Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
warning signs posted up and down the waikiki beach
The "box" jelly fish are square in shape and have poisonous threads or tenacles. They usually swim to the nearby shore and leave their spawn and then go away. It's a natural reaction for the box jelly fish to sting whenever touched as a defense mechanism. Sounds like some alien movie to me! I didn't see any in Waikiki today, but have seen them floating in the Ala Wai Canal a few months back which is very unusual.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
storytelling:chapter 3 obsession~part 1
...continued from storytelling:chapter 2 out of sight, not out of mind~pt 7
It's now summer and Frankie and Candy Darling have begun their first round of vaccinations for Honolulu. I'm sure you've read enough on that, so I'll move on. Hubby's been working non-stop and I've got a couple months before I start working on Fashion Week for Spring 2009, in late August.
I was hoping my mom would be coming to the east coast for her usual summer visit, however, she said she doesn't think she wants to come again. Summer's too hot and winters too cold and she may instead come for Fall Foliage with her friends, flying into Boston and traveling by car north, up the coast. Meaning, she wouldn't be coming to New York, not even for a stop-over. Plus the fact the last time she was here last summer really did her in. I noticed she was a little slower in her moving about and the climbs up and down in the subway were too much for her. We'd taken a lot of taxi's last time around and that was a sign that mom's age was showing. We'd use the car on the weekends as there would be no problem finding parking in NYC. Don't get me wrong, she's still got a lot of step in her. She's only 75 and she's a powerhouse up at the crack of dawn and ALWAYS running about town and around Los Angeles, but she's not really use to walking to get from here to there. She loves driving to where she needs to go and then doing her little walks. Her car is her mobile freedom. When you're use to driving all your life and then switch to riding buses and subways, it's a huge adjustment of your lifestyle.
The majority of my time during the spring and summer months, in fact, since the beginning of 2008, was spent on Craigslist Honolulu. I was constantly looking into apartments to rent and employment at every spare moment I had.
As I was looking into housing, I found that rent was comparable to NYC. Well, sort of. For a 500 sq. ft. apt. in Honolulu, it will cost anywhere from $700 on up, depending on what your needs are. But I'm talking no frills. A decent one bedroom, kitchen, living room and parking. This does not include utilities, cable, phone or in some instances, laundry facilities. If you choose not to have a car, you can catch The Bus. It's $50 for a monthly pass. A consistent air temp of 75* year long and friendly people. You get to live in beautiful Hawaii. It's a dream for some.
In NYC, you can get a 500 sq. ft. apt for $1500. A bare minimal studio. You could possibly live in a one bedroom IF you have a roommate, share utility expenses, your bathroom (no thank you), the kitchen, your food and possibly your personal stuff (yuk!). You don't have to worry about having a car or parking because there's really no street parking and the prices for parking in a lot are double your months rent. Nice! Not! The cost of a monthly MetroCard is $81, if it hasn't gone up again. Most people in NYC have cell phones, so there's no need for a home phone. They usually have the use of landlines at work. You don't have to worry about joining a gym, although most New Yorkers do, because after a long 10 hour day at work, you can lug all your days belongs in that 20 lb. designer satchel that you've packed to work, along with your laptop, in a really cool carrier! Let's not forget your handbag with the all the really important stuff you need: a daily planner, water, keys, sunglasses, gum, tampax, wallet, coin purse, holder for your subway pass. You think I'm joking? Next time your in New York take a good look around you! So anyway, all that daily schlepping will have you seeing a chiropractor after you see your "shrink". OK, I'm getting off track now.
Where was I? Oh, yeah, what you're paying for is a big chunk of "I live in Manhattan". Living in a one zero zero zip code. Unless you're rich and live in $10 million unit, you can keep it. You can pay $1500 for rent in Honolulu if you want to live in, lets say, Waikiki, Kahala or Manoa. But you certainly aren't breaking your back lugging all your crap around, like New York.
