A Year in Waipahu

  TAKE A LISTEN!  OR WATCH US ON YOUTUBE!  "Like" or "Follow"!    Magandang Gabi (Good Evening) Friends.  After a HUGE learning curve as engineer/producer, I am now proud to share our new podcast.  Remember WAY BACK in this blog, when I talked about our KNDI radio show?  For multiple reasons, the Pinoy Dynamic Trio and I decided to transition to a podcast format. The new podcast is very similar to the radio show.  It has a lot of the same elements and segments.  The only things it is lacking (right now) are: (1) Music.  I am working on this on the engineering/production side and the copyright side. (2) Me.  Since the production has taken so much time, I am unable to join the show as a content provider.  No worries.  That will happen in the future. Why "Pinoy 808"?  I knew you were wondering.  "Pinoy" because it is a shorthand way of referring to Filipino culture.  "808" because that is the one area code...

  Sugar cane in Waipahu  I finally got the inside scoop on Waipahu’s living history museum.  Surrounded by urbanization and homeless, the Hawaii Plantation Village is a time capsule.  It gives a glimpse of the way life was not too long ago. My guide was Robert Castro, who grew up on the Oahu Sugar Company plantation.  He volunteers at the museum and with the Portuguese History Society. Plantations have an overall positive history, in listening to people.  They were drivers of emigration and opportunity for countless migrants.  They were part of the foundation for Hawaii’s unique and amazing approach to diversity. They had their down side, I’m sure.  But the people I know speak fondly of those days. I think I can Sugar smokestack is now iconic in Waipahu history  Perhaps the most useful illustration of Waipahu history. Circa 1980’s Waipahu replete with different ethnic enclaves Arakawa’s store was legendary, run by Okinawan immigrants.  T...

  credit: Go Hawaii Recently, my daughter asked me, "Do you live in Honolulu?"  I tried my best to explain. Waipahu is now part of the greater metro area of Honolulu, Honolulu's mayor is Waipahu's mayor.  The Waipahu area has its own neighborhood council. The population of O`ahu exploded over the past few decades, with accompanying development.  Or, one could say, development exploded with accompanying population.  Waipahu was absorbed into the metro area. While it was in the process of being absorbed, Waipahu took on a whole different culture.  Instead of being in the country, Waipahu is now truly at the center of the island.  Racial and cultural shifts were major. As I've posted about, vestiges of old Waipahu exist.  The bus that runs from downtown Honolulu to Waipahu and Ewa Beach is still called, "The Country Express."  Some of the old buildings of Waipahu remain.  My church, for example, is considered old.  Our sanctuary was bu...