Bailey’s Antiques and Aloha Wear: Bailey’s is a fabulous mess full of racks bursting with aloha wear, from new reproductions of vintage patterns to the outrageously expensive and super rare. It’s expensive by mainland standards — a vintage 70s neon colored number can set you back 70 dollars — that’s some cash for a 30 year old shirt. But it’s right outside Waikiki — ambitious visitors can walk — and it’s FUN. The really expensive stuff is hanging up high.  Wondering what a 3500 dollar aloha shirt looks like? This is the place to find out.

Tin Can Mailman: The boxes of Hawaii ephemera — maps, brochures,movie posters, so much more — are a gold mine of questionable clothing choices, snappy ad copy, and the golden age of Hawaii tourism packaged to sell just about everything. There’s more, though, tiki mugs and hula lamps and maybe, if it’s not sold, a spectacularly inlaid guitar. This tiny shop in Chinatown is jam-packed with tropically inspired antique wonders and the guy behind the counter? He knows about all of it. Take a cab or the bus.

Muumuu Heaven: Everything old is new again and it’s damned cute, and in some cases, slinky and sexy. Recycled aloha print and tropical fabrics are used to embellish skirts, sundresses, tops, and when we visited, there was an amazing selection of vintage dresses from the 40s to the 70s. There’s also a very pretty display of housewares, original artwork, jewelry… lots of one of a kind things. In Kailua. You’ll want a rental car to get there.

Hawaiian and Coin Shop, Centralia, Washington by Nerd's Eye View

Here at Holoholo Wale HQ, we’re known to scour local second hand stores for aloha wear. We look for clothes that are  Hawaiian made, from heavy cotton or bark cloth, stuff with embroidered labels in swirling fonts. We’ve acquired some real gems for under ten dollars, often with very little wear because, I’m guessing, someone’s wife or sweetheart refused to let the shirt see daylight once it landed in a mainland closet.

It’s hard to find a Hawaiian made aloha shirt anymore, there are a few rare producers, and not many of them exhibit the outrageous styling and attention to detail that earlier designs took for granted. We always look for matching pockets — meaning the pocket has been cut so as not to interrupt the pattern — and coconut buttons. Frog ties are nice too but very rare, as are three quarter sleeve length pullovers. I acquired my favorite shirt for about three dollars from a very messy shop halfway between Tacoma and Seattle, it’s neon pink and olive green on orange,  a real shocker of a color combination, and made from a sturdy textured cotton. The tag reads “Soshima’s Hale Aloha, Honolulu” and a Google search as to its lineage turns up… nothing.

Yesterday, my sidekick rescued an early 70s (we’re guessing) number from a rack of mostly uninteresting wrinkled shirts covered in the usual bird of paradise/ surfboard/ palm tree /hibiscus print pattern. Our latest acquisition is an understated pattern of brown and blue, block print inspired with a feeling of Thailand or Singapore. The label ( which we misread at first as Casual Caire) says Casual Aire, Reef Towers, Outrigger Hotel, Honolulu. I couldn’t find much mention of Casual Aire, though I did find a number of vintage online shops selling some spectacularly colored muumuus.

The Reef Towers property was sold by Outrigger in 2005, but it used to house a Casual Aire store run by Larry Langley, according to a previous retail manager.  The resort wear company was founded by the Langley grandparents, Joan and Nort, then run by Linda and Larry Langley until they closed shop in 1998. This 2001 article in the Honolulu Advertiser says that fashion is still in the family, even though the Casual Aire line is no more. And even though the shops have been shut down, there’s at least one shirt left to promenade the Waikiki strip. Thanks, Langleys, it’s a beauty!

• Bailey’s Hawaiian Shirts, Honolulu
• Books about Aloha Shirts

Thanks, Outrigger Hotels and Nancy Daniels, for indulging my obscure queries! Photo by Nerd’s Eye View.

Baby Box Jelly Fish via VannaGocaraRupa on Flickr

Oahu lifeguards spotted slightly more than 100 box jellyfish today as the monthly influx has dropped off considerably. — Honolulu Advertiser

What’s with the jelly count? Once a month — maybe eight to twelve days after a full month — box jellies come close to the beaches to spawn. They’re so predictable that there’s an online calendar; obsessive types could plan their trip to Hawaii around the jellyfish.

Hawaii’s box jellies are unique in their predictable arrivals: they come near shore to spawn 8 to 12 days after each full moon. John Culliney, Professor of Biology at Hawaii Pacific University, said that other members of the same phylum, including corals, also time their spawns based on the lunar cycle.

