Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Aloha Shorts | May/June 2005

Aloha Shorts

News and Notes from Around our World

Anata no hiza ni suwattemo yoroshii deshoka?*

Athoroughly hilarious and often useful phrase book series, The Wicked Traveler, by Howard Tomb, has been published in single volumes in seven titles over the years. Now you can get five languages—Italian, French, Japanese, German and Spanish—in one newly released volume (Workman Publishing, New York, $8.95) to help you insult people around the world.

Whether you want to say Savez-vous qui je suis, cervelle d‘oiseau? (Don’t you know who I am, you numbskull?) in French or Quattro stele un accidente! (Four stars my ass!) in Italian, you’re well prepared to deal with the vicissitudes of international travel

*Do you mind if I sit in your lap? (Japanese)












How Sweet It Is

Nathan Sato was‚ "doing computer work” in Berkeley, Calif., when he fell in love at first sight with Hawai‘i and decided to move here. Once in Hawai‘i, Nathan needed something to do, so he started playing around with chocolate. “I wanted to do something that is unique to Hawai‘i,” he says. “I thought that making hocolates would fill a niche for me.” The result is a product called Malie Kai Hawaiian artisanal chocolates, which are all-natural gourmet chocolates packaged five pieces to a lovely black tin box and decorated with art by famed local landscape painter Lynn Soehner. The choice is dark chocolates with tropical fruits and macadamia nuts, or milk chocolates with orange essence and macadamia nuts. They’re now available at select gift stores in Hawai‘i or by e-mail at orders@maliekai.com It’s another sweet idea whose time has come..



A Plug for Plugs

Help is on the way for air travelers irritated by clogged sinuses and stuffy noses when air pressure changes inflight. EarPlanes are pressure-regulating ear plugs tested by U.S. Navy aviators at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego and now designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as “Class A” medical devices, meaning they can be purchased over the counter without a prescription. Just in case you’re wondering, EarPlanes, marketed by Cirrus Healthcare, provide an equal but opposite impedance on the exterior and interior of the middle ear, allowing the Eustachian tubes to function normally during air pressure changes. .










‘Ōiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal

Eighty-two Native Hawaiian writers and artists are creative contributors to the third issue of ‘Ōiwi: Native Hawaiian Journal, which claims to be the only current literary publication of its kind. Announced at the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies recently, the new issue of the journal focuses primarily on Native Hawaiian education, featuring texts that discuss various social and cultural issues affecting Native Hawaiian students today. “Issues of cultural identity and preservation, as well as language revitalization, are not priorities Hawai‘i public schools despite our community’s wealth of diversity,” notes publisher and chief editor Ku‘ualoha Ho‘omanawanui. “We are hoping that this volume will be the spark that lights the fire of many discussions on this topic.” Huliau is the name of volume 3 of ‘Ōiwi. It is available for purchase at Native Books, Nā Mea Hawai‘i, Borders, the University of Hawai‘i Bookstore and through the Web site www.hawaii.edu/oiwi












Thank God It’s First Friday

Lyrical, pulsating summer icons and images, that explore the idea of sun-bathing, swimming, rest, relaxation, sports and vacation set the theme of an educational art exhibit that opens at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum on June 3 and continues through Sept. 4. Through paintings, works on paper, installations and multimedia artwork, local artists bring a pertinent insouciance to existence in their renderings of a season at leisure. The opening reception on June 3 coincides with First Friday, Honolulu’s successful gallery walk, when downtown galleries and studios open their doors for extended hours (5 to 9 p.m.) on the first Friday of every month.










Cartagena by Freighter

In the grand old days of summertime seafaring adventures, intrepid souls used to buy passage, rather cheaply, on a freighter, and let the sheets fall where they may. Then came the time when freighters wouldn’t take passengers anymore, unless you were buddies with the ship owner or the captain. But now, once again, travel by freighter is available, albeit at a price.

