Evacuation of Volcano area residents suggested

Filed Under Current Events, FYI | Leave a Comment

Well it’s happened. The winds have shifted and now the ash belching out of Halema’uma’u is affecting the residents of the Volcano area. The residents/vacation rental tenants effected are those in Mauna Loa Estates, Ohia Estates, Volcano Village, Keauhou Ranch, Volcano Golf Course Subdivision. (Royal Hawaiian Estates and Hawaiian Orchid Isle Estates are advised to be prepared for evacuation) An evacuation shelter has been set up at Aunty Sally’s Luau Hale in Hilo. (See map below)

View Larger Map

Please be advised the shelter does not take animals so make other provisions for your pets! You’re advised to bring the following items with you should you evacuate: Bedding (blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, etc.), a change of clothes, all medications or required medical equipment, any baby/toddler care items like formula, diapers, baby food and the like, toiletries and sanitary napkins if needed.

Should residents/tenants need special assistance to evacuate, you can call 808-935-0031

Hawaiian word of the week

Filed Under Word of the week | Leave a Comment

Wikiwiki-(wee-kee wee-kee)-fast, quickly

The alphabet contains 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w). To simplify pronunciation, sound consonants as in English and break up words so they are easy to say (ie- Humuhumunukunukuapua’a would be pronounced humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-a-a)

Pronounce vowels as follows:

a - a in above; e - e in set; i - ee in see; o - o in some; u - oo in moon.

Pronounce vowels marked by a glottal stop (`) quickly ie- o`o sounds like oh-oh! in English.

Stress rising dipthongs (ae, ai, ao, au, oi, ou, eu, ei) on the first letter and end with a short e, i, o or u. ie- oi sounds like oy in soy, ending with a short “i”.

Geocaching in Hawaii (4/6)

Filed Under Geocaching in Hawaii | Leave a Comment

Run Forest Run! (Big Island)

A Four Dog Day (Oahu)

The Paintball Tube (Oahu)

Danger, Will Robinson! (Oahu)

Whether you live in Hawaii or not, there are geocaches all over the world, many you probably pass every day without knowing. If you’d like to get involved in geocaching, click here to learn the basics.

Another one bites the dust

Filed Under Current Events | 1 Comment

Not that this’ll affect anyone in Hawaii but Skybus airlines whose hub is based in Ohio has now folded as well. You should know the drill by now, check with the credit card company for refunds and if you’d like more information as it becomes available, go to Skybus’ website.

I find it mildly amusing that when Skybus was launching oh about a year ago or so, one of the big sponsors who owns the big local paper and a local CBS affiliate station was so sure this was going to fly that at the end of any story involving Skybus they would follow it up with “we should let you know that 10TV’s parent company is an investor in Skybus.” The SECOND any trouble started arising, I’d say about 2 months the writing has been on the wall for the public, whenever there was a Skybus story absolutely NO mention of how the tv station’s parent company was involved. Ohhhh okay, you’ll take credit for their success but not their demise. Gotcha.

First try with the egg molds

Filed Under Bento Musings | 4 Comments

So I told you in the Bento 4 post that I had my first run in with egg molds. The rabbit egg mold was the whole reason I even started doing the bento thing because I thought it was so cute. Then the more I looked, the more I liked all of the elements I saw. So I hard boil my eggs and start peeling. I’m not a big hard boiled egger. I’m lazy which is what I’m trying to change. So I think I started peeling too early because 1) they were still pretty hot 2) chunks of the egg started peeling back on the first two and 3) the shell was in teeny pieces instead of the larger, easier to handle pieces of the ones that had cooled longer. But I didn’t know how warm these needed to be to mold correctly so I got to town right away.

I boiled 5 eggs because something told me at least one would be a total mess and I was right. The first one was pure disaster. So I labeled them here in the order I did them, each one that looks better is because they were a little more cooled before being peeled. As you can see, Mr. Fishy got beat up pretty bad. Pakelo Cottontail here had a pretty big gash on the chin. Mr. Bear looks pretty good and the car turned out perfect. The bear and car were used for my lunch the next day. So I will definitely continue to use them. They make your lunch a little more interesting and its a good way to get pure protein in.

Aloha Friday Recipe: Mango Sweet Bread Pudding

Filed Under Local Recipes | Leave a Comment

5 loaves of Sweet bread
5 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 eggs
2 Tbsp Vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
4 cups evaporated milk

Combine wet ingredients and mix well. Cut or tear bread into 1″ pieces. Combine mixture with bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, mix every 15 minutes.

