Shipman/Ha’ena Beach, The Hidden Gem of Puna

The Big Island’s Ha’ena Beach, also known as Shipman Beach is one of the most scenic and least-visited beaches in Puna. It is a beautiful soft white and black sand crescent, fed with cool springs and two fresh water rivers along an otherwise rough lava cliff coast. It is surrounded by thousands of acres of the Shipman Estate, through which the roads are exclusively private.

While it is small, it is lovely and one of only a few sandy beaches in Puna. The cove is now more often called Shipman Beach, because W.H. Shipman Ltd. owns the land surrounding it. The Shipman family compound with two beautiful Traditional Hawaiian Homes overlooks the beach beyond a fresh spring fed lake, Nene preserve and massive grounds and gardens. One of the homes is a much older original home and the other is more recently built retaining the Hawaiian style. Both look like they have been there a very long time, nicely done! 

In the 1990s, the beach access was the subject of a series of demonstrations and confrontations between W.H. Shipman LTD. and community activists over public access via the one road to the beach, which the company claimed as private property. In 1994 it came to a head when during a Hawaiian "spiritual gathering" of over 125 people, 28 people were arrested for trespassing. Four years later, In 1998 the State Supreme Court upheld their conviction of this “crime.”

The hike to the beach is as much of a reason to visit the cove as the beach itself. The hike is is a 3-4 hour sojourn on one of the more remote and isolated coasts left in East Hawaii. The actual trail is a little over four miles long, but because of the rolling chunks of lava, thick sticky mud and huge puddles it takes some navigation skills and a bit of stamina.

The trail follows the right-of way of the Old Puna Government Road – also known as the Old Government Road, the Old Puna Government Beach Road, the old Puna Government Trail, the Ha’ena Trail or the Road to Ha’ena Village (it is thought that near this cove an ancient Hawaiian village called Ha’ena once thrived).

To reach the trailhead, Take Pahoa Highway (Hwy. 130) to Hawaiian Paradise Park, turn east on Kaloli and follow it nearly to its end, then turn left on to Beach Road – another section of the Old Government Road, still in use for vehicular traffic. There are several large rocks placed across the old gravel 4 WD portion of the Old Puna Government Road. The actual trailhead is beyond this point, but vehicles are no longer allowed beyond the rocks.

In July of 2008, there was quite a controversy about the placement of boulders across the drivable (4 WD) part of the road to the beach.

The road already existed in 1881 when William Herbert Shipman and partners bought 70,000 acres from the estate of King Lunalilo. Few people lived near there then.

In 1930, the Shipman company asked the territorial Land Court to fix the boundaries of the company's property. The court eventually recognized the 10-foot road but not trails from the road to the shore.

In the 1960’s the Shipman Estate sold off a chunk of it’s land holdings in this area, this is now Hawaiian Paradise Park. HPP has a bit of cliff shoreline, but no beaches. Most of it extends back through Puna amidst multiple flows of lava which residents have carved into, built and and planted over in the last 40+ years. The Shipman’s smartly kept the more fertile soil for themselves.

The Mauka (mountain side) trail is a 1-2 hour hike, depending on your agility, trail conditions (it can be very muddy) and weather. It goes straight from where the rocks are. The Makai (ocean) side trail goes to the right at the rocks and it is mostly over lava and in open sun, punctuated with ironwoods and hala groves. It takes even longer to navigate, but the scenery of the cliffs and ocean make the longer route desirable and our guide Sunny said you are REALLY ready for a good swim once you take that hike in!

After doing the Mauka side trail, I would suggest wearing shoes that easily navigate lava and muddy hills and some that are washable or expendable. This trail is easy to follow, but there are a lot of ups and downs over lava and mud. Mosquito repellent is probably a good idea, though I did not wear any and I was fine. You should bring water along too. It is not suggested to bring much else, unless you are planning a picnic or you may feel like a pack mule after a short time of hiking.

At the cove there is a grassy area in the shade and one rustic bench, but it is not large, so if you share the beach with others you will also be sharing this spot of grass. One thing to keep in mind when doing the Mauka trail, when the road forks (there are a few forks in the path) stay to the right and keep the ocean to your right.

The old 4WD portion of the trail starts out though an old pahoehoe lava flow. It is overgrown with grasses, guava saplings and an occasional surprise, many bamboo orchids which look a bit surreal in the dried grasses. There are several old abandoned cars and trucks along the path, proof of man’s stupidity either for dumping them there or thinking that driving this trail was even possible in anything but a high profile 4 WD. This first portion of the trail is out in the open without benefit of shade, but that is to come.

