August 2006 archive
The Hawaiian word for turtle is honu and they are considered a symbol of good luck in Hawaii. Fortunately, honu are relatively abundant in island waters. They are respected and protected in Hawaii, for the most part. The primary…
Hawaii tiidbits from around the 'Net that we liked. * More Room at the Resort?: Hawaii hotel occupancy drops. Could room rates be stabilizing? * Dangerous Beaches: NYT tackles growing number of drownings in Hawaii (half are local!!!) * SF…
This Big Island beauty fronts one of Hawaii's classic resorts, the angular, elegant and Frank Lloyd Wright-esque Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The sand is quite fine and the surf generally mellow. Due to its strong westerly orientation sunsets are…
This year's edition is finally online. I disagree with a lot of it. In a city of great ethnic and Asian restaurants, its laughable to say that middling Italian spot Auntie Pasto's is the best place to eat on…
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It's almost September and that means time for the annual Aloha Festivals. The biggest cultural festival in Hawaii spanning all the major islands puts on 300-plus events from small-town Hana to big city Honolulu. It started 60 year ago,…
A little known fact -- the Parker Ranch on the Big Island is the largest cattle ranch in the country in terms of total acreage. No surprise, then, that the Big Island is ground zero for high-end beef, lamb…
Far too many of the local bath and body products sold in Hawaii are overly sweet, over-scented and disgustingly cloying, like a cheap tropical perfume. Lanikai Bath and Body avoids that trap and makes sophisticated scents and potions that…
We spent a long afternoon on Bellows Beach in Waimanalo this weekend. It reminded me that this stunning beach is perhaps the most beautiful in the islands. The backdrop is the purple-green Koolau Mountains and the stark cliffs of…
Hawaii food writer Joan Namkoong has been documenting the foods, ingredients and cooking styles of the islands for several decades. She is the consummate Honolulu foodie. Joan (and her publisher Bess Press) graciously agreed to allow Hawaiirama to post…
Browing through Digg, I found this site, called Tropical Storm, that has the lyrics to dozens of Hawaiian songs (as in, sung in Hawaiian language). Super handy for kanikapila or just for learning the words to the tunes you heard…
On the linx at the Mauna Lani Bay Resort, you can cruise the greens in a green machine. Aptly dubbed the "Sun Caddy", this nifty little machine comes courtesy of Berkeley-based Powerlight. I don't know if any other Hawaii…
Getting to Hawaii from smaller cities is usually a costly affair. The extra leg of travel from a non-hub city can really ding you on the trip. American Airlines has some great fares running for out-of-the-way places. Chattanooga to Honolulu…
Hawaii food writer Joan Namkoong has been documenting the foods, ingredients and cooking styles of the islands for several decades. She is the consummate Honolulu foodie. Joan (and her publisher Bess Press) graciously agreed to allow Hawaiirama to post…
This weekend, the Hawaii International Film Festival -- the best film fest you should have heard of by nowi -- holds its second KFEST, putting on eight contemporary Korean films at the Dole Cannery Theaters in Honolulu (in the…
A few select tidbits from around the web. * No Kidding! Dept. : Latest issue of Modern Bride mag sez Hawaii tops for honeymooners...again. Doh! * Hot! Hot! Hot Dept.: Travel & Leisure humorist visits HAVO, chickens out at Pu'u…
I got word that Kona Brewing Company is about to release another beer to the mass market, a porter. They are well known for their award-winning dark beers, although this is the first one they are selling in a…
When people hear that I often fly back to New York City, they all remark on how long a trip that must be. And it is, roughly air miles each way. But for some reason most of them don't seem…
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is reporting that hotel workers in Honolulu just OKd a strike. This woudl happen only if the contentious contract negotiations going on right now grind to a halt and workers decide to walk off. I'd say a…
A reader sent in a question asking me about good bed and breakfast reccomendations. She said that its an area which is difficult for visitors because the quality varies so much and there are so many listed on the…
Hawaii food writer Joan Namkoong has been documenting the foods, ingredients and cooking styles of the islands for several decades. She is the consummate Honolulu foodie. Joan (and her publisher Bess Press) graciously agreed to allow Hawaiirama to post…
Why we love it: No hotels in sight, long enough for a really long stroll or to find some solitude, gorgeous views of Kaho'olawe and Lanai across the channel, generally good for swimming. The only downsides are the surf…
A friend who works closely with some of the film production in the islands told me something very interesting the other day -- which has nothing to do with Hawaii except that it pertains to "Lost", the show filmed here…
Had drinks at Town last night and was surprised that David Maguire was not behind the stainless steel counter spinning yarns and mixologizing. He's been the inspiration behind Town's eclectic and popular cocktail menu. Was told he no longer worked…
Always good to travel too and from Hawaii in September. For mainlanders, great time for good hotel rates. For kama'aina seeking to get off the rock, good air fares. Today's pick. Aloha running a deal to rt Oakland-to-Honolulu or rt…
For good reason, my friend Dave Choo has earned a loyal following among local readers for his Hawaii Business Magazine food reviews. Unlike lots of food writers who love the sound of their own words, Choo doesn't bloviate in…
It's Honeymoon Helper time at Hawaiirama. Each week, we're going to try to save one and possibly a few more honeymoons with timely advice on Hawaii travel with regard to honeymoons. Truth be told, we only got one question…
Katherine Nichols is one of my favorite local writers. Due to the dearth of quality writing gigs in Hawaii, the local in-flights often get top-notch scribes and the quality of the pubs is quite high. In fact, often the in-flights…
