| Aloha Shorts |
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High Adventure on Maui
A bird’s-eye view of Maui is
worth two from the bush! Test
your wings at Kapalua Resort’s
brand-new Mountain Outpost,
where nearly two miles of dualtrack
ziplines—one of the longest
zipline systems in the U.S.—let
you soar above forest treetops at
up to 40 miles per hour and give
you breathtaking inland and
coastal views. If that’s not
enough to get your heart and soul
pumping, try crossing their two
suspension bridges or tackling
the four-station climbing tower
and comprehensive high-ropes
challenge course. Even reaching
the Mountain Outpost is an
experience:You’re driven in an
open-air, biodiesel Mercedes-Benz
Unimog through West Maui’s
pineapple fields.Mountain
Outpost is open to everyone.
For more information and reservations,
visit kapalua.com or call
1-877-665-4386. |
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Got ‘Awa?
Kava, ‘awa, ‘ava. These are names
given to the unobtrusive plant
Piper methysticum and the traditional
potion from its extract that
Pacific peoples have used in
social, medicinal and spiritual
practices for countless generations.
In Hawai‘i it is known as ‘awa and
is said to improve mood, reduce
anxiety, promote patience and
increase mental clarity—sometimes
for up to a day or longer.
Unless you have an uncle who
remembers “the old ways,” you’ve
probably never tried ‘awa. Now, a
local company called Float
Beverages is reviving our Aloha
Spirit with ‘awa drinks served up
in handy bottles—all safe and
legal stuff. For your mood
enhancer, you can sip an ‘Awa2O
Ginger Flow or ‘Awa20 Vanilla Lift.
Visit www.float-beverage.com |
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GO PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE
Another Maui adventure is a trip on the modern
Hawaiian outrigger sailing canoe Hina,
which takes you for two hours along the
beautiful Wailea coast, lets you snorkel with
sea turtles (on good days), teaches you some
Hawaiian history and culture and includes plenty of
ocean relaxation. Guests may join in as part of the
crew, helping to launch, paddle and sail. There are
two standard tours a day, seven days a week, but private
charters are also possible. Hawaiian Sailing
Canoe Adventures is based on Polo Beach in Wailea,
directly fronting the Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel.
Visit www.mauisailingcanoe.com |
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Talking LOCAL
Island voices come alive through Bamboo Ridge Press, a local publishing
company that promotes literature by and about Hawai‘i’s people.
Five of the stories in this issue of SPIRIT OF ALOHA are from the
pages of this literary journal, which was founded in 1978 by co-editors
Eric Chock and Darrell Lum. Each year Bamboo Ridge produces one or
more journals of poetry and fiction featuring work by emerging and established
writers, plus a book by a single author or an anthology that focuses
on a special theme. Some of its works incorporate or are even written
entirely in “pidgin,” Hawai‘i’s creole language.
Taste the “real Hawai‘i” of Bamboo Ridge Press stories in this issue,
then visit bambooridgepress.com to choose from nearly 40 of its well respected
volumes. These include Lee Cataluna’s Folks You Meet in
Longs, Lee Tonouchi’s Da Word, Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s Saturday Night at
the Pāhala Theatre, the anthology Growing Up Local and Mavis Hara’s
new book, An Offering of Rice. |
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Made in Hawai‘i, Revisited
Whether or not you’ve been lucky enough
to score tickets to Hilo’s renowned Merrie
Monarch Festival, you’ll want to at least visit
two outstanding craft fairs on going during
the event.The Merrie Monarch Craft Fair—
April 2–5 at the Civic Auditorium and neighboring
Butler Building—is the official craft
fair of the Festival and features more than
125 vendors and artists displaying Hawai‘i made
products and traditional handicrafts.
