When one’s thinks of the Hawaiian Islands, often times Hula is associated with it. Hula is a way of life for most Hawaiian and is past from generations to generations, from mother to daughters, father to sons and teachers to students. Dancing the Hula demands dedication and devotion. It is an art form of story telling through beautiful hand motions, chants and songs.
Every year after the Easter holidays, hundreds of people all over the world gather in Hilo, Hawaii to witness the Merry Monarch. It is our King Kalakaua who brought back this ancient art and under his reign, Hula revived and was once again celebrated. In honored of that, King Kalakaua was known as the “Merry Monarch.”
In 1971, the first competitive Merrie Monarch competition took place at the Hilo Civic Auditorium. Nine groups participated and was well received by the audiences. A few years later, with the introduction of men partipants, audiences cheers as they quickly fell in love with the rapid changing and develpments of Hula. Dancers and audiences kept returning every years that the Merry Monarch had to be relocated to a larger area. In 1979, it’s was moved to Edith Kanakoole Stadium. And every year after that, without any interrruption, the Merrie Monarch been seen live by people all over the world and it cover on all State-wide television.
In the Merry Monarch, there are two divisions of group competition, the male (kane) division and the female (wahine) division. Each halau or groups has up to seven minutes on stage and during their performance, they are judged on a variety of things. Similar to the Winter Olympics, judges are looking for different elements in each performance. They are judged on the entrance (kaʻi), the chant (oli), the dance (hula) and finally the exit off stage (hoʻi). The groups are scored on each aspect of the performance and up to 30 halau compete each year. Tickets usually sell out extremely quickly.
During our families get-together, my uncle was telling me where he’s planning to take his 2 kids this summer as they have a long break in-between the school year. It is quite challenging to find something that the kids will love and the adult will equally enjoy.
Welcome to the world of cruising. Nope! I am not talking about driving your car leisurely, but a different approach to vacationing on a large cruise ship.
Oasis is Royal Caribbean’s Biggest Cruise Ship that offers lots of things to do. At 225,000 tons, there lots of areas to explore. The children and teens area is the largest on the ship at 29,000 square feet. There is also the zip line which span 82 feet in length and suspended nine decks high. Of course, you also have a carousel, tropical park, children’s theater and pools for the younger kids. Your child will never run out of things to do.
As for the adult, there’s choices of spas, exotic food buffets, shopping, sports deck, shows, entertainment, pools or just relaxing your beautiful rooms while admiring the views at sea.
Almost every culture has it’s own form of entertainment. For us in America, we have Las Vegas where their is shows, concerts and most definitely casino full of gambling. In Chinese culture, there is Pai-Gow and Mahjong. For Japanese, there the popular game of Pachinko.
I first heard of Pachinko when I was teaching English in Japan. You could hear the sound on every street corner as machines were spilling out balls. Similar to all slot machines in the world, Pachinko has beautiful decoration, music, announcement and flashing light. As a foreigner in Japan, I was a bit curious so I walked into one of the Japanese parlour and started to played. It was a challenging game for beginner, but provided hours of entertainment.
A pachinko machine is similar to a vertical pinball machine with a large amount of small steel balls. The player fires the ball up into the machine whiles it travels down through a mass of slender, pin-like nails. Most of the time, the ball falls to the bottom and you lose, but if it goes into certain pockets, more balls are released as jackpot. Since gambling in Japan for cash is illegal, balls that are won can be exchanged for prizes ranging from Hello Kitty pens to higher end item like a Louis Vuitton bag. There is also house hold items as well as the latest electronic devices.
If you happen to walk a Pachiko Parlor is the wee hours of the morning, you will see a very long line of people standing outside and waiting for the doors to open, eagerly wanting the “best machine”.
Next time you travel to Japan, why not try your luck at a Pachinko Parlor. You never know, you could win the next “jackpot”.
Are you ready? I’m rolling out 2 new blogs. Yup! Not one, but two. That’s definitely double the excitement. Don’t you agree?
All I asked in return is for your support and love. Drop on by and check it out. Comments are very much appreciate as it help me become a better writer and blogger. Much thanks.
