What I Did This Spring Break

Ok, I know I say at the top of the page that everyone's much busier than I am, but once again I've managed to somehow neglect my blog for three weeks.   I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....I'm sorry (I think I now have FOUR regular readers!)

I was in Honolulu for a week and had a mystery virus for a week also.  Which would you like to hear about first?  Ok Honolulu.

We try to go to Honolulu every March to visit our moms, although now I'm thinking since Jordan's not in school anymore, we should switch this to May (Mother's Day!).  On the other hand, I'm glad we went last week because I was finally able to attend the Kaimuki High School Foundation's annual fundraising dinner.  I was so indecisive about attending that I finally made up my mind and went an hour late.  Next time I'll go on time because I missed a very good silent auction.  (Happily, however, I was still able to bid on and win a very nice Fossil cuff bracelet for Jordan that others had somehow overlooked!)  

I admit I had reservations about attending the event because, after all, it was like attending a class reunion.  In going late, I missed the social hour and arrived just in time for dinner.  If you're like me, you want to go a reunion to see what other people look like after 30+ years, but not have to be seen yourself and more so, not having to talk to others much.  I once took a personality test in college and came out exactly in the middle of extravert/introvert so this obviously explains my wanting to go to a social event without having to socialize!  At any rate, it was an enjoyable evening and congratulations to my classmates, Steven Nakashima and Dale Yashiki and the rest of the foundation's board and committee for all of their hard work, which resulted in a record turnout this year and benefits the students of Kaimuki High.

Speaking of reunions, another mission I accomplished while in Honolulu was to hold a family reunion planning meeting. This will be our second family reunion and this time we're turning it up a notch by having it fully catered.  Borrowing from the Edayan Family Reunions, we're planning to have seven posterboard photo galleries on display for everyone to linger over rather than just the usual slideshow where you see a hundred relatives in ten minutes... "Was that my great great grandma--or great great grandpa?!"

Because I've always envied those food judges on "Iron Chef," I suggested having a dessert competition at the reunion.  Not that we'll critique the entries like in the TV show, though--we do have to live with each other afterwards, after all!  We'll probably do the anonymous voting method to avoid family feuds.

We did two "tourist" things this trip that we haven't done in ages: We went to the Pali Lookout since Jordan's never been there--yeh smart, three people getting over colds visiting the windiest spot on Oahu---and secondly, visited Chinatown.  I haven't been there for a few years and it's been even longer for Leonard.  He said it was like visiting a third world country and suddenly Andrew Zimmerman came to mind, but we didn't see any "street food," sadly.  But WOW, rats or no rats (I did look for rat bites on the sweet potatoes), I'd like to go back there next time and I wish we had Chinatown on Kauai.  It would certainly expand my cooking repetoire which seems to be limited to 10 dishes.

When you live on Kauai, even if you watch TV as much as I do, you don't get the full impact of what the world is coming to...until you go from Chinatown where you see homeless ladies sleeping on the cement sidewalk to Ala Moana Shopping Center.  Yep, we love Makai Market, Shirokiya, Sears, and Longs, but the newer shops are pretty much beyond our comprehension.  "What?!  A whole store just for Swaroski crystals?!"  "What!? A whole store of TEA?!"   We walked along the new upper level of the mall passing all those snotty one-brand boutiques, following young ladies in perfectly-fitted jeans with perfectly-matched accessories and I remembered how my friend Carol and I would spend the day at Ala Moana when we were 12 years old in striped "surfer t-shirts" and shorts, with straw bags and slippers to accessorize.

We were headed back to the parking lot and as a parting shot, the last shopper I saw had two matched red strollers unlike anything I'd ever seen before.  They were unusual because they were completely covered, the front with a window of netting.  I looked in as I passed and saw that each held an identical white lap dog.   "That's it,"  I declared to Leonard.  "The world IS ending in 2012...or at the very least, the United States is going DOWN!" I was never good in History, but I do recall that in more than one instance a civilization's peak ripeness was followed by decadence (as in "overripe fruit falling to the ground").  Check out this article for some points to ponder before voting this year.  Don't worry, it's not touting any particular political party, just points out what fallen civilizations have in common, thus giving us a lot to consider at this crucial time.

Because we were all getting over our colds, we didn't have much of an appetite, but we nevertheless managed to drag ourselves to the following eateries:

The Ranchhouse in Kapahulu--- The first thing I thought when I sat down was "Where's the BREADSTICKS?!" All I remember about the old Ranchhouse in Aina Haina was how I loved the breadsticks.  My mom pointed their absence out to the waiter who probably hadn't even been born when the old Ranchhouse was popular.  The food was a bit pricey, but we ordered the Ohana Meal which was a good deal and although the menu said "feeds 2 adults and 2 children," we ordered 2 meals and fed 6 adults (two men, four ladies) plus we took home a loaded plate.  We got some extra ice cream on our dessert platter because the waiter forgot our appetizer (he was probably traumatized by our demand for breadsticks!).

Happy Days Restaurant in Kaimuki---Always good, so aptly named!!  If you like dim sum, you must try this place.  It's always packed, so go early (before noon).  My favorites are the taro gok, shrimp/chives, and the char siu pies (triangular with pastry crust). 

Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant in McCully---If you buy an entree, you can get a lobster for $10.99.  Ask for the garlic lobster...yummmm!

Zippy's Kailua---Their small wonton mein was more than enough for me and delish!

Big City Diner---Steak pupu plate and garlic fries...even though the waitress pointedly warned me "The steak will be medium rare," it was barely pink, which was fine with us. The fries were excellent....the timing was bad since I had to go the KHS dinner just 2-3 hours later with garlic breath.  That probably made me even more introverted than usual!

Toritos in Market City---They got my sister's order wrong, but we still like this place.  Oh wait, I just remembered...the enchilada tortillas were not the usual mealy corn tortillas, but seemed to be flour instead.  Madge said no, it's corn, but at any rate, I missed the regular corn tortilla. 

By now you know how I always say my life is like a sitcom. Well it's not only because of me, but the funny characters in my life. One day while driving in Honolulu we had to decide where to eat lunch. My sister said, "Oh, there's a new Thai or Vietnamese restaurant in---" Leonard cut her off, "Naaaah, I don't like Thai!" I asked him what kind of food he felt like eating. "Hmmm...hamburger!" Naturally we ended up at Makai Market as we always do at least once every Honolulu visit.

My sister went in one direction and Leonard in the opposite direction while Jordan and I got our pizza slices at Sbarro and dim sum at the Chinese Express (formerly Patty's). We were half done eating by the time my sister and Leonard came back separately. My sister had a hamburger and fries. Leonard had a plate from the Vietnamese counter. *sigh*

After all this food talk, I can't write about our weird virus...health blog next time!!

Consider Me Entertained

Did you check out "Entertain Me" Saturday night  on KHON?  It's a new, locally produced variety show like in the "old days" (i.e. when there were no remote controls and you had to stand up and change the channels).  No voting or judging, just plain entertainment: singers, dancers, jugglers, comedians, etc.'  Yay, no mindlessly hitting "redial" over and over for 2 hours.  Huh, what?  Not me, why would I waste my time doing that?

If you're over "a certain age," and grew up in Hawaii, you might recall "Televi Digest" with Barbara Kim.  Oh my goodness, I haven't thought of that show in ages!  "Televi Digest" was a similar variety program featuring Hawaii's amateur performers.  When I was 11 or so, I, along with a couple of other students, performed a tap dance on the show.  Sadly there was no videotape or youTube in those ancient times, so I have no "proof" that I performed on TV.  *LOL*  And maybe that's a good thing, since I don't think we were exceptionally good.  Oh well, at least I can say I appeared on local television a few times.  [FYI I just learned that "Televi Digest" went off the air in 1965, the very year we performed on the show.  Remember my blog post about all my former employers going out of business after I quit?  Spoooooky, huh?]

My favorite performer on the debut of "Entertain Me" was Grant Uchida.  I'm not sure if there's an official genre label for his music--he does parodies of popular current songs as well as his own original compositions--but let's just say he does music comedy like Weird Al Yankovic.  Possibly because he's part of the younger generation, his lyrics are a bit edgier than Al's, I think.  Nevertheless, I thought he was funny and liked his style.  Check out this video.  It's not quite as good as his television performance because it was done on his friend's porch, complete with someone sneezing, friend's laughter, and other extraneous noises.  Das ok, still funny to me....

The rest of "Entertain Me" was "alright". I want the show to succeed because it's good for the performers to have the exposure, and it's good for us viewers to see Hawaii's talent. I still can't get over one performance, not because the singer pretty much butchered "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, but because there was actually a scrolling caption on the screen as he sang with an apology and a long explanation of why they didn't edit this guy out of the show (he's a nice guy, he told us he had a good range, he had to wait six hours to perform, on and on).  Whaaaat?!  I sat there wondering if it was a cruel joke. and I felt bad for the guy.  He would have been better off performing on "Televi Digest"-- no scrolling captions in those days or any lasting public evidence of his performance to haunt him later!

Bobby Caldwell is the Real Thing

OH...MY....GOD what a weekend we had! As I mentioned earlier, we have been wanting to see Bobby Caldwell perform in person for years...like 20+ years. We were even considering a trip to the Mainland just to see him...that is, until this stupid "economic crisis" interfered. This being "our Big Year" (Jordan 21, Len 60, me 55, plus 30 year anniversary)it was amazingly auspicious that Bobby Caldwell chose this very year to bless us with a rare Hawaii appearance. Thank you to Michael Paulo and "Smooth Jazz Nights"!!

Although, relatively speaking, Bobby isn't as widely known as he deserves to be aside from his pop hit classic "What You Won't Do For Love", he's had much success as a recording artist and songwriter and is highly respected in the music industry. I highly recommend looking up his music because as I said before, his voice is "like buttuh" and he does R & B, soul, jazz, and standards. He played Frank Sinatra in the original production of "The Rat Pack is Back" and got rave reviews.

