Honolulu Museum of Art: Tattoo Honolulu (Part 2)

June 13, 2012

This is Susan and I in front of the Honolulu Museum of Art. I greatly appreciate her inviting me along. It was a wonderful fun evening. Please be aware my photos don't do this incredible museum and artwork justice. Click on the link and you will see some better images.

Entering the building we saw this lovely statue in the twilight.

We wandered on into the building and ran into a friend of Susan's, they are both members of Zonta International. This group is involved with improving women's lives worldwide through education, gender equality, and various political, legal, economic and health efforts. Since my project is working with Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence (women are the victims the vast majority of the time) we chatted for a while. we enjoyed wine and pupus (appetizers) of various cheeses, gourmet crackers and grapes.

We went in to see the exhibit then and I took a LOT of photos.The models for the artwork were present and happy to chat or take photos with people. I got a few of them also. I did ask the Museum people and confirmed that photos were alright.

The first part of the exhibit were photos of tattoo artwork on people. The images involved a lot of the Japanese and Asian artwork of dragons, carp, birds, etc. There is also a selection of the trial motifs that were very common amongst the Pacific Islanders and Hawaiians.

As I said, a LOT of pictures.

To be continued in Part 3!

Aloha,
~Melissa

Honolulu Museum of Art: Tattoo Honolulu (Part 1)

June 13, 2012

Tonight I went to the Honolulu Museum of Art with Susan. She is a member and invited me as her +1 guest for the Pre-opening party for the Tattoo Honolulu exhibit. We arrived a bit early so we had time to enjoy the artwork outside the museum. These are woven artwork but you can walk in and out of them. They are very fun and interesting.

This is a moving sculpture also outside the Museum of Art. Sorry the pictures are sideways.

We walked on over to the Honolulu Museum of Art School which is BEAUTIFUL. My picture doesn't do it justice. Please go to the link and see the photos of the building. The first is a sculpture outside the building. The second is the building itself. The third is the view from the open balcony/lanai above the entrance.

This was an interesting horse sculpture/statue at the entrance. I liked it so took a lot of pictures. It reminds me of that goofy picture of Khrypton with him sticking his tongue out. It reminded me of my departed buddy so I took several pictures. Gone but not forgotten Khrypton.

Here is some artwork made by students that were on the walls inside.

 The light spots on this are not flash reflection. They are light areas of the picture. This photo doesn't do it justice at all. The light areas make the identifying face and hands of the figure too light to see, making the identity a mystery. Like the revealed skin is glowing but out of focus to distort the eye. It was really striking.

Rob- I specifically took these for you. Alice in Wonderland, manga style.

After this it was getting time for the opening of the event so we walked back to the Museum of Art. Right at the entrance there are two little horse statues. One of them had been decorated with a knitted or crocheted lei, and a type of saddlebag and blanket. There were fabric squares in the pouch with the black and white ID code on one. I tried to see if my phone would scan it to see if it was an ID of some sort but the app wouldn't work. Regardless, it was very neat. Quite a few of the statues around Honolulu have added decorations.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this evening's artistic endeavors!

Aloha,
~Melissa

New project, thrift store, creepy food and tattoos!

June 13, 2012

Today was a very interesting day. Ann needed some time to look over the HSDVFR frequencies from yesterday so I worked today with Noella. She is working on an Abstinence/Sex Education program through Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii. There are two age groups: 10-12 and 13-15. Each has a booklet with a pre- and post-test. My job was to code the questions and create an Excel sheet for the people on site to enter the data. I needed to make it as easy as possible with as little change of data corruption or errors. This was really interesting to work on and I enjoyed it a lot. With some help from Jeff (Mr. Excel Guru) I added data validation to nearly every variable so the person entering the data can only select from a pull down menu of options. I also locked in some formatting so they couldn't accidentally mess it up when entering the data. All in all I figured it was a good day's work. I ended up with 4 nice spreadsheet layouts, ready to add data and set up to easily merge files with a minimum of problems from different sites, even multiple years.

