Myong's Madness

Seattle - Day 5 and Final Thoughts...

2009-07-02T23:28:00.006-10:00

Day 5. Last day...sigh...

It's your last day in Seattle. What do you do? Well...for me, I visited all the places I wanted to go to before leaving and also did another trip back to Pike!

After again enjoying the free breakfast at the hotel, drove to Lakeview Cemetary which was only about 10 minutes away. A cemetary? Why would anyone visit a cemetary when on vacation? Well, you do if you're in Seattle and you're a fan of Bruce and Brandon Lee.

Lakeview Cemetary is where both are buried and as a fan and former student of martial arts, I felt it was only right to visit their graves. I arrived at the cemetary and asked a groundskeeper where their graves were. He volunteered to lead me to them and I realized I should've just followed the people. Even on a Tuesday mid-morning, there were 4 others like myself who wanted to pay their respects to the legend.

The first thing I noticed when I got to their graves was that they both had such beautiful headstones. They were truly works of art.

Then I took a closer look at their headstones and read the quotes dedicated to them. Master Bruce's quote simply read "Your inspiration continues to guide us toward our personal liberation." Nuff said.

But I was truly touched by the quote on his son Brandon's grave. I feel it warrants a repeat here:

"Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

Wow. After reading that, I just stood there and reflected on it. It really made me realize that I should appreciate all that I have and cherish it, for who knows when...I hesitate to finish the thought.

After paying my respects I was getting ready to leave when I realized that I should leave a gift or offering behind. But visiting the cemetary was a spur of the moment decision and I had not stopped to buy flowers or any other gift. So I ended up scouring my rental car for anything suitable and I ended up leaving an apple for Master Bruce and a 50 cent coin for Brandon. I rationalized the gifts by thinking to myself that the apple represented "health" in the afterlife and the coin represented "wealth".

After my moment of reflection at Lakeview Cemetary, I was ready to move on with the day. Decided to stop by the Pike Place Market again to look for omiyage and souveneirs. Did a little bit of shopping, bought more fruit, and then enjoyed a Greek lamb gyro for lunch at a nearby park.

Then, since I still had some time left, I made a quick stop at Cow Chip Cookies at Pioneer Square, a place I had read about on the internet for their awesome chocolate chip cookies. I bought one cookie, just so I could taste it. Pretty good!

Then, sadly, it was off to the airport and back home to Hawaii...

So what are my thoughts on Seattle?

1) I thought the people there were tremendous. All the people I talked to and met and interacted with were so friendly. Sure, a lot of them were service industry types but even the people I met on the street or on the tours were very nice. A very friendly city!

2) The sun goes down at a crazy hour in June! I swear, the sun doesn't set till about 10:00pm! It's crazy!

3) There are tons and tons of restaurants all over the city. I tried a whole bunch of them and only got through about half of the list I brought with me. I think it's a great town for foodies.

4) The hilly streets in Downtown combined with the Waterfront reminded me a lot of San Francisco.

5) The street signs and street names kinda suck. What the hell with street names like NE 1st Ave N? Huh?

6) It seems like a very fit city. All over, you'd see people jogging, running, walking, or biking.

Overall, I really enjoyed my getaway to Seattle. I avoided the overly touristy things for the most part and yet still feel like I experienced a lot the city had to offer.

Seattle - Day 4

2009-07-02T17:21:00.009-10:00

Day 4...running out of time!

Day 4 was a day trip to Olympic National Park. I was debating between Mt Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park but a recommendation from an associate swayed me to visit Olympic in Port Angeles.

Again, got started a little later than planned and didn't leave the hotel until about 10:30am. In order to get to Port Angeles from Seattle you have to drive and catch a ferry so traveling times can vary but it should take about 3 hours on the average.

But with my bad luck, I got to the Edmonds ferry port just 5 minutes after the previous ferry left so had to wait nearly an hour till the next one. Then, got lost between Kingston and Port Angeles because the Google Maps driving directions were way off! WTF!

FINALLY got to my destination at about 2:30pm. But oh man...was it worth it! I visited the Hurrican Ridge portion of the park and talk about majestic! Can you imagine...mountainsides covered by tens of thousands of trees, and then their crowns capped with snow? In late June? Are you kidding me?

Not to mention the wildlife! There were tons of deer literally running around all over the mountain, just a few feet away! Then, when you reach the top of the hiking trail, you can find marmot, a groundhog type animal apparently indigenous to the area. Cute little suckers!

The Hurrican Ridge Trail is about 1.6 miles one way from the Visitor Center and it shouldn't take more than 90 minutes round trip but there are so many scenic spots along the way that you have to just stop and take it all in.

What a beautiful place...I shall let the following pictures speak for themselves...

Would you give a f*** what kind of pants the guy who shot you was wearing?

The best lunch spot ever. Stopped to have a sandwich and fruit lunch on this bench. Breathtaking.

Cute little marmot!

Check it out...snow in June!

After that awesome day trip, it was back to Seattle for dinner.

Went back to the Waterfront to dine at Elliott's Oyster House. If you are an oyster lover, you have to come here. They have over 3 dozen different variety of fresh raw oyster for your choosing. If you can come at 3pm, they have an oyster happy hour when oysters are just 50 cents each! Wow!

Variety of fresh oysters. Should've ordered more!

Smoked sampling platter

Manila clams in garlic and white wine sauce. Honestly...the one at Uncle Bo's in Kapahulu is better.

I'd recommend Elliott's for the fresh oysters but the rest of the food was just okay if you ask me.

Aw...last night in Seattle!

Seattle - Day 3

2009-07-01T19:30:00.011-10:00

Got up a little earlier today and was intent on having brunch at Dahlia Lounge, the first restaurant by famous Seattle restauranteur Tom Douglas. To be honest, this was probably my favorite meal of the entire trip. Everything from the service, to the atmosphere, to the food was all top notch.

Bag of cinammon donuts. The 2 spreads accompanying the donuts were so good I wanted to buy a jar to take home. Oh so ono!

Gotta have fruit for brunch!

Kale soup with hamhock. Sounds gross but tastes good.

Halibut! Yum!

Tom Douglas's famous crab cakes...crispy on the outside, moist and flaky on the inside.

While eating brunch I heard a lot of ruckus going on outside on 4th Avenue and then discovered that there was a Gay Pride Parade going on! Cool! I only watched for like 20 minutes but it certainly was fun. Lots of flamboyant floats and performers paraded the street, not to mention the onlookers! It was a gay old time!

The "Gaywatch" bus

After lunch, went to The Center for Wooden Boats near my hotel on Lake Union for a free boat ride. This was a very cool wooden boat museum but the highlight of course was the sailboat ride on Lake Union.

Every Sunday at 2:00pm, the CWB offers free sailboat rides around the lake and it was so much fun! I had never been on a sailboat before and it was so exhilirating. Sitting just inches from the water with the breeze in your face, amazing views of the surrounding neighborhoods...it was an experience that will never be forgotten. Did I mention it was free? How can you beat that?

Hydroplane (is that what they're called?) landing in the lake

Some of the many boathouses on the lake

Hows my ride, yo? Nah, not my boat but it could be yours! It was on sale.

After a quick change of clothes, it was back to Downtown.

I really wanted to check out the Seattle Public Library. This visit was definitely a highlight of the trip. You're thinking...it's just a library, right? No. This building is an architectural marvel. Just looking at it from the outside you can tell that it is a beautiful building. But once you walk around inside, you can definitely notice all the care and attention to detail in its design.

Seattle Public Library

Admiring the beautiful building from the inside
I highly recommend visiting this building and taking a good 30-40 minutes walking around inside to witness this feat of engineering and architecture.

Then it was on to dinner at Wild Ginger. This was probably my 2nd favorite meal of the trip.

Wild Ginger features mostly Southeast Asian cuisine and the food was fabulous. Combine the good food with beautiful decorating and ambiance, and I am sold. What a delicious meal!

Chicken satay

Buddha rolls with pineapple dipping sauce

Seven flavor beef

Szechuan string beans...I couldn't stop eating these!

Green chicken curry
Ginger ice cream and vanilla blackberry ice cream

After dinner, topped off the evening with some jazz at Tula's. Tula's is one of the best jazz clubs in the nation and every Sunday night they feature a big band act led by Jim Cutler. The band played for over 2 hours and they only charged a $5 cover! Can't beat that kind of value.

After a day of gays, sailboats, books, and jazz, it was time to call it a night...

Seattle - Day 2

2009-07-01T18:57:00.005-10:00

Day 2...talk about sleeping in! Didn't leave the hotel room till about 2:00pm! Auwe!

I saw the Seattle episode of Man v. Food on the Food Network and the host was eating at Red Mill Burgers and once I saw it, I had to eat it. Even at 2:30pm the lines were super long and leading out the restaurant's entrance. I decided on the Verde burger and it was super good. I think I may have to give the edge to The Counter at Kahala Mall but this was a pretty damn good burger too.

Verde burger. Oh yeah!

Double bacon cheeseburger

Onion rings with tartar sauce. Yummy!

After the late lunch, went to check out the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square. I was a bit iffy about this tour as I'm not really a big tour taking guy in general but surprisingly, it turned out to be very entertaining as well as educational! The tour lasted 90 minutes and the guide was very skilled. Honestly, there isn't that much to see on this tour besides the basements of current buildings (used to be the first floors) but it was very interesting to learn about the history of Seattle and how the city rebuilt itself after the major fire in the late 1800s. Combine that with the cheesy but funny jokes mixed in at what seemed like a joke per 5 seconds, it was a very satisfying tour.

By now it was time for dinner so went down to the Waterfront to have dinner at The Crab Pot. The Crab Pot is in essence a gimmick restaurant geared to tourists but it wasn't bad. Their gimmick is to eliminate the need for all silverware and plates by bringing your food to your table in a big stainless steel bowl and then literally dumping the contents onto your table. All you're given is a mallet and a small fork. The dinner I ordered included Alaskan king crab legs, Dungeness crab legs, snow crab legs, mussels, clams, shrimp, Andouille sausage, corn, and red potatoes.

The Crab Pot

All they give you is a bib and a mallet.

Ready to eat!

After dinner, walked down a couple of piers to the Washington State Ferry dock to catch a ferry to Bainbridge. Since it was so late (caught the 11:00pm ferry), basically just caught the ferry to Bainbridge and came right back to check out the city lights from the water. The view of the lights from the water was pretty amazing. The ferry was a pretty cool ride. Very spacious and lots of seats offering great views from the water.

Can you make out the Space Needle in the background?

By the time the ferry trip was over, it was past 1:00am. Time to go to the hotel and sleep!

Seattle - Day 1

2009-07-01T18:22:00.006-10:00

Did a little runaway vacation in the Northwest...Seattle, WA to be exact. Had never been there before so I was really excited to visit and experience a new city and what it had to offer.

Stayed there for 5 days and 4 nights, and whaddya know? Not a drop of rain! I was a little apprehensive about the notorious Seattle weather but it was absolutely gorgeous every single day I was there.

On to my adventures....

I arrived in the city at 5:46am on Friday morning. Hardly got any sleep on the plane so was a bit pooped but had to have my breakfast so went to check out a breakfast place called The Dish in Ballard.

Fresh fruit bowl and side of buttermilk pancake

Omelette with home fries. The home fries were the bomb, yo!

Sausage links and 2 eggs over medium. Just like how I like em.

Overall, a good first meal to the trip.

Then it was on to the hotel. Hotels in the Downtown area were quite pricey so decided to stay at Silver Cloud Hotel on Lake Union. A decent place with great amenities. They have a pool and hot tub, free wireless internet in the rooms, daily free continental breakfast, and a free shuttle to and from Downtown! Wow!

Luckily, was able to check in a little early (around 10:00am) and rested in the room for a few hours. Then it was on to Pike Place Market!

The famous sign

I signed up for a food tour through Savor Seattle since I had heard such good things about them. I chose the "Off the beaten path" tour which allowed you to sample some of the more exotic offerings at the Public Market. Samples were given at all the stops including food of Spanish, Bavarian, Swedish, African, and Vietnamese origin. All in all, a delicious and fun tour that I would recommend not only for the experience, but also for the discount card that they give to you which you can apply to many of the vendors at the marketplace. Cool!

Vietnamese green papaya salad, summer roll, and shrimp

Ethiopian chicken tibs. This was my favorite dish on the tour. Deelish!

After the tour, decided to check out more of the market. Man, what a cool place with so much to see!

Tons of fresh produce. The nectarines and cherries I had were so sweet and juicy!

Lots of beautiful and colorful flowers for sale as well. So cheap too!

After all that, I was pretty tired so decided to buy some food from the market (turkey sandwich, Bing cherries, block of aged cheddar cheese, sweet nectarines) and had dinner at the hotel. Whew! I was pooped! Gotta get some rest for the rest of the trip...

