Pidgin English is what we essentially classify as broken English or a mixture of English and Hawaiian words, but also have an infusion of Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean influences and to a lesser degree, Spanish, Mexican and Puerto Rican. It is used mostly by local residents of Hawaii and will vary between the different cultures.  During the plantation days in Hawaii, the plantation workers may have been instructed “You go hoe-hana today”.  “Hana” basically means to work, so this would have meant that the workers were to prepare fields for planting using hoes.   

 Pidgin English is a dialect of American English unique to Hawaii, just as creole is unique to Louisiana, and Boston and Jersey accents are unique to their areas. As for the role that pidgin plays in Hawaii’s culture, I think that it’s one of the defining features of “local” culture. 

Many times you’ll hear “t” or “d” substituted for “th.” And at times words will not be enunciated very well. An example of this would be, “The wada stay over dere…” to be translated to “The water is over there.”And sometimes letters may be dropped as with the word “for.” “Fo” will be used and the “r” will not be heard. “What you use dis fo?” translates to “What do you use this for?”.

Here’s a story contributed by a friend who studied ethnic studies here in Hawaii:  “Funny story is that when my parents were living in Japan, we were looking for this farm that allowed you to pick oranges off the tree.  We didn’t realize that the orange season was over until we met this old Japanese lady and she said something in Japanese, and then we heard her say “all pau”.  When we heard her say that we knew she must have some tie to Hawaii.  It turns out she had lived in Hawaii with her husband (she may have been a picture bride) but had moved back to Japan.  My mom even went to meet her daughter when we moved to Hawaii.  So anyway, pidgin is definitely a way to identify people with Hawaii ties.”

It’s a unique language and sometimes takes a lot of getting used to. If it is used heavily even some of us locals have a difficult time understanding what is being said…. “But das ok – we all get aloha fo each ud-da…” (translated:  That’s ok, we all have aloha for each other).

There is some tragedy associated with this blow hole. Over the years, several people have been injured and even killed when they got too close to the hole at the wrong time. The air pressure generated by powerful waves crashing into the rock chamber causes air to blast out with hurricane force and can toss a person into the air. So, like many of nature’s spectacles, it pays to be careful and respectful of Mother Nature’s power. If you stay in public viewing areas, you’ll be perfectly safe.

Dole Plantation

On a drive out to Haleiwa, a sudden rush of memories came to mind.  We used to drive this way every Sunday on what became a family drive around the island, this was back in the 60′s.  Back then the drive was not as rushed, there weren’t cars overtaking each other  and there were much more pineapple fields.  A flashback of workers in their protected clothing and hats, picking the pineapple and I used to wonder how many pineapple could they pick and how long would they be working out in the fields.  Never did I ever think that one day this would all be gone.  Gone meaning, that pineapple no longer being an agricultural mainstay in Hawaii. 

Dole Pineapple – Dole Cannery – I knew many who worked there during the summer making maybe $3.10 per hour, maybe less, depending upon the work they did.  All gone and memories prevail.  Now Dole Plantation exists for the tourists, who can get  a glimpse of what was there …

Read more about Dole Pineapple  

Red Ti-leaf Plant

This ti leaf plant, aside from adding color to any garden, represents good luck.  Most yards in Hawaii have the ti leaf plant in their yard and there are many varieties, colors and sizes.  Many use it for cooking, where they will wrap fish or meat and put it over the grill or bake it in the oven.  Ti leaves are also  used in floral arrangements and lei-making.  Below is an article to read more on using ti leaves for lei making. 

How to Make a Hawaiian Lei with Ti Leaves

A Pond of Carp at Dole Plantation

I have never seen so many carp in one place for feeding.  This picture was taken at Dole Plantation heading out toward Haleiwa. It is definitely a place to stop on your way out to the North Shore of Oahu. 

It wasn’t all fun and play of course. There were some serious things to do, like take pictures on their surfboard thing.

Goofing around waiting for coffee at the Hawaiian Chip Company

The Narcissus Flower

I still remember those days my mom and I walked all over the Macau market searching for the best narcissus bulb.  I was only in elementary school, but my holy duty as her daughter was to help her to carry her groceries whenever I went to the market with her.  To prepare for the Chinese New Year, her holy duty as a Chinese housewife was to buy the best flowers and plants to celebrate the New Years. 
 
Flowers and plants are part of the traditional decoration of New Years.  The amount of fruits and flowers, and the taste of the fruits have a strong bearing of how the family does in the coming year.  Therefore, it is a very important task for my mom.
 
She will start her search for the best bulbs 3 weeks ahead of the Chinese New Year so that she would have a big pool to choose from.  She has to select the bulbs that would bloom right before or at Chinese New Year.  Seeking advice from experienced housewives in the market is one technique.  She hardly get advice from the flowers seller unless she thinks they can be trusted. I remember in one year, there was only 3 flowers that bloomed from the bulbs.  My parents was kind of upset at that time.  In certain years, my mom had to do something to control the growth of the flowers so that the flowers will not bloom too earlier as she did not want the flower to wither during the Chinese New Year.  That is not a good sign either. Unfortunately, I never learned that technique to teach others.  My mom, through her years of experience in selecting Narcissus flower, she has become the advisor for the younger housewives in the market.   Most importantly, to my father, the flowers and plants she bought for the Chinese New Years have bloomed beautifully and the fruits have tasted delicious.

Current Hawaii Five-0 intro

Current Hawaii Five-0 (alternate version, changed before series started)

Hawaii Five-0 from 1998 starring Gary Busey

Original Hawaii Five-0 series intro