The original Liliha Bakery has been an institution in Hawaii since the Takakuwa family opened it in 1950, serving freshly baked cakes and pastries and operating a counter-only coffee shop with comforting local dishes. Growing up on Oahu—a mere 2 miles from this bakery—this has long been the go-to spot for my family. (My grandparents […]
Get stoked—you can now legitimately use Hawaiian Pidgin words “hammajang” and “howzit” in your Scrabble game. As part of the Oxford English Dictionary’s 90th anniversary celebrations, the respected reference asked the public last year for regional vocabulary suggestions, and the word “hammajang,” used in Pidgin to indicate that something is “all messed up, askew or wonky,”
While leaving Costco one day in October 2016, Mitzi Toro looked down at her phone to see her website had crashed and her Instagram account was flooded with hundreds of messages—all because of a personal Instagram endorsement by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on one of his buzzworthy “cheat days.” “This is 16 ounces of handmade, hand
When you’re planning a trip to Hawaii, there’s a lot of excitement going on. And oftentimes, while you’re setting up hotels, activities and itineraries, it’s easy to not focus on the less obvious items you need to bring on your trip. So before you head to the airport, check your baggage and make sure you’ve
As is always the case in conservation, there’s good news—and there’s bad news. Let’s start with the bad. A Hawaiian tree snail named George, the last known member of the species Achatinella apexfulva, died on New Year’s Day. He was 14 and likely the last of his kind in the world. Researchers could never find
Dotted along the North Shore’s lengthy coastline are colorful communities and towns, each with their own sights and personalities. Pupukea’s Ehukai Beach Park. Photo: TropicalpixSingapore//Getty Images Pupukea The stretch of land that spans from Waimea Bay to Sunset Beach, Pupukea is home to many of Oahu’s best surf spots and beaches. You’ll want to find
If you’ve ever hiked Koko Crater Trail, you have probably seen the wear and tear the trail is going through. Many of the stair treads, which are actually the remains of a long abandoned tramway, are rotting away, and volunteers have even replaced some with bricks and stone slabs. Seeing hundreds of hikers a day,
On the surface, Haiku may seem like any other adorably quaint Maui town, with its open dirt roads occupied by rusted pickup trucks packed with surfboards, and its family-run farms and roadside produce stands. A stone’s throw away from Paia and Hookipa Beach on the north shore, Haiku surprises travelers with more than just its country
In olden Hawaii, women were forbidden to eat all but three varieties of the banana. Hawaiians considered it bad luck to dream of bananas, encounter a man carrying bananas or have bananas in a canoe while fishing. But in one legend, the hero Kukali survives Sinbad-like adventures with the help of a magic banana, which
Inside each tank is an adult day octopus—called hee in Hawaiian—native to Hawaii waters and active during the daytime. At Kanaloa Octopus Farm, it’s a look and touch kind of experience. It’s a sunny Friday afternoon and I’m on a tour with 20 other people. Kanaloa Octopus Farm is located at scenic Keahole Point, about 10
Cool trade winds drift in from the peaks of the Koolau mountains, rustling ridgeline trees in the rear of Palolo Valley. Roosters call and answer each other across the neighborhood. I can hear the faint whisper of rains, deep within Palolo, falling into its thick watershed forests. But other than that … quiet. It’s a
Bernadette Perreira often comes from her home in Pukalani, Maui, to walk through Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge. The 704-acre wetlands, near Maalaea Harbor, is home to her favorite birds, aeo, or Hawaiian stilts. Thanks to Maui County and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Perreira and other visitors can easily enter the wetlands on