Korean Wave Coming To Hollywood

2009-06-11T09:09:00.004-10:00

You've already seen lots of Korean American actors in some of Hollywood's most popular films. John Cho (Star Trek, Harold and Kumar movies), Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Knocked Up, etc.), Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation), Sung Kang (Fast and Furious) are just a few of the many many out there.

But get ready for lots of stars from Korea making the move to Hollywood. There are a handful of high profile actors from the motherland invading Hollywood to get their piece of the American dream. Here are some of the more high profile ones:

Daniel Henney

Henney is actually an American and only half Korean but I list him here because he got famous in Korea from appearing in a very popular TV drama called My Name Is Kim Sam Soon. He had a larger than expected role in the summer's first blockbuster hit, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and is due to appear in a new CBS drama called Three Rivers.

Lee Byung Hun

Lee Byung Hun is an A-list actor in Korea, appearing in the drama All In as well as the gangster classic film A Bittersweet Life. He will now be appearing in Hollywood (as Brian Lee) in the upcoming GI Joe film as the popular ninja character Storm Shadow.

Jun Ji Hyun

Jun Ji Hyun is one of Korea's most popular commercial models and a successful film actress. She is coming to the States as Gianna Jun, starring in a vampire killer flick called Blood: The Last Vampire

Rain

Rain (aka Jun Ji Hoon) is a singer known as Korea's Justin Timberlake and he has already appeared in one high profile Hollywood film, last year's Speed Racer. He is now ready to take on a leading role in Ninja Assassin, produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers. There's no official trailer out yet but if you want to watch Rain working out and training for the film, knock yourself out.

Bae Seul Ki

Bae Seul Ki is a C-level (B-level at best) celebrity. A young pop singer with a few minor hits, I'm kind of surprised that she's getting a shot at Hollywood. Her film is called Finale but who knows what it's about. The teaser is very short and vague.

Jang Dong Gun

Jang is another A-list Korean actor, considered to be one of Korea's most handsome men. He is starring in what looks like a samurai western called The Warrior's Way. Looks pretty cool!

Did I miss anyone?

Hiking Koko Crater Railway Trail

2009-05-04T09:13:00.004-10:00

Spent a great day outdoors yesterday.

First, went hiking up that crazy railway trail at Koko Crater. I had never done this hike before but had driven past it many a time and thought...man, that's steep! Finally decided to take the plunge yesterday.

The entrance to the trail is located inside of Koko Head Crater Recreational Park. Just follow the road to the left and park near the baseball field.

Then it's time for the climb.

The view up from the first step
Supposedly, there are over 1,000 steps on this trek. The first quarter of it or so isn't that bad as far as difficulty level. Sure, some of the wooden planks are rotted and the loose dirt is a little slippery but nothing too dangerous or difficult.

But when you reach the steep part, that's when it gets to be excruciating!

Talk about walking straight up!
I had to stop several times climbing up this portion as my ass muscles were screaming out at me to stop. Not to mention my quads and hammies too! They were all fighting for my attention, demanding answers to why I was making them suffer so.

After about 40 minutes, I finally reached the peak! I couldn't even register this accomplishment yet because I was too busy wheezing all the oxygen I could into my failing respiratory system.

But the views were truly amazing. You could see a full 360 degrees around you.

After spending about 30 minutes at the top taking pictures, snacking on some grapes, and healing my lungs, it was time to go back down.
After the greuling hike, it was time for lunch and the beach! Grabbed a plate lunch from Loco Moco and drove down to Makapuu to eat and then swim for about an hour.
Gotta love a great day outdoors!

Lunch In Waipahu Part 5 - Blazin Steaks

2009-04-22T15:03:00.003-10:00

I've seen these Blazin Steaks restaurants pop up all over the island and finally decided to try the one right down the street from my office.

The menu offers a variety of items not just limited to steak. They also serve Korean bbq chicken and shrimp, for example. But since the name of the place was about the steaks, that's what I had to order. So I ordered the 8 ounce steak medium rare, which also comes with 2 scoops of rice and tossed salad with your choice of thousand, ranch, or Italian dressing, all for just $6.

So what's the verdict? It's about what you can expect for a $6 steak plate. Not that it's particularly bad, but it's not particularly good either. I felt like the steak was cooked a little past the medium rare that I asked for and what's amazing is that my order was given to me within a minute! They have an open kitchen so you can see them prepare your food but I had to take a phone call and didn't bother to watch. But before a minute passed, they told me that my order was ready! Hah? You can cook a steak that fast? I'm guessing that they must've pre cooked the steaks and then reheated them when orders come in. Gotta be.

I have to admit the seasoning for the steak was not half bad, probably since they just sprinkled some pepper on it. But I found the consistency a little chewy and rubbery for my taste. As for the sides, the rice was pretty dry but the tossed salad tasted good with the thousand island dressing.

Bottom line....you get what you pay for.

Tammy and Victor Are A-Ok

2009-04-21T12:44:00.001-10:00

Watching this video makes me like this Chinese brother and sister team on The Amazing Race even more. They really have the right perspective on being an Asian American.

BoA Did It For Love

2009-04-17T08:36:00.003-10:00

Kpop sensation Boa just released her 2nd music video and I likey!

Her first single Eat You Up was a little cheesy but it went on to become a legitimate Billboard hit, going all the way up to #8 on the Dance Club Play ranking list, outranking even Madonna and Britney at one point. Not bad for an unknown Korean chick!

Now she's released her 2nd single which I must say is much slicker and polished. The song is called "I Did It For Love" and I can definitely see this song being a club hit cuz it's very catchy and is very danceable (is that even a word?).

Check out her music video here:

Parking Spots Designated For.....Women?

2009-04-13T12:30:00.004-10:00

I guess the stereotype about bad Asian women drivers is true.

Check out this blog post from the Korea Beat. Apparently the city of Iksan in Korea has felt the need to establish parking stall designated just for women.

The stalls have pink boundaries and are .2 meters (a little less than 8") wider than the normal parking stalls. This is to aid women who are not so good with their parking skills.

Hmm...imagine if this was done at Ala Moana or other popular places where parking is a hassle? Do you think women would enjoy this exclusivity and the time saved from searching for a spot with all the other drivers or would this be considered sexist?

Things that make you go hmm.....

Now....Then And Now

2009-04-03T09:22:00.003-10:00

The Kpop sensation girl group Wonder Girls have remade the classic song "Now" by the 90s girl group FinKL. I'm a big fan of the FinKL version cuz it's probably one of my fave Korean music videos of all time, performed by one of my favorite Kpop acts of all time.

Here's the original music video by FinKL:

I really love this MV. The song, the choreography, costumes, the girls, everything works. Hey! There's even big star Jo In Sung making an appearance!

Now here's the new MV by Wonder Girls:

Meh. It really does feel like a cheap knockoff. Especially since they chose to remake the original practically shot for shot. And the WG girls can't hold a candle to the FinKL girls.

Or am I just showing my age?

Bob Nash Gets Contract Extension

2009-04-02T17:03:00.001-10:00

Why?

More Philippine Prison Goodness...This Time Korean Style

2009-03-31T08:36:00.003-10:00

We all remember the youtube video of the Philippine prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" right? Well, if not, here's the vid:

Now, these talented prisoners are at it again! This time with the Korean pop hit "Nobody" by the Wonder Girls. I gotta say....these guys are pretty good! Got the choreography down and everything. It's so funny that they can even do Korean pop songs!

My Day On The Set Of LOST

2009-03-26T08:43:00.003-10:00

I got a call last week asking if I wanted to be an extra for a scene in the TV show LOST and being a fan of the show, of course I said yes! I had to play hooky from work to do so but I figured, how many times do you get the opportunity to be on the set of a hit TV show, right?

I'm afraid I can't go into too much detail as to what was being shot because we all had to sign a 3 page confidentiality agreement. To be honest, I didn't even read the agreement but I'm sure there was a line in there saying "No spoiling on Myong's Madness!". I think I even saw that portion in CAPS. ^^

Anyways....the day started really early as we had to show up at 5:30am. From the parking lot, we were shuttled to the hair and wardrobe area where we checked in and signed the aforementioned confidentiality agreement.

Then for the next half hour or so, they gave us our wardrobe and did our hair. No makeup was necessary as we were just background extras anyway so it wasn't like there'd be a closeup of my ginormous face.

After getting all dolled up, we caught another shuttle to the set. At this point, I could see that there were about 50 or so extras hired for the day's shoot. A mix of young and old, females and males (although too many males if you ask me). Since it was still early, they fed us a breakfast in a buffet line that consisted of cereal, rice, hash brown potatoes, link sausages, scrambled eggs, and a variety of juices and milk.

We were done with breakfast at around 7:00am and waited to get called to the set. We finally got the call and moved like obedient soldiers to where we were told to go. It was interesting to see all the small things that go into such a big production. You have the lighting crew taking measurements all over the place, cameramen, prop guys, hair and wardrobe people walking around to touch you up, and the directors telling you what to do. I was most intrigued by the stand ins for the stars whose jobs are to basically stand in place while the crew gets set up until the real stars make their appearance. Who'd ever want that job? Definitely not for me.

This was our first shot of the day and I will say that I think it will be a very interesting scene when it airs. Nothing flashy with explosions and stuff like that but it looks like a key scene. After they shot the scene, we were sent back to the catering tent until they set up the scene from the opposite angle. So after about an hour of waiting, we were sent back to shoot the same scene, but this time with the cameras facing us, the extras.

After that, it was back to the catering tent (where we spent most of our down time) until the next shot. I was lucky enough to be involved in all 3 of the shots for the day but this 2nd shot I'm way in the background so there's no way I'll be able to see myself on the TV for this shot. I did get scoldings one time because I'm supposed to be conversing with 2 others in the background during the scene but while they were rolling, my partner and I were engaged in a real conversation instead of just pantomiming so the guy in charge gave us a mild warning not to talk so loud. Oops!

This 2nd shot took the longest by far and I started to get really hungry. It was about noon and I had been standing there fur quite some time. When I thought we were done, they announced that we'd be shooting one more scene. Aw man, when's lunch? =)

The 3rd and last shot was a pretty fun one because it involved some coordination because it was an active scene. Surprisingly, we only needed to shoot it about 4-5 times before they said it was good.

By the time this was over, it was about 1:30pm and finally...we were done! Back to the catering tent for lunch which was not good. Personally, I thought all the food looked like it came from Costco. They served us salad, rice, potatoes, pasta, pork loin, garlic shrimp, and cake. Believe me, it wasn't as good as it sounds. But I was so hungry by that point that I scarfed a lot of it down.

After lunch, back to the wardrobe area where we returned our costumes and checked out for the day. Officially clocked out at 3:00pm.

Being on the set for a day, you get a sense of how much money and work goes into a big show like this one. The staff and crew alone consisted of about 100 people, and that was just for this shoot! There were other shoots going on around the island at the same time. Not to mention the equipment, truck rentals, food, locations, everything! Very very expensive.

It was a long and tiring day but definitely a fun experience. I doubt my ugly mug will even make it to TV but it was still fun anyway. I would've been totally bored had I done it on my own but luckily I had a few friends there with me which really helped to pass the time. I'd undoubtedly do it again if given the opportunity. But I will definitely bring a deck of cards next time to get some poker games going!

Uro Club....Really?

2009-03-12T07:59:00.000-10:00

Check out this commercial for the Uro Club. Auwe!

SNL Skit - Funny Or Not?

2009-03-10T07:42:00.004-10:00

I saw an article in the news that Lt. Governor Duke Aiona was angry at an SNL skit depicting Hawaiian locals at a Kauai hotel lounge. Apparently he felt that the skit was offensive and is planning to write letters of protest to SNL and to Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock).

So I watched the video on hulu to see what all the hubbub was about. You know what?.....I thought it was pretty damn funny. I thought it did pretty well in exposing the facade of the "happy locals" and showed that workers in the tourist industry are real people with real situations and not just some paid servants there to entertain tourists with clouded images of Hawaii. I mean....I don't think the skit was meant to go that deep but overall, I think the point of the skit was well delivered.

Humor is always a touchy issue, especially when stereotypes are the victims of said humor. But like I always say...it's all about the intent of the humor. If it's for the easy cheap laugh, then no. If it's conveying a social commentary, I'm all for it, especially if done well.

Dukie and some HTA officials might be going overboard in their comments, calling the skit "tasteless" and "offensive" and implying that the negative image depicted in the skit will further decrease visitor numbers. Really Dukie? You really think some couple on the mainland who's dreamed of visiting Hawaii will watch this skit and change their minds because the Rock teased some tourists? Get real. How about concentrating on more critical issues huh?

Personally, I thought the skit was hilarious.

Check it out!

Sunday Was A Good Day.....

2009-03-09T08:34:00.003-10:00

.....for Koreans in sports.

There was a golf sweep, a soccer goal, and then a tremendous baseball victory.

