Aloha from Hawaii

Monday, October 3, 2016

Eating Fresh, Organic and Local in Oahu----Farmers market at Kapi’olani community college

Located on the slopes of Diamond head in Waikiki , Kapi’olani community college has got a very picturesque and scenic campus. Every Saturday the Hawaii Farm Bureau operates farmer’s market at the KCC parking lot C. As Hawaii grows it Agricultural presence, more and more people are becoming aware of buying locally produced foods and produce.

Kapi'olani community college

The market opens every Saturday form 7.30-11 AM and Tuesday 4:00 – 7:00 pm.

They have white gloved police officers to regulate the traffic and direct people about parking the cars. Though ample parking place is available, it fills quickly and sometimes it may be difficult to get a spot.

a stall at the farmers market

It’s a great place to buy local produce and interact with local farmers and small business vendors. There are so many delicious things to try, you may want to come more than once.

Dessert at the farmer's market

There are 3-4 rows of tent after tent of delicious foods, plants, and unique products offered for sale. you can fulfill your appetites with roasted corn on the cob, pizza using local Hawaii tomatoes and basil, green drinks, Vietnamese, Thai, bbq, seafoods, gourmet popsickles; Hawaiian herbal teas, sea salt that was once reserved for island royalty, grilled local-made sausages...the list goes on and on.

Plants for sale

Eating healthy--Freshly made juices at the market

Taro and sweet potato chips---- freshly made

But, the highlights are pig and the lady, the grilled abalone, the lemonade stand and the fried green tomatoes.

The pig lady

Menu at the pig lady

Abalone

fried green tomatoes

There are 2-3 stalls selling fresh flowers which includes exotic Hawaiian flowers and other locally grown blooms.

exotic flowers for sale

orchids for sale

exotic flowers for sale

There are two stands selling refreshing fruit drinks and smoothies, which are amazing: pineapple, lychee, coconut, papaya, apple banana, mango, Lilikoi, guava, watermelon, etc. and you can mix them.

Fresh fruit smoothies for sale

One shop specially carries all the local tropical exotic fruits like starfruit, mangosteen, guavas and many more.

Avacado and Lilikoi

Tropical papaya

Avacados

very sweet native mangoes

Logan and Rambutan

Pink Guava

Star-fruits

Honey cream pineapple

Sapote

Mangosteen

Chempedek -Jack-fruit relative native to Malaya

After visiting and enjoying the farmer’s market, many tourists roam around the scenic KKC campus.

The market is flocked by tourist, specifically who stay at Waikiki. It’s a 10-minute walk from Waikiki. You can also reach there by bus. Bus route 2, 3,9,23,24 directly service KCC. The complete bus schedule can be found here.

Popcorn stall at the market

Hawaii grown coffee

Organic skin care products

Fresh sugarcane juice

Thursday, September 29, 2016

PUʻU ʻUALAKAʻA STATE WAYSIDE PARK

Entrance to the park from round-top drive

This scenic, lush green state park is a forested area which sits on a cinder cone close to downtown Honolulu.

The entrance to the park

Lush green way to the park

The elevation of 1,048 feet provides panoramic view from Diamond Head to Pearl Harbor, including Honolulu and Manoa Valley and southern base of the Waianane Mountain Range.

panoramic view of Honolulu as seen from the park

sunrise at the park

The park has a picnic area and a viewpoint.

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sunrise at the park

the picnic area

the restroom at the picnic area

Honolulu city and diamond head as seen from the top

view from the top

View from the top

Add captionView from the top

View from the top

It is located along the scenic Tantalus-Round Top Drive. It is an 8-mile, two-lane paved Oahu’s Only State and National Historic Road. It offers amenities like picnic area, restrooms and free admission and parking.

There is a small trail near the park named Ualaka‘a Trail. This loop trail is a part of Makiki Valley Trail. So actually it's Ualaka‘a Trail to Makiki Valley Trail to Round Top Drive to Ualaka‘a Trail.

Ualaka‘a Trail

The road to the top

The name PUʻU ʻUALAKAʻA transfer to "rolling sweet potato hill" in Hawaiian language referring to the old days when planters had to rely on gravity to bring in the harvest allowing the tubers that were dug up to then roll down the steep slopes.

History of Pu’u’Ualaka’a State Park

The Pu’u’Ualaka’a cinder of this volcanic cone eruption provided a very rich soil for growing sweet potatoes or ‘uala and in 1790s king Kamehameha -I established an ‘uala plantation on the slopes of the cone which is named because of the sweet potato plantation.

Later the forests were denuded to plant commercial sandalwood trees from China between 1815-1826.

But in later years beginning in 1910-the area was reforested by eucalyptus trees. Ernest Shelton Van Tassel started macadamia nuts plantation.

Nutridge is the name given to farm/estate built by Ernest Shelton Van Tassel, who established a farm on the property to introduce macadamia nuts as a commercial industry to the world.

Ernest Shelton Van Tassel home than

Ernest Shelton Van Tassel home now

Van Tassel brought the nuts from Australia and asked the government to give him land between Puu Ualakaa and Puu Kakea for an orchard. The nuts were than processed at the warehouse in Kakaako and sold as Van’s Macadamia Nuts. In 1922 he formed the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Company. But due to shade, wind and rain typical for the leeward side of Tantalus, the sun loving trees did not yield much fruits. Eventually Van Tassel would decommission the farm at Round Top.

His residence is still maintained at 3280 Round Top Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822

The road to the top of ‘Ualaka’a was put in in the late 1940s in order to create a park and look-out.

Today Pu’u’Ualaka’a State Park provides a scenic retreat from hustle and bustle of Honolulu city life.