There’s an area on Oahu where locals go to enjoy dining out in an array of diverse ethnic styles. A few of the restaurants are considered to be among the best on the island, although only one of them is especially well-known, widely reviewed and promoted to visitors.
The area is called Kaimuki. The area was known for the many ovens used to bake ki, or ti roots, into a sweet food similar to candy. (The proper Hawaiian pronunciation is Ka-imu-ki, which translates to "ti root oven.")
Kaimuki used to be King Kalakua’s ostrich farm, and those birds roamed wild over the Koolau mountainside during his reign. It later became the site of the state’s carnation farm for funeral flowers, and now it’s mostly for residences, with small service businesses and restaurants lined along the main drag, Waialae Avenue, and its cross streets.
And, oh, what restaurants they are!
The area is reached from Waikiki by car via the H-1 Freeway Koko Head exit. A left on Koko Head Avenue takes you directly into Kaimuki. It’s also easily reached by bus.
Directly ahead of you on the right side across Waialae Avenue is the star of the show — the restaurant you’ll hear about if you haven’t already: 3660 on the Rise. Multi-award-winning owner-chef Russel Siu is renowned for his innovative Euro-Island cuisine and lavish desserts.
But throughout the neighborhood there’s a crazy quilt of choices: Hog Island uses a special in-house smoker to cook meat slowly; the brisket and pulled pork are cooked for 14 hours or so. Ikakawa Nonbei is about as close to visiting Japan’s classic folksy taverns as you can get. Dee Thai is an affordable, comfortable place, with some of the best Thai food in town. La Bamba is an old-school Mexican place that keeps things straightforward. The Fat Greek, Ono Hawaiian Food, Sabrina’s Italian Restaurant, Kim Chee II, Duk Kee Chinese Restaurant and India Café serve what their names suggest.
You get the idea. It’s an amazing assortment, all within a few blocks of each other.
If you’d like to explore the Kaimuki area or visit one or more of its resident restaurants, pick an agent from the Hawaii-Aloha Web site (Hawaii-aloha.com) or call 1-800-843-8771. We’ll make sure you get everything covered.
Posted by Jm Winpenny
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February 6th, 2009
It happens. The old standby gets accused of being trite, boring, no longer fashionable.
Compared to the other islands, Oahu is still holding its own, but now it seems to be cool to downgrade it. Waikiki is too “touristy.” Honolulu is a big city now, with the inevitable traffic, industrialization and loss of the Aloha Spirit.
Okay. Maui has been called “the world’s greatest island.” It has the amazing Haleakala, the charm of Hana, the history of Lahaina, the lure of the Iou Needle and the resorts of Kaanapali.
Kauai has an abundance of natural wonders and great resorts. The Big Island has its volcanic action, enormous variety and even greater resorts. Molokai and Lanai have their intimacy and peace.
They’re all terrific. But never shortchange Oahu. Oahu is a big island, too, stretching ‘way beyond Waikiki and Honolulu. And Waikiki and Honolulu embody most of the things you envision when you first consider Hawaii for a vacation.
Waikiki is where the action is. The entertainment is first-class. A lot of the acts have been at it for a quarter of a century; newer ones are laced with high tech and imagination. World-class performers appear in Waikiki or Honolulu regularly. The beaches in Waikiki are everything you’ve seen and read about. The shopping is top-drawer.
Honolulu is almost as historical as (and perhaps more interesting than) Boston or Philadelphia. Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial should not be missed if you’re going to come to Hawaii.
The outer areas — the North Shore, Windward Oahu, East Oahu and the emerging West Coast with its “Second City” of Kapolei are all worth your time.
Seasoned visitors to Hawaii would offer you a suggestion like this:
On your first visit, do Oahu. If you have time, then take in a neighbor island or two. On your next visit, do a day or two in Waikiki to see what’s new, then do the neighbor islands.
When you consider the entire picture, spending your entire vacation on a neighbor island can be restricting. Think of a smorgasbord and spending the entire evening at the salad bar. However much you might love salads, there’s a whole lot more for your table.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
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February 2nd, 2009
Here in Hawaii, many of us look forward to occasions during which we can drink with our friends, meet new friends and celebrate … well, practically anything. We gather around flat-screen TVs in early-opening bars first thing in the morning to catch sporting events (especially major ones or University of Hawaii games) that are staged in the afternoon on the East Coast. One drink leads to another and we find ourselves, after hours of embibing, abandoning our cars in the evening and taking cabs or calling willing, sober friends. Sporting events held locally — of almost any importance — can lead to boozy afternoons or evenings. And it’s really easy to overindulge at family luau.
