish someone you love and care for with a beautiful lei, usually hand-made personally from the giver. There are many Lei Day celebrations occuring throughout the various islands of Hawaii on this day to commemorate this wonderful sharing of a lei.

Leis were used regularly by the early Polynesians and settlers to the Hawaiian islands to honor their gods by twining greens into wreaths and making these as offerings. They also used the wreaths and flowered lei made of fragrant ginger blooms to decorate and adorn their bodies. Other fragrant greens used included maile and hala leaves which were used extensively to celebrate various rites, special occasions and daily wear.

This concept of giving a lei was then popularized with the influx of tourism on the islands around the 19th and 20th century. Presenting a lei during the arrival or departure of a love one was communicated as a sign of affection and aloha and still is used currently as a symbol of affection.

Leis are now made with different and aromatic flowers to include plumeria, jasmine, ginger, roses, gardenias, tuba rose and scented orchids to create aromatic scents and beautiful displays. Every flower and color is used now with different types of materials, seeds, shells and other greenery to create different looks and texture.

(A gorgeous tutu or grandmother wears and elaborate collection yellow, orange and red flowered leis at a hula performance in Hawaii)

Greenery leis above include greens of maile, ferns and seeds or pods, along with a very thick and aromatic plumeria lei above. Hula performances are typical of when leis are made fresh and used for adornment for a particular function or hula performance.

Even leis are made to adorn horses in many of the annual parades throughout the islands. Here leis elaborate leis are created for the horse and pau rider for the annual Merrie Monarch parade.


Lei day celebrations today in East Hawaii are marked with lei and craft demonstrations, live music and performances and other festivities celebrating this well loved tradition. It seems so appropriate for the first day of May to celebrate spring and a beautiful day by making a lei and giving to someone special in your life..

©Noel Morata, All rights reserved

Come and visit my photography website at http://noelmorata.photoshelter.com/
 

Merrie Monarch parade in Hilo, Hawaii.

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One of the largest and most colorful parades to attend in Hawaii is the annual Merrie Monarch Parade in Hilo, Hawaii. This beautiful parade caps a week-long celebration of hula events all around Hilo and celebrates hula as the basis of each participating entrant to the event. This year’s parade with over 170 participants was the largest number of groups active with the celebration.

Along with the usual bands, civic groups and clubs, the Merrie Monarch parade celebrates everything surrounding the week long hula fest.  There is usually a variety of pageant queens including our own Miss Aloha – hula contestant winner.

 

 

 

 

Then there is a contingent of this year’s Hawaiian royalty, kings, queens and other historical members of the Hawaiian royal family who are chosen to be this year’s royal court members.  The royal float contains live music performers serenading the court and is filled with fresh tropical flowers and exotic plants.

All the floats are lavishly decorated with colorful flowers like orchids, gingers and plumeria which are grown commercially for export and showcasing the abundance of plant and tropical flowers grown on the island.  Many of the floats feature live performers singing favorite Hawaiian tunes along with local dancing hula halaus (schools) dancing in perfect synch to the music.

A favorite of the audience are the local pa’u riders (parade horseback riders) with their extravagant outfits and vivid floral displays of leis and other adornments. Representing each island with their local official color and flower, each pa’u rider is an amazing sight to behold in the procession. Even the horse poop carriers and scoopers are creatively presented and fun to witness their vital task of pooper scooper tasks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the paniolo men (cowboys) were handsomely presented with their horses in beautiful regalia to match the island colors and flowers.

At the tail end of each horse contingent are the pooper scoopers, this was actually one of the favorites at the parade, due to the unique and colorful presentations that were present at this parade. This one was my favorite with the pineapple princess representing Lanai.

Unique to the Hawaiian islands are contingents that celebrate local activities like the Red hat ladies, marching bands, the taiko drummers, the local ukulele marching band and various dignitaries. It all makes for a unique blend of participants that creates a fun parade experience.

 

The Merrie Monarch parade celebrates hula and the entire community at its best and most welcomed Aloha.  Its a beautiful event to witness and photograph with each new contingent approaching and exciting events unfolding spontaneously.


Thanks for visiting and experiencing this event online, hopefully next year you may come and visit Hilo to experience this exciting festival and parade in person.

To see more photographs on this event, please visit this flickr site for more images.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12701042@N04/sets/72157633210534314/

 

 

©Noel Morata, All rights reserved

Come and visit my photography website at http://noelmorata.photoshelter.com/