“They do this because it’s easier to concentrate the eggs and sperm all together,” Culliney said. What is unique about C. alata is that nowhere else in the world are box jellyfish quite so reliably on-time. No one is yet able to answer why. –The Blob That Attacked Waikiki: The Box Jellyfish Invasion of Hawaii

Box jellies are poisonous and apparently, the sting hurts like hell. You don’t want your vacation wrecked by this:

Stings are not often fatal, but can hurt a great deal and may lead to an allergic reaction. Symptoms can include: mild burning, redness to severe blisters and welts. If you contact a Man of War, try to immediately take out the tentacles with anything but your bare hands and teeth. Rinse with fresh or salt water but do not use vinegar. Some people will say to do this, but it often makes stings worse. If symptoms are more than mildly uncomfortable, contact a physician. — Garden Isle

It’s common sense, of course, but if the jellyfish warning signs are out, that’s the day you head for the aquarium or the museum. That’s the day you take a nap or go find the best shrimp truck on the North Shore or go shopping for an ‘ukulele. The weird translucent creatures aren’t going to stick around — let them have the shallows for a few days. Always, always, always, check the beach signs and if you’re not sure, ask a lifeguard.

Beaches in Hawaii are closed from time to time for a variety of reasons — dangerously high tides, shark sightings, and box jellies being among them. Take a minute to remember that you’re standing on a tiny island in the middle of Pacific — and give nature a little respect. It’s all for your safety.

I was beyond delighted to catch Mighty Uke in Seattle, but how much more thrilling would it be to see the Mighty Uke Roadshow in the homeland of the ukulele?! It’s showing at the Honolulu Academy of Arts on March 19th, 2010. Learn more on the Academy’s website.

I loved the show; I loved thinking about Hawaiian music in a whole new way. The Wild Hawaiian tracks are rock music in a way you probably recognize, but the lyrics are all Hawaiian. I thought the percussion was crazy wonderful, the guy cranking out the exotic beats was Lopaka Colon, a  musician I’d never heard of but his dad played with Martin Denny — you might know Martin Denny as the man who popularized pop exotica in a track called Quiet Village.

More than anyone on stage, I could not tear my eyes away from Kealoha, the barefoot slam poet who danced and sang his way through the show, sometimes taking the mic to add a whole new spin to Hawaiian storytelling. I loved hearing his voice call out over the crowd, adding Hawaiian legends and slices of modern life to the music that Henry Kapono and his band created.

Kealoha founded and hosts Hawaii Slam every first Thursday in Honolulu at the Fresh Cafe Warehouse. If you want to do something completely different when you’re next on Oahu, this is it. I haven’t been, I can’t tell you first hand what it’s like, but next time I’m there, I’m psyched to go. It’s three bucks if you get there early, five if you don’t, and that’s a pretty good deal for seeing Hawaii through a whole new lens. Check it out.

Be sure to check Hawaii Slam before you go — all the details are subject to change.

There’s an excellent reminder of just how remarkable the islands are on Budget Travel — they’re running a slideshow of their readers’ best Hawaii photos. Have a look and be amazed.

Plastic debris on the beach at Kaho'olawe by US Ocean Gov via Flickr

I’ve been following, with some interest, the news about Hawaii’s efforts to manage their garbage issues. They’re making more trash than they can process and, in an effort to deal with the problem, had planned to ship it to my back yard. The garbage would be bundled into three ton bales, loaded on ships, and sent to a processing facility on the Columbia River in Washington.

“It’s a Band-Aid on a bullet hole,” said John Guinan of the Trash Man Hawaii, a garbage hauling company. “But we don’t really have much of an alternative at this point.” At the same time, he warned: “I guess it’s a good idea until the barge tips over and we’ll have a massive spill in the South Pacific.” –USA Today

The deal stalled early last week due to … well, it’s confusing and sounds like politics, more than anything. There are votes for extensions to keep the landfill open, talk of pressure from resort properties, a weird sideline about who paid for the scale, and still, the garbage piles up.

As visitors to Hawaii, there’s no denying that we’re part of the problem. The hotels I stayed in on my last trip did not have clear options for recycling and I ended up leaving big piles of paper (brochures, newspapers, tourist propaganda) on coffee tables across the islands. Some of the places we stayed provided disposable coffee cups instead of reusable ones, throwaway plastic water bottles were ubiquitous, and on the streets of Waikiki, it seemed that every third tourist was carrying a plastic bag from the ABC store.