Korean native Y.E. Yang won the Honda Classic for his first PGA win yesterday. He faltered a little down the stretch but was able to hold on with a key 2 putt on the last hole for a 1 shot victory. It was the first PGA win for the 37 year old but he's won several times in the past on the Japan and European Tours. The win also qualified him for the Masters this year.

Then 20 year old phenom Shin Ji Yai won the HSBC Women's Championship in Singapore. She's a rookie this year but she's already won 3 times last year, including a major tournament.

Park Ji Sung, a midfielder for Manchester United, scored a goal in the closing minutes of their match against Fulham in the FA Cup playoffs, helping to secure a place in the semifinals. On a team of superstars, it's nice to see the Korean boy make his mark.

The highlight was the Korean baseball team in the World Baseball Classic. After suffering a humiliating loss to Japan 14-2 a few days ago, they bounced back blank China 14-0 and then got their revenge on Japan last night, defeating them 1-0. Korea and Japan both move on to Round 2.

Wolverine Goodness

2009-03-05T17:37:00.002-10:00

Check out the new full trailer to the Wolverine movie here.

Oh my goodness. Does that look badass or what? You got Wolvie, Sabretooth, Deadpool, and even some Gambit thrown in for good measure. Not to mention everyone's favorite hapa Korean Daniel Henney looking good with some John Woo type double fisted gun action. Looks like his role in this film is bigger than I thought!

Can't wait till May 1st....

Korean Karaoke!

2009-03-03T09:08:00.002-10:00

Just saw this video on Angry Asian Man.

I've heard of the show Flight of the Conchords but have never seen it since I don't have HBO but this clip is hilarious. A guy randomly sings some random Korean song karaoke style. And his pronunciation is actually pretty good!

Scary.....

2009-02-28T12:41:00.002-10:00

Just saw this article at the Honolulu Advertiser.

This happened in Ewa, in a shopping center I used to frequent when I was working on the Keone'ula Elementary School and I'm gonna be working in the same area again for about 1.5 years as I work on my next major project, Ewa Makai Middle School.

It's really scary to think that this kind of thing could happen in broad daylight when I'm just running errands or grabbing lunch....<

Dinner at Jinroku

2009-02-12T08:04:00.005-10:00

After reading some positive reviews on Metromix and on Yelp, I really wanted to check this place out. It's located on Kuhio Avenue, in the lobby of the Pacific Monarch Hotel and I gotta say...I really enjoyed my meal there!

The place just opened in the latter part of last year so the interior is very stylish, clean, and modern (think orange upholstery...I wish I'd taken a pic of the interior). As soon as we walked in to the restaurant, I noticed that there were many Japanese nationals dining there (including some very attractive young women!) so I was thinking this place has got to be doing something right!

First off, gotta have a drink! They feature a full bar with tons of choices for alcohol. I just wanted a beer but they provided excellent service by pouring it for me in a chilled glass (which I always love) and then came by to fill up my glass with the beer remaining in the bottle. My friend ordered a lava flow and she loved it so much she ordered 2!
The first dish to arrive was the beef tongue. Oishi! It was seasoned very simply, probably just some salt and pepper but had a very nice texture and went down very well with my ice cold beer.
Then out came the garlic chicken. Again, a pretty simple dish but executed well. Pieces of lightly seasoned chicken covered with fried thin garlic chips and sauteed green onion. The dish also came with 2 dollops of mayo for you to dip the chicken in. This was winnahs.
One of the house specialties is okonomiyaki. I'm not the biggest okonomiyaki fan but had to try, right? We ordered the seafood tama okonomiyaki and this was also pretty good. Very thick with lots of chunks of scallop, shrimp, and squid.
I'm a yakisoba lover so had to order one of these. They have about a dozen different types of yakisoba to choose from and I chose the curry yakisoba. The soba noodles are coated and stir fried with a curry sauce and mixed in with vegetables, shrimp, pork, and covered with a fried egg. So ono!
On top of the good food, the service was also top notch as several servers and either the manager or owner stopped by to check on us and see how everything was and everyone served us with a smile and very friendly approach.

If you're looking for something new to try out, I'd recommend Jinroku!

Narcissus Queen on Ellen

2009-02-12T07:54:00.003-10:00

Looks like Lisa Wong made it on to the Ellen show. Cool!

Lunch in Waipahu Part 4 - Scary Version

2009-02-09T23:01:00.002-10:00

I wanted to get out of the office for lunch today so I took a drive through Waipahu looking for a place to eat. As I was driving on Farrington Highway, I spotted a sign for Leeward Drive Inn and it said "Since 1968". Alright, sounds good!

So I ordered a roast pork plate lunch and went to grab an empty seat. The roast pork was terrible and I don't have a pic of it cuz it's not even worth mentioning but the conversations I overheard were definitely interesting.

From the table next to me, I overheard....

"That guy no can trust. I not going buy drugs from him again."

Okay...

From the table behind me, there were 2 women doing the Waipahu version of Sex and the City....

"He lucky this time I only when stab his leg. Next time I going stab him in the eye."

Yikes!

Yeah...I don't think I'll be having lunch there again anytime soon.......

College Life for the Big Wie-sy

2009-02-06T13:03:00.002-10:00

Came across this article from SF Gate on Michelle Wie's dual life as a Stanfurd student as an LPGA golf professional. Nothing that exciting but I noticed that she's taking a class in Korean drama. WTF? Yeah...typical Stanfurd. What a joke.

Hmm...I wonder if she's still dating Robin Lopez, who's now a backup center for the Phoenix Suns? Or was that just a rumor?

Narcissus Queen Pageant

2009-01-28T06:32:00.004-10:00

Didja check out the news clip of the new Narcissus Queen's talent? It's totally awesome! Check it out here: Awesome talent show

I actually shared an elevator with her Friday night. I had no idea who she was but she was wearing a pageant gown and a sash so we asked her if she won and she said that she did. Cool!

Lisa Wong's talent is so original and fun that she's even made Angry Asian Man's Blog!

Waikiki Sunset

2009-01-22T09:51:00.003-10:00

Too bad had clouds in the way....

Obama Yourself!

2009-01-22T09:48:00.003-10:00

You can do it too at obamicon.me

Dinner at Cafe Maharani

2009-01-11T16:01:00.002-10:00

NOTE: I apologize for the lack of pictures in the following review of Cafe Maharani

I'm sorry to say that I've never had Indian food before in my life. Not to my knowledge anyway. So I was really excited to go check out Cafe Maharani last night on King Street, right before Down to Earth near University Avenue.

We got there around 7:20pm and ended up waiting about 40 minutes for a table. The place was packed! It doesn't help that there are only like 8-10 tables in the entire restaurant. While waiting to get seated, we browsed the menu and decided to order the dinner special for two ($39.99) which includes a samosa appetizer, rice, naan, and a choice of 2 entrees (no seafood).

One good thing about Maharani is that it's BYOB. We brought a bottle of cab with us and paid just a $1.50 corkage fee. Too bad the wine glasses they gave us were plastic though.

The samosa came out first. The samosa is a deep fried pastry filled with curry like spices and vegetables. I don't know if it was because I was really hungry (having skipped lunch) but I really enjoyed it. It was like a Japanese bakery curry croquette in the shape of a cone but without the breading on the outside. The pastry exterior was light and fluffy and the innards were good too. Perhaps a tad on the dry side but a good start. The sauces they gave to put on the samosa were spicy but good.

The the entrees came. First out came the Karahi lamb, which was presented on a sizzling hot platter. Ooh....I was salivating at the huge tender chunks of lamb mixed in with pieces of onion and bell pepper. It looked so yummy! I stuck my knife into the lamb to cut it and it parted like the Red Sea. So tender....

The other entree we ordered was a Tandoori chicken, which came in a small stew pot. There were about 5-6 huge chunks of chicken meat mixed in with what tasted like a tomato based sauce. Hoo, this was spicy! But again the chicken was very tender and the sauce that accompanied it was so ono. A winnah.

The rice and naan were of the plain variety since we had no choice in either due to ordering the set menu for two. The rice was adequate as a carb filler but the naan was awesome! It came in huge half pizza like pieces and piping hot. The outer edges were crispy and the inner parts were oh so fluffy and light. Dipping the naan into the Tandoori chicken sauce was the best!

Overall I really enjoyed my first Indian food experience and will definitely go back to Cafe Maharani. The only negatives I would have to say were the limited parking, slightly slow but attentive service, and a few little too small tables.

But if you're interested in Indian, definitely check this place out!

Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li Trailer

2009-01-10T08:57:00.002-10:00

Meh.

Lunch In Waipahu Part 3 - K's Bento-Ya

2009-01-08T13:15:00.007-10:00

Went to K's Bento-Ya for lunch today. Got there at around 11am and they only had like 6 bentos left. They open at some ridiculous hour in the morning like at 5am or something like that and usually sell out of bentos by lunchtime.

From what I understand, they only have 2 types of bento: small bento ($4.75) and large bento ($5.75). Small bento (seen below) has musubi, maki sushi, oshi sushi, tofu patty, corned beef hash, half a teri hot dog, and cayenne chicken. The large bento is the same but also includes cone sushi, luncheon meat, and fried shrimp.
This was my first experience eating K's and for the price, a pretty decent bento, but too much rice for my taste. I don't need that much rice. The teri hot dog was simply a hot dog dipped or marinated in teri sauce and I don't know what makes the chicken "cayenne" but it was pretty tasty with the typical local style shoyu garlic type marinade. I liked the tofu patty as well.

Maybe I going try the large next time for just $1 more.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

2009-01-07T21:38:00.002-10:00

I've decided today to do the Great Aloha Run again. What the hell am I thinking? I've done the Run twice before but the last time must be like 4 or 5 years ago. Ah whatevahs...it'll give me an excuse to really dedicate myself to training for a month.

I hate running!!!! Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

Breakfast at Cream Pot

2009-01-05T14:03:00.007-10:00

Cream Pot is a breakfast/brunch eatery in the Hawaii Monarch Hotel. I've read several positive reviews on this place so was kind of curious to check it out and finally got that opportunity when I had breakfast there yesterday with a friend.

The atmosphere is quite charming and cute, reminding you of a Italian or French country style inn.

There are 2 menus, one with words and one with pictures. Very handy!
Had to try the dark chocolate cold drink. Very sweet and refreshing. Tasted like an upgraded chocolate milk. But at $4.50 not sure if I'd order it again.
I ordered the "classic" omelette. It had pieces of bacon, potato, mushrooms, and other goodies in it. The eggs were really creamy and well cooked but I thought the innards were a little lacking. I thought the ingredients were a little too finely chopped and I had a hard time tasting all their goodness. Also, the dish normally comes with rice but they had run out by the time we got there so they served me these pieces of bread instead which I'd prefer to rice anyway.
I ordered my omelette as a "set" which means it came with a beverage and a crepe. I selected the banana crepe and it was very very good. Light, moist, and not soggy at all. The caramel cream that accompanied the crepe was amazing. The set cost $16.
My friend ordered the banana Belgian waffles ($9.25) and these were fantastic. Notice the caramel sauce in the dipping cup. The same sauce as for the crepe. We asked if the restaurant would sell the caramel sauce since it was that good. They said that they were actually considering it for the future. The whipped cream you see on top of the waffles was also very good. I'm not normally a whipped cream fan but this cream was delicious. Nothing like the canned stuff.
We also ordered a side of hash browns ($3.50). This was just okay. Interestingly, it came with a dollop of sour cream on top. I wish it had been crispier.
The food overall was very good, if a little on the sweet side, but what do you expect from a restaurant called the Cream Pot and whose menu features crepes, waffles, and omelettes? There were a few negatives however. Parking is only partially validated and since we were there for a while, it ended up costing $4. And the reason why we were there for a while is that the food does take a while to come out. For the two of us it wasn't really a problem since we were just talking story and enjoying a leisurely morning so the delay in getting our food wasn't a big deal. But if you're in a hurry, this is not the place to go.

So check out Cream Pot if you're looking for a quaint and charming breakfast spot or if you're trying to impress a date. The breakfast cost about $45 with parking and tip included so it can get pretty pricey. But if you lay off the specialty beverages and just stick to 2 entrees, you can probably dine for about $30, all inclusive which is around about what you'd pay if went to a similar place such as IHOP. Plus, I don't believe they take credit cards so make sure to bring cash.

Say It Ain't So Chuck!

2009-01-02T15:29:00.002-10:00

You've all probably heard by now that Sir Charles Barkley, the Round Mound of Rebound, was recently arrested for suspicion of DUI. There are now new reports that he apparently ran the stop light because he was in a hurry to get a hummer. And I don't mean the SUV.

Check out the video report here.

Barkley is one of my favorite NBA players of all time and it's a shame that his reputation gets further sullied because of this. First it was the gambling problem, now it's this. Ouch.

2008 Year in Review and Hopes for 2009

2009-01-02T08:47:00.003-10:00

Looking back on 2008...it was a pretty good year! First of all, let's look at how I did on my New Year's resolutions.

