May Theme of City Exchange

Where are you? Visiting a circus-city on another planet? Who lives inside this colorful, mysterious city?

Did you think you clicked on Wailea Daily Photo? Did you imbibe something which is making you feel a bit unbalanced? Why is one photo tilted?

You're not crazy. You've simply discovered the monthly May theme of the Daily Photobloggers which is to pretend your photo is in another city. Check out all the participants listed below and see if you can tell where they're located!





Monte Carlo, Monaco -
Rome, Italy -
Singapore, Singapore -
Tenerife, Spain -
Rotterdam, Netherlands -
London, UK -
Montréal (QC), Canada -
Melbourne, Australia -
Naples (FL), USA -
Bastia, France -
Hong Kong, China -
Mazatlan, Mexico -
Buenos Aeres, Argentina -
Manila, Philippines -
Arradon, France -
Madison (WI), USA -
Evry, France -
Seoul, Korea -
Shanghai, China -
Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia -
Sequim (WA), USA -
Singapore, Singapore -
Budapest, Hungary -
Baziège, France -
Hamburg, Germany -
Toruń, Poland -
Nelson, New Zealand -
Madison (WI), USA -
Vantaa, Finland -
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -
Mainz, Germany -
Dubai, UAE -
Saint Paul (MN), USA -
Cork, Ireland -
Stockholm, Sweden -
Menton, France -
Tel Aviv, Israel -
Albuquerque (NM), USA -
Kitakami, Japan -
Stayton (OR), USA -
Szentes, Hungary -
Stavanger, Norway -
Grenoble, France -
Villigen, Switzerland -
Paris, France -
Hyde, UK -
Moscow, Russia -
Joplin (MO), USA -
Jakarta, Indonesia -
Greenville (SC), USA -
Cape Town, South Africa -
Asheville (NC), USA -
Seattle (WA), USA -
Kyoto, Japan -
Tokyo, Japan -
Madrid, Spain -
Auckland, New Zealand -
Oulu, Finland -
Lubbock (TX), USA -
Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina -
Baton Rouge (LA), USA -
Sydney, Australia -
Maple Ridge (BC), Canada -
Vancouver, Canada -
Seattle (WA), USA -
Selma (AL), USA -
Chandler (AZ), USA -
Sharon (CT), USA -
Manila, Philippines -
Lyon, France -
New York City (NY), USA -
Los Angeles (CA), USA -
Brookville (OH), USA -
Hayle, UK -
Wailea (HI), USA -
Saarbrücken, Germany -
San Diego (CA), USA -
Boston (MA), USA -
Saint Louis (MO), USA -
Cypress (TX), USA -
Anderson (SC), USA -
Torino, Italy

Another Maui Waterfall

Am I boring you yet with waterfall photos? I can't seem to get enough of waterfalls myself! There are so many beautiful ones on Maui that I keep clicking away whenever I see another one, be it real or man made! My ideal swimming pool would have a waterfall in the pool design with a grotto.

There are NO ORDINARY people!

For many, many years I've watched this old man perform his school crossing duty with dedication and passion. He probably won't quit until he dies. I don't know his story, but I do know this: he's special and non-ordinary as ARE WE ALL!

Dinner Party with Our Tibetan Ohana

Last evening my partner and I hosted a dinner party for our Tibetan friends. Two of them are monks who live in Dharamasala, India and who journeyed here as part of the Dalai Lama entourage. They came to our dinner party dressed like locals and not wearing their traditional robes. One of them is the main cook for the Dalai Lama; of them is a famous Lama; one of them is the niece of this Lama who lives in San Francisco, California, and the other one is her best girlfriend; one of the boys is a local boy (the one with the curly hair), and other one is the son of one of the Tibetan ladies. Three of them share the name Tenzin which is a popular Tibetan name in honor of the Dalai Lama whose name is Tenzin. Sweeter, more gracious, happy people you couldn't imagine. We are blessed to be considered their friends.

Ohana is an Hawaiian word which translates to extended family. Five of these people photographed here we have known for many years and share much personal history and many good times, both here in Hawaii and in India.

