While living large, as a pre-teen wahine, in San Clemente, California, I often complained to my mother that the stork had dropped me off on the wrong coast, in the wrong time period, to the wrong family. I was certain that I belonged to a Jewish family in 1950’s Manhattan. After grooving with the Crujido clan for over three decades, I’m thankful that directionally challenged, big-billed bird deposited me into the arms of my chaotic, bohemian, left-of-center ‘ohana— where love and good food are never in sort supply.
Families. Love them or not, they’re yours for life. If nothing else, take time to find the humor in the soundtrack they provide for your life.
Watch: Whale Rider
Little Paikia proves her love and worth to her grandpa in this modern day classic and one of my favorite movies of all time. Paikia is my hero!
Word: ‘Ohana (Hawaiian), Family (English)
My ‘ohana drives me pupule, but I love them madly.
Read: Shark Dialogues- Kiana Davenport
A strong, beautiful, kahuna mama and her family. I love this book. Just buy it and read it!
Listen: Anne Murray- Greatest Hits, Kenny Rogers- Greatest Hits
Huh? Oh yes, you read that correctly. These two cassettes were played— over and over and over again— on every Crujido family road trip throughout my childhood.
Eat: Sweet bread, shrimp, lumpias (Filipino eggrolls), and macaroni salad. A few of my favorite offerings at a Crujido family lu’au.
Hang: T-Street Beach, San Clemente, California.
Many a summer day was spent here, in the 70s, hanging with my fam.
Respect: Hotei
Known to many as the fat, happy Buddha. He was actually a dude named Hotei, or Ho-Ti, who brought stories, laughter , and protection to keiki (children) everywhere. In this respect, and the fact that he and my pop could pass for twins, he’s like a member of my family.
Aloha!
Blue Girl Hawaii
Cristen is a geographically displaced hapa yogini with a yen for muumuus, mandalas, and mojitos. She is also a PR and marketing maven for a non-profits arts organization.
Cristen’s Hawaii-Five-Oh…Yeah
Read: Unaccustomed Earth— Jhumpa Lahiri
Cause: PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Artist: Frida Kahlo
Listen: World Music
Chef: Rick Bayless
Word on the beach is, Cristen is Blue Girl Hawaii’s little sister.
It was hard not to take notice of Don Ho in the 1960s and ‘70s: cameo appearances on television’s most popular sitcoms, a chart-topping single, his own variety show, and of course, his nightly live show at the Polynesian Palace in Waikiki.
When I was a child, I assumed— and still do— that everybody knew and loved this man and his music.
He was an integral stitch in the fabric of American pop-culture; an icon, the King of Waikiki.
Listen:
Don Ho Show- Don Ho
Listen to the album that started it all.
Retro-TV Watch:
The Brady Bunch- Hawaii Bound
While wandering around the Sheraton Waikiki, Bobby & Cindy happen upon Don Ho.
Don, ukulele in hand, serenades them with an acoustic rendition of “Sweet Someone.”
I Dream of Jeannie- Jeannie Goes To Honolulu
My favorite Jeannie episode of all time.
Don Ho plays himself. Sings “Ain’t No Big Thing.”
This episode features a great 70’s style video montage of Don in Honolulu/Waikiki.
Don Ho Variety Show
This daytime variety show aired from October 1976 - March 1977.
Don was the host and island hopped, like mad, with various guests.
Read:
Don Ho: My Music, My Life—Don Ho
The man, the legend…. Mr. Don Ho. Read it!
Word:
Mele (Hawaiian), Song (English)
The mele of the islands has the voice of Don Ho.
Aloha!
Blue Girl Hawaii
In my mind, I am a SUPERSTAR (of the Mary Katherine variety, that is). Now the world can be privy to my little secret, thanks to this ironically hip tee by Saracina Designs.
Sara Cina also offers her tongue-in-cheek signature artwork on onesies, for newbies— as well as, tees for kids, chicks, and fido.
Surf over to saracinadesigns.com and stock up today.
Aloha,
Blue Girl Hawaii
Who’s the wahine with a penchant for beauty, the beach, and all things Hawaiian? She’s Blue Girl (aka Carla Crujido). Blue Girl Hawaii’s approach to living can be summed up in the words of her grandpa, Eddie Blue: “Hang loose, eat good food, be happy!”
Blue Girl’s Hawaii-Five-Oh…Yeah.
Read: The Sweet Life in Paris—David Lebovitz
Listen: Back and Fourth—Pete Yorn
Indulgence: Vosges Haut-Chocolat Black Pearl Truffle
Give Back: Surfrider Foundation
Drink: Pineapple and Ginger Infused Chinese Rice Wine
A Little Too Much Is Enough—Kathleen Tyau
A great read for anyone whose family worships food like a religion.
For laborers who immigrated to the islands in the early part of the last century, “Pau Hana”— which translates literally as “stop work”— signaled the end of a day of back breaking toil in the sugar cane fields of Hawaii.
Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and Portuguese men dreaming of a new life made Hawaii their adopted home and, in the process, created a pupu platter culture that has given the islands their distinct and original flavor.
Outside of the Hawaiian islands, the stories of plantation life and the men who travailed are untold or simply forgotten.
My grandfather was one of these dreamers who made Hawaii his home. He followed the song of the islands to the north, hoping for a life of ease filled with riches. He found neither, but his years spent on the Wailuku Sugar Plantation, in Maui, filled him with enough wondrous tales to talk story long into the afternoon with his granddaughter— me. His tales of the islands shaped me; they are tales that I carry with me still.
Listen up! Learn the stories of your ‘ohana (family), talk story deep into the night, do not forget where you came from, allow the stories to lead you to where you belong.
Research: What is your story? Did your grandpa or great-grandpa work on a Hawaiian sugarcane or pineapple plantation, too? Want to learn more? Head to BYU Hawaii or UofH at Manoa to do your research.
If your pop came to the mainland, after his sojourn in Hawaii, chances are he began his adventure in Seattle, as mine did.
If you want to research the logs of the Hawaiian passenger ships that brought contracted labor to the the mainland— post-plantation life— head over to:
The National Archives
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Washington
Warning: come with the arrival year in hand or be prepared to spend countless hours in front of the microfiche machine.
Explore: Hawaii’s Plantation Village at Waipahu Cultural Garden Park, Oahu
The village features thirty original and replicated homes and buildings representing the various cultures that immigrated to Hawaii, to work the sugarcane fields, between 1900-1930.
Read: All I Asking For Is My Body by Milton Murayama
A Nisei boy coming-of-age, on a Maui sugar plantation, circa 1940.
Watch: Picture Bride
A slow moving, but emotionally evocative story of a Japanese picture bride adjusting to life on a Hawaiian sugar plantation.
Visit: The Sugar Cane Museum in Pu‘unene, Maui.
Housed in the former home of a plantation luna, or supervisor, this museum seeks to educate its visitors on plantation life in Hawaii.
Word: kau kau (Hawaiian) food or eat (English)
“We go kau kau?”
Something my grandpa was always asking me— in his broken English, coupled with the pidgin he picked up on the plantation— even if we both had full tummies. My answer was invariably… “yes!”
Aloha!
Blue Girl Hawaii