Just as happens where you live, hangovers follow. There are, of course, the universal cures: The hair of the dog, having sex, hydration, aspirin, vitamins, sleeping it off, sweating it out, or simply waiting for it to pass.
Several enterprising restauranteurs in Honolulu have menu items they purport will do wonders for your hangover. Here’s an example:
The award-winning Alan Wong has a restaurant called “The Pineapple Room by Alan Wong” inside Macy’s in Oahu’s Ala Moana Shopping Center. Wong has created, recommends — and offers — a concoction he calls “Kalua Pig Hash.” It’s a pile of fried rice topped with a kalua pig (shredded pork) hash patty with two eggs (any style), surrounded by a rich veal jus. Many who have tried it claim it works, and is delicious. Fortunately for sufferers, the restaurant opens for breakfast.
Other local restaurants serve up things like bone broth soup with tripe, buckwheat soba, and the ubiquitous Spam musubi in the interest of curing your hangover.
If you’re going to be vacationing on Oahu and plan to partly a little, you might want to make a note of this Web site: honolulu.metromix.com. It lists (with photos) ten dishes on restaurant menus that come recommended for mornings after. You might find you need one before hitting the beach one morning — or more often.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
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January 23rd, 2009
Kailua is a bedroom community on the windward side of Oahu. It’s not touristy (although nearby Lanikai Beach is considered to be among the world’s best), and the residents go about life well insulated from the attractions of Waikiki and the clutter of Downtown Honolulu, which are "over the hill" from the Windward communities — a 40-minuute drive at rush hour.
Kailua is where President-elect Barack Obama is staying during his family’s Christmas vacation. Although his accommodations can hardly be considered "modest" (It’s a $7 million estate on the ocean), his vacationing lifestyle is notably ordinary. He has, indeed, been spending the bulk of his time with his family and visiting with old friends. Throughout his stay, Obama has kept his profile low, although he has moved freely though the community — visiting with his family the Sea Life Park attraction and stopping at a local shopping center for a little shave ice . He spent an hour or so with Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Christmas night but he hasn’t held any public rallies or spoken to any groups. No public events of any kind are scheduled.
Mornings (except Christmas) he has worked out at the Marine Corps Base and gone golfing with friends from Punahou School and visiting from Chicago. He golfs at local Windward courses, eschewing the exclusive and the famous courses on the island such as Waialae or Ko Olina.
Local officials are gushing. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said, "I’ve been very pleased and couldn’t be happier that the president-elect chose to spend so much time in the Islands. This is a significant part of his upbringing, and it reaffirms his affection and his ties to this place."
And Governor Linda Lingle said, "Hawai’i residents are proud of President-elect Obama’s local roots and the higher profile his election has afforded our state. The president-elect faces many challenges in the coming weeks and months, and the people of Hawai’i are proud that the Islands can provide him with an environment in which he feels comfortable and at home as he prepares to take office."
Military personnel are particularly pleased with the president-elect’s demeanor and approachability.
During two earlier visits to Oahu this year, he didn’t have any public appearances that involved greeting service members, but this time Obama is connecting with them. On December. 21, his very first morning here, he left the gym at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and offered a salute to a couple of Marines in uniform standing nearby. He has returned to the base to work out almost every day since. Word spread quickly around the base that Obama shows up almost every day between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. Secret Service agents in aloha shirts arrive early and start searching people in the area, then the crowd seems to grow with each passing minute. Inside the gym, people tend to respect Obama’s workouts, but they aren’t shy otherwise about asking for photos or trying to shake his hand.
On Christmas, Obama went to the hall where mostly single Marines and sailors had gathered for a meal of ham, turkey and mashed potatoes. "I just wanted to say ‘Hi,’" he said, moving among the tables. A lot of the marines and sailors stood to greet him as he thanked them for their military service. He then returned to the rented beachside compound for a Christmas meal of turkey and ham.
For the record, here’s a typical vacation-day wardrobe for the president-elect: sunglasses, a white shirt, khaki shorts, white and brown golf shoes, and a red baseball cap emblazoned with the City and County of Honolulu’s Ocean Safety logo.
Ho-hum. Just another mainland vacationer. As we say, "Ain’ no beeg t’ing."