I had to sit down and make a list of what I'm currently paying for rent, all my utilities and any other monthly payables: car insurance, cell phone, petro, etc. What will I be able to afford to pay for rent in Hawaii? House or apt? One bedroom or two? What neighborhood do I want to live? Am I shipping all my belongings plus my car? How much is that going to cost? How long will that take? What am I going to do for work? Am I going to continue working as a Production Coordinator or a new career? I read that the cost of living in Hawaii is the same as NYC, however, the salary of any work you pursue will be 7% lower than NYC. Realistically, I think that that figure is a little low. After living here over 6 months, it's more like 15%- 20% lower than New York. There's so many factors to look into when making a huge move, especially when moving to an island in the Pacific.
I had to ask myself if after the first year will I be able to make a living there or will I even like living in Hawaii. Should I put all my belongings in storage? How much would that cost? All these questions and more became a sick obsession.
to be continued...
It's now summer and Frankie and Candy Darling have begun their first round of vaccinations for Honolulu. I'm sure you've read enough on that, so I'll move on. Hubby's been working non-stop and I've got a couple months before I start working on Fashion Week for Spring 2009, in late August.
I was hoping my mom would be coming to the east coast for her usual summer visit, however, she said she doesn't think she wants to come again. Summer's too hot and winters too cold and she may instead come for Fall Foliage with her friends, flying into Boston and traveling by car north, up the coast. Meaning, she wouldn't be coming to New York, not even for a stop-over. Plus the fact the last time she was here last summer really did her in. I noticed she was a little slower in her moving about and the climbs up and down in the subway were too much for her. We'd taken a lot of taxi's last time around and that was a sign that mom's age was showing. We'd use the car on the weekends as there would be no problem finding parking in NYC. Don't get me wrong, she's still got a lot of step in her. She's only 75 and she's a powerhouse up at the crack of dawn and ALWAYS running about town and around Los Angeles, but she's not really use to walking to get from here to there. She loves driving to where she needs to go and then doing her little walks. Her car is her mobile freedom. When you're use to driving all your life and then switch to riding buses and subways, it's a huge adjustment of your lifestyle.
The majority of my time during the spring and summer months, in fact, since the beginning of 2008, was spent on Craigslist Honolulu. I was constantly looking into apartments to rent and employment at every spare moment I had.
As I was looking into housing, I found that rent was comparable to NYC. Well, sort of. For a 500 sq. ft. apt. in Honolulu, it will cost anywhere from $700 on up, depending on what your needs are. But I'm talking no frills. A decent one bedroom, kitchen, living room and parking. This does not include utilities, cable, phone or in some instances, laundry facilities. If you choose not to have a car, you can catch The Bus. It's $50 for a monthly pass. A consistent air temp of 75* year long and friendly people. You get to live in beautiful Hawaii. It's a dream for some.
In NYC, you can get a 500 sq. ft. apt for $1500. A bare minimal studio. You could possibly live in a one bedroom IF you have a roommate, share utility expenses, your bathroom (no thank you), the kitchen, your food and possibly your personal stuff (yuk!). You don't have to worry about having a car or parking because there's really no street parking and the prices for parking in a lot are double your months rent. Nice! Not! The cost of a monthly MetroCard is $81, if it hasn't gone up again. Most people in NYC have cell phones, so there's no need for a home phone. They usually have the use of landlines at work. You don't have to worry about joining a gym, although most New Yorkers do, because after a long 10 hour day at work, you can lug all your days belongs in that 20 lb. designer satchel that you've packed to work, along with your laptop, in a really cool carrier! Let's not forget your handbag with the all the really important stuff you need: a daily planner, water, keys, sunglasses, gum, tampax, wallet, coin purse, holder for your subway pass. You think I'm joking? Next time your in New York take a good look around you! So anyway, all that daily schlepping will have you seeing a chiropractor after you see your "shrink". OK, I'm getting off track now.
Where was I? Oh, yeah, what you're paying for is a big chunk of "I live in Manhattan". Living in a one zero zero zip code. Unless you're rich and live in $10 million unit, you can keep it. You can pay $1500 for rent in Honolulu if you want to live in, lets say, Waikiki, Kahala or Manoa. But you certainly aren't breaking your back lugging all your crap around, like New York.