Before you know it, the landscape has changed. You are in the rainforest. Most of the rest of the journey will be spent in the shade of overarching trees, many are invasive species brought to Hawaii by unknowing fools. About ¼ of the way through the hike, you come across some yellow metal posts in the ground. There are a few ohia groves, particularly at the beginning, but most of the forest overstory is dominated by human-introduced invaders such as strawberry guava, ironwood and banyan trees. In low-lying areas, swamps develop and mangroves extend multiple legs out from their main trunks into the nurturing mud. As you walk, you clearly notice that there are natural “groves” of various trees that have procreated in the dense and welcoming warm wetness of the rain forest.

While you can hear the waves audibly for the entire hike, you rarely see a glimpse of blue sky or ocean once you enter the rain forest. There are detours on some of the fisherman’s trails that occasionally branch off to the right. If you have time, take one or two of these trails to the cliffs and take in the power and majesty of the ocean which has made it’s way over thousands of miles only to find land for the first time at this very spot. You may even see some whales if you are there from January through March. Our trip was in mid February and we saw a huge humpback breech three times in a row.

The Sierra Club and some college ecology classes have been maintaining the trail such as it is over the years. Without their help, it might grow over in some points. On our visit, about 2/3 of the way into the hike our guide, Sunny pointed out some ancient Hawaiian lava rock walls to our left which were barely discernable through the heavy overgrowth. However, a while down the trail someone had recently cut down everything within 12 feet of the old rock walls, from this point on, they were maintained, most likely by the Shipman Estate. This is where we saw a “No Tresspassing” sign. Somewhere hidden in the trees is supposedly a WW II concrete bunker, but we missed it on this trip, where our focus was to find the beach.

Suddenly, after a very long hike, the trees thin out in a wild grassy area and coconut palms reach to the sky, The trail opens out on Ha’ena Beach, a crescent of white soft sand with gentle waves lapping the sand. Thanks to the shelter from the sea wall of Giant Pahoehoe Rocks (WHO put them there is what I want to know!)

Inland from the cove you can see the Shipman homes and a beautiful small lake that serves as a refuge for nene geese. It’s illegal to approach, feed or harass the nene, though treat seeking geese have been known to approach and harass humans on occasion. We also saw chickens and ducks trotting about on the grass behind the bamboo fence and the no-trespassing signs. Just before we left the cove, a few ducks went for a stroll on the beach.

We were at the beach during low tide, which made it possible to walk across the main river of cold water coming from the estate’s lake over to the other side of the cove where sea walls had been constructed and banyan trees had taken over. The water is exceptionally clear and it is possible to see bubbling springs of fresh water coming up through the sand along the shore. DO NOT step into these springs, some are quite deep. The kids with us were old hands at this beach and would jump into these springs, suddenly sinking up to their chests in some cases. My friend Keith stuck his arm down one and then found it covered in black sand.

The sandy bottom is a treat in an otherwise rocky coastline. Most of the water is shallow, 1-3 feet deep and because of the springs and river, quite cold. But if you go out towards the lava breakwater, it deepens, becomes significantly warmer and makes a nice swimming pool if you do not mind sharing it with the turtles. Leave your snorkel gear at home, there was not much in the way of fish to see. The keiki that were with us were old enough to swim and had been here many times. They were also old enough to navigate the trail and to have the stamina to make the hike. I would say that bringing children much younger than 5 might not be a good idea unless you are willing to carry them part way And I would not suggest that unless you are in very good shape. Once they are at the beach though, it would be a great place for young children to play in the water with some supervision (because of the springs.) It would make a great place to build sand castles.

It is also thought to be dangerous to swim on the left side of the beach, there is current there that has stranded swimmers in the past and pulled some out to sea, requiring stronger swimmers to come to their rescue and putting themselves in danger.

If you decide to make this trek to Shipman Beach, please remember to carry out anything you bring in. There are no restrooms, drinking water and no trash receptacles. Keep in mind the distance when you time your trip. We barely made it out by dark. We left the beach at 4 pm and the hike back took us two hours. You would not want to be making the hike out in the dark.

My friend Damon who has yet to find this beach says, "I must see this beach before I die". That alone is a good reason to go there, as I highly respect his opinion! I told him he needs to go while he is still young and fit, as it is not a hike for the faint of heart.