Today is Wednesday so at lunch Noella, Ann and I went to the Leahi Thrift shop. I got several nice blouses for $1.00 apiece! It will be nice to have a few more selections of things to wear. Almost a week's wardrobe for $4.00. WOOHOO! All money from the thrift shop goes to the nurses' wish list for the patients. They bought a handicap accessible van to take the residents on trips. They have also bought some items the residents needed and couldn't afford. It is a good cause to support. Not that most of you care, but here are pics of the blouses.

After the thrift shop Noella returned to the office and Ann and I walked around the corner to Fort Reuger Market. It's just a little hole in the wall market but it has food options.

There was a board with Filipino food specials on it, I didn't know what most of them were but Ann enlightened me. Ann's husband is Filipino and she picked up a couple of items for him so I got pictures. Let me clarify I did NOT eat these items.

On the left is chichiron (I find it spelled chicharron) which is basically deep fried pork belly. What this means is pork fat and skin with a little meat deep fried till the skin is crispy. On the right is dinuguan also known as pig blood stew or chocolate meat. Sorry, I'm not eating either one of these things. They aren't Hawaiian so they can be avoided on my Hawaiian adventure. (Sorry, but I'm shuddering just thinking of eating either of these... just NO.)

This is what I got for lunch: Kahlua pork. This is smoked then shredded pork. It is salty and smoky flavored. YUM. The incredible edible pig wins again. Or rather, the pig parts I WANT to eat.

We ate in the conference room today and there are always snacks to nibble on. This is a Japanese rice snack cracker called mochi crunch, or arare. This particular kind is called mini yakko arare. They are rice crackers seasoned with shoyo (soy sauce).

I saw these on the way back from Fort Reuger Market. The first and second are pictures taken in a small rock and plant garden in front of someone's home. The third is a pumelo tree with HUGE pumelos!

After lunch I worked more on Noella's project. I finished the Excel files I mentioned above and sent them off to her. Then I met with her and we discussed the next part, which is working on a couple of questionnaires. One for the kids and one for the caregiver/parent. So we worked on specifics of those for a while. I am learning a LOT about designing questions. Knowing what data you need is important. Otherwise, you'll get data, but it won't necessarily be exactly what you needed. For example, if you want to know if contraception is being used you must ask the question based on the specificity of the answer needed. Is it being used? Yes/No. Who is using contraception in your relationship? Female/Male/Both/Neither. Etc. Etc. The point here being, you have to think about the questions. Not to mention designing the database whether you choose one option, or all that apply. The headaches caused by "Other: (Please specify)" I won't even go into right now.

So I'm learning a LOT about survey design, planning, database design and how it all needs to work together so you aren't pulling your hair out. Not to mention making sure you actually learn what you want to know. Trust me, it SOUNDS a lot easier than it is. Especially when dealing with amorphous concepts like beliefs, emotions, and people's faulty recall abilities.

So I'm home temporarily and doing the blog early because I'm going out this evening. I'm going with Susan from work to the Honolulu Museum of Art for Tattoo Honolulu. This is an art show featuring the history of tattoo work in Hawaii and it's cultural significance. Susan had an invitation for 2 for this evening to see this before it officially opens to the public tomorrow. Sounds interesting so I'll be leaving soon to go. I don't know if I'll get to take pictures or not but I'll try.

To be continued...

Aloha,
~Melissa

Data, dragon eyes, shave ice, and malasadas

June 12, 2012

Welcome to Tuesday my happy peoples! Waking up was less than delightful this morning since I couldn't get to sleep till after 1:30 sometime. However, I finally got my butt from the bed and got ready and went into work. It was definitely a coffee morning. Now, coffee is a bit optimistic for what I end up with. I usually use splenda but since it is so CRAZY expensive here I just use cheap regular white sugar. About 3 teaspoons of sugar and half a mug full of almond milk (or regular milk but almond milk is cheaper here and very tasty) then top off the mug with the kona coffee. Stir and it is a cool and refreshing sweet, creamy CAFFEINATED morning beverage. Even calling it cafe au lait is generous. It is truthfully slightly coffee flavored caffeinated sweet milk. Even so, it is more than enough caffeine for me.

