Pictures of the Week to November 30:The Old Paauilo Store, Haina & Honokaa's Sunset Clouds

Spent most of the Thanksgiving week on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here are some of the images.



The Old Paauilo Store Torn Down

These images of the old Paauilo Store were taken in November 2009. Unpublished until now, the building was recently torn down and the store relocated to the building that also houses the post office. Paauilo Store has been a favorite stop for many people over several decades. Today it is mostly a convenience store for people on the way to or from Hilo. The store is conveniently located on the side of Highway 19.





The Paauilo Post Office building is also the location of the Paauilo Store.



The old storefront with the stairs leading up to it.

More Pictures of the Old Paauilo Store



The Old Macadamia Nut Factory in Haina

These 2 photos are of the old nut factory that used to be in operation in Honokaa through the 50s, 60s, 70s and I thin into the early 1980s.





The Haina Baseball Park

The baseball field in Haina is still used for senior league and other baseball or softball games. People have been known for also hosting parties here.






Honokaa's Sunset Clouds

This picture was taken on November 27, 2011 at my Mom's home in Honokaa.

Picture of the Week

SBH Sunrise Breakfast on November 17

IMG_2470 - Lois and Phyllis Shimabukuro of Mikilua Poultry Farm, Inc, who market the Ka Lei Eggs brand, spoke about eggs, local business support, agriculture, marketing and shipping as pertaining to their business at the monthly Smart Business Hawaii Sunrise Breakfast this past Thursday, November 17.

They answered a lot of our questions regarding eggs, egg farming, egg branding, marketing and shipping. One of the interesting things I noted was that today's chickens are bred to make smaller eggs - though people in Hawaii prefer larger eggs. Mikilua Poultry Farm I learned also operates a retail, boutique egg store in the Kaimuki area of Honolulu.

More on Ka Lei Eggs:

www.kaleifoods.com/

Safeway Beretania in Honolulu, Hawaii

Safeway Beretania, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

This store was recently in the national news after a couple accidentally walked out without paying for their $5 sandwiches one night. They had paid for their groceries, all $50 worth but forgot to wave the sandwich wrappers at checkout. The lady who is several months pregnant and her spouse ate the sandwiches in store.

Both along with their toddler aged daughter were detained by store security and arrested for shoplifting. As part of the police department's standard procedure, their daughter was taken into custody by child protective services after the adults were booked and arrested.

After posting bail some 18 hours later the parents were reunited with their child.

The story made national headlines because the store manager could have simply allowed them to pay for the forgotten sandwiches which they really wanted to do after being stopped in the parking lot. The people simply forgot and did not want to steal the sandwiches. Workers in the store had seen them eat the sandwiches and placed the wrapper in the shopping cart. They simply forgot to get the wrapper waved at check-out.

Anyway, local media picked up the story and before Safeway knew it this incident became news nationwide, much to the embarrassment of the supermarket chain. Public sentiment was definitely with the young family and pregnant mother. Safeway was looked upon and probably still is from now on "the bad guy".

After the bad publicity, Safeway decided to drop the charges.

Bottom line, pay for everything or you could lose your freedom and your children! Yikes!!!!!

More

www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/15930625/safeway-drops-shopli...

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/safeway-sh...

www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=41818

The reason I also took photos of this store is that in a few months it will be closed with Safeway moving to a new location on Beretania Street just a block away (see adjacent photo below).

The old Safeway sign will probably be taken down after the store changes location.



The new Safeway location now under construction and near completion at the corner of Beretania and Piikoi Streets. Looks quite big. I hope they have enough parking.

Generally I don't shop at Safeway. I find their prices to be the most expensive for most grocery items in Honolulu. I certainly however will check the new store out after it's opened. If they follow the themes of recently constructed stores in Hawaii (Kapahulu and Hilo), Safeway will feature a coffee shop area with free wifi. That is an attraction.

Pictures of the Week - Ala Moana Beach Park Afternoon

Friday, November 11 was the perfect day for an afternoon at Ala Moana Beach Park. Hardly anyone was there because no one except the Honolulu Police Department and other security agencies could bring a motor vehicle into the park because of the APEC conference. As a result, the park was hardly occupied with people. There wasn't much noise, there were no tents, no inflatable jumping machines, no loud music and no crowds. A very rare, Hawaiian Day at the beach, thanks to APEC security.

As usual the afternoon photo opportunities were great, yielding several nice sunset shots and a rare opportunity in spotting a resting Hawaiian Monk Seal at the end of the Magic Island beach area.







This Hawaiian Monk Seal was napping near the wall at Magic Island.

More Photos on Flickr: 11-11-11 Set

APEC - A Pain in the Ass for Many People in Honolulu

The "Road Closed" and "No Parking" signs along with barriers everywhere, traffic tie-ups, Waikiki check-points, and numerous restrictions will be the soured, lingering memories of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference (held Nov. 8 to Nov. 13, 2011) long after this event is over for most people living and doing business in many parts of urban Honolulu and elsewhere on the island of Oahu.