©2009 Devany Vickery-Davidson
Two Juicy Pineapples Productions

Hilo Chinese New Year Celebration Part 2

This post is more about the pictures and video (above). I spent the day in downtown Hilo enjoying the festivities. Things started off with The Lion Dance & Blessings. It started by the Kress Building and moved along the sidewalk blessing Hana Hou, Sig Zane Designs, Koehnen's Interiors and ending at Na Makua Original Hawaiian Designs. Along the way, merchants offered red envelopes to the audience and they were encouraged to put money in the envelopes and then feed the lion with the envelopes. The lions would sometimes pretend to "eat" the hands of the people giving offerings too. This is a grueling ordeal for the Lion Dancers and they cleverly switched teams during the dance so that there were always two Lions dancing but so that everyone got a rest too. The fun moved on from there to the Cultural Center and Kalakaua Park where tents & a huge stage were set up.

The park had a row of food booths, the "typical suspects" as they said in Casablanca. There was a Chili and Stew booth, a Thai Booth, 2 Shave Ice Booths, the Portuguese Booth and an Indian Booth. Now, let's think about this... WHERE is the Chinese Food??? Not at this festival! Go figure!

What they lacked in Chinese Food, they made up for in goods. There were lots of booths with Chinese New Year Decorations as well as imported clothing and jewelry from China. There were also Tibetan Prayer Flags (my vote for the best item) and lots of crafts and things for sale by local crafts people. 

The music and fun were going full tilt with a Keiki Chinese Costume Contest, Food demos by the HCC Culinary Arts Program, Thai Chi and Qigong demos, Ben Kali and Friends Music and then ... it started raining!

Long Lines for the Shave Ice!

And the palm weaver always shows up! Notice the hanging hearts he made on the right. 

But by the time I made it home, there was a special treat waiting for me, a Double Rainbow spanning Hilo Bay! See below...

You an see why the state is called the Rainbow State! Now that is what I call a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Chinese New Year in Hilo Part 1: Film Festival

It is the year of the Ox and Hilo celebrated it in a big way. I love our little island city of Hilo and the celebration last weekend was proof again of a community steeped in culture and living in the spirit of Aloha. The events celebrating Chinese New Year in Hilo were all free and all FABULOUS!

Before I start in on the New Year's celebration... I just can't help myself from posting this picture. As I sit at my desk watching another glorious sunrise over Hilo Bay and a Cruise Ship is pulling in, I am reminded once again about how we live in such a very special place.

Now, on with the show...

Last weekend I attended the annual Chinese New Year Celebration which featured the second annual Chinese Film Festival at the Palace Theater (one of our towns pure gems). Starting off at Noon with a Film Production Workshop by Chinese-American film maker and actress Jodi Long . You may recognize Jodi from her performances on Broadway, in The Hot Chick, or Margaret Cho's mother in the film All American Girl, or currently as Eli Stone, a judge on TV.

Ms. Long is now a filmmaker herself, with the help of Christine Choy, the Chair of NYU's Graduate Film and Television Department and Patricia Richardson (of Home Improvement) she has come out with an inspiring documentary called "Long Story Short", about her parents' struggle as Asian American actors/vaudevillians in the 40's and 50's.

The film details the lives of Jodi Long's parents' through photographs, pictures, their special appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1950 and snippets from her own monologue performances. She talks with her mother about the experience of being sent to a Japanese internment camp during WW2. Her father's experience as a Scottish-Chinese-American is shown through the film and his early role on Broadway, in Flower Drum Song, which (the later version) Jodi herself was cast in.

Jodi shared practical advice to Hilo's aspiring and current film makers of various levels. She shared a lot of information about how she and Christine Choy made the yet to be released "Long Story Short". The Longs were a husband and wife nightclub act in the 1940's and 50's and one of the few such Asian acts in America. Jodi shared a great deal of her heart in the film and the group in the workshop was sincerely appreciative of having her there. She answered questions for a very long time and was extremely generous with her knowledge and experiences.

After the workshop, a special viewing of "Long Story Short" was screened at the Palace. The theater was packed with people and there was applause many times throughout the film which was expertly edited with poingnant moments. Long Story Short is an excellent documentary and left me wishing for more of the clips of Larry and Trudie Long dancing and singing on the Ed Sullivan Show. The memories they shared about their experiences in the Asian Night Clubs

Later that evening I went back to the Palace to see another documentary, and before that was the Big Island Shaolin Arts Lion Dance Blessing. Thousands of firecrackers went off to scare off the demons.

