On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas my tutu give to me, twelve television, eleven missionaries, ten cans of beer, nine pounds of poi, eight ukuleles, seven shrimps "wuz" swimming, six hula lessons, five big fat pigs, four flower leis, three dried squids, two coconuts, and one mynah bird in one papaya tree. 
 It's finally the twelfth day of Christmas so happy Epiphany. Coming up with photos for this project everyday was sometimes challenging. I hoped to find few real missionaries but no luck so I had to get creative by taking images of Mission Houses Museum. I had also merged two photos together for the first day of Christmas to get the bird and the tree to match the lyrics of the song. All in all I hoped that you enjoyed the photos.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

 On the sixth day of Christmas my tutu give to me six hula lessons,

Last Minute Shopping

As we close in on Christmas Day, families walk the mall to do some last minute shopping. The koi fish benefit from all the extra visitors.

In American culture, it is revered to be young and thin and as a result, an entire generation in their fifties do things to disguise their real age through make up, surgery, medicine, dress, and behavior, maybe to fool others or maybe it's to fool themselves that they are still thirty. There are those in their forties who dress very provocatively, dye their hair, stretch their skin, and apply anti-wrinkle creams to keep up with the twenty-somethings. Those in their thirties are the new teenagers. It's not until age sixty that one becomes comfortable in their skin. This woman knows who she is and isn't afraid to show it.

Ilikai 7:45p.m.

Every Friday evening at 7:45p.m. for the past many years, the Ilikai hotel in Waikiki faithfully launches a firework show. In the summer, the beach is packed with families, children, tourists, and surfers who become mesmerized by the booms and the bangs of the rockets that illuminate the sky and  cityscape. The smell of bar-b-que linger and groups of beachgoers bond with food. Tonight, the crowd was sparse and the weather was cool. Perhaps most were indoors at the malls.

This is "Fashon Forward!"

"Hey ma, this lady got style!"

An Isolated Blizzard

The temperature dropped today and winter came a knocking. Followed by the chilly air was weird weather that came out from nowhere. Perhaps it's from the greenhouse effect or maybe it is global warming but whatever it was there we were in the middle of an isolated blizzard. I was just as surprised by it all as much as those who were around me. Everyone gazed at one another in disbelief and those of us who had cameras began snapping away to record the bubbly soap suds that fell from the roof of the mall.

Between Sears and Woolworths

Perhaps no one would associate that brass fish with one of the biggest and most profitable outdoor shopping center in the nation but it is a sculpture at the Ala Moana Shopping center since the 1960's. It was located at one end of the mall between Sears and Woolworths and when the mall was remodeled in the early 90's this fish was placed in the middle of the mall. It was once a fountain that showered water out of it's mouth but ever since the remodeling it's been dry. This fish is an icon of Ala Moana Shopping Center and has seen several generations of families grow up in Hawaii since the mall was created. Click here to see an overhead view of the iconic brass fish.

Across the Ala Wai Canal

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Behind me is a one story building that used to be the old World Gym Waikiki in the early 90's. Muscle bound world class wrestlers, strong men competitors, power lifters, pro football players, tourists, students, and even Hawaii's Governor Cayetano visited this open air gym. The view across the Ala Wai canal was an empty lot and around the same time when it relocated, the Convention Center was built and it becoming the new view. Exhibitions, business conventions, dental gatherings, political forums, are held here. The TV series Lost had bits that was filmed at this location as well.

More than a Cafe

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Patisserie La Palme D'or  located at the Ala Moana Shopping Center serves a variety of unique handcrafted drinks and desserts. I had an iced tea with a layer of passion fruit jelly at the bottom that was both visually appetizing to the eye and also satisfying to the taste. What I enjoyed the most about this beverage was stirring the jelly into the tea. Figuratively speaking, I take great pleasure in stirring things up in more ways than one thus, this drink was quite fitting to my personality. Thank you to Erika and Javin for concocting this refreshing drink for me on this hot afternoon. It went down in two and a half gulps. Gulp, Gulp, Gul... and gone!