I couldn't help it...

One of my favorite spots on Maui -- speaking of high school:

Where did you go to Elementary School?

I went to Lihikai Elementary from January 1976 (third grade) to June 1979 (sixth grade). I rode the bus every day from Spreckelsville into Kahului and we would pick up kids along the way who went to Kahului Elementary. I was the blonde haole along with a few other blonde haoles who stuck out quite clearly at Lihikai. I didn't have too much trouble, I got along with everyone pretty well. At recess I played lots of games of chinese jump rope, marbles and milk caps. (Don't call them POGS or I'll know either a) how old you are (younger than me) or b) that you are a mainland haole...) I remember Shannah and Jocelyn and Michelle most of all. Oh and Francis, he was super cute in sixth grade.

In Sixth grade I was pleased to be chosen for a new program in advanced math and English. Mr. Takamori was our teacher and it was a small group, about six of us. Ryan, another good friend, was also in that class and we bonded over The Muppet Show. (I am cracking myself up with this post...) Mr. Takamori really stands out as one of my favorite teachers ever. (See a previous post.)

While Googling "Lihikai" I found this notice about the principal who was at Lihikai when I was, Mr. Murakami. He was recognized as a National Distinguished Principal by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Nice going Mr. Murakami!

Lihikai was a great school and I'm so glad I got to go there. Not only did I excel at academics, but I learned really important stuff like chinese jump rope and speaking pidgin.

I loved school and Lihikai fits right into my love of school. Wait until I get started about how much I loved high school!

More Maui Art

As you have read already, Maui has a lush creative life -- and with so much beauty all around for inspiration, how could it not? One of the best things to come along to Maui has been the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Not only do they have educational and culutral programs, but theater events, fundraisers, rental spaces and movies.

When we were visiting in December, my mom bought us tickets to see Andy Bumatai. Andy Bumatai!!! Show of hands -- in the comments section please-- who memorized Andy's comedy album in 1970-something? Write in your comments about what you remember from that Album! It was so much fun to see him and laugh and laugh and laugh about local stuffs. He has a show every Friday (starting this Friday) at the Sheraton Waikiki. So if you are in Honolulu sometime soon, go see him. He is so much fun to spend an evening with.



Here is what I love about a place like the MACC and Maui in general -- you can go see Andy Bumatai and a little while later in the year you can go see His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. (Maui is a pretty cool place, in case you weren't aware.) If you are going to be on OGG in late April, why not time it to have a visit with the Dalai Lama? Why not? And in researching this little section, I learned something new about Maui. Did you know there was a Buddhist Dharma Center in Paia?

Something close to my heart they have ongoing at the MACC is the Maui Film Festival. (I love movies, movies are a big part of my life -- not to mention my career. One of my goals is to show a film I've made at the Maui Film Festival.)

So much to do at the MACC! So next time you are coming to visit, check out their website (also listed in the "OGG on OGG" section to the right) and see what's happening or who's playing at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

Polipoli Still Ablaze

The fire is still burning on the slopes of Haleakala.

Here is the full story from the Maui News

Fire at Polipoli

There has been a fire buring for a couple of days. Here is the latest info about it.

More Favorite Spots

I think this is one of Jen's Favorite spots:


I don't have a photo of this spot but Curtis Wilson Cost painted it. Who can tell me where this spot is? (Other than my sister and my mom?)

I have a print of this in my kitchen. It makes me happy.

Another Photo from the Air

Within the collection of photos from flight over Hana Airport was this great photo of landing at OGG on runway 2.
It is a view you don't get to see unless you are flying Mokulele Airlines or in a private plane. I remember it fondly!

Where Is Your Favorite Spot On OGG?

This is one of mine:



Baby Beach Spreckelsville. This is my favorite time of day for the beach as well.

Hard to pick just one!

Please email me photos and stories of your favorite spot on Maui and I'll post it.
(See link to my email at the top/right hand of this page)

Email or Comment Please

Howzit -- if you have a thought or memory about a specific post, please add a comment. If you would rather email me, I have added a link for that purpose to the right.

I welcome all comments!

Mahalo,

Julia

Chicken Hekka Follow Up

I made the Chicken Hekka recipe from the previous post about it.

You may have read this comment from Sarah regarding Chicken Hekka:
All I can think of is the Chicken Hekka they made at Kula School in the 1970's -- The definition of disgusting. I don't know if I could bring myself to even try it again -- even if it was made by you!