Real Estate Reflections

This is the window of a prominent realtor in Paia, and I like the slogan. Depending upon whom you talk to, real estate sales on Maui are either up, down, or holding steady.

D is for the Dalai Lama On Maui

Sorry to make you wait about the "D" word, but it's been a crazy last two days with the historic visit of the Dalai Lama to Maui. I've risen early both mornings and have had long days at events. I posted about this visit of the Dalai Lama on another of my blogs: Who's Yo Mama, and I plan to post more today!

Short story: Four of us were invited to have a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama last year (2006), and we traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in McLeod Ganj (Dharmasala) India to experience a 45 minute audience with him. At the time, I was asked to invite the Dalai Lama to visit Maui which he had never done before by Georgiana, the main lady who runs the Maui Dharma Center in Paia along with Lama Gyaltsen.

I did as I was asked, and lo and behold...one year and one month later, here is the Dalai Lama on Maui which is probably the biggest event which has ever happened to Maui. My emotions have been bubbling over with bliss! Can you tell I'm a huge fan?

The visit of the Dalai Lama to Maui was accompanied by many rules: no cameras, cellphones, videorecorders, etc....all of which I obeyed. However, I noticed many people breaking the rules of cameras, and so they photographed him and didn't get busted. However, I played by the rules, and thus, I don't have any photos of him on Maui. Oh well....

The photo was taken at the Main Temple at McLeod Ganj (Dharmasala) India in March 2006. It is an intricate butter carving, and I think it's amazing.

Water and Emotions

Today is a very BIG day. I'll write later about why! The clue is the letter 'D'.

Keeping Maui Litter Free

To keep our Hawaiian Island highways beautiful and free from litter, a project called Adopt A Highway is ongoing and sponsored by businesses. This one is sponsored by Roy's Restaurant in Kihei, an upscale restaurant which I have featured before in this blog.

Windmill at Maui Tropical Plantation

This windmill is a landmark on Maui and is on the grounds of the Maui Tropical Plantation, a sixty-acre working plantation which offers tours, a gift shop, tasty samples and a venue for weddings and banquets.

I took a lot of photos of this windmill, but this one is my favorite.

Hiding From The Monster: An Oldie And Goodie

Recently I went through all my piles of photo albums searching for five funny photos to contribute to a photo contest. This is one of the ones I picked, and I decided to share it with you today because I think it's so precious. I was at the right place at the right time to catch it. I love it when that happens! More often than not, I miss the moment!

Real or Unreal?

I've fallen in love with reflective surfaces because of the artistry of many of you daily photo bloggers who capture the most gorgeous reflections in your photos! So everywhere I travel around these days, I search out photo ops for reflections. This week I discovered a sign in the window of a business which was provocative in this respect: the palm trees are embedded in the sign while the trees reflecting from the sign are real.

Lift Me Higher

These flowers on the Golden Flower Tree are blooming all over Maui now with such splendor it takes your breath away! I took this shot yesterday even though I have many, many photos of this gorgeous tree, but I like the angle of this shot. If you want to see more photos of the Golden Flower Tree by others, click here.

Polarity

As I wrote in the last post, these are REAL people who elected to pose as mannequins. They were amazing because they could hold their pose despite others attempting to provoke them to twitch! I actually know these two!

Student of Ming

Ok, I've enlarged the photo per Ming's instruction! However, I don't see any option for Minima Stretch! Where the heck is that option on Blogger? I see plain, blue, and black options for Minima and ZERO Stetch Minima! I want my photos really big too! Grrr....the learning curve is still so steep! Will I EVER arrive?

The Outsider Wants In

Every morning the gang of Indonesian Sparrows show up at our birdfeeder eagerly partaking of the bird feed we put there for them. These photos only give you a small glimpse of the huge numbers of this gang, as I would need a different vantage point with a wide angle lens. If you can imagine... the tree limbs are packed with these sparrows.

The Outsider--the Red Cardinal--really wants to join in for breakfast, and every now and then he makes his move to the feeder. However, he is chased away by the gang of sparrows, and so he lurks, watches, and perhaps plans....

Here is a link to learn more about these sparrows with an excellent close-up of one of them.

