Hilo Chinese New Year

On Saturday we went to downtown Hilo to take part in their 10th annual Chinese New Year celebration in this year of the dragon.  It was raining a little, but we still were able to witness the blessing of several establishments downtown, which was pretty cool.

According to Wikipedia: "During the Chinese New Year, lion dancer troupes from the Chinese martial art schools or Chinese guild and associations will visit the houses and shops of the Chinese community to perform the traditional custom of "cai ching" (採青), literally means "plucking the greens", a quest by the 'lion' to pluck the auspicious green normally 'vegetables' like lettuce which in Chinese called 'cái'(菜)that sound like 'cái'(财)(fortune) and auspicious fruit like oranges tied to a "Red Envelope" containing money; either hang highly or just put on a table in front of the premises. The "lion" will dance and approach the "green" and "red evelope" like a curious cat, to "eat the green" and "spit" it out leave it in a nice arrangement, like an auspicious character but keep the "red envelope". The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business and the troupe is rewarded with the "red envelope".

The smoke you see here is the result of a 10 foot long string of firecrackers that scared the bejeezus out of Henry.  Luckily there was a door open to a stairwell nearby, so we could get a little relief from the concussions as well as the extremely loud drumming; however, we still had to cover our ears.

 Inside one of the stores, the dragon dancers do some acrobatic moves.

Landscaping plants

When we walk around the yard, Racheal and Lance often marvel at these giant spikey plants.  After some research, it appears that these are a type of agave.  Unfortunately not the type that is used to make tequila.  Even if it was I'm pretty sure the landlords would frown upon us digging up their plants to harvest the pinas.

 While taking a picture of these bromeliads, I happened to capture a skittish lizard on film.

Ocean Watching

The kids and I have been hanging out at the beach where Lance has been "surfing" a fair amount lately. It's been nice watching the surfers, the waves, and now the whales. We have seen a fair amount of blowhole geysers and humps of their backs. However, the coolest thing I saw this week was a whale jump out of the water and land back down. This was the first time and I hope I and the family get to see it more while we're here. Just magical.
The kids and I also look for sea glass and special little treasures on the beach. Here is a couple pictures of the kids trying their hands at surfing.

 

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

We got this bike for Anika back in September, but she only rode it sporadically and with much prodding.  Seems she didn't like the red color - too boyish.  However, since mom pointed out that the bike is turning pink, due to fading, she hasn't been able to stop riding it.  Now she is a pro biker, starting and stopping by herself.  Even this morning, while mom and dad were still in bed, she got up, got dressed, and went for a "spin around the block" (did a few circles in our driveway).  PS - you can click on the title of this post to see the video of the Queen classic.

Rainbow trees

Apparently in Hawaii, everything becomes a rainbow.  Down the road from our house Anika pointed out a few rainbow trees.  According to Wikipedia these are eucalyptus deglupta commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum. It is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere. Its natural distribution spans New Britain, New Guinea, Ceram, Sulawesi and Mindanao.
The unique multi-hued bark is the most distinctive feature of the tree. Patches of outer bark are shed annually at different times, showing a bright green inner bark. This then darkens and matures to give blue, purple, orange and then maroon tones.

Today we decided to visit the Pana'ewa zoo again and we were reminded how lucky we are to have such a great free zoo nearby.  We were treated to a show by one of the male peacocks, and saw a number of new orchids and other flowers blooming.

Coffee

Here are some pictures of some of the 400 coffee plants that are situated on the property we are renting.  The owners are so generous that they nicely gave us 2 bags of their private stock coffee as a Christmas present.  100% puna coffee.  Yum.

All Photos courtesy Kim P. 

The coffee cherry is picked when it is a deep red.  Then the bean is shucked from the cherry and dried.  At that point it is ready for roasting.  The bean pops like popcorn when roasted and beans that are roasted to the first pop are light roasts.  The beans that are roasted to the second pop are dark roasts.