The film, :Hollywood Chinese: "The Chinese in American Cinema" was a great retrospective on both the influence of and the contributions of Chinese-American and Chinese film makers and actors over several generations. It also brought to light subjects such as racial representation with many caucasian actors playing Chinese people in the early years. During the silent era, there were a pair of Chinese sisters who made a film in Oakland, CA. The film documented the many films which have been an important part of the American cinematic experience from those first early silent films, to Charlie Chan and many of the "Kung Fu" influenced movies made in the last 20 years. Some of the people interviewed were Ang Lee, Wayne Wang, B.D. Wong, Lisa Lu, Amy Tan and Joan Chen.

Although I was ready for bed, there was a final film; "The Forbidden Kingdom" staring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano and Crystal Liu. They faced off in the fists a flying, family friendly film while I nodded off to the sounds of the surf back home in my bed.

Coming up next... the Free Hilo Chinese New Year Festival in downtown Hilo, starting at 9 am with another Lion Dance and blessings of local businesses and then marching along to Kalakaua Park...

Portuguese Bean Soup Recipe and Other Good Things!

It is all about my Portuguese Bean Soup recipe, but before you start reading, I must tell you while that this post is about Portuguese bean soup, there are some other interesting things you have to read first, before you get to my recipe! Read on….

Hawaii has many ethnic influences from it's sugar plantation history. Immigrant workers arrived on Hawaiian shores from all around the world; Chinese, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Koreans, British (especially the Scots), Spanish and of course… the Portuguese. This post is about the Portuguese and one food that you see every where on the islands that they created here.

The Portuguese came with a love of music and the ukulele, which has become an icon of Hawaiian Music and culture was a result There are many stories about how the Uke came to be. One is that a ship named the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on the afternoon of August 23, 1879, it was carrying 419 Portuguese immigrants from the island of Madeira to work in the sugar cane fields. It had been a long and hard journey of over 4 months and some 15,000 miles. In celebration of their arrival, Joao Fernandes borrowed his friend's braguinha ( a small instrument shaped like a guitar) , jumped off the ship, and started playing folks songs from his native land on the wharf. The Hawaiians who came down to the dock were very impressed at the speed of this musicians' fingers as they danced across the fingerboard and they called the instrument "ukulele", which translates into English as "jumping flea". You see, that was the image conjured up by those flying fingers.Another story says that Queen Lili'uokalani thought it came from the Hawaiian words for "the gift that came here", or "uku" (gift or reward) and "lele" (to come).


Another legend says the instrument was originally called "ukeke lele" or "dancing ukeke" (ukeke being the Hawaiian's three stringed musical bow). The name, being mispronounced over the years, became "ukulele".

Still another theory comes from a story about Edward Purvis, an English army officer and the Assistant Chamberlain to the court of King David
alakaua, who was very adept at playing the braguinha. Since he was small and sprightly, the rather large Hawaiians nicknamed him "ukulele", the whole "jumping flea" thing all over again.


And yet another version of the origin of the world "ukulele" is attributed to Gabriel Davian and Judge W. L. Wilcox, who was a member of a well-known island family. According to the story, the two men were in attendance at a housewarming party at the Wilcox home in Kahili, where Davian was playing an 'ukulele he had made himself. When one of the guests asked what it was called, Davion jokingly replied that, judging from the way one "scratched at it," it was a "jumping flea". Wilcox, who was fluent in Hawaiian, was asked for the Hawaiian translation and is supposed to have answered, "'Ukulele!".

Because of colonization, a long history of shipping, the Portuguese had many influences on food and cultures around the world. Portugal formerly had a large empire, and the cuisine has been influenced in both directions. The Portuguese influence is strongly evident in Brazilian cuisine, which features its own versions of Portuguese dishes such as feijoada and caldeirada (fish stew). Other former colonies include the Indian province of Goa, where dishes such as vindaloo show the Portuguese influence in its pairing of vinegar and garlic.

Portuguese trade ships reached Japan in around 1550. Japanese lords enjoyed Portuguese confectionery. It was remodeled as Kompeito and Kasutera, and influenced Wagashi. Tempura was introduced to Japan in the mid-sixteenth century by early Portuguese missionaries.
I digress, the reason I am writing this post is that the Portuguese also brought food. Along with Portuguese sweet breads in a variety of forms (Pao Doce), malasadas (like giant jelly doughnuts) Portuguese sausages have become an important part of the Hawaiian diet. It is not uncommon to see people sitting on the side of the road selling Portuguese pickled onions from the trunks of their cars.