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Your Bloggers Side Bar:
President-elect Obama made a point of stopping for some shave ice at a local shopping center near his vacation residence. Shave ice is a year-round treat all local residents grow up with in the islands, and a treat they dearly miss when they’re away for any length of time.
The summer months, wherever you live, often bring stands that offer snowcones, snowballs, icies or some other form of crushed ice over which flavored syrups are poured. In most cases, the syrups drain quickly to the bottom of the conical container where they can be slurped up through a straw before the ice itself is attacked with a plastic or wooden spoon.
Hawaiian shave ice is a little different, and we who live here think they’re a lot better. With special ice shaving machines, ice blocks are shaved to a very fine consistency that results in a light and fluffy product. The syrups — there are countless exotic tropical fruit flavors and even root beer and bubblegum — are formulated specifically for shave ice. When they’re combined with the finely shaved ice they don’t drain to the bottom of the cup; they reman suspended. A scoop of vanilla ice cream (and optional Azuki beans, a Hawaiian tradition) may be added to the bottom of the cup before the shaved ice. It all blends when the shaved ice and syrup melts! Children especially go for rainbow shave ice, which is usually a combination of strawberry, orange and vanilla (blue), or three other colorful flavors.
Jim Winpenny
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December 30th, 2008
Okay yes, it is rainy season in Hawaii, but it’s really not a big deal. When you plan your vacation, you probably take into consideration the natural phenomena that might interfere with your comfort. There are non-skiing areas where heavy snow is inevitable. There are hurricane belts and tornado regions; rainy seasons and times of draught; places that flood and parch.
In Hawaii, the “rainy season” is all winter long, but it occurs in spurts with plenty of sunshine interspersed. Some winter season weather in Hawaii seems to be wetter than others. For example, we had a spell a couple of years ago where
we went practically 40 days and 40 nights with constant rain. Last year it was pretty dry the whole winter with very little rain or problematic whether. You may have been hearing lately that we’ve had some inclement weather this year. So far this year (Dec. 2008) it’s been kind of a mixed bag, we have had a few days of continuous rain as a couple of weather fronts moved over the islands. Even during periods of bad weather in Hawaii, especially in the winter, it’s not nearly as severe as the weather in the cold in other parts of the country.
The national news has been reporting during President elect Obama’s Hawaii vacation that over the weekend Oahu experienced a weather-related island-wide blackout. This blackout they believe was caused by a lightning bolt which hit one of the main power plants and triggered an island-wide blackout. As a result practically the entire island had no electricity for up to 17 hours. While things can happen during your vacation, we don’t think that kind of scenario will ever happen again in our lifetime. That was one of those freak kind of accidents that will surely never be repeated.
We’ve had severe weather in the past just like anywhere else,including hurricanes, and we get minor earthquakes occasionally. The state is prepared. Currently, the state Civil Defense uses a World War I-era artillery battery in
Diamond Head Crater that was converted into a state emergency operations center in the 1970s. Now, there are plans for a larger, modernized emergency center near Diamond Head that could withstand a Category Four hurricane or a powerful earthquake, comfortably accommodate dozens of representatives from state and federal agencies in one control center and run on a generator for at least 15 days.
I tell a lot of visitors when they come to Hawaii in the winter season that they may get a few raindrops but it’s really not a big deal because there’s always something to do indoors and you never forget your in Paradise and remember
without rain there are no beautiful rainbows.
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December 29th, 2008
For a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is avoiding severe winter weather where you live, Honolulu is a lovely place to be during the holiday season.
"Honolulu City Lights,” now in its 24th year, is Hawaii’s premiere holiday event. Each year it draws hundreds of thousands of people to Honolulu’s City Hall and the Civic Center grounds. Its opening day – December sixth — kicks off the holiday season. Indoor Christmas trees and beautiful wreath exhibits will be on display in the City Hall lobby. Outside, the grounds are filled with giant illuminated displays. Companies all over the island sponsor bus and trolley excursions through the area, usually winding up at restaurants and bars for celebratory evenings.
Admission is free. It’s a month-long holiday celebration that includes the beautiful City Employee’s Christmas Tree Exhibit, a decorated 65-foot Norfolk pine tree, strolling musicians and entertainment, and nightly visits with Santa.
December 17th, 2008
This is the time of year surfers and surfing followers wait for. The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Series is under way, beginning on Oahu’s north shore.