The Smooth Jazz Nights Concert on Saturday night (March 28) was fantastic with Michael Paulo hosting and playing. Wow, he really is an exceptional saxophone player. Little wonder that he's played with so many big names (Al Jarreau being our favorite). Also appearing were Greg Adams of "Tower of Power" fame, and Pauline Wilson (from Seawind). I loved "Follow Your Road" when it was a big hit in the 70's and her performance of it on Saturday night was just as wonderful. Bobby finally came out and was every bit as fantabulous as we had expected...probably MORE so because we didn't expect to see him playing keyboards and guitar. What an amazing talent and such a seasoned entertainer. I was over the moon because unexpectedly he sang "Cry" (click here for video) which is one of my favorites. My only complaint was that his part of the show was much much too short...way way way too short (about 9 songs). HOWEVER...

After the show we went out to where I was told earlier the artists would have a meet-and-greet and patiently waited for Bobby to appear. Well Jordan Eagle Eye spotted him first and ran up to him to blurt out who-knows-what (you can never tell what she'll say!). When I joined them to greet Bobby, he told me he'd received my email that I had asked Lisa, his website manager, to forward to him. WOW!

He was so kind, and took us to the signing table where he signed Jordan's ticket (his CD's were sold out and we hadn't brought any of our own). Jordan told him her favorite song is "Real Thing" and he apologized for not singing it that night. So guess what happens next? He sang the first few lines to Jordan! Whew, a personal performance from Bobby Caldwell. Beyond our wildest dreams! I've attached a video, but it's not of the greatest quality. I suck at photography, especially when I'm in the presence of Greatness. (You can also view a video of him singing "Beyond the Sea" on my blogpost two entries down that I found on YouTube.)

What I Won't Do For Love of Bobby Caldwell

We were painting Mom's bathroom white the other day...pure drudgery because white is sooooo boring. Anyway, hubby had the jazz station on. Most jazz music bores me so I wasn't paying much attention. Suddenly he says, "Hey did they just say Bobby Caldwell is coming to Hawaii?" I said "Nah, I've been getting emails from his site. I didn't see anything like that." Well later that night I checked my email and there it was...an update from Bobby's website saying he'll be part of Michael Paulo's "Smooth Jazz Nights" at the Royal Hawaiian Theater at the end of the month. If I were you, I'd go to Tickets.com and buy some tickets.

IMHO, Bobby Caldwell's voice is "like buttah." Check him out on YouTube:


I find it amazing that Bobby C. isn't more widely known. Many people know the song "What You Won't Do For Love," which was his biggest hit, but he's written many other great songs for himself and others in the pop, jazz, and R&B genres.

I'll be at his Saturday performance with 3 other fans of his: my hub, my daughter, and my mom. This is BIG for us because we were seriously considering going to the Mainland to catch BC performing live. Thanks Bobby, for saving us some airfare!!! I wasn't looking forward to traveling to a Mainland city (unless it was Las Vegas), but hey, "Some people go around the world for love...What you won't do, do for love..."

Krazy Karaok'ing with a Kold

I'm still on Oahu, but remaining true to my usual hermit self, I've been stuck on the computer 90% of the time. For one thing, I've got a cold. I'm not sure if Zicam and my GFSE spray failed me. Or maybe I would've had a much worse time without them, who really knows? I can usually count on them to either stop the onset of a virus or at least shorten the suffering. All I know is this cold is cramping my style in Honolulu!

Well, at least I've discovered yet another advantage to working online from home (or in this case Mom's house). You can work while you're sick. It's ok that you feel too sick to change your clothes or comb your hair. You can take a break anytime for a quick nap. You don't spread germs to your coworkers. Ironically, I was given much more work this week than I've been getting at home on Kauai. Hmmm...if I weren't sick, I'd be a bit ungrateful, but since I'm in no mood to go out anyway, it's been a productive week. And think of the weight I'm not putting on, pigging out on Honolulu Eats. I did, however, get to the lunch buffet at Maple Garden (pretty darned good for $10) and thanks to Krazy Karaoke's Customer Appreciation Night, got to enjoy catering by Ige's....yum-oh!

Yep, I went karaoking two days in a row with a cold. No shame! My singing is wobbly without a cold, what's a little more wobble? Jordan and I usually have a karaoke day with my friend Sharon every time we visit Honolulu and that's what we did on Tuesday. While checking in, we were recognized as "regulars" and invited to attend their Customer Appreciation Night the following night, with a free room and food! We only managed to find three friends to join us, but had a great time. Thank you Krazy Karaoke!!

On the subject of music, Josiah Leming has released an EP. Please check him out, he's exceptional, IMHO. I just read that good ol' 19 Productions is trying to pull the plug on his upcoming full CD. It seems anyone auditioning for American Idol has to sign a contract which pretty much enslaves them even if they don't go on to the finals. Pretty greedy of 19, I say, considering the money they're already making on the "winners." Go to Josiah's mySpace site and order his EP... it's totally worth the money, and you'll be helping a really talented young man. You can hear samples on his site. Puhleez, he's way deeper than David Archuleta!

Here he is, a bit "raw", but fresh, when he auditioned on Idol. He's much more polished on his Warner Bros. EP and backed by a band.