The Portuguese sausages (linguiça, chouriço), sometimes quite spicy, are served for breakfast and are even available in Hawaiian McDonalds at breakfast, along with SPAM. I will be making posts about some of the above foods in future posts, but the Portuguese Sausage plays a role in this post.

And then there is the bean soup (sopa de feijão) which is eaten regularly in the Hawaiian Islands by families of all ethnicities. It is at almost every festival and many restaurants as well as being a comfort food for all Hawaiians. Find any community or church cookbook and you will find many recipes for Portuguese Bean Soup. While all have kidney beans and Portuguese Sausage in a tomato base, the other ingredients vary. I used cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, chick peas & macaroni in mine. It made a huge pot and I froze a couple of containers of it for later. We have already had it for two meals and have enough for 3-4 more.

Ham Hocks are essential to the complex and rich flavor to this soup. If you adverse to using them, then you can use chopped ham, or eliminate the ham flavoring all together, but if you want the real thing, you need them. Some people also add bacon, I do not.

2-3 medium sized smoked ham hocks or ham shanks
3 cups chicken broth
1 pound Portuguese sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced (I used “hot” sausages, but they make them mild)
1 large or two small Maui onions, coarsely chopped
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 cup chunky diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
3 15-ounce cans kidney beans with liquid or a 1# bag of kidney beans soaked over night
2 cups of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) soaked over night.
2 14.5-ounce cans diced organic tomatoes (or one large can)
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
½ pound of elbow macaroni
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch cilantro (Chinese parsley), coarsely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf (Italian) parsley
2 Tablespoons of black peppercorns
5 fresh bay leaves or 3 dried bay leaves

All amounts are approximate. You may want to add more or less of any ingredient depending on your own personal taste. Feel free to play with this recipe. I did by combining several I found. I am even thinking that fresh corn off the cob would be good with this when in season, which is almost all year in Hawaii.
In large stock pot, combine ham hocks, onion, garlic, black peppercorns and bay leaves. Add chicken broth and just enough water to cover the ham hocks completely. Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer. Simmer covered for about 2 hours. This slow cooking will give the soup it's rich flavor.

Remove the ham hocks and de-bone, dice any meat and set aside.

Put the pot in a large bowl of ice and after about 30 minutes skim any fat off. Return pot to the stove.
To the pot, add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, potatoes, ½ of the parsley and ½ of the cilantro and all of the cabbage. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in diced ham hocks and Portuguese sausage. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Add macaroni and cook until cooked through (about 10 minutes more).

Serve topped with fresh chopped parsley & cilantro and cracked black pepper.

This recipe also freezes quite well.

Share the LOVE! Bob Marley Day in Hilo!

Sunday we had "rasta fun" in Mo'oheau Park & Bandstand with several hundred other Big Island residents and visitors. It was a free celebration of the life of Bob Marley and a support of continual sustainability for our island. It was all about "Sharing the Love" which is the essence of Aloha. 

Here, the artist Nectarina sings her sweet songs. I LOVE this girl! And while she is singing, another woman is getting her hair accessorized Rasta style while her new puppy sleeps on her shoulder: 

 

The Agriculture Fair was excellent, filled with interesting booths showing everything from taro & Kava cultivation (free plants too!) to a seed exchange and lots of green technology and sustainability ideas, even CPR demonstrations. 

It was a zero waste event. All of the food vendors were required to use compostable serve ware  and there were lots of containers to put recyclables and compostables all over the park. 

Fantastic foods were available from Jerk Chicken to macrobiotic salads and sandwiches. The event was a substance free event, so those who expected a haze of pot smoke or the trademark bottles of Red Stripe were in for a surprise. Of course there was a guy sitting next to us who had a big bottle of beer that he kept pouring into an Arizona Tea Bottle, so I guess there were a few "work arounds".  We offered him a plastic cup from our cooler and he was delighted, he said, "Hey Man, I love you guys." 

People climbed the big Banyan Tree next to the bandshell for a birds eye view. Lots of people were parked in their cars across from the park on the waterfront and sat there to listen to the  music. 

