the city
i promised to keep this up and i've been quite lazy about it.
recent activites in Honolulu:
Chinatown: a bustling hub of sights, smells, and sounds and an eclectic blend of every asian culture: korean, vietnamese, thai, chinese, japanese, not to mention south pacific. a little bit like SoHo-fattened pidgeons included. it was all of my weaknesses: colorful markets, good food, and chinese milk tea.
honolulu's chinatown is the oldest in the nation, probably started by immigrants after their contracts on the plantations were up, and twice devastated by fire. in 1899 bubonic plague broke out and the Board of Health quarantined the 7000 chinese and japanese residents. the plague continued to spread however, and the Board decided to burn infected houses. wind caught the fire and eventually leveled all 40 acres of Chinatown. since then the atmosphere has been evolving, from a sailor's pleasure to the unique, historic attraction that it is today.
Foster Botanical Garden: which houses rare trees from all over the world: central and south america, the caribbean, africa, southeast asia... it also has the only native Hawaiian palm, yes, there's only one, the loulu, and the Bo tree, the sacred tree of the Buddhists.
Hawai'i State Art Museum: with an interesting exhibit "the land and the sea," which focuses on the connection between the people and the land, and the terrible destruction that has occured to hawai'i's native forests and animal species. also has contemporary hawaiian artists.
Honolulu Academy of Arts: beginning with ancient mediterrenean art all the way through modern art. includes exhibits of chinese, korean, indian, japanese, southeast asian, etc. my favorite was the temporary exhibit of Indonesian artist Sudjana Kerton, a true creator. see www.kertonart.com.
hawai'i offers much to see and explore, sorry if this sounds like a bad tourist plug for hawai'i but it really is amazing that this tiny set of isolated islands has become host to such a blend of history and culture.
posted by leah v @ 4:17 PM
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