Then, the Hawai‘i Arts, Crafts & Food
Festival—April 3–5 at Sangha Hall—brings
together more than 150 sculptors, weavers,
woodworkers, potters, lei makers, quilters,
doll makers, fabric artisans, jewelers and
more, from Hawai‘i as well as Tahiti, New
Zealand and Samoa. Mingle with the artists,
eat heaps of food, make a great purchase. |
Music |
 Jeff Peterson—Pure Slack Key: The son of a
Haleakalā paniolo, or local cowboy, fresh-faced Peterson
has slack key in his blood—and his credentials as a slack
key guitar master and jazz and classical guitarist were well
established even prior to contributing to the album that
won Hawaiian music’s first ever Grammy®. Pure Slack Key
is Peterson’s seventh album, a harmony of favorite Island
pieces and original compositions that reveals not only his
technical artistry, but also his sensibility for traditional
slack key’s warm, almost poetically gentle magnetism and
all that it conveys about country living in Hawai‘i.
(Mountain Apple Co.)
Auntie Agnes Malabey Weisbarth and the
Mākaha Serenaders—Sunset at Mākaha: It’s hard
not to be swept away by nostalgia and the majesty and
joyful exuberance of this newly re-released collection.
Originally issued in 1971, it’s been revived with good reason:
Auntie Aggie has a magnificent singing voice and belts
out beloved Hawaiian classics with a presence and style
that has all but disappeared with her generation. It’s the
best of authentic, old-time backyard lū‘au entertainment
with enough verve to make you jump up and hula for the
family, even if you don’t know how. (Hula Records)
The Barefoot Natives—Slack Key Circus: Fun-loving
and local-style funkadelic, the Barefoot Natives are the
twin powers of Uncle Willie K and Eric Gilliom—veteran
theatrical performers and stars on the contemporary
Hawaiian music scene. Slack Key Circus brings Island folk,
slack key, jazz pop riffs and even a strain of rap together
with ease, with sentimental charmers lined up right next to
colorful and original songs such as “Huli Huli Chicken.”
The result is the kind of circus everyone loves: goodnatured,
engaging, fresh and surprisingly thought
provoking. (Mountain Apple Co.) |
| Books |
More Famous Than Diamond Head
When he died in April 2007, Don Ho
was working with writer Jerry Hopkins
on the story of his life: the recollections
and stories of many friends, family
and collaborators. Don Ho: My
Music, My Life (Watermark
Publishing, Honolulu, 2007) tells
many of the stories in oral history
form, enhances the legend, talks a little—but not much—
out of school, and describes in always entertaining ways
how his act remained the longest running show in Waikīkī
for nearly half-a-century. Hopkins describes the book as “a
stitching together of memories shared in interviews, with
the predominant voice being his own, accompanied by
supporting voices, arranged chronologically.” There are
lots of photographs that describe Ho’s amazing life.
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The Little Island in Kane‘ohe Bay
Most visitors to Hawai‘i don’t
know about it, and even locals
can’t tell you much about it, but
Coconut Island or, in Hawaiian,
Moku o Lo‘e, the tiny island off
the edge of Kāne‘ohe Bay on
O‘ahu, now a world center of
marine research, was once a private
fantasy paradise. Moku o
Lo‘e: A History of Coconut Island, by P. Christiaan Klieger
(Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 2007) tells all of the
fascinating stories, describes the island’s many transformations,
and even reprints tariff cards from the Coconut
Island Hotel (when there was a hotel on the island).
A wonderful book, richly illustrated, with stories about
Hawai‘i that you have never heard before.
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Hawai‘i Sacred Touch
The art and inspiration of
Hawaiian massage, lomilomi, has
been handed down for generations.
Its physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual benefits derive from a variety
of healing methods, including
chant, prayer, forgiveness, herbal
medicine, massage, backwalking,
lomi sticks, hot stones, salt scrub,
fresh water and specified breathing
exercises. Hawaiian Massage Lomilomi: Sacred Touch of
Aloha, by R. Makana Risser Chai, with photographs by
John C. Kalani Zak (Hawaiian Insights, Kailua, 2007),
shares some of the wisdom of historic and contemporary
healers and lists active practitioners who are still involved
in this special healing journey. |
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