The last time I posted about these sparrows was in October of 2006, and when I went to look for more information about them in Google (just now!), I found that Wailea Daily Photo was the second entry about these sparrows. I know it may sound weird to some of you, but it gives me hope that I am making a contribution! :-)

Recently I came across gorgeous vintage photos of young Hawaiian women taken by early photographers to these Hawaiian Isles, and a shiver ran up my spine with resulting 'chicken-skin'. Perhaps someday our seemingly insignificant photos of our homes, cities, and villages will have a similar impact upon generations to come, and they will marvel at our photos.

Wailuku Churches And Free Food

These photogenic old churches are all in an area of Maui called Wailuku. On Sunday many of them offer free food to the hungry and homeless. The homeless don't have it quite as bad as their counterparts in the big cities because there is always some fruit to pull off a tree in a pinch....plus it's warmer. Many of the homeless on Maui have jobs but still can't afford the high housing costs and rentals.

Blowing On The Conch

I don't know if it's been the Anna Nicole Smith or Don Imus news overload that pushed me over the edge this morning, but when I opened my email and found one more post about being tagged for the "Thinking Blog" award, this is all it took! I woke straight up without even one cup of coffee because the stupidity of this tagging had just pushed me over the.......edge!

So this is what I want to share today: I've been attempting to showcase Maui in all it's many aspects through the time I've been blogging here, and it's curious to me to see if others respond to 'images' that aren't 'typical' or necessarily beautiful or 'expected'. Today I'm posting what would probably be termed a 'beautiful' image--a gorgeous statue outside the King Kameahameha Golf Club, no doubt an expensive item. However, I plan to continue posting photos of your everyday non-glamorous, non-tourist-y images. The concept here is to go for diversification and authenticity. Thus, this blog won't always have a picture-perfect glow to it...it won't always be the best photo in the world...it won't appeal to those who prefer to always look at another awesome beach scene with a palm tree or a great big huge crashing wave. But it will be MY view of Maui, my sense of offering the truth as best I see it. Therefore, sometime in the near-future, it may get pretty nitty-gritty. Just warning ya'll! This Maui Paradise isn't always going to look like a perfect postcard.

Conch shells are blown to make announcements and/or to begin ceremonies. If you would like to know more about blowing the conch, click here.

Red, White, and Blue...and Round!

Last year (2006) this open market was built with kiosks inside selling touristy, Hawaiiana products, etc. At first, the top was merely covered by a roof, and then one day, the billowing red, white, and blue sides were added--I'm guessing because of the winds. You can view how the wind is making the sides puff out! I rarely drive down South Kihei Road and not see this 'puffing' which always amuses me. I laugh at so many things because there are so many funny things in this world...all one has to do is look around!

Technorati Tags:Daily Photo Blog, Wailea Daily Photo Blog,Maui photos, Hawaii photography

"Freedom" Arrives At Last

This past week we excitedly scurried over to the Shops at Wailea to fetch our long-awaited painting, "Freedom", from the Lahaina Galleries.

We had ordered the above painting titled "Freedom" by "The Twins" many months ago, but it was being matted, framed, and whatever else is done to fine artwork before it was ready for us. These famous artists are really twins, Alessio & Marcello Bugagiar, and they BOTH work on each piece. Their artwork is amazing, and we are delighted to acquire this particular one as we are horse lovers to the max!

To learn more about "The Twins", click here.

Maalaea Marina

Many more people would purchase yachts or sailboats on Maui were there boat slips to park them. However, the situation is this: the fairly small marinas are full! These are two photos of South Maui's Maalaea Marina.

Help Wanted On Maui by MacDonalds and Others

There is such a need for workers of all kinds on Maui that MacDonalds is rumored to be paying $10 an hour and shipping people in from elsewhere to work for them.

Employers desperately need employees, but the reason they can't find them is because the cost of living on Maui is so high that most people can't afford to live here!

How To Follow A Maui Firetruck

So the story goes like this:

We're minding our OWN business and threading our way through a parking lot when we come upon a canary yellow Maui firetruck parked in our way.