Hawaii’s Ecotourism Association (HEA) has a list of best practices for visitors to the islands, including the no-brainer-yet-always-forgotten idea of bringing a cloth shopping bag and a reusable water bottle. A search turned up no LEED certified (essentially, built green)  hotels in the islands, though the Aqua chain is a member of the HEA and they’ve stated that their goal is to get a LEED certified property.  (For the record, I’m a fan, I like any place with free wifi and a nod towards kitchen facilities in your room.)

I’m not a perfect traveler. I like the little bottles of product, though I found that I did not mind getting my shampoo from a shower mounted dispenser if it was clean. I do typically carry a backpack so it’s easy to pass on the plastic bag, though I like to have one or two for a wet swimsuit or a dirty pair of shoes. It’s not a hassle for me to sort my trash or refill my water bottle, I’m happy to do so.

But on the downside, I have been deeply disappointed by the lack of rental car options — why can I not get a Smart Car or a hybrid? I’ve found public transit, which I actually like to take, is sorely lacking outside of Honolulu, I was deeply frustrated at the Maui airport by how hard it was to get to Lahaina using public transit, it might have been easier to hitchhike. (If I feel that way, and I’m just a visitor, transit must be especially maddening for residents.)

My efforts to keep my footprint small are probably totally negated by the fact that I have to fly to get to Hawaii, but the idea that a plastic bottle that I throw away in Waikiki will follow me home … it kind of makes it my problem, doesn’t it?

Tsunami watch sign by hansol on Flickr

On September 29, 2009, the state of Hawaii was on tsunami watch. The waves — which hit Samoa, taking lives and destroying property — were caused by a 8.0 earthquake about 120 miles south of Samoa and American Samoa. First things first — the Red Cross of New Zealand has a special appeal for help to the tsunami victims; please give here.

It’s 2600 miles from Samoa to Hawaii. The mind boggles to think of that big sheet of water, shaken from the earth’s movement, affecting the Hawaiian islands so far away. It’s sort of terrifying to think of the hotel lined beaches, the crowds of blissful tourists going about their routine tanning, unaware of the folding and approaching ocean. It’s terrifying to think of Hilo, on the south side of the Big Island — in 1960, an earthquake off the coast of South America caused a tsunami that destroyed the ramshackle little downtown. 1960 — there are still people alive who lived through the 1960 tsunami, how awful it must have been for them to hear the news.

The Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo captures the stories of Hawaii’s tsunami survivors and educates visitors in tsunami safety. It’s a little place and it seems woefully underfunded given the important work they do. If you want to freak yourself out, you can click through the center’s site to the tsunami zone map for Waikiki and consider how likely it is that your Oahu hotel is right in the heart of that zone. To understand what a tsunami is, exactly, read this description.

A tsunami watch is just that — a watch — so if you find yourself on Hawaii’s beaches and learn that a watch is in place, there’s no need to panic. Do stay informed. This particular watch was canceled, meaning there’s no risk the islands will be hit, but according to this  Star Bulletin article, safety minded officials are saying beach goers should stay out of the water.

Because of possible strong currents and unusual wave action, state and county officials will be going to beaches to warn swimmers to stay out of the water between 12:30 p.m. and 7;30 p.m. Civil defense officials reversed an initial decision to close beach parks this afternoon and evening.

“We are asking for the kokua of all of our residents and visitors to keep out of the water and away from the beaches and river mouths,” Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. “These precautionary measures are being implemented to keep everyone safe.”

Koloa has a little open air museum — the old buildings that make up the town bear plaques that tell of their history while Kaua’i was becoming established as a sugar producer. There are a few exhibits that show what life was like for the plantation workers, some tools and clothing are on display. There’s a concise history of sugar in Hawaii on this post about The Sugar Monument — a bronze sculpture depicting the diverse plantation workers. If you still want to learn more, there’s a good movie about the Japanese sugar plantation workers called Picture Bride. It was filmed on Oahu, though I imagine the lives of the workers were much the same on Kaua’i.

When I was a kid, there were still C&H sugar ads on TV, the jingle sung to the tune of Pearly Shells. I found a montage of their romantic ads of the sugar cane “lifestyle” on YouTube, of course. The Kauai plantation is run — or rather, has been run by — by Gay and Robinson, a company that’s been growing sugar on the island since 1889. There’s talk of the land going to biofuel crops, but having seen the speed with which farmlands are transformed into real estate, it’s hard not to wonder what percentage of the cane fields will be condos the next time I find myself on Kaua’i.

Here are the C&H ads, you’ll probably have had enough by the time you get through the third one.