Hawaii Culture & History Followed by Spam Musubi (05 FEB 2009)

Aloha,


Today is another big day of what-we-always-wanted-to-see-but-never-had-time-for-in-O'ahu:

A. The Bishop Museum (has nothing to do with bishops. It is Hawaiian Culture all the way)
B. The Iolani Palace area (See the Official Hawaiian Royal Coat of Arms above. See "B" below).

We began with A and finished with B (long blog, be sure to see bottom "B" half also). Fascinating day all around. A day very well spent.

Bishop: Lava Melting Demo:



Ali'i (Royal) Fanning Service for Tetefano's Lunch:



Hawaiian Storytelling #1 and #2. Fascinating stuff!!





And the museum's Shell Lei Collection:



And then some photos from the permanent collection:

Fish hooks:


Rapa Nui collection:


Tahiti collection:


Aotearoa/NZ collection:


And now to the "B" part of the day: The 'Iolani Palace area


For the ugly truth about how Hawai'i became the 50th U.S. state (involving a nasty overthrow, imprisonment cum House Arrest, and other nasty forms of deceit and muscle flexing by various people including Mr. Dole - the pineapple baron) you can get the scoop right here:
http://www.iolanipalace.org/history/queen.html

Here she is, Queen Lili'uokalani (note the statue is placed OUTside the actual Palace Gate and in front of the State Capitol facing the Capitol with her back facing the Palace. Very interesting!??):


A video showing a 360 degree view around the statue:



And here is King Kamehameha I (He united all the surrounding islands to create the Kingdom of Hawai'i. By 1795 he had all but Kaua'i. In 1810, kaua'i was finally added)


Finally, and on a far more lighthearted note, you need NOT head to lahaina to see a grand banyan. There is a fine specimen right on the 'Iolani Palace grounds:


Just remember...pono...always exercise pono (a.k.a. respect/do the right thing):


And now, absurdly easing back into a different kind of reality, we find ourselves back in Waikiki accompanied by two Spam Musubi and a Steinlager:



...and later, Camilla is rather pathetically complaining about having to assemble her own fusionesque fish taco. In context, altogether way too embarrassing not to post it, so I will):



Oh yes, times have certainly changed - and for many native Hawaiians, times have changed in ways few of us can even begin to imagine. Malama ka'aina in this place isn't exactly about recycling, is it? And pono and aloha is far more than letting the little old lady cross the street sans stress. So, bring the pono, not the party!

Malama Ka'aina,
Kepani & Kamila