Susan came in a bit later and brought me goodies. The first picture is of lychee. You peel the outer reddish leathery type skin and  it reveals a plump whitish fruit with a big smooth black seed inside. You eat the white and don't eat the seed. It is VERY sweet and has a strong flowery scent, with a bit of a flowery taste. There is a slight tart aftertaste so it is a complex flavor. It is very juicy and easy to make a mess with. These are eaten fresh because they lose that floral perfume like scent and taste when canned. The inner flesh and seed are similar to my next set of photos.

Susan also brought me dragon eyes, also known as longans. These are similar to the lychee. the outer shell, fruit and seed can all be eaten but most people peel the outer leathery layer off, eat the fleshy white part and discard the seed. They are not as overwhelmingly sweet as the lychee and don't have the flowery perfume scent. I like them better than the lychees actually because it is not so incredibly sweet and perfume-like. The white flesh was a bit firmer than the lychee, but they are a bit smaller also. It was like a cross between a grape and a lychee. I really liked these.

So I met with Ann and we coded all of the qualitative data for the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR). This was a bit of a chore. We got that all done and also tweaked the Hawaii Sexual Health Survey (HSHS), my project, and sent it to the family planning and STD folks for their input on any changes or additions to those sections. Then it as lunch!

For lunch Ann and I walked into Kaimuki. Ann got a vietnamese sandwich and I wet to BC Burrito. I got a super burrito with rice, black beans, chile verde (shredded pork cooked with green chilis), and medium salsa. We walked back and enjoyed our lunch outside on the back lanai with Lisa and Lori. No pictures of lunch since I've had this before. After lunch I took a picture of Ann standing next to her red palm plant :)

Back to work! It was very productive. We had received a response from Family Planning so I tweaked those questions on the HSHS and saved that to work on more tomorrow. I entered the qualitative coded data for the HSDVFR and that data is ALL ENTERED. WOOHOO! Now comes the challenging part - alnalyzing that data. Ann showed me how to run the frequencies just as a general starting point and we'll start with that tomorrow. I think I killed a tree printing it off (LOTS of pages). So, a lot done and moving right along. Tomorrow I'll also start working on my next deliverable for my stipend.

It was getting towards quitting time so Lisa, Ann and I decided to go get shave ice. Shave ice (and I am not forgetting the d in shaved, they call it shave ice here) is very very finely shaved ice with juices or other flavors poured on. Sometimes there is condensed milk or ice cream underneath. This is a small mango shave ice made with real mango juice. SUPER YUM. I want to try a bunch more flavors.The place was a little Japanese Mom and Pop shop called Your Kitchen. Also in this place they had this in the cooler: melting pudding, served with caramel sauce on top. I have NO IDEA what this is but it made me smile so I took a picture.

Next we went to Tamura's which is a liquor store but with a great smoked ahi spread and poke (per Ann, I haven't tried it YET) and a great deli selection. I didn't buy anything because I already have plenty at home to eat, but I had to take pictures of the deli case - it is so very different from home!

Next we dropped off Ann and on the way to bring me home we stopped by Leonard's Bakery for malasadas. A malasada is a Portuguese donut with no hole. It is a ball of yeasty type dough, slightly sweet but not too sweet, deep fried. They make them with a variety of fillings or coatings. I got the white sugar (non-filled) malasada at Lisa's suggestion. The outside was a crispy crust but not at all tough, the inside was fully cooked but light and yeasty like a roll. The combination of the sugar crystals on the crispy crust and soft not overly sweet interior was amazing. There was absolutely no oily or greasy remainder on your fingers or the paper after eating it. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I want more. I only got one and didn't get more because I was fully after my big burrito for lunch, shave ice and one malasada. I want to return and get more, and maybe even try the filled ones just to try them. SO VERY GOOD.

Lisa dropped me off at home but I wanted to go walk a bit. There was a lovely breeze blowing and it had cooled off nicely. So me and my happy feet went walking to KCC. Starting today they have a small farmer's market Tuesday evenings from 4-7 as well as the big Saturday market. So I walked over to check it out. They had some yummy looking food being prepared but I was full. I didn't buy anything but I enjoyed watching the Inferno Pizza folks cooking pizzas in their wood fired oven they bring right to the market and cook in in front of your very eyes. Very neat.

I wandered around there for a bit then walked back home. I really loved this view so I took a picture.