We go around the firetruck, and I take a photo of the cute fireman who smiles at me and gives me a shaka. This photo is rather dark, but if you look closely, you will see the smile.



We continue on our merry way...drive up one street, hit the Piilani Highway...and whaddya know...there's the SAME firetruck with it's lights blazing crossing in front of us! Destiny strikes again, and there you have it....our big excitement of the day.


And the answer to the title of this post is: By Accident!

If you want to know more about Maui firemen, read this historical data. They've come a long way!

Breezing Along On Easter Sunday

My plan was to take a much needed blogging break over the Easter weekend, but I couldn't resist sharing this happy dog enjoying the breeze with its head out of the car window.

Once again, Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Weekend

I'm uploading a photo early tonight because I realize most of you are up and around before I even awaken on Maui. I know this photo isn't 'traditional' like flowers are for Easter, but I really like it, so I'm posting it. May all experience a lovely Easter weekend full of joy!

Backyard Friend

Ming The Merciless posted a question on his New York City Daily photo blog about what kind of animals are in our own backyards or something like that. So here is my photo of a hiding spider for Ming...and for all of you! Can you see it and it's web? The spider has taken a bit of white thread and woven it into the web for some special reason which only spiders know. Isn't that funny? Spiders blend very well with their environment, and the strands of their web are very strong. I've tried spraying water on some spider webs who were in the wrong place, such as our walkway which isn't so much fun to walk into, and these strands withstand a strong water spray! You have to take a broom or rake or something else to break the strands! As far as I know, we don't have any deadly spiders in Hawaii, although spiders were recently featured on the Lost television show filmed in Hawaii which were extremely deadly!

Here's a link about how special Hawaii spiders are!

Self Portrait

I told Kate of Mazatlan Daily Photo when I hit 200 posts for Wailea Daily Photo I would post a self portrait, and then the 200th post came and went before I realized it! Today will be my 204th post for the Daily Photoblogs! So I'm late, but I'm what is called on Maui, "Maui Time". Everybody always seem to run late on Maui--it's expected! I've attempted to shoot some rather artsy, mysterious photos of myself. I have more, but I think two is enough! :-)

Thank you all so much for being such a great community of photobloggers, for your visits, and comments. I can hardly believe I've already done 200 posts! On the other hand, my senior blog, Who's Yo Mama? is celebrating her 300th post and third year birthday today. So you see I've been posting at a much more rapid pace here and growing posts so quickly that Wailea Daily Photo will be a teenager before I realize it.

Saint Teresa

This statue sits besides the St. Teresa Catholic Church in Kihei. If you're interested, here is a link to information about St. Teresa.

You will notice the distinctive Hawaiian touch with our local St. Teresa as she is holding a colorful Hawaiian lei--fake flowers, of course. Nevertheless, I think this makes for a striking photo, don't you?

Ready For Surf Lessons On Maui?

Maui is well known for surfing, and there are baby-beaches for beginners. In South Kihei's Kalama Park, trucks park with surf boards to rent with surf lessons at the nearby small-wave surfing beach. If you take to this sport and become really good, then you move to the North Shore and the famous JAWS!

Full Moon Over Maui

Today is the Full Moon in Libra, and so I'm featuring a nearly Full Moon photo I took two nights ago outdoors on our deck as the moon was growing. The weather at night on Maui has been cool and breezy, and the palm fronds have been clacking in the breeze. I use the word "clacking" for the sound of the palm fronds because there is no other word to describe the sound the palm fronds make, especially at night when the other sounds have died down. We have six large coconut palms on our property which make lovely clacking music together when the winds blow, or they could be chattering to each other as per the definition of 'clacking' noted below.

Definition of clacking from The Free Dictionary:

v. clacked, clack·ing, clacks

v.intr.

1. To make an abrupt, sharp sound, as in the collision of two hard surfaces.

2. To chatter thoughtlessly or at length.

3. To cackle or cluck, as a hen.

v.tr.

To cause to make an abrupt, sharp sound.

n.

1. A clacking sound: the clack of an old-fashioned typewriter.

2. Something that makes a clacking sound.

3. Thoughtless, prolonged talk; chatter.

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