APEC started off with a series of restrictions put into place by the federal, state and city governments: NO PARKING, Road closures, Waikiki access restrictions, security check points, no canoe paddling, cancelled events (including 2 Veterans' Day parades), boating and general aviation restrictions, plus loss of revenue for many small businesses not connected with APEC. Heads of state from places such as China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States (including President Barack Obama) all converged in Honolulu, creating the cascading series of security hassles and traffic mess.

This blog entry details some of the hassles in photos that Honolulu residents had to put up with during APEC week.



Traffic check point at Kapiolani Blvd.



The Hawaii Convention Center was one of the major venues for APEC dignitaries. The area was closed off to the public including streets and sidewalks nearby.



NO PARKING signs became a familiar, annoying presence on many streets in Honolulu that were near APEC venues or on detoured routes constricted motorists were required to take.



Barriers such as this were erected around Waikiki venues used for APEC. Photo by Larry Darling on Flickr.



A street in Waikiki cut off from public access. Photo by Larry Darling on Flickr.



Huge traffic tie up along Ala Moana Blvd. near Ala Moana Shopping Center.



View my slideshow with all of the photos I've taken surrounding the APEC event. Just press the arrow to get it started. Photos by Mel unless indicated.

APEC photos by Mel on Flickr

Pictures of the Week - QE2 and Vistafjord

Queen Elizabeth 2 in Honolulu: I have taken several pictures over the years of Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2. Every chance I had to catch her in Honolulu Harbor, I took the opportunity to photograph her. My first encounter with the Queen was in February 1989 when I shot a series (mostly unpublished) of the luxury liner docked at Pier 10 and being turned around in the harbor later that night for her trip out.

The QE2 like her other Cunard Line sisters embark on an annual around the world cruise with Honolulu Hawaii as a major stop.

The photo above was taken sometime in the mid 1990s. Until this past week it has lived in obscurity in a box filled up with other prints that I had processed back then. While cleaning my closet last weekend, I found this picture and the one below and decided to scan and publish it. Reaction to the QE2 photo above has been largely positive and appreciative. Thank you Flickr users.

Someone on Flickr helped me identify the ship docked at Pier 9 (photo below; taken on the same day). The smaller ship was also a Cunard liner at the time called the Vistafjord. The ship sailed for many years with Cunard until she was sold in 1999 to another cruise line. Today she sails as the Saga Ruby.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 last stopped in Honolulu in March 2008. She was taken out of service in late 2008 and sold to a firm in Dubai. The ship is tied up in Dubai, her fate uncertain, though original planes were to convert QE2 to a floating hotel.



The two photos were shot using my Minolta XD5 35mm SLR camera. The prints were scanned and digitally fixed to bring out the colors.

More Photos: Cruise Ships in Hawaii (Flickr)

What's Up With the Honolulu Star Advertiser Bothering People With Telemarketing Phone Calls?

The Honolulu Star Advertiser has stooped to a new low early this evening. Here I am at home, minding my own business, eating my early dinner.

I get a phone call. I pick up the phone. And guess what? It's some telemarketer calling me from the Star Advertiser!

What's up with that?

My telephone number is on the National DO NOT CALL Registry. This means firms like the Honolulu Star Advertiser should not be calling me and asking me to buy a subscription or anything else. The Honolulu Star Advertiser is cheating by using telemarketing as a sales tactic.

I have never, ever done business with the firm since they became the Star Advertiser. Many, many years ago I did subscribe to the weekend Honolulu Advertiser just to get the TV schedule and ads.

But that subscription expired a long time ago. When I cancelled I told The Honolulu Advertiser to never to call me up for a subscription renewal. I should have never been contacted by the new entity because I have never done any business with them except browse their website anonymously when it was free up to this past August.

Now I don't want to have anything to do with the Honolulu Star Advertiser in terms of being a subscriber ever. The Star Advertiser gives favor to one bunch of subscribers over others in terms of what they get based on where they live. Plus some people get plum deals of $52 for 52 weeks for both print and internet editions combined. Most do not I presume.

Needless to say I gave the hapless woman on the line a piece of my mind.

I continue to hold my ground of not wanting to subscribe... now or ever. Getting a telemarketing call from their subscription department further cements my position.

People not subscribing? I would not be surprised. Most people have long disassociated themselves with paper editions of newspapers. And so far I think most people do not want to subscribe to an online version either.

You can get a lot of information online for free without having to subscribe to "a paper". That is what I do. I don't need the Star Advertiser.

No one wants to be bothered by telemarketers, email spammers and junk faxers. I highly suggest Star Advertiser to stop using telemarketing as a sales tactic. It just turns people off.

More stuff on the Honolulu Star Advertiser at HawaiiThreads.com.