more hukilau silliness

you'd think since i was a bartender i would drink and drink often. truth be told i find myself always serving the drink and less the one drinking it. so when i do enjoy a nice glass of bubbly or the cocktail of choice i quickly go from sober to drunk with little in between. last friday i worked a Harmonique Home (www.harmoniquehome.com) store event and had to get someone to cover my usual friday night shift at Hukilau. i was done by 8 and didn't have the slightest clue what to do with myself. ironically i found myself at the hukilau just on the drinking side of the bar. here are some silly pics from that night.

Weekend in the Wine Country

September 2005
I just had an awesome weekend in the wine country. Kevin planned the entire trip and was able to get us some amazing hook ups -- VIP tastings, tours, amazing accommodations, and a 4 star brunch. Unfortunately I don't have any pics but here the websites to the places we visited.

http://www.chateaustjean.com/stjean/home.jsp
http://www.blackstonewinery.com/1.0.0_home.asp?month=11&day=24&year=1977
http://www.brcohn.com/
http://www.benziger.com/

http://www.chandon.com/default.html
This was an awesome meal. Rated very highly, the setting is beautiful with high arched wood ceilings, simple, clean lined furniture, an open table arrangement and a lovely outdoor area. The quiet interior hosted gracious and attentive servers and the menu didn't disappoint.

Baby Naomi!

Baby Naomi was born Tuesday, Sept 20th @ 9:10pm. She was 8 pounds, 9 oz and 20.5" long. My brother Kenichi and his lovely wife, Susie are the proud parents.

I didn't realize babies lose weight after birth. Apparently she shrank down to 7 pounds 13 oz then started gaining weight normally with Susie breast feeding. The doctors had hoped for a natural child birth but "little sumo", as ken and susie called her while she was in the womb, was on the larger side and wouldn't drop. Even after susie's water had broken, Naomi was still high and hadn't dropped into the pelvis yet. Contractions had started the previous Sunday until finally the water broke Tuesday morning. I don't envy Susie.

She has a six week recovery for the surgery and does a "football" style breast feeding that I didn't know about until now. I guess because the baby can't sit on Susie's belly (due to her stitches and such), susie cradles Naomi sort of under her arm, like a running back would a football and she breast feeds around the side if you will.



Babies are so foreign to me! I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to be an auntie if I just learned what swaddling means!! The latest one they showed me is called the burrito and you just wrap her up... like a burrito. And I'm still not used to it when they cry. Makes me uncomfortable not be able to soothe her. At least you can somewhat reason with a 5 year old. All good things in time I suppose. Maybe one time I'll even be mommy material. Until then I have my work cut out for me as auntie.

She is just so beautiful. She has more hair than I did at 3! And it's soooo silky smooth and her skin is soooo soft. Her nails are perfectly manicured and sharp as daggers, man. My little brother, Kelvin took more pics and posted them here www.variableaspect.com.

Poke Festival

I returned home from vacation in time for Hukilau's 4th Annual Poke Festival. As Eric Tao, one of the owners would brag, it's the only celebration of it's kind on the mainland with a poke recipe contest, a spam musubi eating contest, live entertainment and food. Situated on the corner of Masonic and Geary in SF, Hukilau attracts lots of neighborhoodies as well as island locals alike. For the event, the street is closed in a block party style with an outdoor stage, malasadas, beer booth, our poke judging booths, tiki tiki hawaiian products and plenty of seating for all.



I worked the outdoor beer booth and served from noon into the evening. I was able to see the poke judging and awards and best of all... the spam eating contest.



This is Wendy's poke recipe entry. Next year she plans to knock em dead with her secret display tactic ;-)



Here the spam eating contestants are seating on the stage and given 3 minutes to eat as many musubis as possible. The now 4-time winner, Jeff "the hammer" Cortez won by eating an amazing 7 musubis.



Some of da wahines: Me, Mia Rutiz who also works at Hukilau and my roommate, Julia Dondero.



Some of da kanes: Jon Meneses, a Hukilau bartender, Eric Tao, one of the owners, and Peter Muraoka, one of our loyal regulars from Maui!