Well, I hope mine was better than Kula El's....I thought it was fine, but didn't love it. Maybe I remembered a different version? No matter -- my haole husband LOVED IT! Finished off the rest of the leftovers for lunch today. I think I could make it every week and he would eat it all. So that's good news!

I said I would take a photo, but in fact, I forgot! Sorry brah!

Back To The Skies Over OGG

Or in this case, over HNM.

When I was in high school (15) and trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life, I seriously wanted to be an astronaut. Seriously. I figured I would go to the Air Force Academy and then get into the space program. I also decided I should learn how to fly before I got there. My parents were very supportive (thought secretly scared to death) and paid for lessons. I helped by working part time at the flight school at OGG.

My flight instructor was David L. Osman. When I think back on all the amazing teachers in my life, David, Leonard and Mr. Takamori are tied for 1st. (All from OGG schools, hmmm) He was enthusiastic, funny, smart, a great pilot and made the whole process easy. About 13 flight hours into the lessons, and after my 16th birthday, student pilot's license in hand, we flew to Hana to practice landings at HNM. This was not unusual as we could get out of the way of the OGG traffic and practice landings at an uncontrolled airport.

On September 2, 1983, I solo'd. I knew it was coming up so I wasn't completely surprised when David said, "On this next landing, pull up to the building so I can get out. Do three touch and goes, then pick me up again." Righteous!

So I did. I'm sure I was grinning huge the whole way. Not to mention singing a Duran Duran song. (Hey it was 1983, I'm alone for a good 20 minutes in a vehicle (Cessna 152) without any kind of music and I'm STOKED...might as well sing!)

Recently, in searching for photos of Maui for this site, I found these photos. They took my breath away because this the view of what it is like to land at Hana. And these photos were taken from a high winged airplane, just like mine. It was the view of my first solo. I wanted to share. (Click on all to make bigger.)

Good view of the airport:

Downwind:

Base:


"Hana Airport Traffic, Cessna 6243 Quebec on base for runway 8, touch and go."



That's me and 43Q. This was taken later on my first cross country solo to the Big Island. (What you can't see is that I'm barefoot. I wore slippers into the plane, but flew barefoot. Just like driving....)



By the way, I wrote to the owner of the photos to ask if I could use them, but never heard back. So I am going to anyway, hope you don't mind, sir! Here is his site.

Art on OGG

The art community on Maui thrives. The two biggest outlets for local art are Art Maui and Hui No'eau.




If you are going to be on Maui in March, Art Maui will exhibit March 4th through the 31st from 11:00 - 5:00 daily. And in case you didn't know (from their website):
Art Maui will once again be offering Scholarships to Maui County High School seniors studying the arts.
Donations for this worthy cause are appreciated and tax deductible.
Please mail checks to:
Art Maui
P.O. Box 1054
Pu'unene, HI 96784
and specify "for Scholarship fund"



Hui No'eau offers classes and exhibits -- why not plan a trip to OGG around an art class or exhibit? What a nice way to visit Maui and then take something home that you created while there.

The Hui has an exhibit coming up in June called Art and Flowers.
From the site:
The Hui, in close collaboration with the Maui Flower Growers' Association and the Maui County Office of Economic Development, presents this juried exhibition project. Artists will work onsite at member flower farms on Maui. Jurors hail from both visual arts and flower grower professions.

The Flower Festival will feature the sale of flowers from member farms as well as demonstrations and displays of flower arranging, both traditional and contemporary Western and Ikebana. Come spend a day with us and enjoy the beauty of Kaluanui and Maui's Flowers!

A brilliant idea.

Support the arts on OGG!

Thanks to OGG contributor (and Mom) Jane.

Hawaiian Food -- Tampa

One of my best friends, Kevin, lives in Tampa. He was really encouraging about this website and I haven't heard a word from him in weeks....hmmmm. Well, as a shout out to Kevin, I did a quick search for Hawaiian food in Tampa. Guess what? They have a Roy's too. There's Roy now!



Click on Roy to go to his site and find the locations in Tampa and elsewhere.

Kevin, what's up brah?

Chicken Hekka

My sister (chief researcher) found a recipe online for Chicken Hekka from Aloha World.

Here it is:

Chicken Hekka

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs Boneless, skinless chicken
3/4 C Sugar
3/4 C Shoyu
3/4 C Mirin
2 Tbs Oil
2" Ginger, grated
3 Medium carrots, julienne 2 Onions, sliced
1 can Shredded bamboo shoots, drained (14 oz.)
1/2 lbs Fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch Watercress, cut into 2" lengths
8 oz pkg Long rice, soaked & cut into 2" lengths
Cooking Instructions:
Slice chicken into serving pieces. Combine sugar, shoyu & mirin. In a skillet or wok, heat oil to medium high. Squeeze juice from grated ginger into wok. Add ginger & stir fry until brown, discard ginger fibers. Add chicken & stir-fry over high heat. Add shoyu mixture & cook 2 more min. Add vegetables, one at a time, & stir-fry after each addition. Add long rice & cook 3 more min. or until done.