I had to sit down and make a list of what I'm currently paying for rent, all my utilities and any other monthly payables: car insurance, cell phone, petro, etc. What will I be able to afford to pay for rent in Hawaii? House or apt? One bedroom or two? What neighborhood do I want to live? Am I shipping all my belongings plus my car? How much is that going to cost? How long will that take? What am I going to do for work? Am I going to continue working as a Production Coordinator or a new career? I read that the cost of living in Hawaii is the same as NYC, however, the salary of any work you pursue will be 7% lower than NYC. Realistically, I think that that figure is a little low. After living here over 6 months, it's more like 15%- 20% lower than New York. There's so many factors to look into when making a huge move, especially when moving to an island in the Pacific.
I had to ask myself if after the first year will I be able to make a living there or will I even like living in Hawaii. Should I put all my belongings in storage? How much would that cost? All these questions and more became a sick obsession.
to be continued...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
the 27th okinawan festival
Okinawa is a small island southwest of mainland Japan. What was once an independent kingdom, it is still rich with its own history and culture. After damage and ruin of WWII to the Okinawans, The Battle of Okinawa, Hawaii became a bridge and aided with its efforts to help re-build the Okinawan community here in Hawaii, providing support and relief.In the beginning there were 26 Okinawan immigrants who arrived in Hawaii. Today there are now more than 50,000 who stand strong, generation after generation, to celebrate and preserve their legacy.
The 27th Okinawan Festival is among Hawaii's largest celebrated festival with the best Okinawan entertainment, food, cultural exhibits and activities.
I loved trying the different types of Okinawan food and had to come back the second day for more tastings of "andagi", an Okinawan round donut that is made like cake batter and deep fried. Yum! The "andada dog" was killer too. A hotdog on a stick, dipped in andagi batter and deep fried. It is similar to a corn dog, but has a lovely sweet taste. The "okinawan soba" was great too, even on a hot day, like today. Usually soba is made from buckwheat and served cold, but this Okinawan soba noodle was a thick noodle and served hot with slices of shoyu pork, fishcake, ginger and green onions. There was "maki sushi", toppings that are placed on rice and rolled in seaweed and sliced, ready to eat. And the "champuru plate" was a generous portion of stir fried vegetables, along with shoyu pork, rice. Even though there was much more food to try and my stomach was more than full, I had to have a shave ice, sit at the bandstand and watch some of the Okinawan entertainment.
After the entertainment I walked around to some of the tents to get some okinawan cultural~arts and crafts, specialty food items from Okinawa, the exhibit on the Battle of Okinawa, the country store full of fresh produce, a karate display and the bonsai exhibit. The first day's fun ended with the Okinawan Bon Dance and a greater knowledge of the Okinawan culture.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
the growing nest
Move over Mona Lisa there's new keiki's on the block and they're going to turn your little smile into a big "wow"! The "Go Green!" Children's Art Exhibit at The Growing Nest features 40 wondrous students who learn about their planet, animals and being eco-conscience thorough hands-on art projects.
Believe it or not, these little ones are between 18 months and 5 years! In the art and science classes they learn to use, develop and explore their five senses: to see, to feel, to touch, to hear and to taste.
The art exhibit displays the works of art which the children created during their weekly classes on topics such as Safari Animals, The Rainforest, The Ocean Mammals, The Weather and more. They learn the importance of re-cycling and re-using found materials and incorporating them into their art projects.
In learning about the weather, the children used newspaper, sticks, ribbons and buttons to make a kite. As they learned about the ocean and the creatures that live in it, they learn to use the scissors to cut out shapes of the fishes and coral and adorn them with sea shells.
The "Go Green!" Children's Art Exhibit will be on display until September 30, 2009. I encourage everyone to view this creative and fun art show. To see the art work from these young and talented artists is truly amazing. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. You'll hear yourself "ohhh and awing"!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
tiki god "kukailimoku"~seizer of the land
the "feather god", one of four great gods, protector of kamehameha
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