From April to October, Maris Freighter Cruises of Westport, Conn., is offering travel from British Columbia and California through the Panama Canal to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe on three different freighters, one of them German, the other two Canadian. Cielo del Canada, Lykes Performer and TMM Zacatecas cruise for two months round trip (approximately 64 days), or you can travel just one way. Lots of interesting stops: Manzanillo, Puerto Limon, Cartagena, Rotterdam, Valencia, Genoa, Marseille and so forth. Accommodations for five passengers include the owner’s double-bed cabin and three single cabins, with fares varying from $115 to $140 per person per day. More information at www.freightercruises.com





MUSIC: Listen Up

Brickwood Galuteria, Hawaiian 105 KINE’s “Aloha Morning Show” radio host, chooses this list of recommended music from the Islands, with all selections widely available at Island record stores:

• Various Artists—The Legends of Waikīkī: Andy, Gabby, The Kalima Brothers—all have gathered here with the Royal Hawaiian Serenaders, Richard Kauhi, John and Pua Almeida and others, to take you back to pre-statehood times, when Kalākaua Avenue was a two-way street and producer Harry Soria Jr. was listening to his pop’s 45s. Bell Records originals include Gabby Pahinui’s signature tune, “Hi‘ilawe,” Jesse Kalima’s ‘ukulele dexterity on “Jalousie” and “Manaowaiopuna,” one of the 300-plus songs written by Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs, Waikīkī’s “ambassador of good cheer.”

• Jordan Segundo—Jordan: Debut  album of this fine young singer and songwriter, who first made his mark with a national audience as an American Idol contestant. Here he demonstrates that his talent is real, with the young and young-at-heart glued to the absolutely irresistible “Be the One” and the romantically uplifting “Secret Fantasy.”

• Kimo Alama Keaulana and Lei Hulu—Hula Lives!: Kimo Keaulana, who has taught hula and Hawaiian music for more than three decades, adds his special touch to the sounds of Hawai‘i’s past masters, including Emma De Fries, Mary Kawena Pukui, J.K. Almeida, Lena Machado and Aunty Irmgard Aluli. Pukui and Aluli’s “Laupāhoehoe Hula” is a favorite boys’ hula that Keaulana treats with classic respect. No hula dancer’s Hawaiian CD collection can be considered complete without Hula Lives!



Books

Finding the Perfect Wave
If it’s not in this book, surfers may not find it at all. Long-time surfing photographer (and surfer) Rod Sumpter (who also had a major role in the groundbreaking film The Endless Summer) traveled the world seeking top surfing destinations. He then compiled a country-by-country guide to each of them, with photos, essential information, including break, skill level, hazards, how to get there, where to stay and other relevant statistics. The North Shore of O‘ahu starts off the book, and Hawai‘i, described by Sumpter as standing alone “as the world’s first and foremost surfing mecca,” and where “today’s best surfers come to test their skills against nature’s toughest waves,” is represented by 21 different surf spots. 100 Best Surf Spots in the World (Insiders’ Guide, Guillford, Conn., $19.95 trade paperback) is an important, useful guide.



Roy, Oh, Roy
When Roy Yamaguchi opened the first Roy’s Restaurant in Hawai‘i in 1988, he helped pioneer contemporary Island cuisine, started a trend and became, in due course, a legend among his contemporaries. Today, there are more than 30 Roy’s restaurants around the world. This attractive collection of recipes (Roy’s Fish & Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim, Ten Speed Press, $35 hardcover) and indispensable preparation information helps explain the phenomenon. Some say you haven’t really lived until you’ve tried Roy’s Indonesian spiced Pacific salmon with a sweet and spicy coconut-curry sauce (learned when he was cooking in a Malaysian hotel).


Life in a Shell
Sea turtles have lived in the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years, surviving endless catastrophes, but their numbers are now declining drastically. The founding president of the International Sea Turtle Society and co-founder of The Leatherback Trust, James Spotila has devoted his life’s work to saving sea turtles. His book, Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior , and Conservation (The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, $24.96, hardcover) is spellbinding, articulate, indispensable and, with its many full-color photos, taken by the world’s leading underwater photographers, astonishing.

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