The Billabong Pro Maui women’s surfing competition — the third and final event of the women’s crown — is the only outer-island event of the world-championship Series. It’s held at Honolua Bay on Maui’s rugged north shore and will crown the women’s world champion. Competition will be held on the two biggest and best days of surf within the designated holding period: December seventh through twentieth.
Honolua Bay Beach is a seldom-visited area of Maui, but it’s worth the trip if you enjoy snorkeling, scuba diving or surfing. The beach is located in a marine life preserve, so the fish are plentiful and the coral formations are spectacular. The right side of the bay has the best snorkeling and diving scenery. Remember that you can’t fish or spear fish here because of its protected designation. Water conditions can vary dramatically in this area depending on ocean currents and rainfall. If you’d like to watch the competition and you are not a local, find a hotel or condo in Maui near the event.
December 4th, 2008
When you vacation on Oahu, the center of attraction is Waikiki. Even if you stay in a remote resort area such as Turtle Bay or Ko Olina, you expect to see some action in Waikiki before you go home. That’s where the glitter and the glamour are.
Downtown gets bypassed way too much, except to perhaps check out the “historic” section on the way to or from Pearl Harbor. Too often you hear remarks such as, “There’s nothing downtown,” and “Don’t go downtown at night.”
It’s a bad rap that originated (with justification) after WWII, when martial law was lifted and military personnel with passes were free to prowl Honolulu streets and businesses sprang up everywhere to satiate their appetites. In the mid-sixties, even though prostitution was illegal by then, lots of shady goings on were tolerated to accommodate the military, the growing merchant marine force and the workers from the plantations. It was a good place for vacationers to avoid.
That’s all changed.
Today, in a tight 12-block area surrounding the Honolulu business district, you can find more than two dozen arts-related businesses and galleries, three live-performance theatres, two performance art venues, an alternative movie theater, and some of Honolulu’s trendiest nightclubs and restaurants. More than 75 ethnic restaurants — the variety is indescribable — dot the surrounding neighborhood. Most of the buildings were built at the end of the19th century.
The linchpin of this renaissance probably has been the Hawaii Theatre Center. The theater itself was built in 1922 as a venue for theater, popular entertainment, and film. In the mid-1930s, it became predominately a popular grand movie palace, and remained such until television arrived in the 1950s. From then it degenerated into what was essentially a foreign porn theater until its closing was announced in 1984. A group of local citizens, with additional funding provided by the Honolulu City & County, raised the funds for the theater’s purchase along with several adjoining properties. In 1986, the center was closed for massive renovation until it was rededicated and re-opened in1996. Now the Hawaii has once again become a popular venue for national touring shows, theater, concerts, film, television; and it’s attracted hundreds of thousands of patrons back through its doors to witness its resurgence as Honolulu’s preeminent venue. Restaurateurs, storeowners, artists, patrons of the arts and Oahu’s residents have caught on and the resurgence is amazing.
Downtown Honolulu has become an experience to plan for.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Your Blogger’s Side Bar
When we first moved to Honolulu in 1972, my wife Mary and I had business at the downtown courthouse. We knew nothing about Hawaii. I had visited my father here for a few weekends in the 60’s, but had spent most of my time visiting with him at his home, not taking in the sights.
It was mid-afternoon and we wandered through town, poking our heads into shops and sleazy bars, not seeing anything worth lingering to explore. We came across a large corner bar called Bill Lederer’s. Hey, we’d heard of William Lederer! He and Eugene Burdick had written that controversial bestseller, "The Ugly American," about our country’s shoddy diplomacy in Southeast Asia. This place should be pretty classy.
It wasn’t. It was filthy. It smelled of stale beer and urine. For some reason we went to the bar and ordered a couple of beers anyhow. Mary asked for a wet napkin and wiped the sticky space right in front of us. Apparently curious about the suddenly clean surface, a cockroach the size of a half-smoked cigar with six hairy legs skittered to the center of it and seemed to size Mary up. Before I could slap down a five-dollar bill, Mary had made it to the bus stop. Once back at our new apartment, she implored me to move us back to Philadelphia. I promised I would if I ever raised the airfare.
Although most of the offices where I worked were in downtown office buildings, Mary and I avoided entertaining ourselves downtown until well into the 1980s.
Jim Winpenny
December 3rd, 2008
If you’re planning to be on Oahu during your Hawaii vacation, check to see what might be going on at the Waikiki Shell.
