Tales From The "Homeland"

Apologies to all our Hip Hapa faithful for not posting for a minute now. Your editors-in-chief were on a little hiatus back in the land of Hapas - Hawai'i. It was a great time as always and I wanted to share some of the highlights and a few thoughts.

First and foremost I wanted to thank all the fine local eateries for clogging my arteries even further! I just couldn't help myself with all the choke plate lunches, mac salad, loco moco and lau lau. My favs this trip were definitely the Rainbow Drive-In and, of course, Zippy's.

It was healing, both spiritually and physically, to get away from city life and escape to such a paradise. I truly admire the relaxed way of life in the Islands and the pride the people have for their special culture. Furthermore, its always a thrill to go to a place where people who look like you are the majority. Its empowering.

On this trip I was surprised to find out that the term hapa has actually come under fire in recent years. There are concerns that this word, like the Islands themselves, have been appropriated from the indigenous people of Hawai'i. For those of you who are as concerned as I am please share your thoughts on some alternative names we can use.

When in Waikiki beware of the clear plastic high-heals!

I was happy to see that the Japanese department store Don Quixote has made it to American shores (sans the isles filled with sex toys and french maid costumes)!

Finally, the soundtrack for the trip was most definitely REGGAE! It really set the mood for all our beach excursions. I had no idea how huge this musical genre had become in Hawai'i. It makes complete sense though... the laid back vibes of an island people combined with that maui waui are the perfect breading grounds for such bands. The standout group of the trip, Katchafire, hails from Aotearoa and there hit song Seriously played every 30 minutes on the Hawaiian radio stations. In fact, for those of you in Southern California, Katchafire will be performing in Long Beach this Friday night at the Vault.

Anyway, it sucks to be back to reality but at least I have some new music to groove to...