MORE NEW STORES AT HILO MALL
Hilo Mall hasnew stores and places to eat that have opened up. The Spoonful Cafe is serving Thai food and plate lunches.
Nicole's Nail & Spa is ready to decorate nails.
And Simply Said Florist, which recently moved to the mall, is ready to send flowers for special occations, weddings, and funerals.
The owner, Salina Iranon, showed off her beautiful flowers. It is great to have the Mall in Hilo filling up its empty stores. We were surprised at how pricey going to a movie at Hollywood Theater in the Mall has become- $9.25 for an adult.
AROUND HILO TODAY
We went to the Hilo mall today and noticed a new store, Da Planet. They sell trading cards.
Across town, the East Hawaii Arts Center's Aloha Saturday Hawaiian Music, Hula, Arts and Crafts and Food fair was going on in Kalakaua Park.
Likeke Teanio was playing great Hawaiian music.
HAWAII's 50th ANNIVERSARY OF STATEHOOD IS ANTI-AMERICA DAY IN HILO
The Hawaiians for Independence set up shop in Hilo for Hawaii's 50th Anniversary of its Admission to the USA. They drew a big crowd.
And set up signs.
They gave speeches.
They hung the Hawaii State flag upside down.
They even have their own Kingdom of Hawaii license plates.
Across town at the Federal building there were more protesters.
PAY TAXES, GET FISH
Land taxes are due for Hawaii county today. Apuni Center in Hilo had a bit of a line, but it wasn't too long of a wait. After that, we headed over to get fish at Suisan's fish store which is next to Hilo's Liluoakalani gardens. The gardens were flooded due to high tide.
Then we went into Suisan's store for fish. And found them loaded with fresh fish.
We bought Ono, Salmon, and Ahi and headed home. HILO WORLD HERITAGE FESTIVAL
The folks from POSH put on another festival in downtown Hilo. There was food and dancing and demonstrations. The purpose of the festival was to celebrate the cultural diversity in Hilo. Many organizations from around town had booths. All in all, a great day for a fun festival in Hilo.
SATURDAY FARMER'S MARKET AND FOOD PREP IN HILO
After living in Hilo a couple of years we have gotten into a rhythm of buying our fresh produce once a week. We go early Saturday morning to a farmer's market on Kino'ole street in Hilo. It is set up in a parking lot every Saturday morning from 7-10AM. We like it because the market is small and personable. The vendors there are growing the produce in their backyards and farms - many have day jobs and just do it for extra cash.
This is a great time of year for fresh produce. Our cost for all the produce pictured above was $35: 2 Broccoli spears, a white Puna pineapple, 3 heads of hydrophobic lettuce, 2 bunches of green onions, 6 huge tomatoes, lots of maui onions, 5 papayas, and 3 avocados. Next comes the food prep - a 2-3 hour job every Saturday morning. I like to get it done in the morning because the heat wilts the lettuce, so the sooner everything is washed and stowed away in the fridge, the better.
Since Hilo has some varieties of snails and bugs that can cause health problems (like paralysis, coma and death), every lettuce leaf is inspected while washing. The lettuce is then put on paper towels. Little pieces are set aside in a plastic container for a salad later today. The large pieces of lettuce are wrapped up in a paper towel, put in a plastic bag, and put in the fridge. The paper towel keeps the lettuce from getting limp from the excess water; I usually replace the paper towel during the week. Local lettuce lasts a long time in Hilo, compared to the mainland, because it is so fresh. Mainland lettuce from grocery stores in Hilo prepped in this fashion has never made it a week for me before turning brown.
Green onions are washed and cut for use the rest of the week.
Broccoli is washed and immediately boiled til tender and used in salads the rest of the week.
Papayas and avocados and onions are also washed. They say if you pull the stem out of the avocado (the one on the bottom right is not pulled out) it speeds its ripening. These will take a while to ripen. Next is pineapple prep. White pineapple is hard to find outside of Hawaii and it is delicious.
After cutting off the top and sides, each eye is cut out. It took me a year before I had the patience to cut out all those eyes. Some folks in Hilo are so skilled at it that they create a beautiful design while removing the eyes.
The pineapple is then sliced up. If there are brown spots or critters in it, I cut around them and cube the good pieces. This pineapple was perfect. It is now stowed away in the fridge and will likely not make it through the day. WAITING FOR HURRICANE FELICIA IN HILO
Felicisa has been downgraded to a tropical storm but is still expected to bring rain and winds to the Big Island. The skies are gray today.
Hilo Harbor is empty in preparation for the storm. All the barges and ships were told to stay away until the storm runs it course.
Waves are starting to break over the sea wall. HURRICANE FELICIA IS HEADED TO HILO
Hurricane Felicia is 900 miles east of Hilo and slowly headed our way. The storm is currently a Category 1 with wind speeds of 90 miles, but will likely be downgraded as it hits Hawaii's cold ocean water. High winds could do a lot of damage to Hilo if the large number of oversized trees around town topple and damage roads and power lines. You can track it at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. HILO ORCHID SHOW
This weekend is the 57th Annual Orchid Show and Sale put on by the Hilo Orchid Society. And the flowers are beautiful!
HAWAII STATE OUTRIGGER CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HILO The State Outrigger Championships were held in Hilo on August 1st. The BayFront was mobbed with paddlers from around the State, their Ohana and fans.
Teams were represented from around the State.
Vendor booths sold food, T-shirts and crafts.
The outrigger canoes lined up on one end of Hilo Bay.
The crowds waited at the finish line. The popular event turned Hilo into a parking lot.
HILO PLANT SALE 
Every year Hilo has a huge plant sale in the Edith Kanaka'ole Stadium. The event is very popular because the prices are reasonable, the vendors are informative, and you can find unusual plants and flowers. Folks line up outside to wait for the show to open to nab the rarest of the plants.
Inside the stadium it is full of colorful trees and flowers. We were happy to find a fragrant Allspice tree for $12.
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