I know it’s a bit late, but I wanted to give the contest entrants a chance to see the image first. This is the postcard which I sent out to everyone who participated in the Bakeoff. Thanks again for your submissions!

I have just arrived home from my vacation in Hawaii, and after 3 flights I am VERY jetlagged and wiped out. I’m almost done with the sketch of the next page, and I’ll post it as soon as it’s done. I’m looking forward to more regular updating from now on. =)

Hula Girls from Yamino on Vimeo.

I had the pleasure to walk in on this free hula event, which featured highly talented girls of all ages showing off their hula dancing skills. They are all trained by the same teacher, (the woman playing ukulele and singing in the back) and they compete in nationwide Hula competitions. Cool! (Also, check it out… Not really related, but… Hawaiian Roller Derby Girls!?)

There’s also a very strong sense of cultural pride in this ancient tradition, one of the few that has survived the sad watering-down of the Hawaiian culture due to tourism. There are still many places where you can find more “honest” luaus held by locals that don’t have all the kitch of the touristy ones, and if you are given the chance, you can see some local girls (and sometimes even boys- hula is NOT a girl’s only tradition, despite what a lot of non-Hawaiians think!- showing off their skills in preparation for competitive events and historical celebrations.

This is a video of a hula celebration we stumbled across on our first day on the Big Island.

Hula Girls from Yamino on Vimeo.

This is a video of a hula celebration we stumbled across on our first day on the Big Island.

I think it was in memory of the last Queen of Hawaii. The famous Merry Monarchs played, while a group of young girls performed the hula. The cutest one was this TINY little Japanese-Hawaiian girl, who looked very unsure about what she was doing most of the time, and kept looking to her mom in distress. Aww. There was one older girl who was very smug and had a feisty attitude- when her father (who had been bragging about her to us throughout the performance) told her to smile more, she stuck out her tongue at him. XD

On the subject of Hawaiian musical culture, I bought a few CDs while I was visiting, to round out my family’s Hawaiian music collection. I noticed they don’t have ANY Hawaiian ladies, just IZ and the Cazimero Brothers, who are admittedly probably the most famous contemporary Hawaiian musicians. I wanted to support some lesser-known, but still very talented sistas: Raiatea Helm and Brittni Paira.

Anytime I travel to a foreign country, I try to pick up some local music, particularly in support of women musicians.  We girl artists gotta stick up for each other!  For that same motivation I made the logo and will soon be making the website for Kimly, the musician friend of mine who I recorded with in LA two weeks ago.  I’m looking forward to getting the final cut of our song, so I can post it here! =)

Also, this is unrelated, but too awesome to share. My New year’s resolution will be to do everything I can to make my life more like a Bollywood Music Video.

I’ll leave you with these drawings my brother and I made on a restaurant paper tablecloth. I LOVE paper tablecloths! It turned into something of a conversation/slinging of false accusations in written messages, which the waiters no doubt had fun reading later…

Then, a few days later, we went to the same place, and I drew some Hawaiian girls. (Maybe two of Pele’s many sisters?) I liked them so much, I ripped them off in a huge chunk of tablecloth to finish later. I think I’ll expand it into a big, Hawaiian themed sketch mural.

A concept design for Pele, inspired by my visit to Hawaii. She is the ill-tempered goddess of volcanoes. I think my favorite thing about her legends is how all of them inevitably end with her getting pissed off and killing everyone with molten lava. Fun fact: Pele is the only Hawaiian diety still openly worshiped.

Breakfast: Honey raisin-granola with soymilk and pomegranate. NUM NUM.

We visited a gorgeous place called Place of Refuge. It was once a refuge for Native Hawaiians, and now a refuge for sea turtles. <3 My favorite thing about the beaches here are how you can see exactly how the lava flowed into the water, leaving rippling patterns and cracks.