Partying into the night: Kevin my girl, Lysha...Ray.

pictures

ryan posted only 200 or so of the 700+ we took here...

http://www.ryanyoshida.com/oahu/index.html

day 8: heading home

we packed the night before so we took our time checking out of the hotel before buying some last minute gifts. we had to gas up the rental car, get some breakfast and then we were off to the airport. we made a couple of important stops though... we stopped at rainbow drive in, a local institution since 1961. we shared two plates -- corned beef hash and a portuguese sausage and egg breakfast special -- a whopping $8. then for desesrt we went to leonard's bakery and ordered fresh, hot malasadas, two for right then and two for the plane ride home. these were SO GOOOOOD. not doughy or overcooked, they were warm, soft and just perfect! i ordered some of the malasada puffs which had a filling -- one with coconut haupia and the other with guava custard, both good but you can't beat the original which was the best.

our flight landed half and hour early and we were home by 9:30pm. all in all it was a fantastic trip with lots of sun and relaxation. the only thing i didn't get to do was visit my auntie amy and see the west side of the island, but that just means i have to go back sometime soon and check it out! after 7 days i was ready to come home.

day 7: go take a hike

"i hiked diamond head and survived!" that's what the tourist T's said on one of the japanese tourists coming down the trail. the 1.6 mile hike from the trailhead to the look out point and back scaled 560 feet. portions of the trail involve steep stairways (163 in total) and a 225ft long, narrow tunnel.





we stopped for lunch at Mr. Ojisans on kapahulu. i had salmon katsu with yakisoba and ry had miso charsiu ramen. then we made our way to aloha tower. we had seen this while driving around the night before and didn't really have a plan for the afternoon. we milled around, shopped for gifts before heading to wards. we thought we could catch a cool, air-conditioned movie but got there too late for many of the showings.

now we're resting at the (airconditioned) hotel room. we'll likely hit the beach one last time before going to dinner at Shogun for sushi night. then maybe the W then maybe meet up with Chris. tomorrow we head home.

day 6: beach day

up at 7, we were at Hanauma Bay (pronouced Ha-Now-Ma -- i learned that during the cheesy orientation video). Both ry and I had been here once before; for him when his sister was still in his mom's belly and for me a loss ass time ago. All i know is I swear I remember feeding the fish which is now banned and has been since 1990 and i don't remember having to watch an orientation video. what amazes me is that even though every person was required to sit through the video to learn about the history of the bay and how to protect it, we saw numerous visitors still doing everything they shouldn't while snorkeling like standing and sitting on the reef. even though we arrived just before 8am, the reserve had been open since 6am with videos every 15 minutes. you take a tram or walk down the service road and can rent snorkel gear, get info from the info booth and/or find your place on the beach.



the idea of renting snorkel gear that someone else has previously used was a bit more than ryan wanted to put in his mouth so we opted to buy a masks from our hotel ABC store and bring them with us. we did rent feetie fins for $4 each which were very helpful.

it took us three tries but we finally made it into the water comfortably and were able to check out the awesome reef fish and sealife. we took pics with an underwater camera which we'll have to develop and post.

we didn't really have a plan for the rest of the days so just hopped in the car and headed back towards waikiki. on the way back we stopped near hawaii kai and visited Christy at Kona Brewing Company for lunch. the koko marina was a pretty setting but the afternoon wind had really kicked up. some of our salad and chips were flying off our plates! friends of mine know I don't drink beer, but mia said that i had to try one of KBC's beers that guaranteed I would like. eager to prove her wrong, i tried the lilikoi beer and was surprised. i actually could see myself ordering and drinking this! ry said probably because it didn't taste at all like beer (which is why i loved it). it was light, sweet and didn't smell. =)



for dessert we made a second trip back to waiola shave ice. i picked a couple of shave ice syrups for lysh and we ordered an ice cream pina colada shave ice. mmm.mmm.good.

then it was more beach time. we found a place on waikiki beach near the sunset at the beach movie screen and laid out for a bit. it was vacation for us, but also a school holiday for local kids which made the beach PACKED with kids and families, especially too since the eva beach little league team was going to be honored with a parade down kalakaua ending at the movie site where we were laying down. the waves were pretty good with plenty of boogie boarders and tubers.

