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Beaching It….

Walked down to Waikiki Beach for University of Hawai’i Wahine beach volleyball since today was the only scheduled home date. It’s officially called sand volleyball (if your school doesn’t have an ocean conveniently located nearby.)

The matches are held at the Queen’s Beach Sandbox which has four adjacent courts.

There was a nice crowd of fans and tourists. Diamond Head makes for a nice backdrop.

Here’s our #1 pair, with “Walls” in the background.

On the way back, I stopped by Marukame Udon for lunch. It’s the only restaurant in Waikiki that has a constant line all the time.

You go down a cafeteria style assembly line to pick up your udon and assorted tempura side dishes. Mmm, so ono….

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Honolulu Festival 2013

Long day, but a great day! Went to check out Honolulu Festival, “Pacific Harmony.” Walked down to the Convention Center. Stopped by at Pho One, since it was on the way….

The Convention Center was filled with exhibits, performances, an indoor bon dance, games for kids, and the “World’s Largest Aloha Shirt.”

Then I walked over to Waikiki Beach for the parade. Found a nice spot near the Duke Kahanamoku statue. Always important to find a restroom in the area….

These girls from Japan really wanted to be in my blog. ありがとう!

This parade was pretty impressive! There were marching bands, beauty queens, cultural dances (from many different cultures,) and an inflatable dragon.

In fact, the parade lasted two hours! When it got dark, the lighted floats passed by.

After the parade, I walked along the beach and found a spot in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

The night ended with a spectacular fireworks display. Props to my iPhone 4S.

Had a blast. What a treat….

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Chapel Service

Photo courtesy of @auntyereka

So blessed to have had the opportunity to share a message today at our KMS Joint Devotional Service. There were about 640 students and 60 teachers who filed into Keawe Gym. A student team led the worship. The message is below. Hope you are as blessed as I was. Thank you Lord….

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Keawewai

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Went to the Big Island to plant Koa on the slopes of Mauna Loa. This was part of the Kamehameha Schools Koa Reforestation project. This was my office view for the past three days.

Keawewai is actually the name of the cabin. There were four staff members and eleven participants who took part.

Dinner on the first night was Hawaiian food, courtesy of KTA. We ate well the entire time.

We spent the evening sharing our hearts and bonding. It was truly special….

After the wood burning stoves went out, it got pretty cold. Keawewai is at an elevation of over 6000′.

One of the highlights was riding in the back of Uncle Eli’s pickup truck. We four-wheeled over the hills to our planting site.

Here are some of our Koa seedlings. Our group planted 1,500 seedlings in all. Unfortunately, I stepped into a hole and tweaked my LCL. Hopefully I’ll heal up, and the Koa will grow.

After lunch, we went into the forest to pick maile. We returned to the cabin to make our maile leis.

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We also had to chop firewood for our Korean barbecue dinner. So ono….

So blessed to have had this experience. Getting back to nature was a nice respite to daily life. But what I’ll cherish most are the new friendships. Mahalo.

More pics here.

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Pow Wow Hawai’i 2013

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Pow Wow Hawai’i is going down this week in Kaka’ako. And it’s pretty amazing…. “POW WOW IS A GATHERING OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS THAT ENGAGES WITH THE BROADER COMMUNITY IN THE PROCESS AND CREATION OF ART.”

Here are a few of the murals near the Mother Waldron Park.

Be careful where you park. Haha. Love the painting on the sidewalk as well. Nice touch….

This mural of King David Kalākaua is at the Lana Lane Studios.

Here’s my friend Kamea doing his magic.

The Pow Wow Hawai’i block party coincided with the Honolulu Night Market. This mural is next to the Pinch of Salt warehouse on Auahi Street. There were pop-up boutiques inside.

The streets were packed with food trucks, art vendors, and DJs. I had a nice plate of Onda Pasta and a slice of Kiawe Pizza.

Had an #artrageous time!