1) Be healthier - I've lost about 12 pounds in the last year so that's a start, right? Of course I wanted to lose more...but baby steps! Nah, gotta work harder on this in 09.

2) Read more books - I've read a total of 1/2 of a book this year. Still working on finishing up Water For Elephants. Yeah, I know I suck in this category. You should see my stack of magazines I have to catch up on too.

3) Improve my golf game - I played a total of 1 round of golf in 2008 and that was back in February. Goal not accomplished!

4) Don't be so easy on spending the $! - I think I've been fairly financially responsible this year. Not too many useless purchases....that I can recall anyway.

So yeah, resolution wise, it may not have been the greatest but I had some great experiences in 2008. I went skiing in Lake Tahoe, did a weekend getaway in Kona, visited Korea in the spring (including a first time visit to Busan), travelled to California twice for work, met a great girl, lost a great girl, helped put the Korean Festival together, and got my LEED AP accreditation. Not a bad year!

I'm not going to make any resolutions for 2009 since life is so fluid and you try to be as flexible as possible but I do have a number of goals. Since this is the year of the ox (same year as when I was born, which means I'll turn 24 this year...yeah, right!), I am hoping for some great things.

Happy New Year everyone and hope you all have a fantastic 2009!

Time Warner Cable to Lose Major Channels?

2008-12-31T07:46:00.002-10:00

I got home last night and turned on my bedroom TV to watch some TV before going to bed as I normally do and all of a sudden I see this ticker on the bottom of some channels stating that we may be losing some major channels soon. Apparently, Viacom, the owner of said channels is willing to pull their channels from all Time Warner cable networks if Time Warner does not agree to increased fees for these channels by tonight.

I looked over the list of channels that will potentially be pulled and honestly, I don't really care that much. The list of channels affected includes MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Spike, and Comedy Central. I haven't watched MTV in years so I won't miss that and I don't have kids so Nickelodeon isn't anywhere near my radar. I also hardly watch Comedy Central, although it was a nice feeling to know it was always there in case I ever wanted to catch a re-run of Something About Mary or Kingpin at 2 in the morning. I think the only channel I'd miss on that list is VH1. In the past few years, VH1 has come up with some interesting programming such as Best Week Ever, The Pick Up Artist, and Scream Queens that I've enjoyed watching. Spike has also been pretty good about showing guy flicks like Bloodsport so I may miss that channel a bit as well.

The deadline for a deal to be made is midnight tonight. We'll see what happens!

Best Fight Scenes

2008-12-23T06:56:00.004-10:00

Came across some cool clips on Youtube.

Here's someone list of his top 10 Jackie Chan fight scenes. I agree with him for the most part but would probably switch the order around. Gotta love his commentary though.

Gotta love this fight scene from Undefeatable. So cheesy and ridiculous it's gold! It's gold, Jerry! I actually am a big fan of the cheesy 90s straight to video martial arts movies starring such legendaries as Cynthia Rothrock, Keith Cooke, Don "the Dragon" Wilson, and Billy Blanks.

And for the truly bizarre, check out this fight!

Weekend at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

2008-12-22T13:27:00.003-10:00

Got to spend a night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village this past Friday and it was quite nice! Just $180 for the evening and they even upgraded me to an ocean view room. Nice! The reservation also allowed for a late 4pm checkout so it was cool that there was no need to rush on Saturday and could just relax the day away....

View from the room
Penguins!

I think these turtles were trying to get it on but were waiting for the people to go away...

Pink flamingos

I really enjoyed my stay at the Hilton and it was nice to get away, even if for a single night.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

2008-12-15T22:47:00.001-10:00

Check out this trailer for next summer's guaranteed hit X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film seems to be about Wolvie's Project X days and has tons of popular characters from the Wolvie universe including Sabretooth, Deadpool, Blob, and Gambit!

Also check out Korean drama hapa megahunk Daniel Henney (star of My Lovely Samsoon) in the trailer. Boy done good for himself!

Menchie's = Yogurtland?

2008-12-14T16:43:00.002-10:00

Was driving by the Ward area after dinner last night and noticed a new fro-yo place across from Bose. Fro-yo for dessert? Cool! So stopped by at around 10:45pm. Place was pretty packed with high school kids who were just standing around the yogurt dispensers sampling all the flavors without actually buying anything....nice.

The setup is very similar to Yogurtland's. First you fill your cup with your choice of yogurt flavors, then you hit the toppings bar, and then you pay by the ounce. I saw 16 different flavors last night including Cable Car Chocolate, Irish Mint, Cake Batter, Strawberry Banana, Green Tea, Peanut Butter and others. The one thing they offer here that Yogurtland doesn't have is liquid toppings such as hot fudge, caramel, and I forget the last one. But other than that, the toppings available were very similar.

I filled my cup with a little Strawberry Banana and a little Irish Mint and topped it with hot fudge, chopped almonds, mini peanut butter cups, and mochi balls. Yum!

I believe they charged $0.43 per ounce but I don't know how that compares to Yogurtland cuz I forget their rate. But it was like $8 for two of us.

The one thing I did not like was that once it hit 11pm, they pretty much kicked us as well as the other patrons out of the place. I felt that they could have just put a CLOSED sign on the door to not allow anymore people to come in and at least let the people inside finish their yogurts before closing up shop. Oh well.

All in all, a decent alternative to Yogurtland if you're in the Ward area.

Dim Sum Part Deux!

2008-12-02T12:37:00.005-10:00

Remember my post from last year about eating dim sum every Saturday? Well....that's still the case to this day. But my Dad and I have changed venues since then. Good Luck Chinese Restaurant lost my business the day I found not one...but TWO! Two dead cockroaches in one of the dim sum steamers on our table. That was so disgusting. Haven't been back since.

Now we go to Tai Pan, which is also in the Chinese Cultural Plaza, in the very back corner on the first floor. No traditional dim sum carts here. The restaurant is too small for them. Just give your order to the waitress and she'll bring the food to you.

Here's a sampling of last Saturday's meal:

Gotta have the siu mai (pork hash)! So ono! ($2.35)

Black bean sauce spareribs. Very tasty and not full of just bone like other places ($2.35)

Hau gau or steamed shrimp dumplings ($2.35)

Steamed scallop dumplings ($2.35)

Pan fried chives...one of my faves! ($2.35)

Just recently discovered this dish after seeing another table order it. It's gau gee with choy sum. Yummy! ($5.45)

So now you can find me at Tai Pan every Saturday morning instead of Good Luck. There are often times a line of people waiting for an open table or you may be forced to share a large a table with another small party if you only have 2 or 3 in your group but the staff is friendly and the food is definitely worth it.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2008-11-27T10:51:00.003-10:00

Hope everyone has a great Turkey day today!

A list of a few of the things I'm thankful for:

- Close family and friends
- A great job that I actually enjoy doing
- My health (generally speaking)
- Memorable experiences

Of course there's a lot more I'm thankful for but you get the gist.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best. Survivor. Ever.

2008-11-21T23:02:00.003-10:00

Just got done watching my DVR of this week's Survivor:Gabon....and it was the best episode ever. Don't wanna give it away if you haven't watched it yet, but the person who got the boot this week so deserved it and it was glorious to watch. Talk about surprise ending! For the bootee, anyway...the audience was clued in on to who it would be and it was played out perfectly. I freakin' love it!

Gotta love the blindside boots 4 weeks in a row! Genius! And not to mention a certain someone yelling out her comments as she wrote the name down during Tribal Council. Classic and hilarious!

Free Ticket To Manila?

2008-11-21T16:06:00.002-10:00

Just saw this Hawaiian Airlines promotion.

For each interisland ticket bought between now and June 4, 2009, you will receive a 10% discount off of a round trip ticket to Manila. So if you purchase 10 interisland round trip tickets, that's 100% off....or FREE!

Since I travel to Maui for work every 2 weeks and will probably be doing so from now until May 2009....that's 6 months at 2 trips per month...12 trips! Free trip to Manila! Woohoo!

I'd love to travel to different countries and if it's with free airfare...hellz yeah!

Visa Waiver for Korean Visitors in Effect

2008-11-19T12:16:00.002-10:00

Forgot to mention this little news bit. The visa waiver for Korean visitors went into effect this past Monday. In the past, visitors from Korea were required to acquire a visa to enter the US. Since getting this visa was many times a lengthy and complicated process, many travelers decided to forgo the regimen and visit similar tropic locations such as Guam, Saipan, and Thailand instead of Hawaii.

But now they will be allowed to enter Hawaii with just their passports, as long as they're equipped with a new electronic chip. I believe they're allowed to stay for up to as long as 90 days. The installation of this visa waiver program will no doubt dramatically increase the number of visitors from Korea, thus stimulating our economy in more ways than one might initially think. And yes, we could all use an economic boost during these crucial times.

The first man to land in Honolulu through the visa waiver program was bestowed with many gifts from local Korean businesses such as free rounds of golf at Coral Creek golf course and a free stay at Waikiki Resort Hotel. Not bad!

Headshots

2008-11-18T22:46:00.005-10:00

Took some headshots just for fun a few days ago. Nothing professional, just amateur work from a buddy of mine in his kitchen. But I think he did really well considering the gonzo type setup. Thanks MP! We'll see if this leads anywhere....

The Kramers look....classic! LOL
The high school yearbook pic
Super smiley

Big Sale At Palama Market

2008-11-12T07:56:00.002-10:00

Went to Palama Market yesterday and learned that they're having a huge sale. 25% off everything in the store! That's a pretty damn good deal.

This sale is only until tomorrow so hurry down there if you need some Korean food or products!

I Need To Vote

2008-10-31T12:06:00.002-10:00

Or this will happen.....

Sign This Kid Now!

2008-10-30T07:59:00.002-10:00

Holy crap! Check out this peewee football player. He's like a combination of Ray Lewis, Earl Campbell, and Reggie Bush. Awesome!

Cheap Kimbap!

2008-10-30T07:50:00.002-10:00

Wow, they're charging just 500 won (or about 50 cents) per roll of kimbap in this photo. Man, Palama charges $4 per roll here!

Things That Make You Go Hmm.....

2008-10-29T08:44:00.003-10:00

Didja know....

that the Korean word for a married couple is "boo boo"?

Hmmm.....

BNO - Kanpai Sports Bar

2008-10-24T09:47:00.009-10:00

Kanpai is located where Dixie's Grill used to be on Ward Avenue.

I apologize for my poor picture taking skills. I can't figure out how to take pictures in dim lighting. If I turn the flash on, the pics come out too bright with no detail. With no flash, the pics come out too dark. Anyone wanna coach me? I think there's only 1 decent pic in the bunch below.

The norm on a BNO. Chilled Petron shot. Yum! Pour was kind of weak here though. Andadog knows where the good pours are.
Follow that up with an ice cold beer! Stella's a pretty smooth beer I've been enjoying lately.

Ahi shoyu poke. Not bad, but not the freshest either.
Spicy garlic chicken. A little salty (as was most of the food here) but tasty and a good match with the beer.
Ahi belly. Tender and tasty.
Fried rice. Quite bland, and a little mushy. My least favorite dish of the night.
Garlic poke. Better than the shoyu poke.
Kimchee ribeye steak. Didn't really care for this but the gang thought it was pretty good. We ordered it medium but it came out closer to rare. Also very salty and the kimchee wasn't seared along with the steak. It was just piled on top of it.
Overall, an average culinary experience but the atmosphere's decent and the service was good. I wish the food wasn't so salty and the Petron pour was better. With the plethora of sports bar type establishments around, don't really see myself returning to Kanpai.

The iRack

2008-10-23T12:35:00.001-10:00

I thought this skit was pretty funny...

BoA Will Eat You Up

2008-10-22T22:48:00.004-10:00

Don't know who BoA is? Then you haven't been following the Korean and Japanese pop music scene the last few years.

BoA is a Korean pop singer who debuted at the age of 13 and has become a superstar in both Korea and Japan with numerous hit albums. Now at the age of 22, she is attempting (as so many other Asian pop stars before her) to make a splash in the US, releasing the English song "Eat You Up".

Here is the Asian MV

And here's the American version

The Asian MV version is much better. The American version just looks so cheap and amateurish.

As for the song itself...well, it isn't the best. The lyrics are ridiculously immature and it sounds like a cheap wannabe version of a typical Britney song. That being said, I hated it the first time I heard it and then discovered myself hating it less and less the 2nd and 3rd times. I now find it kinda catchy and it has a good beat you can dance to. Yeah...this song rocks! ^^

But the girl definitely has talent, even if not evident in this song. And you can at least see how good a dancer she is. But of course, she's no Son Dam Bi.

Anyways, if you're interested, this song is also available on iTunes so check it out!

I Don't Like 24 Hour Fitness Pearl Kai

2008-10-15T22:36:00.002-10:00

I don't know what it is about this place but I really don't like this place. First of all, compared to Kapiolani (the other branch I frequent), the facilities are very old and cramped.

