Hawaii Vacation Gifts by Double Brush-Hawaiian Gifts & Blog

Over 250 Earthquakes Recorded Yesterday at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

It’s true, there were over 250 small earthquakes recorded yesterday at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island of Hawaii. This data suggested that magma is on the move under the surface of Kilauea volcano, and prompted the rare closure of the park.

“It looks like the rift has expanded a bit, possibly to accommodate magma, and the earthquakes are accompanying that process,” said Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Read more details about the Kilauea earthquakes at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The scientists at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have very sensitive monitoring equipment, as the quakes must have been very tiny. We live about 30 minutes away from the park and did not feel a thing all day yesterday. The park was reopened today in most areas, and things seemed to have calmed down for now.

Please read our related post on Viewing Kilauea Volcano Lava Flow Into the Ocean by Sea.

If you are coming to the Big Island anytime soon, make reservations for a helicopter tour to see Kilauea volcano from the air.

How does Hawaii Feed Millions of People Every Year?

How does the state of Hawaii feed the over one million people already living in the Hawaiian Islands, and the over seven million visitors arriving to Hawaii each year? Hawaii grows some of its food, but the majority of food and non-food items are shipped into the state--most of it arriving in Honolulu, then some of it being shipped to all of the other neighbor islands. Hawaii receives over 90% of its food and other goods by ocean in container ships.

The freight companies usually come out of a port located in California, stacked with 40 foot long containers loaded with everything imaginable.

Locals and visitors alike gripe about the high cost of living in Hawaii (the Paradise Tax), but things may be getting even more expensive for Hawaii consumers very soon.

In California, Senate Bill 974 (that has already been passed by the California Senate), will impose a $60.00 tax for each 40 foot container every time it leaves and returns to the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland.

The shipping companies will likely pass on the higher fees to consumers, as they have already done with the ever increasing fuel surcharges.

For more information, read article Ca Bill May Raise Prices of Hawaii Goods.

The Drug War in Hawaii -- Walgreens Versus Longs

The pharmaceutical war in Hawaii is heating up, which will consumers choose? The newest really big box giant Walgreens, or Longs Drugs that have been in the Hawaiian Islands since 1954.

To give you an idea of the two very different sized corporations, Walgreens has 5,700 stores on the US mainland and Puerto Rico, while Longs has about 500 stores in 6 states with Hawaii included.

Walgreens is planning on opening 4 new stores on Oahu by early next year. Longs currently has 35 stores located on all of the main islands.

The Walgreens business model will copy Longs Hawaii in the sense that they will also offer some local merchandise from local Hawaii vendors. For example at Longs you can find Hawaiian snacks, some fresh vegetables and baked goods, Hawaiian souvenirs, and kona coffee.

So who will win? Only time will tell. Walgreens will bring lower prices to island shoppers along with their drive-through pharmacy service. On the other hand, Longs has a loyal following and is an established and well respected brand.

Read more details and see planned locations for the 4 Walgreens Stores on Oahu. Walgreens stores on Oahu.

Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines Won’t Leave You Stranded

Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines, the two main inter-island carriers in Hawaii, are the best in the nation when it comes to handling passenger stranding incidents.

This is according to the Coalition for An Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, a consumer group that studies excessive delays and wants mandatory reporting by airlines when passengers are trapped in planes for hours while waiting for take off.

Although Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines both received a report card grade of "A", American Airlines (the world's largest airline), United Airlines, and US Airways all received an overall grade of "F".

See more details about the 2007 airlines report card and the Coalition for An Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

See Extreme Home Makeover in Hawaii Before Show Airs!

If you heard about the Extreme Home Makeover show filming in Hawaii with Ty Pennington this past week, and can't wait to see what the finished house looks like before it airs on the next television season in the fall, we have got the links for you!

Momi Akana is the lucky and deserving person who was whisked away with her family on a vacation in Canada, while thousands of volunteers worked day and night to finish her new home, and a new building for her non profit group that she started, called Keiki O Ka Aina, the Hawaiian translation for Children of the Land. Momi Akana's organization has assisted thousands of people with building stronger families through family education and activities.

What is different than other Extreme Home Makeover shows in the past, is that Momi Akana being the "akamai" or smart person that she is, plans to use her old house as a transitional house for women coming out of prison.