we walked back toward our hotel and camped out right across the street to wait for the parade to come by. all in all there were 7 championship teams for youth baseball teams. local marching bands, sponsor and family members also went by.



since we loved alan wong's restaurant, we wanted to also try the pineapple room by alan wong located in ala moana at macy's.

day 5: recovery

the four of us woke this morning and made our way over to kapiolani park for the okinawan festival.







this was on my list of must do's while in hawaii. i wanted to experience another obon, see the cultural exhibits and eat the food. afterwards, we headed to hawaii kai to drop off mia and stefan at kristy's place. then went back to lanikai beach near kailua. we stayed for a couple of hours in the afternoon sun before heading back to the hotel. dinner was simple, but good. we went to akasaka for japanese food. i had the butterfish misoyaki and ry had the sashimi dinner. so simpo. onolicious. we're turning in early to get an early start at hanauma bay tomorrow morning.

day 4: GAME DAY, baby!

the day ryan has been waiting for for 9 months. the reason we came to hawaii. vacation, sun, beaches, etc were all bonuses. this was the real deal (at least for him).

while he did a fantasy football draft, i picked up, what else but, food. i got breakfast from L&L and okasu from ebisu for our lunch at the game. while out and about the radio annouced that traffic was already bad, the roads having endured an accident every hour since 6:30 causing back logs from waikiki to the stadium. we left around 9:30am a full 3 and a half hours prior to kick off at 1. we only sat down in our seat about 10 minutes to 1pm.

******* (to skip the following rant and stay on a positive note, go to the next set of asterisks)

we have NEVER experienced such awful traffic control as the one surrounding aloha stadium. it took us relatively no time at all to get off at the proper exit, but then we sat for about an hour and a half while traveling the 2 miles from the exit to the stadium. then at the last stop light before the stadium you have the option to go left over the bridge to Ford Island, the overflow parking or to go right toward the stadium parking. you figure, we're nearly 3 hours early, we should be able to get parking at the stadium. so we roll the dice and go towards the stadium as directed by the traffic cops like everyone else. the lane going to ford island was deserted. instead, we make a big, phat circle and end up on the opposite side of the original stop light because the only spaces left are for those with passes. but do they tell you that? of course not. instead you sit for an hour to end up right where you started and feel sorry for all those who have just arrived and haven't been wisely directed and are about to commit the same mistake as you did an hour before. we drive over the bridge to ford island, then have to stand in line to get aboard school bus to be shuttled back to the stadium. by the time we boarded and were on our way, the line to board the bus had more than tripled. ridiculous.

then I started to freak because i realized that I failed to notice any signs about what was allowed into the stadium and what was not. i had already bought our lunches, packed out bags and was going to have an absolute fit if A) I had to throw out the food and/or B) had to ditch my whole backpack. of course, outside food was not allowed in. i'm glad that the security at aloha stadium isn't in charge of homeland security. i basically threw my box of tampons right on top and cruised right in...works everytime (sorry guys if that was TMI). whole experience between our hotel room and when we sat down just sucked. but then it was all good cause it was game day, baby!

********

our seat were nosebleed but the best nosebleed you can get, first row of the top most deck. from the minute we sat down ryan's camera was clicking. in the 4 hours or so he took nearly 300 pictures. t-h-r-e-e h-u-n-d-r-e-d.









i'm no football buff so here's where the story gets weak. there was such high expectations for the number one ranked college football team that i assumed that they would just BLOW AWAY the warriors. where they clearly dominated, it wasn't until the third quarter when they really took the lead and put 28 more points on the board. SC's defense was could have been stronger against the spirited warriors who obviously had nothing to lose and everything to gain against SC. we sat in an USC section which was buzzing with pride and enthusium for their beloved team. the band was right below us and there it was prime for people watching. we saw plenty of eye candy, guys with grass skirts, all kinds of red and gold. secretly, i wanted UH to do ok and am glad that they at least put some points on the board.



on our way home we stopped off at Waiola Shave Ice on Kapahulu and had lilikoi and haupia with custard. yummmm....