It was a fantastic event, typically Hilo in the fact that it was free and fun and supported well by the community. We enjoyed lots of music and people watching. Next weekend is a two day festival celebrating the Chinese New Year. I am looking forward to the film festival part of it. 

International Cooking Club Dinner at Ron and Brad's

Last night we had a great time in Hawaiian Paradise Park with our International Cooking Club. Once a month we get together for a dinner with a theme set around a particular part of the world. Sometimes it is a region and sometimes it is a country. There are about 45 members in our club, which was started in November of 2008 when were here for the closing on our house. Most events bring in about 25-30 people because there are always some of us who are busy with other activities and travel. Many of the people are ex Californians who are consummate gourmets, with a few people from such places as Idaho, Florida, Canada and Oregon. Given the lack of great restaurants on the big island, this kind of dining experience is much more common among people in our area. Since we moved here we have been to many such dinners including our own Super Bowl Potluck. It is a terrific way of socializing and sharing food. Most of the people in this group are also slow food members, so care is taken to make foods from scratch using as many local ingredients as possible. It is convivial dining at it’s best. Last night was no exception. Brad and Ron opened up their home and Lanai to us and we laughed, talked, hugged and enjoyed the creations of our members from the Pu Pu course to the great coffee and desserts. I rarely eat desserts, but these people take them to a whole new level and it is pretty much impossible to not at least have a few bites of these delectable delights.
I took some pictures at the beginning of the evening and then got wrapped up in the fun and conversation and left my camera in my purse. So you can see us as the evening began with pu pus and drinks.

The theme for last evening’s dinner was Mediterranean. Many countries were represented from Portugal to Greece and everything in between. Brad and Ron’s house has a delightful retro feel to it and was a lot of fun to explore. There was a combination of Hawaiiana and mid century art and the house in typical Hawaiian style led directly to the large lanai and pool area which was surrounded by lush vegetation and exquisite tropical plantings. They had lots of torches burning around the pool and the glow from them was a lovely back light to the evening. These guys are serious foodies and have a well equipped kitchen which was overflowing with wonderful food made by club members.

Our neighbors Maria and Ric came along with us to their first club dinner. They own a B & B and moved here from very close to where we lived in the East Bay. The guys that sold us this house, Hugh and Ray told me ahead of time that Maria and I would be fast friends and we would have many good foodie times together and they were RIGHT! We met them at our super bowl party (also a potluck) last week and had such fun with them we invited them to the club dinner.

Maria made two especially great dishes, for the salad course she made a roasted asparagus salad. But one of the crowning glories of the night was her awesome coconut flan!
I brought bruschetta with luscious local tomatoes from today’s Farmer’s Market and herbs from my garden. I also made a 99% local Greek Salad. Romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and Puna Goat Cheese Farm Feta all from the farmer’s market. For that 1 % that was not local, I did bring some Greek Calamata olives and olive oil from Italy with us and used them in the salad and added lots of parsley, basil, oregano, mint and chives from my garden. I also used a few squeezes of lemon juice from my trees.

There were so many terrific dishes… just to name a few: Bonnie’s assortment of homemade breads delicious. She shall forever more be named Bonnie the Baker! Once I get my wood burning oven made and running I am going to invite her to our communal baking days. We had dolmas made with local lamb by the Richards, Liz made incredible spinakopia (sp?) with chard from her garden. Ron made a tasty pear salad with one of the best dressings I have ever had. Noel made a pu pu with asparagus that was rolled and fried. They were one of my favorite things of the evening. There was delicious Portuguese Bean Soup (one of Wes’ favorite “Hawaiian” foods), a lovely tomato and mushroom casserole, fluffy polenta ala fungi, there was a chick pea dish to die for by Noel, Ron made grilled Greek chicken that brought me to the “other” islands, there was a pasta salad dish and a tomato and cucumber salad too. Russel mad a delicious Paella. The dessert table was laden with amazing things like an almond cake with whipped cream, Maria’s Coconut Flan, a apricot and chocolate flourless cake/torte drizzled with a dark chocolate ganache and studded with almonds and baklava!

The entire evening represented a lot of what we love about Hawaii. The importance of good friends and new acquaintances always welcomed with aloha and sharing foods from the land, prepared with heart and soul. Dining with balmy breezes on lanais, laughing, drinking great wine and sharing the truly great moments that matter around the table (in this case several tables). It just gets better and better.

