Natsu Matsuri and Bon Dance at the Pacific Beach Hotel, 8/14/10

A bunch of us who enjoy shooting totally enjoyed the Japanese Festival "Natsu Matsuri" at the Pacific Beach Hotel as well as the Bon Dance. So first things first, Shun Wah and I got our scripts.

In the hotel, the children were thrilled to choose from so many masks and other toys across the way.
Outside were food booths, typical of those in Japan.

I could not resist this ice cream within a pancake.
Japanese games for the children.

The first time I went to a Bon Dance, I felt uncomfortable shooting it. I am now okay as I understand that this is a way to celebrate and remember those who have passed before us.

I got brave and asked if I could get a shot of Dazz Toguchi who is Hiromi's favorite Bon dancer. He has become a Semi Classical Japanese Dance Master.
Notice his precision. Notice the reflection of the lanterns on the drum "taiko".

We were entertained by these enthusiastic Taiko performers. The drums are called taiko and the sticks are called bachi.
You have to be there to see them give it all they got.

What are they looking at and what are the ones to the right laughing about?

I got these girls having a grand time. They were so good with the children.
Isn't she kawaii?
This was a challenge as I had to hand hold my camera to get the moon and not get a blurry shot.

Foster Garden, 8/8/10

Shun Wah and I agreed that we better go to Foster Garden before our annual pass expires. We also agreed that it will be a great place to use our macro lens. Some of these shots are somewhat abstract.

We both enjoyed using water droplets to get reflections. I feel Shun Wah got better water reflections than I did. Her is a link to hers. We had so much fun, we didn't want to stop shooting.

After Foster Garden, I met up with some other friends at the Elks Club and got this sunset.

Shingon Shu Bon Dance, 8/6/10

Each summer, the Buddhist Temples host bon dances to remember, celebrate and honor those of the deceased spirits. Shingon Shu is next to the Keaumoku McDonald's on Sheridan Street.

Just one look at this chef and you know there was deeelicious Japanese food.

Let the festivities begin.

This center area where the musicians are is called a "yagura" Everyone dances around it. Ever so often the group goes counter clockwise.This Okinawan lion sashayed around. He was so cute!

My friend, Hiromi.

It was so hard to take pictures with low lights. So as you can see I had to brighten up the pics however the downside is you can see the graininess.

All in One Place, 8/1/10

A group called "All Things Oahu - Meetup" decided to enjoy watching a polo game at Mokuleia also known as "Polo on the Beach"

Btw - what does "chukker" mean? According to their brochure the game consists of six Chukkers (periods) - each being 7 1/2 minutes. Separating the chukkers is a four minute break for the players to change ponies. And yes, there is a 10 minute half time after three chukkers.

Polo games are at 2 pm each Sunday from the 1st Sunday in March until the 2nd Sunday in August, the following Sunday is "Best of the Polo Bands Concert". Today we were fortunate to watch a club from India. The name of their club is Delhi and they are in the white shirts.

Again according to their brochure - "Polo has a long and storied tradition in Hawaii, dating back to its arrival - from India, courtesy of the British - in the 1870's."







During half time, we got to see this car show. I think there were 3 more cool cars.



Stan purposely chose to park on the beach side, so we could get some beach scenes. Boy were we lucky! There was this kite surfer.

As we returned to the polo side, we saw some parachuters landing on the polo field instead of at Dillingham Field.

I took this pic because of the nice contrast with the sky.
Stan was telling me to continue looking up. But I thought, why? After looking at his blog, I realized that these parachuters were entertaining us and asked to use his pics. Check out what they did.
This last picture is for Jody - he liked the misty background and asked if I could shoot it with my zoom lens. Jody you have a good eye, thanks.