Recipe from Chef Kelvin Ro of the Diamond Head Market and Grill

Bento 4 (First “fancy-ish” bento)

Filed Under Bento Musings | 4 Comments

So I decided I wanted to do something a little different than a blah sandwich so I decided to try a tuna fish roll up. Made your basic tuna fish (tuna fish in water; drained and just enough light Miracle Whip to get it wet but not oozy) and put it on on the end of a piece of boston lettuce. Then you just roll it up and you don’t really need anything to secure it, it stays in place as long as you’ve got the flap part either facing up or down. I wondered if I’d miss the bread I’m so used to having and I know people on low carb diets use this as an alternative so why not give it a go.

So I have 2 of my tuna fish lettuce roll ups on the one side and cheese bites and then I have the whole reason I even started doing this, cute little molded eggs and onigiri molded rice with some Aloha low sodium shoyu. I had my first try at the molded eggs last night which was comical. I’ll do another post on that one. Poor lil’ mangled things. But I saved the 2 best ones, the bear and car for this bento. Then 3 of the onigiri rice “nuggets” which I made this morning and I made 6 onigiri’s and 6 cute molds of bears, hearts and stars. I must admit I felt very sassy eating this and it was very filling. It’s the little things that amuse me these days!

ATA Airlines ceases operations…

Filed Under Current Events | Leave a Comment

As if people needed less options to get in and out of the islands, today comes the announcement that ATA Airlines has shut down all operations. This comes just days after Aloha Airlines was forced to cease operations. Just as in the case of Aloha, those who paid with credit card or through a travel agent should have an easier time of getting a refund as those who paid with cash or check will have to file a claim with bankruptcy court.

For more information on ATA’s shutdown, you can go to their website.

If nothing else, the lesson here should be always pay with a credit card!

The stings of paradise

Filed Under FYI | 3 Comments

If you live in or visit the islands, this sign is a pretty familiar one. These lil buggers are not the friendliest inhabitant of the sea and a sting by one can ruin your day at the beach. I should know, the hubby was a victim of one a few years back. We’re standing on the sand in east Kauai and he decides to let the water hit his ankles. For some reason I didn’t. The next thing I know he says “the sand is stinging me.” As he reaches down to swipe at his ankles, all of the years of research and guidebook reading kicked in and I screamed “don’t touch it!! It’s a man o war!! Knock it off with your rubber slippah!” He did and sure enough there was what looked like a little blue ball of yarn. We went back to the house and did everything wrong. Used cold water to wash any uncharged quills off of his now red, swollen lashes around his ankles. (The only thing we did right) Then he complained about the burn and I knew I wasn’t up for peeing on it (don’t do that! Doesn’t work for man o wars!) so I called Wilcox Memorial and asked if they knew what we should do. They gave me the now debunked wives tale of mixing meat tenderizer and vinegar into a paste and slathering it on the lashes. (Vinegar actually makes the sting worse!) We also dumped some rubbing alcohol on it which we found out months later that, along with urine, can actually trigger any remaining tentacles to eject their venom! Nice. He kept some cool washcloths on it and said it felt like someone was “holding a lighter to his ankles without pulling it away” for 5 hours.

So what do these lil buggers look like? Here’s one we saw on Waianapanapa Beach on Maui. If it looks like blue bubbles or yarn, do NOT go in the water! There will usually be a sign on the beach if they frequent there.

What do you do if you’re stung?

1) Get your shoe, a credit or gift card that might be in your wallet, a stick, whatever is readily available to knock off any visible tentacles. Take care to NOT touch them with your hands or the venom could release. 2) Rinse the sting with water to remove any tentacles that may still be stuck. 3) Use ice packs or water as hot as you can stand it for pain control. (Its up to the person as to what is more soothing to them.) 4) If you have itching or a rash, use hydrocortisone and Benadryl. If you go hours without relief of any kind after using the above tips or if you have any signs of breathing difficulties or cardiac arrest, call a doctor immediately.

Awareness is the key and we always have a first aid kit with us in the car. As long as you know what truly works and what is myth, you should be prepared in case you have an unfortunate encounter with a man o’ war.

New bento box/bento #3

Filed Under Bento Musings | 1 Comment

Here’s my new, bigger bento box. Cute, eh? I have no clue what it says but the characters are cute enough, I don’t care what it says! LOL I’ll show you the whole set in another post but for now this is the biggest bento, I think 970ml. Now for what’s in it. That sun shaped thingy, that’s my peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich on whole wheat. Then some celery sticks, radishes, 3 cheese bites and I save any butter or dressing containers from take out to put the same or in this case, french onion dip for the veggies in there. Once again I overestimated how much I needed but luckily I can put a lid on it and save it for tomorrow. I bet you’re wondering what that other thing is and is it really as gross as it looks. Well, that is one of my guilty pleasures taught to me by my aunt Robin as a child…cottage cheese with A1 steaksauce. I know, I know, it sounds hideous but don’t knock it til ya try it. Hubby thought it sounded horrific when I told him about it and then he tried it and liked it. Go on, I dare ya!