See videos of Momi Akana's new Hawaii home from the outside front view after the bus is moved, along with the hundreds of fans who waited in the rain to see the big reveal and experience this moment. Also see the crew and volunteers work through the day and night.

Momi Akana had her dream come true, but everyone knows that Momi will continue to "imua" or go forward and help many other families achieve their dreams.

See our earlier related post on Extreme Home Makeover in Hawaii.

Wine and Dine Personal Restaurant Reviews in Honolulu, Hawaii

Get the inside information on the best places to drink and eat, or wine and dine in Hawaii. With restaurant reviews in Honolulu and elsewhere on the island of Oahu, reviews of restaurants that serve a $4.59 plate lunch special at Bear's (okay, some people may argue a Drive In does not count as a restaurant), to the ultra ritzy places you only go to for special occasions (for the majority of us that is!).

You can search by cuisine or an alphabetical listing of restaurants. Instead of a 1-5 star rating, restaurants are given 1-5 fork ratings. Also a 1-5 dollar sign icon to represent $1.00 to $80.00 and above, so you won't have sticker shock when you try out a new restaurant.

Wine and Dine is brought to you by the talented and tasteful Jo McGarry, a former editor of Gusto magazine. Since moving to Hawaii over a decade ago, she has and continues to write newspaper and magazine articles, and speaks publicly about food in Hawaii.

Besides wonderful restaurant reviews, she has dozens of mouth watering recipes, wine reviews, podcasts, and a "Ask Jo" section. This is a site you definitely want to bookmark!

Moon Rocks Discovered on the Big Island of Hawaii

Actually, the moon rocks discovered on the Big Island of Hawaii are not from the moon, instead NASA has deemed that the volcanic terrain of Hawaii Island is perfect for simulated moon outposts. If this facility is built, it will be called PISCES, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration.

"This 'simulation facility' would serve as a test and training area for systems and technologies to be used on the moon and would be supported by academia, industry and government," according to Micheal Duke, a professor at the Center for Space Resources, at the Colorado School of Mines.

All that is needed to begin going forward with this plan, is for Governor Linda Lingle to sign Senate Bill 907 into law.

Read more information about PISCES in Hawaii and other space industry news in Hawaii.

Viewing Kilauea Volcano Lava Flow into the Ocean by Sea

On the Big Island of Hawaii at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you can hike (4-6 hour round trip) to see the lava flowing into the ocean and creating new land, or fly above the volcano flow on a commercial helicopter tour. However, a nice women who reads my blog emailed to ask me, since I live here, if I knew of any boat charters to view the lava spewing into the sea.

Well, since I spent an hour today trying to find out, I thought it would make a good blog post.

I called several boat charters from the yellow pages but most of them were sport fishing charters and no one could give me a business name of who did lava viewing tours by boat. One captain told me if their boat left from Hilo it would take all day as they had a slow boat and it would be a rough ride. Another captain told me although it sounds like a good idea, the location is prohibitive -- there is no place to lodge near the park, and it would be a long rough water trip out of Hilo.

Next I called the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and spoke to someone there. She said that she didn't know of any boat tours but even if she did, they are not suppose to recommend any commercial businesses. She did tell me though that a person sent them a video tape of their boat trip to see the lava flow, and when a ledge or cliff of lava rock broke off and fell into the ocean, it sucked the boat down and swamped the back of their boat with water! I don't know how close they were to viewing the flow, but that sounded pretty scary.

I did a internet search for volcano tours of lava Hawaii, and found an article about boats leaving from the Hale Beach Park near Pahoa in Puna, but it didn't have any contact names or phone numbers. I emailed them and will update this post when and if I get any new information. If you know of anything, please share via a comment.

You can see a daily report of the Kilauea volcano eruption from the US Geological Survey called the Kilauea Daily Update.

Extreme Home Makeover in Hawaii with Ty Pennington

"Good Morning Akana Family!," boomed the voice of Ty Pennington early this morning. The Extreme Home Makeover crew is in Hawaii and will be building a dream home for Momi Akana and her family in Kalihi Valley on Oahu.

Momi Akana is one of the most truly deserving people to be awarded with a new home. Ten years ago she was on welfare, but managed to start the non profit organization called Keiki O Ka Aina which translates to Children of the Land.

