Wai‘alua Soda Works

The Wai‘alua Soda Works is a locally made gourmet soda that features flavors from around Hawai‘i, but is available in parts of the mainland via the internet.

We came across this soda while checking things out at the old Wai‘alua Sugar Mill, and the North Shore Soap Factory. This lilikoi (passion fruit) flavor was really delicious and refreshing!


Wow! It's already October?!? Oh my gosh!

Didn't Kat do a great job with her photos! Thanks hunny!

In-flight Sunset

Sunset from high up, somewhere between Mau‘i and O‘ahu. Weʻll be back to Mau‘i soon!

Flight Home

Me & my huni on our return flight to Honolulu from our Mau‘i honeymoon. We flew Mokulele Airlines, and my hubby wrote a flight review of our flight that will appear in the Novermber 09 issue of Airways magazine.

Waterfall

Looking down on the hotel's waterfall from our room at the Westin Maui at Ka‘anapali.

Aquarium

This was one of the fish tanks at the Waikiki Aquarium, during a recent field trip.

Lines

I took this looking up from one of the structures at the Grand Wailea Resort.

Foggy Drive

After going up to the summit of Haleakalā, we are still in the clouds as we leave the park.

Double Rainbow

I got these rainbows from Ivan's lanai, early morning on New Year's Day, while he was on a video job.

Career Day

An uncle of one my children, who is a veterinarian, paid a visit to class, and dressed one of the girls in surgical scrubs.

Snow Day

Each January, snow is brought in for the kids to play in for a day.

Teddy Bears

My class nickname is the "Teddy Bears". Here are this year's group with their own teddy bears, that they brought in for the letter "B" day.

Eating Shave Ice

As a surprise, Kathy will be posting her photos for the rest of September! ... BlueWave707

Joshua & Pallas make like they are eating the fake shave ice I have in my class.

Dunked!

KGMB's Sunrise morning show co-anchor Grace Lee gets dunked by this five-year-old for a Hawai‘i Special Olympics' Cop On Top fund raiser. Grace Lee and late night anchor Stacy Loe (far right) participated in the dunk tank, as part of the fund raiser.

After getting coaxed by Stacy Loe, I gave a donation which got me three tries to dunk either Grace or Stacy. I picked Grace, and dunked her on the second try. I got to admit she was a good sport after she went into the tank, though she tried to break my concentration before the throw.

By the way, this is the 1000th post of the blog!

Smoky Sun

The result of a brush fire from nearby Wai‘awa, last Saturday. There has been a series of fires in the Wai‘awa area, a few miles northeast of where we live. It has been a pain, since the fires have come close to the Interstate H2, and homes in the Waipio area. The last few fires had caused closure of the H2 when flames got a few yards from the freeway.

On this particular fire, the wind blew the smoke plume around our subdivision, but could see the effects of the smoke against the sunlight. The smoke actually caused the color temperature of the sunlight to turn yellowish-orange. The H2 north-bound lanes were closed for several hours, and caused a major traffic on the west-bound H1 lanes. The H2 branches off at Waipio where the fire was.

Tree Lights

One of the monkeypod trees on the Honolulu Hale municipal complex decorated with Christmas lights during last year's holiday season.

Wai‘alua Coffee Cherries

Wai‘alua is O‘ahu's larget coffee growing district. At the old, and now defunct Wai‘alua Sugar Mill, Wai‘alua Coffee Growers use part of the facilities for their coffee operations. Some fields on O‘ahu's north side that were used to grow sugar cane, are now used to grow coffee.

These coffee cherries were on display at the Wai‘alua Sugar Mill, which is now used by several different businesses.

Chillin'

These two women planted their beach chairs at the water's edge at Mokulē‘ia Beach.

Andadog

We've all heard of a corndog, but an andadog? Instead of using cornmeal, local folks of Okinawan ancestry substitute andagi batter over the the hot dog.

At the 2009 Okinawan Festival held at Kapi‘olani Park last weekend, these were the lines for andadogs ... very popular and very delicious. Kathy and I stood in line to grab a few to snack on, fortunately the wait was not that long.

Fishing With Grandpa

Happy Grandparents Day to all the grandparents out there!

This boy got to spend the afternoon fishing with his grandfather at Kaka‘ako Park.

Rockin' For Jesus

A wide-angle lens view of the worship team rocking out for the Lord.

The people on the far left, stood in line to be prayed for by the prayer team.

Surrender

If you've ever wondered why people raise their hands during a worship service, it's because it's a sign of surrender. Surrendering ourselves to the Lord's Will, and a sign of devoted worship.

On a side note, eight years ago today, we were all shaken by the terrorist attacks, and our lives have not been the same since, nor has our country. After the attacks, a lot more people begun to attend churches, in search of spiritual peace, faith in something bigger than themselves, or time to get right with God. Whatever it was, there were spikes in attendance, but as time wore on, many fell away. It's never too late to come back to faith, or strengthen the faith you have. Pray for our nation!

Glorify Your Name

Church members sing along and move to the worship song "Glorify Your Name".

Pastor Jon

Pastor Jonathan Smith leads the worship team in one of the several songs they performed.

