Two Sides Of Paradise Draft

    Hawaii's tourism attractions has been making a lot of money for our state, however, all attractions had been covering up a lot of the natural beauty of our islands and it's culture. I know I love going to the beach, and climbing up moutains to see the scenery. But sometimes I just see buildings. What's said to be some magical island get away, Hawaii isn't that different from the mainland. In fact, we're getting worse. So what we need to do now is  make sure we keep a limit to the attractions that hides our islands true self.
     Obviously, the most popular tourist attraction is the gorgeous beaches. Now days, it's getting over crowded where nobody can relax. For example, Waikiki beach is getting amazingly crowded. Ninety-Five percent of locals say that they prefer beaches that are peaceful, without the commotion. Also, with all these tourists on the beach, a bunch of trash is always left behind. Not everyone is responsible. Furthermore, with all these attractions on the beach, some tourists forget  about the true beauty of the beaches here. There are bunches of posters and stands advertisements, most people get distracted.
    Secondly, when attracting more and more people to Hawaii, it's going to be hard for us to make a living. When there's more and more people living in one area, there won't be that much space left and to find a property space will be expensive. Another thing is that prices of the simple things at the stores will rise. With all these new people, most items will be wanted more so stores need to import costing us a little more money. Even though it's only a little bit of extra money, the price will add up to great amounts.
    Lastly,  most tourist don't know whats traditional in Hawaii and what's not. Well, there's different hula interpretations. Some people see posters of people dancing in grass skirts and it they think its only hawaiian. Truth is, it can be most of the Polynesians who dance and dress similar. Each way is still different though. Also, our music has been expressed moderately and different. For example, hula is now using more upbeat music. Traditional hula will mainly use ipu's. The ukulele didn't even originate from Hawaii. Now days people think the ukulele is all Hawaiian when really its not. Locals sometimes get offended by this.
    In conclusion, all these tourist attractions are covering who Hawaii really is. We should try keep traditions going and limit all the attractions. Hawaii just isn't the same without the culture and scenery.

querencia draft

It was five in the morning and I stretched my arms and legs as far as it can go while making a huge yawning noise. As I struggled getting out of bed, I walked into the living room where my mom and dad were getting the fishing poles lined up, making spam musubi's, and packing all our close. Today was going to be the first day I went to portlock.
All our faces still appeared dead. But we all piled into the car and headed off. I remember when we were driving there, I was just about to sleep in the car when suddenly the car comes to a stop in a caldasack. I stepped out and all I saw was houses and a bunch of trees next to them. During this time, the sun came out but it was still dull. We had all our equpiment and gear ready to go. I remember asking my dad "where's the beach?" He just chuckled and said, "follow me."So we all followed him towards a path within the trees. I took every step with caution knowing that it was sort of steep and slippery. Finally we came out from within the trees and we saw beautiful waters where there was life all around the reef. But we weren't at the right spot just yet. I was carefully walking on the reef and holding onto my dad as tightly as I could because I was afraid of falling. As i was walking, I saw tiny fishes peeing out of holes but swiftly swimming away as we approached, the sea urchins where I didn't go near, and felt the waves slowly rising up as I got closer. Finally! We got there and I remember thinking to myself, "nothing much." But then we started fishing and casting out our poles. That's when I felt a sudden tug on my pole. I was reeling it and reeling it as long as I could! My arms felt like it was going to fall off already, I had no more energy. Then my dad helped me reel in the fish and there it was. I caught a big papio and it shined looking as it the fish were made of tin foil. Soon after we started to catch more and more fish! Everyone screamed out "HANAPA'A!" Eventually we all got tired and had a break. My sister and I were drenched in sweat and all we wanted to do is take a dip into the ocean. My mom had a perfect idea.  She took us on the bridge that was about twenty or thirty feet high. My dad took the first jump and boy it looked fun! I was so confident and ready to jump off but when I looked down, I was super nervous and felt the chicken skin on my arms. So my mom placed me on the ledge of the bridge, I closed my eyes and jumped. It was both refreshing and exciting! After I wanted to just keep going and going. Once I jumped in, I ran to the bridge and just kept jumping off again. The day seemed to go by pretty fast, when it was time to go, I didn't want to leave! From this day on, I knew that portlock was a special place. Everyone in my family bonded even more. We were so happy to come back with all those fishes and stories to tell. Every time my dad asks, "where should we go fishing?", I say portlock!

Roots and Recipes Draft

            As a young girl in elementary, I loved spending time with the family at dinner. We’d always enjoy the dinners where everyone, including the kids, would make different and unique things ourselves. My mom always loved going to the sushi bar where they made different sushi that tasted greatest. That’s how she thought of sushi night. When I asked my mom how she came up with this dinner, she said, “This didn’t start from my parent or old relatives like most recipes. It started as I ate culinary sushi at authentic Japanese restaurants.” My mom wanted to know how they made their creations so she experimented herself. Then she came up with a whole variety of sushi. I always craved this special occasion and looked forward to it constantly. Whenever my parents asked my sister and I what we wanted for dinner, we automatically said, “ Sushi night!”

            My mom’s sushi is out of this world. She knows how to pick the perfect combinations that makes you constantly begging for more. It’s hard to even say which one of hers is the best because she knows how to make a variety of creations. Once you walk into the kitchen, you’ll see that our table is full of ingredients we can use to prep our sushi. I wouldn’t know what kinds of things compliment each other. As I watch my mom make hers, she takes out the fresh sashimi. The glossiness of the fish just catches your eye. Like my mom said, “Fresher is better”. Then you’ll see her cooking the sweet tamago in the small, square shaped pan. Her technique to make it seems complicated. She’d pour a little big of prepped eggs at a time. Then she uses the spatula to fold it and press it. Eventually it becomes light yellow, rectangular shaped, and it’s as fluffy as a cloud. After cooking the tamago, she starts making unagi. Unagi is eel smothered with teriyaki sauce. She cooks it on her largest pan. I remember as a child, I ran to the kitchen just so I could see her making it. I was barely tall enough to see over the stove, so I would grab a chair to stand on. Then I could smell the aroma of grilled fish with sweet teriyaki sensation. It’s like no other. You can hear the sizzling of all the fish oils coming off.

            Once she’s done prepping everything, the magic happens! She takes out crisp nori and spreads a tiny bit of rice on the end. Then she layers it with Hamachi, unagi, and ikura. Then rolls it in a cone shape where you can still see some fish sticking out. She makes it like this because she knows these are my favorite ingredients. Then it’s time to eat! Taking a bite into her sushi is hard because it’s stuffed. Once I take a bite, some things fall out because she adds a lot into it. But just taking a bite of the soft sashimi, combined the sweetness of the unagi, and the salty yet sweet taste of the ikura just explodes your taste buds. My mom said “Since the seafood is so delicate and soft, it tastes like butta!” Then I keep asking for more and more until I’m completely full. This new tradition of sushi nights will never be put aside and is always a part of my family. These special kinds of dinners is what keeps us together.   

Roots and Recipes draft

roots and recipes: food choice

Since I was a little kid in elementary, my family always enjoyed thinking of fun ways on how to have our dinner. So somehow we got the idea of having sushi nights on special occasions. The seafood we use for it is textures as if it was butter.My moms sushi is the yummiest. She knows how to combine ingredients perfectly. Combining fresh fish, sweet teriyaki, spices, and other ingredients make it genius. Everything just melts in your mouth. So I decided to do sushi and interview my mom.