But the thing that's weird for me is that for whatever reason I can't get a full workout here. Whenever I lift at Kapiolani, I do a 2 mile warm up run on the treadmill. But for some reason at Pearl Kai, I'm kegging after just 1 mile and my legs are burning. I never get this feeling at 1 mile at the Kapiolani 24 Hour. Are the treadmills at Pearl Kai harder? Or am I just mental?

Also, the weights seem heavier at Pearl Kai. Maybe it's because the dumbbells have thinner handles at Pearl Kai than at Kapiolani. Or maybe I'm just a dumbbell.

Maybe it's because I haven't lifted in 3 weeks cuz I was studying for my LEED AP exam and then spent the last week catching up at work. But during my workout today, I was feeling very weak.

24 Hour Fitness is supposed to open a brand new branch at the old CompUSA location near Sam's Club and I can't wait for that to open. New spacious facilities, new equipment, etc. will all lead to a better workout.

Lunch In Waipahu Part 2 - Wong Kung Chop Suey

2008-10-07T12:44:00.003-10:00

This is eggplant with chicken over chow mein noodles. Just $4.75! Where can you get lunch for $4.75 nowadays? Not even at McDs!

This was actually very good and filling as well. They have about a half dozen lunch choices for $4.75 so I may be going back to sample other selections.

Wong Kung Chop Suey is located in the shopping center that has Jack in the Box. Sorry, I don't know the name of the shopping center. But if you're driving on Farrington Highway and see Jack in the Box, it's right behind it.

And The Most Annoying Person On The Amazing Race Is....

2008-10-07T12:26:00.003-10:00

Tina from the separated group of Ken and Tina. Didja see last week's episode?

All of the teams headed to the airport for a flight to Brazil and she was the first in line. At first, they were told that the earlier flight was sold out and that they would have to wait till 11:30 for the next flight. But then, the airline decided to change the plane to a bigger one, allowing ALL 10 teams to fly out earlier at 6:30am or something like that.

But this stupid lady goes around to all the teams, claiming the airline switched to a bigger airplane just for her and wanted to take credit for this major accomplishment from all the teams. Whatever! Yeah, lady, I'm sure the airline decided to go with a bigger plane just because of your annoying pleading and begging. And then, why would teams have to thank her anyway? It's not like only some teams got on the earlier flight. They all got on. So there was no benefit whatsoever.

But Tina was thoroughly convinced that she had done a major thing and looked for credit and gratitude from each of the other teams. LOSER!

Runner Up Award goes to Terrence of the newly dating couple. Jeez, talk about needy! He was angry at his girlfriend teammate because she was talking to the other teams during the pit stop and not hanging out with him. And then he just whines about everything else such as her running to fast for him, etc. This guy is a total weenie.

I Am Now LEED AP

2008-10-01T07:12:00.002-10:00

Took my LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) AP exam yesterday and am so relieved to have passed. I spent about 2 weeks studying for the exam and man, was it tough!

When I first started studying I didn't realize how hard and extensive the exam would be until I really got into the material. I figured, I'll just study a little everyday and I'll be fine. I ended up studying about 2-3 hours a day and then 4-5 hours on my weekends! And I still wasn't feeling quite confident about it up until the last minute.

So I was so relieved to receive a passing score and I actually did a lot better than I thought I would. Whew! I'm so glad I don't need to study anymore.

I haven't studied this much since my Professional Engineer's license!

Sad Sad Loss...

2008-09-28T18:48:00.003-10:00

Went to the UH game this past Saturday and man, was I disappointed. I can handle losing, that's to be expected given the losses we had on our offense from last year and the presence of a brand new head coach. It's just the way we lost.

The one thing that I cannot absoulutely tolerate is stupid penalties. I'm talking about the 15 yarders for unsportsmanlike conduct. We got like at least 4 of these throughout the game and it's just frickin' pathetic and idiotic. There was a time during June Jones's era where these types of penalties were common and I was livid. And it seems to be happening again. What does it stem from? A severe lack of discipline.

I have a gut feeling that former UH coach Dick Tomey, now coach of the San Jose State Spartans may have had a hand in this. After coaching here for so long, he must have a feel for the "local" short temper and the forever playing with the chip on the shoulder attitude and never back down personality of our local boys. I have a suspicion that he told his D-lineman to continually talk trash to UH O-lineman to try and trigger a reaction and if this was indeed his plan, he was successful. 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalties absolutely killed us. We just have to get rid of this kind of street mentality and just play football. The scoreboard speaks for itself, not your words or actions. And this comes down to the coaching staff. They have to have a better grip on their players.

Speaking of coaching...what was with the 55 yard FG attempt? Yeah, Kelly's proven he's got a strong leg but look at his performance this year thus far...he's been very inconsistent. Plus, the way the D was playing all game, I'd punt the ball and pin them back and try to get the ball back in good field position. The punter had already pinned 2 punts inside the 10 earlier in the game. Let him do it again! But no, Coach Mac decided to let Kelly try a FG that even pros would have a hard time committing. Bad mistake.

And I realize that Graunke was nursing a sore hand and that's why he didn't start the game and also why Funaki was left in so long despite his poor performance, but we simply need to find an answer at QB. This was our 4th game and we've had guys go from #1 to #3 or #4 and the #4 go to #1. This in all in a span of a month. This screams of desperation and no trust in the QB position.

Also, we had 2 weeks to prepare for this game with the bye last week. What the hell did they practice during those 2 weeks? We couldn't execute a single damn play. Funaki looked totally lost out there. Uhm...wasn't he taking majority of snaps in practice for the last 2 weeks? What the hell were they practiciing?

It's too bad Pilares got hurt in the 1st half. He was playing lights out. If he had stayed in, it could've made a difference. And yet, this is a guy who's supposed to play WR this year. Yup....talk about no one knowing what they're doing on the coaching staff.

I felt really terrible for the defense. They played their hearts out and were awesome. They forced so many 3 and outs and held their ground when the offense kept turning it over, 3 times on the first play of the drive. But you're gonna be fighting an uphill battle when your offense turns it over 6 times in a game, 5 times in the 2nd half alone.

I'm not ready to crucify Coach Mac yet, but I never was a fan of his hiring. I didn't like him as a DC last year and we paid way too much to a guy who has no head coaching experience. But it's still too early to give him the axe, way too early. Especially in a rebuilding year. But what the fans do need to see at the least is more discipline, better play execution, and better decision making.

We go to Fresno State next week....be afraid. Be very afraid.

Wonder Girls on Perez Hilton

2008-09-26T11:36:00.005-10:00

I have no idea who Perez Hilton is but apparently his Hollywood celebrity blog is a big deal to people who follow that kind of tabloid stuff. The only reason I know who he is now is because the Korean girl group Wonder Girls got a shout out on his blog recently. Check out his shout out here.

It's kinda cool that they're getting recognition in the States cuz they are HUGE in Korea, especially after their last 2 catchy pop hits "Tell Me" and "So Hot". Their new song "Nobody" is pretty good too.

It's all due to uber-producer Park Jin Young. Who? Don't know who that is? You shall soon learn....

You can check out the video with English subs here...

Jang Jin Young Has Stomach Cancer

2008-09-25T08:34:00.004-10:00

Popular Korean actress Jang Jin Young has been diagnosed with stomach cancer and will begin undergoing chemotherapy. She's one of my favorite Korean actresses. She starred in one of the best Korean romantic comedies Singles and has won several acting awards. She's truly very talented.

Aw man...this sucks...

Here's the teaser and trailer for Singles, with English subs. Excellent film and highly recommended...

Mayoral Runoff

2008-09-23T07:42:00.003-10:00

Man, how close was Mayor Mufi Hannemann to avoiding a runoff in the November general election? All he needed was 50% of the vote +1 and he ended up with something like 49.3%. I know that Mufi was campaigning hard to get his supporters to vote during the primary this past Saturday as I attended several of his functions so he must be really disappointed.

The thing is that Mufi probably has the mayoral race all sewn up but now has to spend another 2 months campaigning for an inevitable result. City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi was a distant 2nd with about 30% of the vote, which is actually pretty impressive considering she entered the race very late.

But I know Mufi really wanted to avoid the general election and just wanted to concentrate on going back to doing his job. You have to blame the low turnout for these results. Only 35% of voters went to the polls. That is so pathetic. I'm not a big political guy by any means. I don't watch CNN regularly but I do try to keep on top of the main issues whenever possible. But I definitely take advantage of my ability to vote.

I think a lot of people in this country take this privilege for granted. We have to consider ourselves very lucky to have a say in who gets to be our political leaders and that's something I appreciate a lot. People always complain about who's in the White House or who's running the State of Hawaii but you know what? Chances are these people never got out there to vote so they shouldn't say anything. I mean come on...35%? That's just plain sad and screams of the sometimes typical apathy of the people of Hawaii.

Granted, I don't think that the government did a good job of informing the public that 9/20 was the day of the primary election either. If I hadn't attended the mayoral support functions, there's a chance I wouldn't have known about it. I think if the public was better educated about the primary election, this wouldn't have happened and there would've been a bigger turnout at the polls.

Oh well....I guess we can all look forward to another 2 months of campaigning...it should be interesting as I think Ann Kobayashi (a very strong supporter of the Korean community as is Mayor Hannemann) is a great person and very qualified as well.

USA Off To Good Start

2008-09-19T07:36:00.003-10:00

The Ryder Cup started this morning and the US team got off to a great start, winning the morning foursome matches, 3 points to 1. Ryder Cup rookie Anthony Kim was paired up with the US's best player Phil Mickelson (since Tiger's not playing) in the opening match and came back from 3 down to halve the match and earn half a point. Pretty good for a rookie, especially playing against the veteran team of Paddy Harrington (who's won 2 majors this year) and Robert Karlsson.

The US has lost I think the last 3 or 4 Ryder Cups to the European squad so they're hungry for a victory and they're off to a great start. I can't remember the last time the US won the opening foursome matches. It seems like they're always fighting from behind each time so it's refreshing to see them in the lead like this.

The fourball matches are currently under way now. Hopefully the US team can keep its momentum going.

Ai Yai Yai....

2008-09-16T09:00:00.002-10:00

I love DeSean Jackson. I really do. He was an outstanding WR and kick returner at Cal and he's doing awesome in his rookie year in the NFL for the Eagles, gaining 100 yards receiving in his first 2 games.

But the man is a doofus. Check out this play from last night's wild Monday night game. He catches a long bomb from McNabb and then drops the ball in celebration at the 1 yard line!

And that's not the first time he's done it! Check out this clip from his high school days!

Man, this guy's got skills but he's gotta grow up!

The Amazing Race 13

2008-09-12T14:53:00.001-10:00

Check out the cast for the new season of The Amazing Race.

It's the same old usual suspects (the estranged couple, the hotties, the family group, the outcast/weirdo group, etc.) but this show is still very entertaining. The best reality show on TV. Also, surprisingly no alpha male team this time around, unless you wanna count Andrew and Dan but they don't quite fit the young alpha male profile.

I bet you the married hippies are the first to be eliminated but I hope not cuz they look like they'll be a fun team to watch.

The Amazing Race Season 13 starts 9/28/08. Mark your calendars!

Lunch In Waipahu Part 1 - Kristen's Kitchen

2008-09-05T14:40:00.003-10:00

I'm a big time roast pork lover. Whenver I go to a plate lunch place and it's on the menu, I'm ordering it. I've seen all types of styles with all kinds of gravys and I have to say that the roast pork plate at Kristen's Kitchen is one of the best I've had.

Check it out! Yummy!
The meat was very tender and had just the right amount of fat mixed in to it. And they give a lot! This plate cost $7.95 but for the amount of food, it's definitely worth it. The gravy is also winnahs which is why I get it on the rice too.

So if you ever find yourself driving down Farrington Hwy in Waipahu, go check it out!

Chris Cooley Fantasy Football Draft

2008-09-04T18:03:00.002-10:00

This was a great find. Washington Redskins TE Chris Cooley has a video up of his fantasy football draft with some of his teammates, including Colt Brennan! Others featured are QB Jason Campbell, RB Mike Sellers, et al.

It's a must watch for any fantasy football fan as you see all the regular going ons of a typical draft. The guy that always drafts someone who's already been selected, the trash talking, etc. Poor Colt doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He picked LenDale White in the first round! And then one of his teammates calls it a "gay pick". ^^

Other gems...

- When someone selects Reggie Bush....the rest of them say "Meh..."

- "I select 'I'll beat you up' Steve Smith!"

- Someone selects QB Matt Ryan and Fred Smoot says "He's nothing! He's a pair of shoes!"

- Cooley and Campbell both select each other for their fantasy teams. Hmm...does this mean Cooley's gonna have a big year? LOL

It's a fun video if you're a fantasy football fan. Check it out:

You can also check out Chris Cooley's blog here. You'll see that Colt Brennan's team is called the Menehune. Fun stuff!