Voices Of Worship

The worship team taken from stage left ...

Worship Night

Because the worship lyrics were being projected, the video cameras were not set up, that allowed me to use one of our camera platforms to get this wide shot of the worship team performing "Mighty To Save".

By the way ... Happy Labor Day!

Prelude

"Worship Night" is the theme week for the month of September!

A few weeks ago, New Hope Leeward hosted "Worship Night", which a special weeknight service led by Pastor Jonathan Smith, our worship team leader. The theme week will feature photos I took during this event.

Before the singers took the stage, the band warmed up the crowd with an instrumental number.

Country Road

Going down Dole Road in upper Wahiawa to get farm fresh eggs at Petersen's Upland Farms.

Giant Helmet

This giant inflatable University of Hawai‘i Warriors helmet is used when the Warriors take the field before the beginning of the game. The helmet is inflated a few hours before kick-off (as seen above, while setting up our field camera), then deflated right before kick-off.

Today is the first game of the 2009 season for the Warriors, who host the University of Central Arkansas Bears of the Southland Conference (FCS).


Go Warriors!


***Update 09.05.09***
Warriors beat the Bears 25-20!

Palm Silouhette

Palm trees silouhetted by the sunlight reflecting the beach at Kā‘anapali. I took this from our hotel room at the Westin Maui.

White Out

I came across this white fuzzy substance, which turned to be the insides of seed pods that had opened in the parking lot of Foster Botanical Garden.

Watching The Surfers

Welcome to September!

During one of this summer's south surf swells, this boy watches from the rocks of Kaka‘ako Park as waves break near the mouth of the Kewalo Boat Harbor.

Christian Hula

Our home church, New Hope Leeward, has a hula halau that performs hula to Christian music during worship services. They also performed at this past weekend's Family Impact Conference that New Hope Leeward hosted.

The church also has a youth hip-hop dance ministry, men's sign language dance ministry, and a drama ministry. There will be a special performance call Hope Ho‘ike on Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30pm at the Leeward Ministry Center.

Pink Rose

Taken at a community garden ...

Big Banner

A couple of months ago, the clothing chain Aeropostale opened it's store in Windward Mall. To celebrate the grand opening, they hung a banner from the rafters in the center court of the mall.

Down The Line

NFC all-star and Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Clifton Davis autographs memorbilia for fans after the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl.

Sparklies

The sun's reflection off the water at Ko ‘Olina Lagoon #4, with a 4-point cross filter ...

Seeing Spots

I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but I thought the spots looked pretty neat.

South Shore

The view of the south shore coastline as seen through a wide-angle lens ...

Blue Canoe

One of the outrigger canoes that are stored at Kailua Beach Park ...

Roadside Market

Along Kamehameha Highway on O‘ahu's north shore is the Kahuku Land Farms roadside market.

Morning Dew

Raindrops bead on blades of grass after an early morning shower ...

50th Anniversary For The 50th State

Today is the Golden Anniversary of Hawai‘i's admission to the United States of America as the 50th state in the Union!

Seen above is the Capitol Building from Punchbowl. The Capitol stands adjacent to ‘Iolani Palace. The building opened in 1969, and it's designed with several aspects of Hawai‘i's natural resources.

Under The Table

A view from under our glass table on our lanai ... I took it while trying to get shots of a pair of finches near our lanai.

Orchids ...

Some of the orchids in Uncle Harry & Aunty Grace's garden ...

Waterfall

... well, sort of ... it's really part of the natural breakers that form the tide pool at Shark's Cove. When waves hit against the opposite side, the breakers become a waterfall ...

Norfolk Pines

A perspective shot of some Norfolk Pines near our townhouse, with the aid of a wide-angle lens.

It's Football Season!

This is the first weekend that Aloha Stadium has football games for the 2009 season.

‘Iolani Schools hosted the pre-season Father Kenneth Bray Classic last night. The Kaimuki Bulldogs played the Pac-Five Wolfpack, and the Kaiser Cougars played the ‘Iolani Raiders. The Wolfpack mauled the Bulldogs 48-19, and the Raiders beat the Cougars 30-19.

Today's photo shows Wolfpack quarterback PJ Minaya (orange #2) about to hurl a long pass down the far sideline in the fourth quarter, and got this while training one of our new cameraguys.

Swing The Bat!

Another shot from a senior league softball game at the Patsy Mink Central O‘ahu Regional Park.

Rainbow Arrival

This Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-800 received a rainbow welcome as it taxied to its parking stand. This 737 was scheduled to arrive from Boeing Field around 1pm, but the flight was delayed, and it arrived after 5pm.

I just wanted to get a shot of this bird for my HNL RareBirds blog, but when I got to HNL, there was no plane. The ground crew, stairs, and the "Follow Me" truck were awaiting its arrival when I got there. I thought, at the very least I'd get shots of B-5480 taxiing to the ramp. I did see the rainbow, and hoped it would not dissipate ... thank God it held, and I got this shot.

Aloha ‘Oe Camry

We bid a fond farewell to Kathy's '98 Toyota Camry ... we sold it off after we got a new car.