Tidepools! Always an exciting place to explore! I haven’t gotten to visit one since I lived in California. There was a poor little angelfish stuck in the shallow pools, stranded there since high tide. I also found some crabs and convinced them to pose for some photos! (Well… they were empty crab shells… but still!) I also found some ADORABLE shingle urchins. I can’t get over how cute they are! They look squishy, but they’re hard as a rock…

This talented lady (who I forgot to ask permission for posting her photo online! hence the mosaic, just in case…) was making stone towers on the beach. It’s a lot harder than it looks! Also, some of the neighbors of the beach made their disapproval of tourists and and US colonization clear by flying an upside-down Hawaiian flag in protest. A little awkward, considering this was prominently displayed right next to the beach where all the tourists were gathered… Well, I guess that was their intent.

The birds here are all super colorful. I was lucky to get a pic of this redheaded bid and the bright yellow one in the same shot. They’re so fast and skittish, it’s hard to get a good picture! Also of interest… the most disgusting fruit I have EVER seen. Every part of this plant looks like some kind of nightmarish insect monster. The first picture reminds me of some kind of freakish, toothed worm. Then, the fruits themselves look like a nasty cross between a pine cone and a maggoty larva.

I found a giant spider (about the size of my pinkie) with a very interesting abdomen design. (That’s my brother lurking in the background.) Also, a photo of one of the most common flowers on the island, the plumeria. It has a simple elegance to it, and it smells very sweet, which is why it’s common used to make leis. (Hawaiian flower chains.)

After hitting Place of Refuge, we drove up to the world-famous Kona coffee plantations to buy some Kona coffee. There were some… interesting outlets along the way. (Yaoi fans in particular might appreciate the “Just Ukes” store…)

The Kona coffee itself was exceptional. For myself, I picked out a chocolate-macadamia nut flavored brew. I was sniffing the bag all the way back to the hotel. *___*

Today was EXTREEEEEME. We took the Captain Zodiac tour (lol, check out their charmingly mid-90′s website). I want to KILL myself (and my family!!) for not bringing the waterproof camera. When we weren’t seeing humpback whales and dolphins and manta rays (the latter practically jumped into our speeding boat… jesus! I didn’t know they COULD jump! Those things are the size of a SMALL CAR) we we speeding around on this crazy dingy. If you didn’t hold on with a white-knuckled grip to the ropes, you would definitely have been flung off on some of those hairpin turns. I’ve got rope-burns on my palms and my hands are permanently hardened into claw-like shapes, but it was SO worth it.

We also snorkeled at Captain Cook’s monument, the location where he was murdered by locals when they thought he was trying to kill their chief. Ahh, good times!

Now… it’s time to put on some aloe vera… My sun-deprived alabaster skin is turning blotchy, despite my best efforts. TILL NEXT TIME.

I’m here in Kona! OH MY GOD. SUNLIGHT. I haven’t seen it in half a year! I’m not even really exaggerating, in Belgium I became a night-owl and I slept all day (which was just as well, because right now it’s freezing, grey, rainy, and WINDY) and so it was perpetual night time. Then even in Southern California it was grey and rainy the entire time, although admittedly MUCH warmer. <3

I also have some new artwork I sketched up on the plane. Claire in Arthur de Pins style, Lady Gaga, some hot Indian whose hair loopies are TOTALLY NOT INSPIRED BY KATARA, OMG. Some random island girl, Airplane Boy? A zombie/shaman/ninja character I made for a roleplay a looong time ago, some hairy dude, a Naga (HAHA I’M PUTTING IT ON DEVIANTART. THAT PLACE NEEDS MOAR NAGAS) and Pele, the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess, riding on a lava flow. And yes, I realize now I spelled "Goddess" wrong. D:

My camera was dead until I charged it this evening, so I couldn’t upload any amazing photos, but believe me, there are some AMAZING things to see here… like the insane plants that look like they’re from another planet!? Seriously, there is so much strangeness on Hawaii that the touristy magazines and things never tell you. I plan on sharing all of this as I explore.