MMMMMM. I can't wait to try this recipe. I will take pictures and post reviews as well.

If you are looking for cookbooks from Hawaii, my two favorites are:




I use the kal bi recipe in Taste all the time and have made prune mui a couple of times and LOVE IT.

You can buy A Taste of Aloha from the Junior League of Honolulu. I found only used versions of Hawaii's Country Tables on Amazon.

Dr. Galpin

Did you know about this Doctor on Maui? A TV crew will be filming one of his surgeries tomorrow at Maui Memorial after he was honored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with the Secretary’s Highest Recognition Award last October.

OGG in NYC

After a brief search, I found two possibilities for Hawaiian food in New York City. Okay, maybe I should rephrase -- "Hawaiian Style" food. The first is a classic mainland version of what might be considered tropical and exotic -- Waikiki Wally's:

(You can link to their sites by clicking on each logo.)

Now, this is "Hawaiian Fusion" and Roy is from Japan originally, but there is opakapaka on the menu...

If anyone knows about any Hawaiian food places in NYC, please let me know!

Crack Seed Birthday

I turned 40 over the weekend and one of my wackiest gifts was 40 packages of crack seed!
This wasn't even all of it....yowza! Luckily my sister was here so she could take some with her. I'm sending some to another sister as well (both live in California).

My mainland haole friends tried some on Saturday night and the reviews were typical -- one person liked it, others made sour faces and shook their heads, a couple said "Hey! There are seeds in here!" and one said, quite seriously, "This is bull****!" I always love sharing this stuff.

Thanks Diane for the great gift!

Lahainaluna High School

Their link seems to be working again, check it out under the link section called "Be True To Your School!"

Homegrown Hawaii

Are you a member of Classmates.com? If so you might want to consider signing up with Homegrown Hawaii, a Hawaii only alumni community. All the high schools in Hawaii are represented. Membership is free!


Homegrown Hawaii has also been added to the "OGG on the Internet" section...

Chance 'um!

Hawaiian Music Online (or on the radio in Los Angeles)

Howzit!

Thanks to one of my favorite websites Metroblogging Los Angeles (There is also a metroblogging site for Hawaii.), I got information from Michael Schneider about:
Los Angeles and Southern California's only Hawaiian music broadcast! You can listen live Friday mornings, midnight to 2 a.m. on 88.5 KCSN-FM or online here and also here.

I also added a link in the "OGG On The Internet" section.

Mike, mahalo nui loa for the hot tip!

Makawao Rodeo

When I tell people that I used to go to rodeos when I was growing up on Maui, they don't believe me. I have to then explain about cattle ranches and paniolos. Here's one:

(I got this photo from here.)

On the 4th of July (or weekend closest to it) we would go to the Makawao Parade and then the rodeo at the Oskie Rice Arena. Full disclosure time: Oskie Rice was my step-grandfather and a great guy. The stories he could tell!

Here is a picture from this year's Makawao Parade:
"At 80 years of age, Herman DeCoite (L) and Albert Fernandez are the senior members of the Maui Roping Club, which puts on the Makawao Rodeo." (picture and quote from Haleakala Times.)

By the way, if you know of a paniolo that you would like to nominate for the Paniolo Hall of Fame, you can sign up with the Hawaii Cattleman's Council.

Okay, more full disclosure: the president of the HCC is Jim Greenwell -- a cousin of mine. (Maui/Hawaii is some small, yeah?)

Los Angeles Ho'olaule'a

Every July the Hawaiian Inter-Club Council of Southern California puts on Ho'olaule'a. I have not been yet (always seem to be out of town or busy when it happens...) but plan to go this year. Sarah has been and here is her report:

We've been to the Hula Festival -- or Ho'olaulea -- 3 years in a row. It's set in a huge park in Lawndale, and people set up tents and big blankets and plan to stay all day. The dancing is amazing, and ranges from very authentic to very Missionary-style, if you know what I mean. They have food booths like you wouldn't believe -- all the favorites from lau-laus to shave ice to kal bi ribs to chicken long rice, teriyaki steak, 2 scoops rice and macaroni salad. And then, as if that's not enough, they also always have tons of booths filled with Hawaiian stuff for sale -- clothes, T-shirts, bags, blankets, books, and you get the picture. Tons of fun -- our family wouldn't miss it. Usually mid-July every year.