Have you seen the shows like ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” or “So you think you can dance?” Doesn’t it make you want to get up and move around the dance floor?
Ballroom dancing is making a tremendous comeback. Let face it. Women all over th country still loved to be romanced and men, of course, enjoy the chivalry involved in romancing. So what is Ballroom dance? It is a recreation form of partner dance that has been widely seen on stage, film and even on TV. There are two type of dance – the International Standard and the International Latin. The International Standard Dances are Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Fortrot and Quickstep. While the International Latin Dances are Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive. In addition to these dances, there is also the American Style Dances that consist of Mambo, Salsa and East/West Coast Swing and Lindy Hop. Most of the American Style are dance in Nightclub around the United States and in Canada.
It used to be a leisure activity for the well-to-do, but today has been enjoyed by millions of people from different background, age group and economic brackets. Ballroom dancing convey a form of richness, luxury, elegance and grace. Ballroom is definitely spicing up people’s lives. And remember, ballroom dancing is meant to be enjoyed so have fun. Mingle with other people and ask someone special for a dance. Enjoy!
I love face book. It is so easy to chat with friends, play on-line games and even watch video clips, not to mentioned reunited with long lost friends. A few days ago, my friend in Hong Kong posted a video link about a interesting home. I watched in amazement and google to see if there were homes similar to the one I just watched. In fact, there is one right in the United States — in North Branch, Minnesota.
The video link is Discovery Channel HD Cable show called “Planet Green” which focus on the world’s greenest homes. The show offers great tips on creating a healthier environment in your own home as well as giving you a glimpse of some of the world’s most innovative architecture homes. Bear Creek Dome is one of them. Located on 50 acres just north of Minneapolis and St. Paul is the dome home of Tessa Hill and Dennis Odin Johnson.
The homes used 60% less structural materials to built compare to a regular box house thus making it extremely resource efficient.
The spherical shape of the dome allow it to deflects from tornadoes and hurricanes. It can also with stand winds over 200 miles per hour thus making it one of the strongest lightweight structures around.
The strength of the dome shell can withstand snow in excess of 150 pounds per square feet.
The structural wood materials are FSC Certified and none of the interior panels need to be finished with any chemical sealers or paint therefore being extremely child-friendly.
Take a look at the video below and tell me what you think. Comments?
Living and growing up in Hawaii has many advantages, one of them being able to enjoyed the benefits of different cultures especially those of Japan. In addition to the millions of annual visitors from the land of the rising sun, we also have quite a number of specialty Japanese supermarkets, video stores and restaurant that cater to our love of Japan.
One of things that I love as a child is Hello Kitty. This fictional character in the shape of a kitty is the product of a company named Sanrio and was first designed by Ikuko Shimizu. A female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow and no drawn mouth is the staple of cuteness. She currently lives in London, England with her parents and twin sister named, Mimmy. She was first introduced to the United States in 1976 and then expanded into a globally sensations with license arrangements worth more than $1 billion annually. Her images can be seen on TV, movies, dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and even home appliances. You can also visited the Hello Kitty Theme Park or even have a theme of Hello Kitty in your wedding. Yup! Everything from cake, to decorations and even the dress is inspired by the character. And why not go on a honeymoon to Taiwan where they have the Hello Kitty Hotel. A entire theme hotel based on the character. You arrived in a kitty van, escorted to your pink room that even has Hello Kitty bed sheet and pillows, walked into their Kitty’s garden and finally have a delicious cake shapes with the face of Hello Kitty.
When one’s thinks of the Hawaiian Islands, often times Hula is associated with it. Hula is a way of life for most Hawaiian and is past from generations to generations, from mother to daughters, father to sons and teachers to students. Dancing the Hula demands dedication and devotion. It is an art form of story telling through beautiful hand motions, chants and songs. 
Living and growing up in Hawaii has many advantages, one of them being able to enjoyed the benefits of different cultures especially those of Japan. In addition to the millions of annual visitors from the land of the rising sun, we also have quite a number of specialty Japanese supermarkets, video stores and restaurant that cater to our love of Japan.