then the partying began... we had a cocktail a hula grill while waiting for mia to call. we met ended up meeting her, stefan, kiana, kristy, micah and gang at da dawg house in the international market place. a total dive, they made us stand in line for 10 minutes before we just left. the bouncer was dick and all we wanted to do was drink. we went to the next closest bar which was bobbie g's and made camp. shots of crown later, mia, stefan, ryan and i ditched the rest of the group and walked to lulu's for more drinks before retiring to our hotel. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves. we had a raging good time.

day 3: the driving tour

we were inspired by www.alternative-hawaii.com/byotgdxo.htm. i modified the route slightly and off we went. we started by picking up some okazu at ebisu's catering service on king street. this may sounds cheeky, but it's the first thing we did that I didn't feel like a total tourist. this random to go place was like a combination of take out dim sum, but japanese in nature. there was beef teri, ume filled musubi's, teri chicken, chow fun, chow mein, japanese veggies (the kind that i only eat during new years), hash, shrimp tempura, etc. they wrap it all to go and you go on your merry way.



our first destination was ranked one of the best beaches in the world by the travel channel: Lanikai beach. on the way, we stopped at the pali lookout off for amazing views of kaneohe and kailua. Lanikai beach was just GORGEOUS. way less crowded than waikiki, we spread out and enjoyed our okazu on the beach. afterwards we enjoyed the water and sun for an hour or so before heading out.



we checked a bunch of beaches along the east and north shore including... HUKILAU beach! Nothing fancy, but we had to stop, just so I could take a pic next to the beach sign of the beloved restaurant I work for.



we also stood on the sands of the north shore where famed surfers come during the winter months to tackle the banzai pipeline and its waves. then i saw a real, live honu! just chillin' on the beach.



our last stop before heading back to the hotel was the Dole Plantation. it was sort of like a mini-disney like experience. the word dole was planted in the front, flags were flying; if you wanted th full tour, there was a train that ran throughout the plantation and you could go into the world's largest maze with over miles of pathways surrounded by hawaiian greenery. of course, it wouldn't have been complete without ...



tonight we have reservations for Alan Wong's then we'll be off for drinks at the W hotel. in what looks like a quiet office building, we walked off the third floor elevator for our 9pm reservation to a bustling restaurant. the noise level was high with what seemed like an 80% USC crowd. the bar was full and the entryway overflowing with people waiting for a table. thankfully we had made reservations and were seated immediately. the staff was very courteous and friendly but the tables a bit crowded. we felt a little like were were in our own little bubble with customers and waitstaff flirting all around us. in every direction a trojan fan could be spoted wearing some sort of USC paraphenalia. the menu was varied and almost overwhelming, filled with tons of seafood options which all looked yummy. tempted to just order pupus since there were so many that look good, we ended up going the traditional route with a starter and entree. we started with tempura ahi rolls as recommended by our server jason. they were rare on the inside and lightly battered and deep fried with a yummy soy mustard sauce. my meal was good, a twist on the spanish paella, hawaiian style but ry's meal was frickin amazing. he had mochi encrusted opakapaka which was lightly crispy and melted in your mouth.... SO GOOD. for dessert we shared a coconut sorbet. so so. from all we've read and what we experienced this was as good as fine dining gets in hawaii. we're somewhat jaded since we eat so well in SF regularly but overall the food was great and the service delightful. highly recommended.



Mia and Stefan fly in tonight and we'll be meeting up with them tomorrow after the big game.

day 2: tourist for a day

still on mainland west coast, we woke at 7am and milled around until 9 when we could finally step and head to the mall. oh yeah, go on vacation and head to the mall, baby.

