Local Time

I had to miss this week's run because I was going out of town. Not to gloat, but I'm sitting in my hotel room in Wakiki, having some coffee and just finished off my second malasada from Leonard's.  More on that later.

The purpose of this short trip is to attend the Hawaiian International Film Festival (HIFF) because a documentary which I edited will be screening this afternoon.  My producer/director, Carol Liu directed this doc in China, and the following link will give you all the information about the film.  http://www.restoringthelight.com ; Carol submitted the film to the festival and it got picked up, plus we are nominated for competition in the feature length doc category and that allowed them to sponsor both her and I to fly over and be put up in a neat hotel right on the Waikiki strip.

Sheraton Waikiki - great view towards Diamond Head...but not from my room.

Friday morning I was up at 5am, on the road by 6 and taking off on Hawaiian Air by 9am PST.  Arrived in Honolulu local time about 11:35, got a rental car and drove right into a downpour heading to the hotel.  By the time I parked and got set up, the skies had cleared into the standard postcard Hawaii everyone expects (see above).  I hung out for awhile, met a few other filmmakers and then drove over to the festival site at the former Dole cannery which now has an 18 screen multiplex just past Chinatown.

My true partial ocean view

On the way there got a bit mixed up, made a few funny turns and got immediately pulled over by a local cop...I pleaded ignorance, totally lost, and he just said take it easy brah and we were good.  Even the cops in Paradise can me nice.

Made it to the screening of the first film on my list barely in time, and watched a very interesting and intriguing doc titled "Marathon Boy" from India.  The best part about being in a film festival, is all the films one gets to see...for free.  This was an amazing doc about a 3 year old slum kid, who gets bought and sold to a local judo instructor, who ends up realizing this little boy can run forever.  By the time he is four, he had completed 48 marathons.  By the time he is 8, he had left his foster dad, gone back to his birth mom in the slums, and stopped running.  Very strange but interesting story.

I followed that by two more films, all shot and made by the local independent film community, and all very rich and full of great stories.  "6B" and "Paradise Broken".  The theater was packed and both these films were very well received by the local audience.  I was able to hook up with some old friends from the many years of coming to Hawaii, and it was good to see their work. 

By the time I got back to the hotel, it was around midnight local time (3am PST) so roughly a 20 hour stint. 

This morning, knowing the Roadrunners were heading up to the Totem Pole, I too was up at 6am local time and proceeded to do a very nice workout up to Diamond Head.  It was only about a 5.5 mile loop down Waikiki strip, past Kaipiolani Park, the Zoo, and then up to Diamond Head.  I didn't drop down to the other side, but took my time, took a few shots, and then headed back down and took the long way back along Ala Wai canal.

Running past Kaipiolani Park

Waikiki at 6:30am looking back to my Hotel

view from the top

Not quite the same as the Totem Pole

Ala Wai Canal - great running path

Traditional Canoes

Not haven eaten much in the last 24 hours, I had a strong hankering for some local food, so showered and headed right out to Rainbow Drive In and had a LocoMoco.  It's quite an indulgence, but what the heck...I'm in Hawaii.  For those who never had a proper plate lunch in Hawaii, a LocoMoco starts with a plate of steamed rice, covered with two hamburger patties totally drenched in their special brown gravy, and then this is topped with two fried eggs, and finally finished with a side of macaroni salad, JA style (japanese american).  

And then to add insult to injury, I drove up the block to Leonards and ordered a dozen malasadas...Portuguese fried balls of sweetbread dough, covered with plenty of sugar.  I had two and will bring the rest to the hardworking volunteers in the festival office.

I think I'm only going to concentrate on our film screening today, and afterwards, I made reservations at a local bar and grill...Home Bar and grill... which are famous for their tatertot nachos.

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out by now...in Hawaii, it's all about the locals.  These are native folks, not only the indigenous Hawaiians, but a lot of the Asian mix of Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and even the haoles who were born and raised in Hawaii.  They are always very cognizant of the "mainlanders" who come over and innocently say they are from the States, and even though the main industry is tourism on this island, there is still a lot about this local culture that is so specific and so richly intermixed, that most non-locals may miss it.

Because of the time I spent over here in the past, coming to the film festival, doing some teaching at the UH during the summers, it's always nice to come back and have a plate lunch, or talkstory with some old friends....hanging out with the locals.

I've got to get going....supposed to meet my producer over a bowl of udon....can't miss that.

mahalo,

Walt