I came on home, showered, went to hang up some hand wash only clothes and there was a guy downstairs! So I met Paul. He is a culinary student here for 2 years to get his degree from KCC. He lives in the guy's house on the property. We are having a big potluck meet everyone type party June 24th so he was stopping by to see what type of foods the female population on the property likes. Nice guy. We talked for a bit about how we don't really cook when it is just us, we just throw ramen or something easy together. I told him about dinner club and he loved the idea. We discussed the farmer's market and what all they have on Tuesdays and Saturdays. He apparently just moved in just a bit ago. Nice guy, hope to run into him around the place again.

So now it is time for bed. Busy day of data tomorrow. Now we start the really interesting part! BTW, my feet are doing much better. The blisters are starting to heal. The new shoes feel WONDERFUL. Not only do I not get more blisters but they make the ones i have not hurt while I walk and doesn't make them worse. I am SO HAPPY I bought them. Jeff gave me my Hawaiian name this morning: eha wawae (sore foot). HMPH. I'll just have to get them better quickly!

Malama pono, (take care)
~Melissa

King Kamehameha day and Hawaiian directions

June 11, 2012

Happy King Kamehameha Day! King Kamehameha the Great was the first king to unite all of the Hawaiian islands under one rule. Here are some YouTube links to the parade that was actually held Saturday in honor of this holiday. The parade horses in Hawaii are called Pa'u. Here is a Wikipedia link describing this: The Hawaiian culture also has a tradition of using elaborately decorated horses and riders in parades and festivals riders in this tradition are known as "Pāʻū riders". This tradition involves the decoration of the horse and rider in flowing garments and Leis and utilizes a great variety of flowers to decorate the animal and rider. The dominant color of the Pāʻū Rider is determined by which island they are from.

Today I did a grand total of nothing. All state offices were closed for the holiday so I had the day off.  I wasn't able to fall asleep till around 3:30am because my back and hips were hurting from standing on the pavement to watch the parade yesterday. This is moi moi a (inability to sleep). So I read and uploaded the many pictures and videos for the blog. Once I finally got to sleep I was very fatigued. Unsurprisingly, I slept all day. I would wake up for 5-10 minutes, decide I didn't need to be awake yet and go back to sleep. I did chat a but with folks back home around 10ish but then went back to sleep till 4:30. I paid my rent today, hard to believe I've been here a month already! Nikki was cooking her dinner so we chatted for a while. We shared the pickled mango I had from work and she had made pita chips. I had my red sauce/salsa hybrid and she had her veggie/egg/pinto/sausage mixture. It was a pleasant evening :)

I have no photos or anything interesting today that I did to share. So instead, I wanted to talk about directions in Hawaii. Lisa and I were talking about getting directions in Hawaii one day at work. Because it is so confusing she sent me this:

Here in Hawaii the terms that are used for directions are:

1.    Mauka – Direction pointing towards the mountains
2.    Makai – Direction pointing towards the sea
3.    Ewa – Direction towards the ewa plains or Ewa Beach, Kapolei or Waianae direction
4.    Diamond Head – Direction towards the Diamond Head area (where you are in Kaimuki)

Not sure how or why the folks here in Hawaii started using these terms but I know it goes way back in history before Hawaii became a State.  I found this link on the web that discusses these directions that Hawaii uses as well:

   http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/figuring-out-hawaiian-directions.html

A quote from this very informative website states: 
So if you ask an islander for directions on Oahu, you're likely to hear something like this: "Turn left and go 2 miles Diamond Head [east], turn at the light and go 2 blocks makai [toward the sea], and then turn at the stop light. Go 2 more blocks and turn Ewa [west]; the address you want is on the mauka [mountain] side of the street."

And this is in fact how directions are given here. It can get very confusing if you don't have the information on what these terms mean.Honestly, it can get very confusing even when you do know them. For a haole (foreigner/caucasian) like me, I normally just ask for directions by bus route number!

That is all for today. I'm going to read a bit, shower and get ready for bed. Jeff loaned me a book called Raven's Shadow Book one: Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. It is very good. I don't know that I'd like his other series at all, but who cares since I'm reading this book! Off with me, goodnight folks.


E pili mau na pomaika`i ia `oe, (May blessings ever be with you)
~Melissa