I'll post reminders as we get closer. Maybe I'll have OGGOnline t-shirts by then! (good goal...hmmmm....)

Thanks for the report, Sarah!

These beautiful hula photos I found on this site. They are from the Merrie Monarch Festival 2005.




Honestly, guys dancing hula? Doing chants? Nothing sexier.

New Links

I discovered a site called Global Pau Hana. Their introduction says:
"Aloha and welcome to the Global Pau Hana community! If you are affiliated with Hawaii, this is the place for you to connect with kamaaina and former kamaaina. This is a community website, and the people of Hawaii know all about community." I signed up, I hope you will too.

I also added a link to a list of plate lunch and Hawaiian food restaurants in Southern California. It includes San Diego, Orange County, Riverside/San Bernadino Counties and LA. Very handy to have when the desire for chow fun or kalua pig and cabbage strikes.

Kau Kau Addendum

My sister Jen sent me this additional picture of musubi with ume surprise. (She's my best reader and contributor so far, thanks Jen!) And she found this candy from our small kid time. You could eat the paper, how cool was that?!?!

Spam Musubi (and other Kau Kau)

Ah spam. Even though I grew up on OGG, we didn't eat much Spam. In fact, I think I've had more Spam Musubi in the past year than I ever had growing up. Why? Well, I was home last August for my dad's funeral and my sisters and step-mom and I surrounded ourselves with Spam Musubi (among other things) for comfort. We bought some and we made some. Then my (haole) husband* and I were on OGG in early December and so were his family. They had never been to Maui or anywhere in Hawaii. Kurt (my husband) felt it best to buy some Spam Musubi and Malasadas to indoctrinate them. So we did. Currently Kurt is addicted to malasadas. No kidding--hooked! His favorite so far are from Home Maid Bakery on Maui.

I digress....

When you Google-Images for "Spam Musubi" you get many many options! I love this very fancy pu-pu version:
(I found this image on this blog on this exact page.)

So if I didn't eat so much spam musubi, what did I have? Well, I liked regular musubi with ume surprise--my favorite. (I thought all riceball came with ume...) This was the only picture I could find in my 2 minutes search:


But my favorite snack, hands down:
MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm........say it with me!...........MANAPUA!


Of course, I haven't even gotten to shave ice, li hing mui, loco mocos or dried cuttlefish. Another time....for now you can see what others have to say about some of these things on wikipedia:
spam musubi
loco moco
manapua

* Full disclosure: I'm haole too, but local haole, brah.

Lahainaluna High School

Did you know that Lahainaluna is the oldest school west of the Rockies? (If you went there, of course you do...) The mighty Lunas celebrated their 175th Anniversary in 2006. That makes them older than Punahou. (Sorry Buff n' Blue!)

Maui No Ka Oi!

New Links

Howzit.

I added a few links to the right --->

I have "OGG in your neighborhood" which will get longer with tips and hot spots in various places around the country/world. Please send me info about where you can find Hawaiian food or activities in your neighborhood and I'll add a post and a link.

"OGG on OGG" are links to things on Maui (or Hawai'i in general if appropriate -- like Daughters of Hawai'i).

And FYI, the links to the Hana High school and Lahainaluna sites are not working. I'm trying to figure that out through the State of Hawai'i site to which they link. Sorry for those, I'll update when they are working again.

Mahalo...

Plumeria

Photo taken by my sister Jen on their last trip to OGG last summer.

Cane Fires

Did you ever use the phrase "Hawaiian snow"?




(Thanks to Scott McIntyre for the photo.)

Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Howzit!? Happy New Year!
Thanks for coming to my blog about OGG.
(I guess that makes it my blOGG...)

I started this blog in December to share Maui with locals who live on the mainland now. My intention is to add to it every day and eventually be able to offer ono kau kau and stuffs to buy that you can't get on the mainland. For now I'm starting with good fun memories and pictures as well as links to where you can find OGG in your neighborhood.

I need your help to keep this going. Please send me any photos, memories, comments, questions and website links that might be fun and helpful to build this site. If you know others who might like to visit please send them a link to oggonline.net. You can email me by going to my profile (top right) and clicking "email me".

Me Ke Aloha,

Julia (Kulia)
(Picture of OGG by Rob Ratkowski. Click to make it bigger. I love this picture because Spreckelsville is in the background and that is where I grew up!)