Red Hibiscus...

Some times you see something so intense it just grabs and holds your attention...the red of this Hibiscus was so striking against the deep green of the Hawaiian jungle that I just had to take a shot :) This Hibiscus lives in Fern Acres, a subdivision in the Puna District of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Aloha Braddah! Hung Kei Fat Choy! Celebrating the Chinese New Year in Hawaii

Aloha Braddah! Hung Kei Fat Choy! I heard this today while at the Chinese New Year festival in downtown Hilo, classic Hawaiian pidgin greeting with a traditional Chinese prosperous new year wish :) 

While watching the Keiki contest I noted again and again the incredible mix of races in Hawaii, especially in the keiki. As each child came on stage the announcer would read out the racial background (can you imagine that happening anywhere else?), for example... "this is little Kylia, she is 4 years old and she is Hawaiian, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Scottish, German and Chocataw Indian." Next child, "This is Brendan, he is 5 and is Portuguese, Korean, Irish and Tahitian", now the names have been changed but most often it was 4 or more nationalities and each child was cuter than the last. So sweet and well behaved. As with all children there where plenty of antics but no real misbehaving and the audience seemed to really enjoy the character of each child.

The group that struck my heart the most was the children of old neighbor of mine, she and her husband had adopted two little girls from China about 5-6 years ago, and are raising them to continue speaking their native tongue, as well as Hawaiian, English, Spanish and American sign language. And I had a hard time teaching my kids to be understandable in one language! A few years ago they had added a little boy from China to their family group and it was amazing to see how he had grown and how much more confident he is in only one year.

This face painter had set up a booth at the festival and she was the best advertisement for her art there could be, had a line 5-6 deep and was turning out the neatest face paint on the kids. Not your traditional unicorns and rainbows at this face paint booth!

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Good morning Hibiscus :)

Mauna Loa Ginger...

This unique and exotic looking ginger variety loves to grow in a area of the Big Island near the town of Volcano called Mauna Loa Estates... Hawaii has so many varities of Ginger! And each is more interesting than the last <3

Wild Bamboo Orchids in Leilani Estates Hawaii...

This gorgeous Bamboo Orchid is growing wild (And thriving!) alongside the roadway in Leilani Estates (Hawaii/Big Island/Puna District). It always amazes me what we consider "wildflowers" in Hawaii :)