My Daboyz Fantasy Football Team

2008-09-02T16:25:00.002-10:00

Had my draft on Labor Day in my main league (Daboyz league) and I'm quite pleased with the results. I got handed the #9 pick out of 10 teams so that wasn't too great but I made do with it. Our league starts 2 QBs, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 PK, and 1 DEF/ST. We also give 2 PPR.

Round 1 - Larry Fitzgerald. Yeah you read that right.

Round 2 - Reggie Bush. If he stays healthy, he will dominate in catches.

Round 3 - Plaxico Burress. Gonna have another solid year with the NYG.

Round 4 - Thomas Jones. Sleeper RB. Willie Parker and Willis McGahee were available but I went with the upside.

Round 5 - Aaron Rodgers. Gotta get someone from Cal! And he's got lots of weapons to play with.

Round 6 - Brandon Jacobs. Solid RB #3 but needs to stay on the field.

Round 7 - Lee Evans. Taking another shot with him this year. Please throw him the ball!

Round 8 - Jon Kitna. Mike Martz may be gone but Kitna's got good WRs to throw to.

Round 9 - Ray Rice. Will take carries away from McGahee and may be a consistent starter.

Round 10 - Chris Chambers. Nice to have a Charger on my team. CC will be the #1 WR probably since I don't think Vincent Jackson is quite ready to step up yet.

Round 11 - Felix Jones. I think he will do really well in Dallas cuz he's got too much talent to keep off the field and I'm not sure if MB3 can handle the full load.

Round 12 - Chad Pennington. My backup QB. Yuck.

Round 13 - Indianapolis DEF/ST. They got their injured players back and should be solid again this year.

Round 14 - DeSean Jackson. Another boy from Cal! He's looked great in the preseason and although rookie WRs don't usually make much of an impact, with McNabb in the backfield, balls will be in the air!

Round 15 - Justin Gage. Sleeper WR. I think he's got an outside shot at making some noise.

Round 16 - Josh Brown. I rarely care about kickers too much.

That's my team! The NFL starts tonight and I have Plaxico on my radar. You go Burress!

Cal Off To Good Start

2008-09-01T07:39:00.003-10:00

1-0 baby!

Got home after volunteering at the Okinawan Festival and watched the Cal-Michigan State game on DVR. I was curious how Cal was gonna be this year, especially on offense after losing RB Justin Forsett and also WR DeSean Jackson. The QB situation was also in question as incumbent Nate Longshore was benched in favor of the sophomore Kevin Riley, the guy who may have cost Cal a shot at being #1 last year when he was tackled in an attempt to run into the end zone with no time left against Oregon State.

But I gotta say, Cal looked great! New RB Jahvid Best looked awesome in bits and pieces last year backing up Forsett and was asked to carry the load this time. He was very successful, carrying over 20 times for 111 yards. This guy is blazing fast and it will be interesting if he can handle the load. If he can, watch out. His backup FR Shane Vereen also pulled off a 81 yard TD so they look ready at RB.

QB Kevin Riley played a great steady game, and didn't turn it over like Nate Longshore did who threw picks in both of his possessions. Yeah, let's just leave him on the bench.

Cal's D was okay, but can still improve. But they did well overall.

Next up, a road game at Washington State!

Wow....McCain's Running Mate is Who?

2008-08-29T09:34:00.002-10:00

This is a shocker. I was a bit surprised by Obama selecting Biden as his running mate but McCain's announcement simply deserves a "Hah?!"

McCain just announced that Sarah Palin is his choice for running mate in the upcoming Presidential election. Who the hell is Sarah Palin? Well, she's currently the governor of Alaska but she's only held the position for 2 years. At the age of 44, she's even more politically green than Barack Obama.

She appears to be very conservative (naturally) but I just don't see the reasoning behind the selection. The only possible explanation has to be that McCain is targetting all of the female voters who were Hillary backers but who aren't enthusiastic about voting for Obama. That's gotta be it.

Jeez...is this election gonna be fun or what?

This Is Why Ferd Is A Columnist And I'm Not

2008-08-27T08:17:00.004-10:00

Ferd Lewis had a great column in today's Honolulu Advertiser about the new LPGA ruling that all players must pass an English test to stay on tour. And he stated his point much better than I did. Check it out. Good stuff.

Then this morning as I'm driving to work I'm listening to 1420AM sports radio and they were also discussing this new rule. A caller calls in and suggests that the rule was created because of foreign players possibly conspiring with each other on the course in their native language. "They can tell each other how the putts break...." was part of what the caller said. Sigh. I fear for the ignorant. Does this guy not realize that golf is an individual's game and there's no way you would give a competitor any kind of advice, even if they're from your own country? Jeez...some people, I tell ya.

Olympics...the After Party

2008-08-26T12:25:00.001-10:00

Check out this interesting article about Olympic athletes getting it on. Makes perfect sense. You get thousands of young, virile, athletic, attractive people together in one place, you know there's gonna be some hanky panky going on. How much you wanna bet Usain Bolt got his fair share of nookie?

If I was an Olympic athlete, I'd be sure to hang around Heather Mitts, Logan Tom, Guo Jingjing, and Natalie Couglin. ^^

English, Dammit!

2008-08-26T11:30:00.003-10:00

Wow.

The LPGA has just passed a ruling that any Tour member who's been on the tour for 2 years must pass an English oral evaluation or they will be suspended. This of course is aimed at the ever growing number of foreign golfers on the LPGA tour, especially from Korea. The LPGA currently has 121 members and over a third (45) are Korean.

While I agree with the thinking behind the ruling, I find it a bit harsh to suspend a player for something that has nothing to do with the game they're playing. These players are in a foreign land and must learn a new language to adapt but it's not like their job is to negotiate high powered deals. They're here to put a small white ball in a cup. No need for talking.

I actually agree that the Korean golfers should get out more and be more expressive but never would have thought of going all Gestapo on them.

The deputy commissioner of the LPGA states "Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development....There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it". Um...more like you want to help your Tour not lose the few sponsors it has left. Why is that the responsibility of the players? Isn't it the Tour's job to market and promote? I agree that the Korean players are not the most outgoing and social but why blame them for the international flavor of the Tour now?

Why blame the product and not the system? The international players are clearly taking over the LPGA (not to mention the PGA). Don't you want your product to showcase the best quality of golf out there? You really want to potentially lower the quality of your product because of a language barrier? I wouldn't be surprised if what they really wanted to do would be to limit the number of foreign players on Tour but of course that would get even more negative feedback and calls of racism. But that's what other countries do in their sports leagues. In Korea, the pro basketball league has a maximum of 2 foreign players per team rule. But good luck getting that passed in the US, the land of the overly politically correct.

If it's more English speaking top players you want, why don't you pump more money into the American girls junior golf system? Because there are very few top American players now. If you've watched golf coverage nowadays, they usually display the flag of the home country of each player on the leaderboard. Good luck finding more than 1 or 2 USA flags on an LPGA leaderboard.

Like I said, I agree with the concept, but disagree with the execution. Even though it seems the Koreans understand and support the rule (and believe me, they do want to learn English...badly), I still find it unnecessary. It just seems like a cowardly way of discouraging more foreign players from joining the Tour. Have you seen the Futures Tour money leaders? All Koreans. So this Korean wave isn't gonna stop anytime soon. But now that they're forcing the English or you're out clause, it may mean a few less players but I think it may decrease the quality of the LPGA.

Of course, as with anything else, it's all about the Benjamins. No one really cares about interviews with winners at the end of tournaments and whether or not they're done in English. It's all about the sponsors. There is quite a large disparity in purse money between the PGA and LPGA. An average winner's purse in the PGA is about $1 million now and in the LPGA it's more like $250,000. And the LPGA is losing tournaments left and right due to lack of attendance and sponsors. There are times when they have tournaments only every other week! So they're dying to fill their schedule with quality tournaments and that comes from sponsorships.

The sponsor's time to interact with players comes during the Pro-Am round and if they're stuck with a non English speaking golfer, they get no fun out of it and will pull the plug. That's what it comes down to.

So it's a shame that the situation has come to this. With the ever present Asian contingent on the LPGA, I knew something like this would happen but I never imagined it would happen like this. We'll see how it goes...

Gaku Izakaya and Yogurtland

2008-08-26T08:12:00.007-10:00

Took a friend out for their birthday yesterday and went to have dinner at Gaku Izakaya on King Street (across from Cafe Sistina). I've met my buddies there numerous times but always just for a beer after dinner so I never had the pleasure of a full meal there and was always curious since they've raved about how good the food is. So finally went to check it out last night.

Got there around 7:30pm and was told there was a 40 minute wait. The place is kind of small with just about 8-9 tables and a sushi bar. Decided to wait and it only ended up being about 20 minutes so that was good.

This is what we ordered...

I think this was called Clam and Jumbo Shrimp Salsa (a daily special). We saw the table next to us order it and it looked good so decided to get one ourselves. It was interesting, but not something I'd order again. But the ingredients were all very fresh and tasty. It just didn't have a "Japanese" feel to it.
Orders of hamachi and unagi nigiri. (sorry for the blurry pic, still trying to figure out my camera) I think sushi orders are $4 so it's a really good deal. The size of the sushi is a tad bit smaller than you'd find at other sushi places, but the quality is still good, especially for that price!
The garlic ribeye. Mmm...love the mixture of garlic and fatty ribeye. Was oishi!
The TNT, their version of seafood dynamite (again, sorry for the bluriness). This was the bomb, yo! Get it? "TNT", "dynamite", "bomb"? See what I did there? Never mind...But yeah, this tasted really really good. Nice big chunks of various seafood mixed in with the delicious dynamite sauce. I'm not normally a fan of dynamite (too thick and creamy for me) but I really enjoyed this dish.
Gotta have chicken karaage! This was done really well also. Nice and crispy on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside. Splash a little lemon juice on there and then I even dipped it in the leftover garlic sauce from the ribeye for da extra flava. Winnahs!
Top all of that food off with a jumbo bottle of Asahi beer, and I was very satisfied! Both of us loved the food and I will definitely go back. Service is also excellent as all the wait staff are very friendly and if you ever sit at the sushi bar, the 3 guys working there are really cool too.

I was stuffed after dinner but gotta get dessert! So we went to Yogurtland on University Avenue. Yogurtland is following the Southern California trend of building your own yogurt with fresh toppings at places like Pinkberry and Red Mango (was thinking about franchising one of them here but ho da expensive!). Got to Yogurtland at around 9:30pm and had a long line streaming out the door.

The system here is that you first fill your cup with whatever flavor of yogurt you like and then you hit the toppings bar where you can drown your yogurt in whatever you please. You then pay by the ounce. The heavier your yogurt, the more you pay. I believe it was 39 cents per ounce.

The flavors of yogurt available were vanilla, chocolate, mango, peanut butter, cookies and cream, strawberry, NY cheesecake, green tea, green apple, and a few others I forget. Of course, they let you sample too! ^^

The toppings offered were a variety of fruits, cereals, bits and pieces of candy and cookies, and my favorite.....mochi balls! Yes!

Here's a photo of our yogurts.

My creation on the left consisted of strawberry and cheesecake yogurt, topped with strawberries, brownie bits, almonds, and mochi balls!
I gotta say...this yogurt was sooo good. The toppings were amazing. I really loved the combination of the crunchiness of the almonds, the sweetness of the brownie bits, the juices of the strawberries, and best of all the chewiness of the mochi balls! I scarfed my creation down in less than 10 minutes, it was so good.

The 2 yogurts combined cost around $10 so about $5 each and I think that's a really good deal for the quantity and quality you get. I can understand how there's lines here every night.

Yep...better hit the gym hard this week!

Olympics Pau!

2008-08-24T15:24:00.002-10:00

That was a great 2 weeks of Olympic activity. Between cheering for both Korea and USA, and DVRing countless hours of coverage, I need a break! But it was a rousing success for the Korean team, as the country easily surpassed its goal of 10 gold medals and a Top 10 standing.

Korea finished with 13 gold medals, and 7th in the standings. They got an amazing gold in baseball, going undefeated throughout the tournament, beating Japan and Cuba twice each. They also scooped gold for all 4 of their taekwondo athletes. Marine Boy Park Tae Hwan also got Korea its first swimming medal ever with a gold in the 400m freestyle.

Awesome!

Last Day To Register!

2008-08-21T11:01:00.002-10:00

If you haven't registered to vote yet, today's the last day! Been seeing the Mayor pretty frequently recently and gotta say, he's a great guy and very supportive of the local Korean community. He spent several hours at the Korean Festival, attended our Korean Festival Mahalo Dinner, said a few words at the Korean Independence Day celebration this past weekend, and this past Tuesday, held a meeting to meet the Korean community at Christ United Methodist Church on Keeaumoku Street, where approximately 250 people showed up. As always with his style, he stayed after his speech to go around the room to shake hands and greet all of the attendees.

