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Congratulations to Arizona Cardinals safety, BYU and Kahuku High player Aaron Francisco who’s heading to the Super Bowl — as is Chris Kemoeatu for the Steelers. Hopefully, Koolauloa family, friends and fans will be reading and seeing more of them . . . but in the meantime, Aaron shared some of his early SB impressions with Honolulu Advertiser readers. (more…)

The part about Indonesia is coming up, but first a little intro:

As a devout Mormon all my life, just being around second-hand cigaret smoke has always literally been somewhat sickening to me…and for those of you too young to remember when smoking was allowed on commercial airlines, you can’t imagine: (more…)

When I lived in Bandung, Indonesia, in the mid-1970s, it was the custom to bargain over the price of practically everything in the pasar [bazaar] and many other shops. This was something that most Europeans (which generically included all Americans; indeed, some Indonesians labeled all Europeans as orang Belanda — Dutchmen, based on 300-plus years of colonial rule in the Dutch East Indies) weren’t generally very good at.

Speaking more than enough Bahasa Indonesia to get by in the markets, I eventually did relatively well, at least to the the extent that Indonesian and the occasional East-Indian shop keepers would allow any European to drive a hard bargain. I’ll use bargaining for rice as an example: (more…)

Bapak (sometimes also spelled bapa’ in those days, and sometimes shortened to Pak; the final consonant sound is “unreleased” or cut in half) is an Indonesian term of respect usually applied to all older men, or to show courtesy to any man, similar to using “sir” in English or “uncle” in Hawaiian English.

Soon after my wife, Sally Ann, our baby twin girls and I moved into our rented home on Jalan Karang Layung (yang lalu) near the gigantic Ikan Mas swimming pool in Bandung, West Java, in 1975, we met an old man who proved very helpful in many ways. If I ever knew his given name, I’ve forgotten it; but in any case, we always called him Bapak. (more…)

It is with great pleasure that I congratulate my young friend and former colleague, Puataata (if you ever wondered what the P. stands for) Alfred Grace, who was recently named as the first-ever Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Polynesian Cultural Center. I can honestly say I knew Al when… (more…)

Many of you know, and I’ve certainly reminded everyone in earlier Nanilaie Blog entries, of my ties with Samoa . . . but most of you may not know about my Indonesia connection. (more…)

Most of you have probably seen those incredible pictures, usually taken from a helicopter, of a personal watercraft towing a surfer into some monster wave in Hawaii, California, or wherever. Well, in the past week I saw two similar, but much smaller-scale incidents — although none the less scary — right here in Laie: Skateboarders getting monster-towed by motor scooters. (more…)

First, Happy New Year 2009, or as we say in Hawaii: Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Those of you who know New Year’s Eves in Hawaii will smile, while those of you who haven’t ever had the pleasure can’t imagine the noise and smoke of the fireworks, plus the enjoyment of the grindz — the food — and fun as families or even whole streets, especially in places like Laie, put picnic tables under easy-up awnings and go at the excitement of burning off thousands of dollars of fireworks. Some Laie families are well-known for their annual New Year’s Eve street parties.

Again, for those not familiar with Oahu, firecrackers up to a certain modest length and quantity are legal (with a permit, from licensed vendors), while almost every store sells the usual fireworks — sparklers, cones, spinners, pop-pops, etc., etc. But the legal limits have never stopped illegal pyrotechnics that also invade the community every year, including window-shaking aerial bombs, bursts and various rockets.

Amid all of this for the first time last night I noticed another noisemaker I hadn’t seen for many years: A Samoan fana ‘ofe or bamboo cannon. (more…)