We will be hosting the March dinner which is penciled in for March 28th right now. It will feature regional Italian foods. If you are interested in joining us, send me an e-mail . Note: most of the people in the club live in Puna and a few of us are in Hilo.

There is a cruise ship pulling in just now… the Spirit of America. Here she is:

When the sun comes out, we are heading downtown for the Bob Marley Day celebration and the Ag Fair. It seems like there is always something going on here, in fact many times we have to choose between 3-4 events.

Cruising Hilo Bay

As most of you know, I live over looking Hilo Bay and one of the things I love about living here is watching ships come and go. Most every morning I am up well before sunrise and in my office over looking the bay. Many times early arriving ships have all of their lights on and are quite a sight to see coming in with a sunrise for a backdrop. I like knowing who these ships are that are visiting us, and so after a little digging, I found some information for the ships that will be visiting us this week. On average we get 2-3 ships a week. This week we get three. On rare occasions (like last week) we even get two on the same day. Hilo is a very deep port and can accommodate the very large cruise ships. Here is what we are looking forward to seeing, starting tomorrow (Sunday) morning:

The Pride of America (Norwegian Cruise Line) arrives at 7 am on Sunday with it's brightly painted stars and stripes bringing 2,250 passengers and 900 crew. It will depart at 6 pm. Although the Norwegian Cruise Line Itinerary says it arrives at 8 am. The disembarking generally begins at two hours after docking and all passengers are to be on board two hours before departing. Gotta count those heads! It is a 7 day cruise and we are their first port after leaving Honolulu. From here they go to Lahaina Maui, then Kahului Maui, next on to Kona, then they spend the night at Kauai and finally head back to Honolulu. The Golden Princess (Princess Cruise Line) arrives at 7am on Monday with 2,400 passengers and 1,100 crew. It leaves our shores at 6 pm. This ship is on a 14 day cruise from LA and will visit Honolulu,Kauai (Nawiliiwili), and Maui (Lahaina) before heading to Ensenada Mexico and then to LA. Just in case you are wondering, it takes 4.5 days of sailing to reach Hawaii from LA, so those folks will be very happy to depart the ship when they arrive in Hilo. This same ship has another identical itinerary later in the month and will arrive in Hilo on the 23rd of February.

How does this look for fun? It is one of many activities aboard the Pride of America. Seems to me it is a counter sea sickness idea... This same ship goes to Alaska during the summers, so we only see her in the winter. On Tuesday at 7am the Mz. Zaandam (Holland America Line) arrives with 1400 passengers and 650 crew members. It departs at 5 pm. Here is how they describe their ship: Designed to carry fewer guests while providing more space for maximum comfort, the ms Zaandam is a prize in the mid-size ship category. Offering spacious public areas and plush accommodations, many staterooms have private verandahs(can't we say Lanais?). Here is a veranda stateroom:The musically themed ms Zaandam offers a unique shipboard atmosphere. Inspired by the world's great music, artifacts and memorabilia from a variety of musical genres decorate the ship. You'll find musical instruments such as Bill Clinton's saxophone and signed guitars from Queen, Iggy Pop, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones used as art objects throughout the ship. At the heart of the ms Zaandam, in a soaring three-story atrium: a Baroque-style Dutch pipe organ, inspired by the traditional barrel organs still found on the streets of The Netherlands. Enjoy an onboard IPod self-guided tour of the complete Zaandam art collection.This is the ship that is black on the bottom, most others that visit us are all white. Remember that these folks arrive in Hilo after 5 days at sea, we are their first glimpse of Hawaii. Just imagine walking thorough that ugly port as your first time on dry land in 5 days.

This is a real issue to me, because I believe that it is a shame that every week thousands of people are introduced to our little city in a most ugly manner. The port is almost three miles from downtown and 2 of those miles go through what is truly the most unattractive place in Hawaii with big ugly industrial buildings and other icky and sometimes smelly things. On top of that if we are getting a morning shower, they have no place to hide from the rain. Our town is not the Disneyesque Tropical Paradise that Kona or other ports are in the first place, and I like that about it, but taking people through the industrial waste land to get here is really pitiful.