He's really pushing to get the required "50%+1" votes in this primary election next month so that he doesn't have to campaign for the general election and I think he's going to do it.

Did you know that he has many people of Korean ancestry on his Cabinet?

Ann Chung - Director, Office of Economic Development
Eugene Lee - Director, Dept of Design and Construction
Debbie Kim Morikawa - Director, Dept of Community Relations
Hubert Minn - Deputy Director, Dept of Enterprise Services
Christine Camp - Chairperson, Honolulu Police Commission
Lee Donohue - Former Police Chief and currently with the Citizen's Advisory Commission on Civil Defense
Alyssa Park - Board of Water Supply

So don't forget to register to vote by today and make your voice heard!

Those Jamaicans Are Fast!

2008-08-18T08:35:00.002-10:00

Didja see Usain Bolt in the men's 100m race? Holy s---! The bruddah ran a new world record time of 9.69 and he was so far ahead of the field he started celebrating with about 20m to go! 100m dashes always have close finishes because it's so difficult to gain a big lead in such a short distance but Bolt blew the field away and was even able to spread his arms in victory and ease up with 20% of the race left to go! Who knows what his time could've been if he'd run hard the entire way?

And then the Jamaican women finished 1-2-3 in the women's 100m dash. And their winner too also blew the field away, with no one even close to challenging her.

The US used to dominate the sprints but no more. Fear the Jamaicans...

BNO!

2008-08-15T09:32:00.001-10:00

Michael Phelps - Gold, Marine Boy - Silver, and More Netizen Silliness

2008-08-12T07:51:00.002-10:00

Phelps won his 3rd gold medal out of 3 attempt yesterday in the men's 200m freestyle event. Didja know that if he wins all 8 gold, Speedo will give him a $1 million bonus? Sweet!

Marine Boy Park Tae Hwan also did well in the event, finishing in 2nd for the silver medal. The outcome was never really in doubt as Phelps was the easy favorite but getting the silver has to be considered a success for the 19 year old Korean. Congrats! Next up for Park is the 1500m freestyle.

And on the side....Olympic gold medalists are allowed to play a song of their choice in the stadium after they win their meet and Park chose the song "Girl's Generation (Sonyeoshidae)" by the group of the same name (Sonyeoshidae). Stupid netizens are going apeshit again because Park is very good friends with Sun Ye from the group Wonder Girls who are kind of rivals of the girl group Sonyeoshidae. Netizens are saying stuff like he's betraying his friend and stuff like that. So silly.

Netizens were also all over the men's soccer team after losing to Italy 3-0. Netizens were posting comments like "just come back to Korea" and "don't waste any more of our country's money by staying in China". So frickin' harsh. These Korean netizens really pist me off sometimes. Get a life! (I know...ironic coming from a blogger, right?)

No More Horses!

2008-08-11T09:06:00.002-10:00

NBC/USA - Please do not infect my TV with anymore Equestrian coverage. Are they really showing this to a national audience over sports such as judo? I can't believe that there's a big audience for watching a person in a pseudo-tuxedo and top hat trotting up and down some square course on a horse. Pleez!

And speaking of...please just get rid of this sport altogether. How much athletic prowess does it take to make sure a horse goes straight down a line and to make a few jumps anyway? Did you know they're getting rid of softball and baseball as Olympic sports after Beijing? And yet they're keeping this? Softball and baseball are the first sports to be removed from the Olympic games since polo was taken out in 1936. What? Do they even realize how global these 2 sports are?

Other sports they should get rid of....this list does not include sports which I feel are okay to keep, but should not be shown on TV such as rowing, cycling, etc. The following are sports that should just be eliminated. Period.

Synchronized swimming - Yeah, I'm sure it takes a lot of athleticism but women with waterproof makeup, nose clips, and jazz hands in the pool is not something I wanna see.

Synchronized diving - I can watch and even sometimes enjoy individual diving. But I fail to see the need to make it into a duo event.

Trampoline - Are you kidding me? A glorified version of what little 5 year old kids do in their backyard is an Olympic sport?

Rhythmic gymnastics - If you need props like a ball, a twirly ribbon, and a hoop, it shouldn't be an Olympic sport.

Windsurfing and sailing - No particular reason...just don't feel like they belong.

4x100 Freestyle Relay - Wow!

2008-08-11T08:56:00.002-10:00

Didja catch the men's 4x100 freestyle relay last night? One of the greatest races I've ever seen. With about 70m left in the race, the French had a pretty good lead and I even said to myself out loud, there goes Phelps's shot at 8 golds. And then Lezak, the American anchor swimmer really turned it up and caught and surpassed the French anchor at the very last moment. Whew! What a race!

Phelps goes for gold medal #3 tonight in the 200m freestyle. Should be an interesting race with Marine Boy Park Tae Hwan in the same final...

Marine Boy Wins Gold!

2008-08-09T20:32:00.001-10:00

Wow....I knew Marine Boy Park Tae Hwan was doing really well coming into the Olympics and that a gold was within reach to but actually see it happen....is so awesome. Park won the gold in the 400m freestyle, beating out favorites Larsen Jensen from the US and Hackett from Australia.

He now has the 1500m freestyle and the 200m freestyle left. I would like to think Park had a chance to beat Phelps in the 200m but Phelps looks really focused. In any case, Park should definitely medal in that too.

Go Marine Boy!

Korea's First Gold Medal!

2008-08-09T17:42:00.002-10:00

Gotta love that TV channel dedicated to Korean coverage of the Olympics (digital channel 269). The first day was pretty junk as it just kept replaying the same soccer games over and over again but they've finally come around. Thanks to that channel, I was able to watch a couple of Koreans win medals.

Choi Min Ho was a beast in winning the gold medal in the 60kg weight division in men's judo. He won all of his matches by "ippon" which is similar to winning by a pin in wrestling and from what I understand, is very difficult to do and quite rare. To win all of his matches in such manner is quite extraordinairy. He was in tears after his victory and I have to admit I welled up a bit as they played the Korean national anthem during the medal ceremony. A nice reward for Choi after a disappointing bronze medal in Athens.

Then Korea won the silver in a shooting event. Things I would never be able to see if not for the Korean Olympics channel. I think it's still NBC coverage but stuff not shown on the available channels. Probably broadcasts for internet.

South Korea is aiming for 10 gold medals and a top 10 overall finish in these Olympics. After 2 medals on the first day, they're off to a great start.

Miss Korea Redux

2008-08-08T08:45:00.007-10:00

Once again, netizens in Korea are strongly voicing their opinions.

When pictures of Nari, the newly crowned Miss Korea 2008, surfaced on the net, Korean netizens (who are a very very superficial bunch) screamed, hollered, and yelled all over their keyboards because she was not the ideal candidate to represent Korea in the Miss Universe pageant to put it lightly.

Miss Korea 2006, 2007, and 2008
In a response to all the negative feedback, Nari has uploaded several photos of herself on her Cyworld mini-homepage (kinda like Myspace or Facebook here) in "normal" appearance (or without the pageant hair and makeup) in order to get the netizens back in her corner.

And this is her official pageant promotional photo
Gotta admit....she does look better in these photos and more like a 22 year old college student and not like a Korean Fran Drescher. But geez...these netizens are so brutal. People here don't realize but netizens in Korea are merciless and their taunts and threats have had major impact in the entertainment industry.

Variety show MCs and producers who normally are quite powerful and influential because they can choose who to invite to be on their show are now kissing the butts of boy band idols half their age because they don't want the crazy teen fanatics to become their "anti" or anti-fan.

Dramas that originally planned to kill key characters have changed their endings due to threats from netizens (e.g. if you kill off my precious Hyun Soo opba I'll never watch your station again!).

And even a few celebrity suicides can be directly attributed to internet gossip. There was even this one girl who came on a show because she lost like 70 pounds and then was kissed by a boy band idol. The netizens went apeshit and started bombarding her mini-homepage with threats (how dare you kiss my opba! you are just a fatty who doesn't deserve that kiss!) and she ultimately commited suicide. It's utter madness I tell you. Yeah, I admit to being a bit superficial myself here now and then but only when fair game to do so (like judging a beauty pageant contestant) but maybe I better check myself befo' I wreck myself.

Olympics Baby!

2008-08-07T15:30:00.002-10:00

The opening ceremonies haven't started yet but the Olympic games have. The soccer competition started yesterday and the US women's team is in trouble already!

The #1 ranked team in the world fell to Norway yesterday 2-0. I watched the game and the US team looked pretty sad. Passes were all over the place and defense was very shaky. Yeah, Norway is also ranked in the Top 5 so it's not a huge upset but US didn't look good. And worse, the 2 goals the US gave up were within the first 5 minutes! Goalkeeper Hope Solo had never lost a game before and she gives up 2 goals in the opening minutes. Granted, they were not entirely her fault as the US defenders were just plain stupid.

Gone are veterans such as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Julie Foudy. This is a new generation of women's soccer and Hawaii's Natasha Kai is part of that group. Kai was actually one of the few players that looked decent against Norway but I also saw her taking it a bit too easy at times as well. With the US team in a deep hole now, they'll probably have to win their next 2 games to advance to the 2nd round.

Then I watched the first half of the men's game against Japan last night before going to bed. They looked okay, and I really enjoy watching youngster Freddy Adu play. It seems like he's been around forever, but he's still only 19 years old! He's definitely got skills. It was nice to see veteran Brian McBride play with this young team as well. FYI....olympic men soccer teams are supposed to be 23 and under with the exception of 3 "wildcard" members. The women's team has no such restrictions.

And much mahalos to Oceanic Cable for creating special HD channels just for the Olympics! Yay!

And the New Miss Korea....

2008-08-07T08:19:00.006-10:00

...has no shot at Miss Universe. I'm sorry but if you enter a beauty pageant, you're asking to be judged based on your looks and that's the only reason why I'm expressing my opinion here.

Is it just me or is she wearing a bikini under her bathing suit?I won't bother to get into to much detail but....ugh. Anyone who's been to Korea knows that the pool of TSPs to select from is very very vast. This winner looks like she'd be belong more in the Miss Ajumma pageant. She's allegedly 23 years old. In the words of Borat...."naht so much".

Sigh....miss the days of Honey Lee.

Good Day For Da Local Boyz!

2008-08-04T09:02:00.002-10:00

Didja watch Colt Brennan's NFL debut yesterday? Man, what an awesome performance! Yeah, sure, it was against 2nd and 3rd string defense players but who cares! So are his offensive weapons! I DVR'ed the Hall of Fame game yesterday and what a joy it was to see Colt flinging the pigskin around like he was throwing to Bess, Grice-Mullin, and Rivers. He looked really poised out there and made some really nice throws. I believe he finished with 9/10 for about 125 yards and 2 TDs. Not bad for his first time! Plus it was really cool to hear John Madden gush about his skills.

I remember watching Timmy Chang play for the Eagles in the Hall of Fame Game a few years ago and was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. But this time, it was a little different. I expected (hoped) Colt would come out and play well and he really did. Good for him!

And then former Punahou student Parker McLachlin won his first PGA title. Yeah sure, the best 85 guys on the PGA were playing in another tournament but still....it still goes down as a PGA victory. He actually smoked the field, winning by 7 shots even though he shot a 2 over in the final round. Hopefully this young kid has a bright future in the PGA. Michelle who? Oh yeah...didn't she play in this tournament as well?

Hawaii Plantation Village Korean Heritage Day

2008-08-02T23:48:00.023-10:00

Volunteered at the Hawaii Plantation Village Korean Heritage Family Day this past Saturday. I've always enjoyed this place as I feel it's very educational in how it displays how the various Asian immigrants to Hawaii made a living on the plantations. very interesting place and definitely worth a visit.

They have a small but fascinating museum in the main building...

Then wandered out to the village area where each of the different cultures have their own "house".
Pics inside the Korean house

Outside the house

Their neighbor, the Okinawan house
Kids and adults alike had a fun variety of activities to participate in...

Korean mask painting
Some of the masks on display
Coloring the Korean flag
Korean kite making
Go fly a kite! Or not...

Fishing in the pond...
Cooking demos! Those vegetable and kimchee pancakes were really ono....
People lining up to learn how to make kimchee

One Semester of Spanish Love Song

2008-08-02T14:50:00.002-10:00

Hilarious video. I took 3 years of Spanish in HS and I think I still was able to understand all the words...

Cool New Local Food Website

2008-08-02T14:16:00.002-10:00

Check out wowgrdinds.com. They have a pretty cool concept!

7 judges take the "best of the best" of certain food items and blind taste test them all at one time. They don't know where a certain dish is from and just judge it based purely on taste, thus resulting in the "winnah of the winnah" or "WOW".

So far, they've only done Best Poke, Hamburger Steak, Fried Rice, and Beef Stew. Some pretty interesting results and a pretty fair scoring system.

Fun reading...check it out!