In the past two weeks I've had in-depth conversations with two of Hawaii's savviest food experts, restaurateur George Mavrothalassitis and critic John Heckathorn. In both cases, they have essentially written off Waikiki as a place where mass-market chain restaurants are…
Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this serial article. Rather than pour freely, the lava oozes along like an amoeba growing in many different directions, like an enormous lava blob. Small breakout pools of shimmering pahoehoe…
His restaurants, Singha Thai and Chai's Island Bistro, are home to some of the more interesting Thai cooking in Hawaii And Chef Chai Chaowasaree has made a name for himself eating his way around Honolulu as a voracious and…
Outside Magazine ranks Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore number 10 in its annual top list of Outside Towns. We concur but the author of this piece bizarrely suggests new arrivals should paddle out at Kammieland, eschewing the dozens of other…
Aloha and thanks for clicking over. We're going to try to post 3-4 times daily, trending up to 8-12 over time and covering all islands. Think of us as a living, morphing guidebook that, if we do our job right,…
This is almost an obvious one to locals but virtually unknown to visitors, in part due to the untrafficked location of the two stores in Wailuku and Hilo. Sig Zane is a Big Island resident who makes some of…
Both are on the quiet side of Waikiki in the shadow of Diamond Head and far from the crowds of Kalakaua Ave. I love the area, particularly for families into water sports and playing in neighboring Kapiolani Park. Both…
Random items of interest we liked. * Easy Rider on Maui. Peter Fonda bellies up to grinds at I'o. * Bird poop on Captain Cook. Refreshingly honest take on West Kaui from the OC Reg. * Hawaii on the cheap.…
During World War II, the U.S. government feared the ranks of Japanese Americans harbored spies for the Emperor. To contain this "yellow peril", they shipped thousands of Americans of Japanese Ancestry from their homes in Hawaii to a desolate,…
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this serial article. Kaye, who specializes in building maps and collecting data using images snapped by satellites, has spent his time at the Observatory helping scientists draw some of the most accurate…
You've all run into those little pamphlets in a hotel bathroom urging you to hang up your towel and use it another day. That's not enough for the Fairmont Orchid (pictured to the left), a luxe resort on the…
Cupid roams free on Maui. Almost everyone I talk to who has spent time on Maui has a story of a magical night under the stars sipping a glass of amazing vino, noshing on the most sensuous edibles, with…
Aloha to the paddlers and ocean lovers who arrived at Hawaiirama courtesy of the friendly folks at Sea Level! (via Newyorkology) Well, we don't have much outrigger content yet on the site (we're only five days old, after all) but…
We are just about through our first week here at Hawaiirama. I wanted to say thanks to everyone who poked around. We are in the very early stages so things will get better, more in-depth, and more timely as we…
When I visted Maui last month, the Kaheawa Wind Power Farm on a ridge above Ma'alaea was operational and quite visible. The farm can power about 10,000 homes thanks to an average windspeed of 25 mph on that location.…
On a flight back to Hawaii from New York not long agoI happened to sit next to a pair of newlyweds on their way to tropical bliss in the islands. I asked them where they planned to stay. They…
The Valley Isle has 16 hiking trails maintained and marked by the state and about a dozen others inside Halekala National Park, one of the most amazing parks in the world. The majority of these hikes on Maui are…
With the kids heading back to school and summer travel mostly done, we're entering "hump" season for Hawaii. This lasts, roughly from September through the Christmas Holiday Season. And it usually means great deals. Here's our pick for this…
I've stuffed more sushi down my gullet in a faster period of time than any human should have thanks to Ivan Pahk. Pahk is the executive chef at the Sansei Sushi Bar & Restaurant in Kapalua. It's probably the…
(Read part 1) On this evening, the flows have moved within a mile of the end of the road, and hundreds of people are trekking to see them. We see old folks walking carefully over the lava and dads…
A question I get often is: "How hard is it to get around the islands? Is there a ferry?" Nope, no ferry -- at least not yet. Boats do run between Maui and Lanai but only carry passengers. The ride…
T&L contributing editor Tom Austin puts out an entertaining (albeit somewhat hyperventilated) impression of life on the North Shore of Oahu. Me, I've never met any "Hawaiian hillbillies with welding shops in their garages". But his point about how this…
We love to take walks here during the midday hours when Maui is hot. This is a very short hike and should take, with kids, probably, 20 minutes or so. They may want to linger over the rushing stream…
A bipolar world of dark lava fields and green, dense forests unfolds along the serpentine Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii Island. On this evening, Grant Kaye, a geologist near the end of a…
Foodie alert. Most serious gourmands who visit Hawaii have heard of Alan Wong, the James Beard Foundation award winner whose restaurants consistently rank among the best in the country. (Wong cooked with the legendary Andres Soltner of Lutece in…
Call it the bluegrass or country music of Hawaii. Slack-key guitar is finger-pickin' folk music, pure and simple. It's the stuff people play at their backyard jams and it’s the music they heard their parents and grand parents playing.…
This is a long, long right that takes a straight North swell quite well. It doesn't line up as well for a West swell. Also called Lani's, it can get totally huge (double-triple overhead) and remain rideable under the right…
This kids clothing boutique on the North Shore of Oahu has hip Hawaii-themed togs for toddlers and infants, mostly made or designed by local artisans. Gotta love this little outfit for the aspiring hula dancer in your house. They…
I was cheered to hear that Lyon Arboretum had reopened for tours. I was married there at Inspiration Point. Carved out of the steep hillsides at the back of verdant Manoa Valley, Lyon is supremely peaceful and a plant…