The Shell sits in beautiful and spacious Kapiolani Park with Diamond Head as a backdrop and Waikiki Beach at the opposite end. The attractive (It looks a lot like the Hollywood Bowl), tropical outdoor amphitheater has been Hawaii’s place to see the stars, under the stars, since 1952.
The Waikiki Shell is a venue for outdoor concerts and other large gatherings in Waikiki. It seats 2,400 persons, but the lawn area has capacity for an additional 6,000 persons. Local residents seem to prefer the lawn. There are no seats, but we pack picnics, take the kids along and often just lie back and chill, gaze at the amazing sky above and listen to whatever might be going on up on the stage. It’s a terrific venue for concerts, and political rallies and corporate functions are held there. Virtually all of the top local entertainers have performed in the Shell, and world-class comedians, singers, rock groups and other performers appear regularly.
It doesn’t really matter what the attraction might be while you’re in Waikiki. Going to an event at the Shell is a great way to spend an evening in a place where Hawaii’s wondrous weather is shown off to its very best advantage.
Feel free to give us a call at 1-800-843-8771. We’ll advise you of the Shell schedule of events that will be taking place during your visit.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
Your Blogger’s Side Bar
It was back in the 70s. My boss Carlos Rivas had invited me and my wife Mary to be his guests at the Waikiki Shell for a performance by Cat Stevens, a British pop star who had sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s.
Mary and I had not yet been to the Shell and accepted eagerly. (Mary was a Cat Stevens fan.) Carlos said that he would take care of the food, I should take care of the booze, and he would meet us at the gate. We would not be in seats, but sitting on the lawn, so we should also bring a blanket. I bought a gallon of red wine. As it happened, I drove past the gate on my quest for a parking space and could see that security guards were frisking people as they entered, unrolling their blankets and examining their bags. Obviously, outside alcohol was not permitted.
Thinking quickly, I drove to a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought a large bucket. I disposed of most of the breasts, legs and wings and replaced them with the jug of wine inside the bucket. The top stuck out from the remaining pieces a little too far so I covered it with a roll.
When we met Carlos at the gate, he was empty-handed. “What’s that?” he asked me. I explained. “Actually,” he said, “I was going to buy the food inside and you could have bought the drinks there. They have a full bar.”
I lugged the bucket in anyhow, once I cleared inspection, which was halfhearted at best. I still was a little wary, not wanting to get us busted, and was as surreptitious as possible when I poured the wine for us into the cups Mary had brought.
As the lights dimmed and the warm-up act readied, I became aware of a slightly familiar, distinctive aroma. Everybody around us was smoking pot!
It was a concert well-appreciated by all of us.
Jim Winpenny
December 1st, 2008
Narrowing down your Hawaii vacation destination is even more difficult than it may seem to be at first. Most people try to decide which island – or islands – they think would appeal to them most.
The problem is that, except for little Molokai and Lanai, each of the islands actually has three or more distinctly different areas within their beaches.
On Oahu, Waikiki – on the south shore – is where the action is, and it’s close to most of the island’s other attractions. On the north shore, Turtle Bay is a full-blown resort near “Old Hawaii,” those humongous winter waves and the quaint little town of Haleiwa. Ko Olina is a newer, sprawling, self-contained resort area well west of Honolulu in leeward Oahu.
On the north shore of Kauai, the beautiful Hanalei and Princeville area is quiet and scenic with nice resorts. The south shore has Poipu and a whole bunch of ritzy resorts with all kinds of things to do. On the east shore, the town of Lihue is the island’s business and population center, with good accommodations that are convenient to most of Kauai’s spectacular attractions.
Maui is said to be two islands. West Maui has Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua and those spectacular resorts. The island’s larger portion contains the rustic Upcountry, the mammoth Haleakala crater and the Waimea resort area. Way to the east, the fantastic Hana area is an isolated destination unto itself.
The Big Island is generally divided into the Hilo side – the east – and the Kona side – the west. But it’s far more than that. On the Kona side, the coast is lined with one spectacular resort after another, and farther inland is ranch country in the rural areas of Waimea and Kamuela, the majestic Mauna Kea and the world’s most powerful telescopes. The Hilo side is far less touristy, but that’s where you’ll find Volcanoes National Park and the amazing lava flows.
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider beyond a choice of islands. The best thing to do is pick an agent from our website and begin a relationship (No obligation, of course). Our agents all are experts in Hawaii – have lived here and can guide you with passion and professionalism. Or, if you prefer, call 1-800-843-8771.
Posted by Jim Winpenny
November 26th, 2008
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