HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND – Sticky Fingers December 19, 2007
Posted by Kelly in : Big Island Hawaii, HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND, Hawaii Travel , add a commentHERE ON THE BIG ISLAND
Sticky Fingers
Poi was the staple food of the Hawaiians. Even late in the 19th
Century, King Kalakaua included a big wooden “calabash” bowl of poi in a banquet he hosted for author Robert Louis Stevenson.
Making poi is tedious but simple: the chunky, purple roots of the taro plant are either baked or boiled (to get rid of the root’s sharp-edged oxalic acid crystals), and then pounded into a sticky paste. If it’s so thick that a glop will stay on a single digit, it’s known as “one-finger” poi; but it can be thinned with water into “two-finger” or “three-finger” poi. (Traditionally, everyone dips their fingers in one calabash; hence, a child who’s adopted is said to be the family’s “calabash cousin.”)
Poi is always served at a luau, and alongside every Hawaiian” plate-lunch or dinner entrée in a restaurant. Many people – visitors, especially – don’t know what to do with it, and leave it uneaten. It’s true that freshly made poi is rather bland. Local connoisseurs prefer “day-old” poi, which has been allowed to ferment slightly, and has a pleasantly sour tang.
Like corn-meal grits, poi can be eaten plain, but it’s more easily
enjoyed in combination with something truly flavorful. There is no known
allergy to poi, so any child can eat it, and will, especially if the parents
eat it, too. Few people can resist kulolo – a fudge-like dessert of taro,
sugar and coconut.
But poi itself is more useful when paired with a savory food, like
the marinated raw fish in poke, or like the slivers of raw onion crusted
with sea-salt that local folks enjoy. That’s a pretty strong combination,
even with “sweet” Maui, Kula, or Vidalia onions; but try dipping it in poi,
and both the onion’s bite and the salt’s crunch are moderated. Similarly,
something made with chili pepper, sharp mustard or hot curry can be “cooled”
by a drizzle of poi.
So, think of poi not as a course but as a dip – even for highly
seasoned chips – and you may soon find yourself asking for more.
Market Conditions Report – Hilo December 12, 2007
Posted by Kelly in : Market Conditions , add a commentHere is an updated Market Conditions Report for Hilo:
Market Conditions Report
* Hilo *
Area Characteristics:
Hilo is the second largest city in all of Hawaii. Most of the services and businesses on the east side of the Big Island are located in Hilo. It is also home to the county seat and includes the county, state, federal, and judicial buildings. While Hilo tends to be a rainy place, the weather patterns are not always predictable. Several weeks or months may go by without any substantial rainfall. Nearly all of the important educational and financial institutions are located in Hilo. Visitors and residents find Hilo to be a “local” town with warm and friendly people. While tourism is very important to the east Hawaii economy, it does not dominate, as in Kona.
Buyer’s or Seller’s Market:
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being a buyers market and 5 being a seller’s market, Hilo is at a 2. This is a buyers market.
Recent Price Trend:
On a scale of 1 to 5, with a 1 reflecting sales prices down and 5 reflecting prices up, Hilo is “Down”, with a rating of 2.
Market Report Narrative:
Unlike other areas, such as the Puna District (south of Hilo), there has not been a tremendous drop off in the asking or selling prices of homes in Hilo. When comparing the data from 2005-2006 to 2006-2007 the drop has been less than 10% for those homes priced $500,000 or less.
This is an excellent time for first time home buyers to negotiate a deal.
Hilo is roughly divided into 5 areas according to tax key. The area along the ocean (3-2-1) has zero properties for sale at $500,000 and under. The remaining areas (3-2-2, 3-2-3, 3-2-4, 3-2-5) have 121 listings with an average listing price of $364-380,000. Please note that one of these areas, Kaumana City, does not have county water and features the most affordable homes, some of them with spectacular views of Hilo Bay at an elevation of 2000 ft.
If you want to be close to the heart of activities, live in a town that retains its charm, and enjoy the beauty of Hawaii, then Hilo would be your first choice.
HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND – Nature and Culture December 12, 2007
Posted by Kelly in : Big Island Hawaii, HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND, Hawaii Travel , add a commentHERE ON THE BIG ISLAND
Nature and Culture
It’s the oldest wood-frame building on the island. Many of its ohia posts and beams, erected in 1839, are still holding it up; and you can still walk on its wide koa floorboards. What’s different, now, is what’s on top (originally thatch, but by mid-century wood shingles) and what’s inside: a “house museum.”
It was built by and for David and Sarah Lyman, the first New England missionaries to settle in Hilo. Progressive educators, they founded two schools, but were also eager to teach local kids about the world beyond Hawaii. So they asked friends, visitors and sailors to send them mineral rocks, seashells, and man-made artifacts from foreign lands.
In 1932, the Lyman’s youngest daughter (then in her 80s) saved the house from demolition, and it was turned into a museum. In 1972 a modern museum building was erected next door, to showcase what had become an enormous and eclectic collection.
Today, the Lyman Museum is the Big Island’s only natural-history museum, with a permanent display of minerals and shells, plus dioramas and models explaining Hawaii’s oceanic and terrestrial climate zones. It’s the island’s only cultural museum too, featuring early Hawaiian artifacts, Chinese fine arts, everyday objects from all of the local immigrant cultures, and tours of the original Mission House.
Currently, there is also a reproduction of an early 20th century Korean homestead; a stunning half-hour film about Kilauea’s eruptions that overran Kalapana in the 1990s; and through April – in celebration of the museum’s 75th anniversary – a display of some odd but memorable objects that have been in storage for years.
The museum (www.lymanmuseum.org) is at 276 Haili St., just mauka of downtown Hilo, and is open Mon-Sat from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
December Newsletter December 8, 2007
Posted by Kelly in : Newsletter , add a commentThe December Newsletter is published.
View the December Newsletter here.
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HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND – Five-O in O-Seven December 4, 2007
Posted by Kelly in : Big Island Hawaii, HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND , add a commentHERE ON THE BIG ISLAND
Five-O in O-Seven
There must be an unwritten law in the TV business that there shall always be an action/adventure series shot in Hawaii. Currently, it’s “Lost.” In the early 1960s it was “Hawaiian Eye,” a private-eye show set in Waikiki; more recently, it was “Magnum P.I.” But perhaps the most famous – certainly the longest-running – is “Hawaii Five-0,” produced from
1968 to 1980 and currently re-running on Honolulu station KWHE.
“Five-O” is the fiftieth-state’s state police: a plainclothes unit reporting directly to the governor. In reality, there has never been a statewide police force; each county – essentially, each island -maintains its own. And real cops in Hawaii don’t work as Five-O’s do, in dark suits and ties.
The show was filmed almost entirely on Oahu; but some footage was shot here, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, for a 1974 episode called “A Hawaiian Nightmare.” The premise: Unless a $500,000 ransom is paid, a bomb will explode, sending molten lava down into Hilo.
Prospective terrorists must look elsewhere for inspiration. Kilauea’s lava doesn’t flow through Hilo; it flows through Puna. And although lava from Mauna Loa could reach Hilo – it has done so before – man-made explosions can not ignite eruptions.
On the fan web site at www.mjq.net/fiveo there are cast bios, links galore, and some unexpected trivia. Turns out there are lyrics (who knew?) to Morton Stevens’ hard-driving “Five-O” theme music, and Don Ho used to sing them:
If you’re feelin’ lonely / You can come with me.
Feel my arms around you / Lay beside the sea.
We will think of somethin’ to do.
Do it till it’s perfect for you / And for me too.
You can come with me.