Korean Festival Mahalo Dinner

2008-07-31T07:57:00.009-10:00

The HKCC hosted a Mahalo Dinner last night at Seoul Jung restaurant in the Waikiki Resort Hotel. Wow! This event took almost as much planning as the Festival itself!

(Picture qualities aren't that great cuz I just bought a new dica a few days prior and hadn't had time to make the fine tuning adjustments yet. Future pics will be better.)

Seoul Jung did a good job making the room very presentable.
We wanted to host a dinner to thank all the sponsors, performers, volunteers, and other supporters of the Festival and it turned out to be one big fancy party. There were approximately 140 people in attendance and we were in real danger of running out seats because so many last minute people showed up. In fact, I had to give up my seat to a guest to make room so I ended up eating at the reception table!

Beautiful centerpieces provided by Hawaii Wedding Creations. The setup actually looked a lot better than this but I took this pic as they were breaking down after the party. You can get a better look at how they looked in the pic above.Grace Lee of KGMB was kind enough once again to MC our event, as she did on Festival day. I'm definitely a fan. I watched her Sunrise on KGMB show every morning even before I met her and after meeting her twice now, I can say she's extremely warm and nice and an excellent MC. Very professional and talented.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann also showed up to say a few words and he also brought about 6 members of his Cabinet with him. Such a nice guy and great speaker. When Ann Kobayashi announced her mayoral candidacy a few days ago, several key people in the Korean community who were in attendance last night were at her press conference. I wonder how the Mayor felt about that...

Beauties and the Beast - Me with two of the Miss Korea Hawaii Princesses. They served as greeters and gift presenters for the night.We were also able to give away a bunch of great door prizes, thanks to our generous sponsors and vendors. Gifts included bicycles, interisland round trip tickets, blackberry cellular phones, gift certificates to various Korean restaurants around town, and various golf paraphenelia.

Overall, it was a very fun night and I think everyone there went away happy and had a good time.

Waipahu Plantation Village Korean Heritage Family Day

2008-07-30T14:11:00.002-10:00

You and the kids got nothing to do this Saturday? Go to the Hawaii Plantation Village in Waipahu to experience Korean Heritage Family Day!

The Korean Family Fair will be held this Saturday, August 2nd, from 10am to 3pm and there will be tons of fun activities for the keiki. They can play traditional Korean games, learn how to make a Korean kite, paint traditional Korean masks, and more! There will even be Korean storytelling for the children and cooking demos as well so there's fun for the whole family.

So go on over to Waipahu and check it out!

Cool Comic-Con Footage

2008-07-29T08:47:00.002-10:00

Every year, geeks and fans alike gather in San Diego for the Comic Convention, aka Comic-Con. When this event first started, it was just a bunch of comic book fanboys gathering together to meet their favorite comic book writers, artists, etc. and get Jim Lee to autograph their X-Men #267 or Todd McFarlane to sign a copy of Spawn.

Now...it's turned into one big Hollywood bonanza! Sure, the comic book people are still there but now Comic-Con has become known for the place to be to see exclusive footage of upcoming hotly anticipated films. This is where the first footage of Iron Man and the new Star Trek film was seen last year.

This year, they've already shown a bunch of cool stuff and of course there's bootleg videos of the trailers being shown. A couple of the more cooler items are early footage of the new Wolverine movie, stupidly titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine and also....ready for this? The sequel to Tron! Hoo-ah!

Here's the Wolverine footage: Wolverine trailer

Looks pretty cool, huh? It's got all the fan favorite Wolverine universe characters such as Sabretooth, Deadpool, and even Gambit! And watch out for Korean drama hunk du jour Daniel Henney (My Lovely Samsoon) in a small role in his Hollywood debut too!

Then we have this footage.

Holy crap! I didn't even know they were making a Tron sequel! How cool is that? Tron was one of my favorite films as a kid and to see it on the big screen again would be so awesome. They even brought Jeff Bridges back!

Gotta make it to this Comic-Con one of these days....

Yay!

2008-07-25T08:24:00.002-10:00

Just read this morning that they'll be releasing Rudy on Bluray in September. Yay! Definitely gonna get that movie. One of my all time faves. I find it so inspirational that I actually watched this film the night before my Professional Engineers exam to help me believe that I could pass the test (I hadn't really studied too much prior). And it's one of the few films to make this cold hearted bastard shed a few tears as well.

Big Korean Celebrity Marriage

2008-07-17T13:35:00.002-10:00

Whoa...big news. Korean drama heartthrob Kwon Sang Woo and Miss Korea beauty turned actress Sohn Tae Young are getting married in September.

Kwon Sang Woo is a big time Hallyu star and Sohn Tae Young is pretty hot. Ah-lahk-huh-uh-lah! ^^

Korean Restaurants

2008-07-17T09:57:00.006-10:00

A co-worker just asked me for recommendations for a good Korean restaurant and it got me thinking...there are a few weird things about the Korean restaurants here.

- A lot of of Korean restaurants here use the word "yakiniku" when referring to the act of grilling meat. Yakiniku Camellia. Yakiniku Seoul. Seoul Garden Yakiniku. Not sure why since yakiniku is a Japanese term. I've eaten at lots of meat restaurants in Korea and not once have I heard it referred to as "yakiniku" there. Must be a local thing.

- I've read lots of reviews online for Korean restaurants about the difference in serving "banchan" (side dishes) to local customers and Korean customers. Apparently, local customers feel that they're not getting as many different banchan as Korean customers are getting. Typical statements would say "I looked at the table next to ours and the Koreans there had more banchan than we did." Since I'm Korean and usually order in Korean, I can't say that I've seen a difference since I've always assumed that what was served to me was also served to everyone else. If indeed this is not the case, that is very unfortunate. Restaurants shouldn't be playing favorites nor giving preferential treatment to Koreans. But I must admit that there have been times where I've asked for a banchan that they originally didn't bring out (such as ggakdugi or daikon kimchee) and they've brought it out if they had it.

- Speaking of....at most Korean restaurants here, you're supposed to get a free order of jjigae, usually kimchee jjigae (kimchee stew) or dwenjang jjigae (miso stew) with your order of meats. That's how it's done in Korea. Actually, in Korea, they don't eat rice with the meat. The meat is consumed straight or wrapped in a piece of lettuce (or a shot of soju) and you eat it with banchan. After you've eaten your meat, then they bring out the jjiage and rice, or sometimes naengmyun (noodles) to complete the meal.

But I heard several locals say that they never got this free stew with their meat order. Don't let them rip you off! Demand that free jjigae! Your Korean neighbors are getting and so should you! There are only 2 places that I know of that don't do this. Seoul Jung in the Waikiki Resort Hotel and Sorabol. And they can both kiss my butt. I don't like Sorabol's food anyway so I don't go there.

- If you were to ask me where the best Korean restaurants in town were, I'd give you 3 choices: Yakiniku Seoul, Seoul Garden, and Mikawon. Yakiniku Seoul has excellent service, Mikawon has good seafood pancake and draft beer, and Seoul Garden is good all around. I've been hearing some good things about Choi's Garden lately so I may have to go check that one out again. I ate there for lunch once but was not impressed. I think I'll go give it another shot.

Some Korean Festival Pics.....

2008-07-16T09:02:00.012-10:00

Looking at my pics, I think something's wrong with my dica. They're all kinda fuzzy or something. Oh well...

Was too busy running around to take pictures during the Festival but captured some:

Cool demonstration of "kool tarae" or traditional court candy made of honey,nuts, etc. This was a new addition for the Festival and was quite popular as crowds gathered to watch him make the candy. Poor guy. His hands were shaking even the next day because he said he couldn't take a break all day due to the crowds. I first saw this done in Insa-dong in Korea and it was really cool.
3 of the performers from Korea. These 3 performed several modern dancing numbers.
Lines for the food. I'm thinking about changing the food tent configuration next year.
Products Tent was packed all day. You could buy Korean snacks, beauty products, get a massage, register to donate bone marrow, and many other cool things!
Some of the food on sale in the Products Tent
Face painting for the kids. Poor girl. She don't look happy.

We had 2 taekwondo demos this year instead of 1. Very popular and they did a great job. I just watched one of them but they had this really funny dance battle.
Accepting the City and County's check from the Mayor. That is one tall bugga! (photo courtesy of Korea News Daily)

Accepting the check from the Consul General(photo courtesy of Korea News Daily)

Jeez....my pictures are boring. They are the suck. Sorry guys.

Go Green!

2008-07-15T00:39:00.002-10:00

Check out the Million Lights Project. They are giving away a free CFL light bulb to the first million to respond to their website in an attempt to get people to go green and leave less of a carbon footprint on the environment.

All the bulbs in my house are already CFL but I sure will take a free bulb! Those bulbs gotta die sometime right?

Korean Festival....Done!

2008-07-14T10:02:00.005-10:00

Whew! Another year, another Korean Festival gone!

The past few days have been quite busy as I've hardly spent any time at home, trying to get ready for this Festival. But I have to say, it was all worth it. I think this year's Festival was bigger and better than last year's and I hope we can continue to grow and improve year to year.

I'm sorry that I have no pics to share with you this year but I was just so busy running around and checking on things that I didn't have the energy to snap pics. I know, I'm a terrible blogger! I did take about 4-5 pics during some down time but nothing terribly interesting. Maybe I'll post them when I get a chance.

First of all...the Ala Moana Centerstage performance on Friday afternoon. Wow, this went really well. We were on stage from 2-2:45pm and as shoppers started to realize there was a show going on, the crowd got bigger and more enthusiastic. I have to say that MC'ing an event at such a public arena is quite fun and exciting! The dancers from Korea were amazing and they really worked the crowd up. One elderly woman approached me after the show and told me she was near tears after watching the performances and wished that the show hadn't ended.

As for the main event Saturday....I was there from about 7:30am till about a little before midnight. Of course there were hiccups here and there, but overall, a very smooth operation for the most part.

Food....there were more food booths this year and all of the food vendors did just as well or better than last year so that's a good sign. I have several ideas in changing the food concept next year so don't be surprised to see a few major changes at the 8th Festival. And don't be surprised to see me with a food booth at the Festival in the near future! I have an idea to bring back a long gone but still dearly missed local favorite. But seeing as how I'll probably be too busy with Festival operations to run a food booth, that idea will have to wait. Unless I can find a good crew to run it for me....

Entertainment...the entertainment schedule ended up being almost an hour behind schedule but I think the people enjoyed the program for the most part. I didn't really get to watch the entertainment too much but did spend some time onstage and backstage here and there. Our MC's were great in going with the flow. The song contest was bigger and better this year and the prizes were definitely upgraded. I didn't watch the headliner Kim Se Hwan perform (his music not really my cup of tea) so can't say how he did. Did anyone catch his act? Was it good?

Products tent was packed and people were walking shoulder to shoulder. I think we need to expand our product tent next year. We keep getting new vendors who want to participate so we have to expand to meet the demand. You could get a wide variety of products in the tent from Korean snacks, culutural items, handbags, even medical advice and massages!

Services and sponsors...there were tons of fun activities going on. You could get your picture taken in hanbok, there was face painting for the kids, and a lot of sponsors had fun games with free giveaways which resulted in lines of over 20 people waiting to participate.

Cooking demonstrations in our Chamber tent were also very popular. They demonstrated how to cook many different traditional Korean dishes and gave out free samples. We also had about 300 bottles of kim chee to sell and we sold out!

Overall, the general feedback from the public has been very positive. I made numerous rounds of the park throughout the day, asking vendors, sponsors, attendees, volunteers, policemen,etc. for their reactions and comments. They were all positive.

I want to thank everyone who came out this year for your support and please come and join us again next year!

Korean Festival - Last Reminder!

2008-07-10T11:08:00.004-10:00

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to give one last plug for the Korean Festival this Saturday at Kapiolani Park from 10am to 9pm.

We've upgraded everything this year as we continually try to improve on our Festival to offer the best of Korean culture.

Food selections as always include the popular items such as kalbi, bbq chicken, meat jun, mandoo, etc. But we also offer other Korean traditional dishes such as bibimbap, kimbap (Korean sushi rolls), spicy rice cake (ddukpoki), Korean sausage (soondae), kimchee pancake, kimchee fried rice, and even Korean style shave ice! Now you too, can eat the foods you've seen in the Korean dramas! Yum!

Entertainment at the bandstand will include traditional dances (performed by dancers flying in from Korea), taekwondo demonstrations, the Korean singing contest, and the ever popular kimchee eating contest. The finale will be our headline act, award winning pop star Kim Se Hwan!

Other features of the Festival include the cultural exhibit, face painting and Xtreme fun rides for the keiki, all day cooking demonstrations in the Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce tent, and picture taking in traditional Korean costume (hanbok).

Parking is plentiful at Kapiolani Community College and there will be a shuttle to the park every 10 minutes.

For more information, please visit our website.

Thanks, and hope to see you all there!