Back to the ship…This ship is on a 15 day circle tour from San Diego, California; Visiting Hilo, Hawaii; Kona, Hawaii; Honolulu, Oahu, United States; Nawiliwili Kauai, Hawaii; Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii; Ensenada, Mexico. It will return on the same schedule two more times later in February and again in March. It also has a 21 day tour and a 19 day tour later in the year. The 21 day tour leaves April 6th from San Diego, California and visits; Hilo, Hawaii; Nawiliwili Kauai, Hawaii; Honolulu, Oahu, United States; Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii; Kona, Hawaii; Ensenada, Mexico; Avalon, Catalina Island; Astoria, Oregon; Victoria Canada; Vancouver, British Columbia.The 19 day tour in October leaves from Vancouver, British Columbia; and visits Victoria Canada; San Diego, California; Hilo, Hawaii; Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii; Nawiliwili Kauai, Hawaii; Honolulu, Oahu, United States; Kona, Hawaii; Ensenada, Mexico. The ship spends the summers in Alaska.

Here are a few pictures of the ships passing our house, the first one is of Valentine watching a ship come in on the Lanai off of my office:

Anchors Away!

What a weekend!

It’s 3:17 am and I am up early as opposed to staying up late. Sometimes my body clock reverts to California time and I go with it. We had quite a weekend and now things are getting back to normal. I needed catch up time to write.

On Saturday we went to a Slow Food Hawaii event at the Lyman Museum., downtown Hilo. It was a fun afternoon, comprised of a spectacular “local food” potluck. The food was great, so many different things grown and made in our area, even some terrific home made beer! We invited two couples and they both attended the event. Noel and Keith who hosted the first International Cooking Club Dinner that we attended last November were there as well as my new friend, Leslie Lang with her husband Marcario and their little darling Emma Rose. She was the only child at the event and was both well mannered and adored by many people throughout the afternoon.

After we sampled the food and drink offerings we were treated by a presentation on Hawaii’s food traditions. Nan Pi'ianaia, the founder of Slow Food Hawaii gave a talk on the actual foods that Sarah Lyman had used during her lifetime as a missionary in Hilo. The agricultural history of the area was a natural extension of that topic as Nan shared from the actual diaries of Mrs. Lyman. Such things as flour had to come around the horn on ships and usually were full of bugs by the time they arrived. Locally the introduction of the sugar cane industry changed their lives as well as that of the boys at their boarding school. It was a very interesting presentation and one that leads me to want to read further about life in the early times of our city and these islands.

Fellow food writer, Joan Namkoong of Waimea shared with us about the “key ingredients” of Hawaiian cuisine. She had queried several well known Hawaiian chefs about what they thought were the most important and iconic elements to Hawaiian Cuisine. It was a pleasure to meet Joan in person after having read some of her food writing.

After the presentations, we viewed the exhibit from the Smithsonian, Key Ingredients – Hawaii Edition. It was the last day of the exhibit so we were delighted to get a chance to see it before it left the Lyman. We really enjoyed our time at the museum and visiting with our new friends. Emma Rose charmed us through the exhibit, proving that there is nothing like seeing things through the eyes of a child.

We wished we had time to see more of the museum and to go on the mission house tour, but we had yet another event to attend and so we ran home, gathered up food and went to a Punaweb party at the Lamont farm in Glenwood. We saw Keith and Noel again there too. It was a fun evening with lots of great food and drink, but most of all it was special because we got to talk in person with so many of the characters from Punaweb ! Pam so generously shared her lovely home and farm with us all. I finally got to see Carey's beautiful mosaic work in Pam's bathrooms too.

Superbowl Sunday was here before we knew it! Time to get ready for our first annual neighborhood Superbowl Party. This was not an easy task because our container and home goods has still not arrived, but we brought in some outdoor furniture from the Lanais and have a few pieces we bought here, so we made it work. We had about 20 guests from the neighborhood and just to keep the theme going, Noel and Keith were there again too! Our good friends Ray and Marsha from Honokaa came and spent the night in our guest room. Our friend Kelly brought Brad and Abel (remember Abel was the one who planted all of our new trees) It was a Pu Pu Buffet and game watching fun on the 6’ HD projection screen. Several of us also enjoyed watching the whales from our lanais. After most of the crowd left a smaller group of 8 of us sat around on the lanai and talked story into the night with the sound of the surf and the spectacular Hawaiian star show above us.

Coming up...

Next weekend we have an International Cooking Club dinner on Saturday night and Sunday is Bob Marley Day and Agricultural Fair in Hilo, so we will be going to the big free Reggae concert in the park and attending the Agriculture Fair with some friends. The following weekend on Valentine's Day is the Hilo Chinese New Year Celebration , so lots more fun stuff on the horizon.