Ala Moana shopping center (www.alamoana.com) was impressive and we headed straight to Nieman Marcus to enjoy an early lunch at Mariposa. we had called to make a reservation earlier, but the first available time was 4pm. taking our chances, we walked up right when they opened at 11 and we were able to sit right down. we asked for an outside table and ry commented that it felt like sitting on top of macy's in union square at the Cheesecake Factory but so much prettier. everyone was served delicious popovers with pineapple papaya butter and a chef's treat of a clear broth soup. i ordered a glass of champagne and a grilled ahi sandwich, but ry outdid himself and ordered up a $21 lobster club sandwich that was TOTALLY worth it. so good. stuffed, we pounded the pavement and did some good ol' shopping.



check out onokinegrindz's review and pics of the mariposa from July 17th this year at onokinegrindz.com.

next we headed to Iolani palace and the king kamehameha I statue. the highlight was ry playing judge in the old courtroom.





then we drove to the USS Arizona memorial. sadly, we got there a tad late and missed the last ferry to the actual museum but still got some good pics from afar.



for dinner we made reserverations at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel's Plumeria beach house. it was just lovely. the view was gorgeous, the food good and the atmosphere relaxing and serene. we enjoyed the spring rolls for starters, ry had the furikake encrusted salmon and i had the pot roast but the real treat was dessert. we had the mud pie, baby. so good.



earlier in the day we had called peter's brother to see if he wanted to hang. we wanted to thank him for hooking us up with his friends and family discount at our hotel. we met at Neptune's Garden bar for a couple cocktails then headed to side street inn and restaurant for more cocktails. nothing fancy, this place is known for their pork chops and is a favorite hang out amoung local chefs not to mention where peter and chris can be found every night peter's in town visiting. after all the hype, we had to come see it ourselves =).

day 1: chillin'

my long overdue summer vacation: SFO to HNL to get some R&R and see the USC vs. UH opening day football game http://usc.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=449804.

the hotel clock says it's only senior citizen hour but i'm woofed. we woke at 6am, boarded the plane at 9, landed 5 hours later...noonish Hawaii time, picked up the rental car and drove straight to Aloha stadium for the Swap Meet. here we got fun omiyage and gift for friends and family while not denting the wallet too badly. you did have to weed through a bunch of crap but there were some good finds.



thanks to my friend peter, who is originally from maui, we were able to get a friends and family rate at the pacific beach hotel (http://www.pacificbeachhotel.com/) through his brother who still lives and works in the area. the pac beach, as he calls is, is familiar to many of my local friends... either they used to work here over summer tourist season like my friend shannon or they had their prom here like my girl, lysh. oh yeah, the 280,000 gallon, 3-story oceanarium tank in the hotel sans the smell would be very cool.


ry and i don't feel japanese enough. it seem that 80% of the guests in the hotel are japanese tourists.



the best part is the beach is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. you can't get much better than that. I'm looking forward to enjoying brunch on the beach one day and a saturday or sunday evening movie on the beach.

no need for a jacket or sweater round here. the humidty hugs you and keeps you warm all day and night long.

after getting situated in our room, we were off... exploring the beach and immediate surrounding area on foot. our new favorite joint is ABC store. Somewhat like a 7-11 and about as common as a Starbucks in seattle; literally on every block.

ry was feeling like he was coming down with a cold so our next mission was to find airborne or emergen-C vitamin supplements to pump up his immunity. it's no fun to be sick on vacation! we chilled on the beach for a bit and got some over due R&R before heading back to the hotel room to shower and change for dinner.

we walked east to Duke's in the outrigger hotel http://www.dukeswaikiki.com/. the wait was long and the bartender somewhat of an ass. we could have waited the over hour wait to get seated but ended up walking off after a couple cocktails at the bar and 45 minutes later.

wandering back, we ended up at Lulu's waikiki bar and grill (http://www.luluswaikiki.com/) and had some grinds. it felt like the senor pepes of mexico or the TGIFriday's of the bay area. OK food, but on the cheesy, only OK quality side. All we knew was that we were hungry and getting tired. the time change and heat were getting to us and we were ready to call it an early night.

now i'm prep'ing for the days ahead. basically, planning around meals. anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE TO EAT. seriously, each day could be planned around what restaurants I'd like to try and food I'd like to eat. Tomorrow I think we'll head to Ala Moana shopping center, maybe have lunch at Nieman Marcus' Mariposa and do some touristy things in the surrounding areas.

oh yeah, mia: thinking of you. thanks for working my shift tonight at hukilau. i know that means a brutal double for you. can't wait until you get here on Friday so we can celebrate Kiana's bday. Cheers, kimi