This organization has now helped thousands of Hawaii families with social services, parenting classes, and educational classes for young children.

Momi has given so much of herself to the community, that Extreme Home Makeover expects 2000 volunteers from the community to offer up their kokua (help) and aloha (love).

You can see what her house looks like now and get more details from KHON News from Hawaii.

Never Lose your Paper Airline Ticket Again

Soon you will never have to worry about losing your airline ticket again because most of the airlines will do away with paper tickets. As things stand today, a paper ticket cost an additional $50.00, and soon will only be available in rare circumstances.

At American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, almost 99 percent of its tickets sold worldwide are electronic, said Tim Smith, a company spokesman.

The Fort Worth-based carrier won't even allow you to buy a paper ticket if you buy directly from the airline. The only way to get a paper ticket is to buy it through a travel agent and pay $50 extra, Smith said.

And the $50 actually buys you a less-secure ticket, Smith said, because losing a paper ticket can be extremely inconvenient and expensive. "The irony is electronic tickets are not paperless," he said. "You do have a printed itinerary and a boarding pass. They are much more secure in terms of theft or abuse."

This information was obtained from the Star Telegram today.

Hawaii Mongoose Rat Connection Exposed

As you may have read in Hawaii guide books or maybe heard first hand from Hawaii tour guides about the mongoose being introduced into Hawaii to control the rat population and how it didn't work, that is not entirely true.

The Hawaii sugar plantations brought in the small Indian mongoose to control the rats, and the rodents actually proved to be a moderately effective cane field ratter.

Hawaii lore, and other places around the world repeat this story about how the rats slept during the day and were active at night, but the mongooses were active during the day and slept at night, so they never saw each other!

The truth is not a cute story, but a more pragmatic reason. The plantations found out that poisons were a much more effective killer. (Malamalama, the magazine of the University of Hawaii System, May 2007)

Noni Juice, Hype or Hope?

If you heard of the "new" health drink called Noni Juice and can't decide if it is hype or can hopefully help whatever is ailing you, read on for the facts so you can decide for yourself.

Noni juice is made from the noni fruit (morinda citrifolia) which is a tropical fruit that grows on small trees or shrubs throughout Polynesia. Noni juice is not new to the Hawaiian people, they have been benefiting from the noni fruit for the past 1,500 years!! Noni is known for:

• Improvement of overall health and well being*
• A boost of the body’s natural immune system*
• Support of the body’s natural healing processes*
• Improved absorption of nutrients from food*
• Aids the body to rid itself of harmful free radicals*
• Increased energy during physical performance*

Be aware that there is a big difference in the quality of Tahitian Noni (TM) juice and Hawaiian noni juice. Tahitian noni juice is made from noni juice pulp that has been reconstituted with water, and then has a high percentage of other sweet fruit juice added. This serves two purposes, to mask the true natural flavor of noni which is quite strong, and for greater profits to the Tahitian Noni (TM) company.

After months of researching Hawaiian noni juice, we can now recommend what we feel is superior fresh (not fermented) Hawaiian noni juice, fermentation is the way all other commercial Hawaiian noni juice is made. Our juice is made from organic noni fruit grown here on the Big Island and Oahu's North Shore and is 100% pure juice with no additives, preservatives, water, or other juices.

We have been drinking noni juice for the past few months and have felt a noticeable increase in our sense of well being. We take 1 ounce in the morning thirty minutes before breakfast on an empty stomach. We pour it into a glass jigger with ounce markings for convenience. I chase it with a cup of water but some people mix it in with their orange juice.

No site that sells noni will tell you what it taste like. They say it is strong tasting or a taste that you have to get used to. I will tell you bluntly that fresh noni juice (the kind we represent) tastes like vomit, and the fermented noni juice taste like vomit with vinegar, it has more of a bite to it.

My friend said that if you are already in good health you don't need noni, but if something is not quite right with your body, noni helps to adjust your body to work better to improve your health.

We love our noni juice so much that we decided to represent it ourselves! Please visit our informative affiliate site for reasonably priced pure 100% Hawaiian noni juice with FREE UPS shipping!

Don't buy from anyone else till you read the information on our site. We offer the BEST quality and price which leads to the best VALUE for your money.