What a wonderful event hosted by HNLFlow to do a walk thru Kaka'ako Pow Wow mural art by some of…read morethe top artists in the industry. I was going to walk around myself but I when a friend of mine mentioned this to me I knew I was in all the way. It's always more fun when you go around in a group. Right? You betcha! We met at the old Fischer Hawaii building street side. I met Vina C. who posted the event via Yelp, and what an aspiring person she is. Helping her were Nikki and Jen May. Lady M and I were hungry. Although we were excited to be here it was hard not to want this to be over quickly. The hunger pains were beginning to be quite unbearable. Lo and behold, Jen May announced they brought 8 different kinds of manapua from Honolulu Kitchen. Adobo, crab, ube, char siu are some I remember. The crab was delicious. I tried to eat one of each but I got satisfied after 5. There was still a whole box left. With our bellies satisfied, we could do this as long as we wanted. So, we start walking around. It was amazing to see the wonderful art everyone was doing. Using spray house paint from places like Home Depot these artists created beautiful, large murals turning eye sores into bind blowing works of wonder. Near most murals, you can find information about the artist; name, date, instagram,etc. Although we only saw a glimpse, the event accomplished it's mission to raise the awareness for Pow Wow. It is getting bigger every year, not just Hawaii but the world. Now is the time to take the walk and enjoy the art while there isn't a crowd. Even if you are not really into art, you will find something that will catch your eye. One of the more eye catching murals was by Audrey Kawasaki from Los Angeles. Her early influence was Japanese manga and shows in her current style now. The guys carrying the box of manapua were talking about offering up some of these delicious morsels to Audrey but couldn't decide who would do it. I stepped in asking if they would like me to do it. I yelled up to Audrey since she was about three stories up. She wanted it and was coming down immediately but didn't know what a manapua is. It was explained. This was nice because it gave Lady M and I a chance to talk art and learn about her. We had a wonderful conversation with her and became the highlight of the event for us. So happy we came. I am sold and look forward to future events, especially if food is involved. Yummy. Thank you Vina, Nikki and Jen Mae for a well executed and planned event.

1st Annual Oahu Homebrewing Festival November 4, 2017…read more The first year of the Oahu Homebrewing Festival was a great success. First and foremost, this was a homebrewing competition; a way for homebrewers on Oahu and around the state to get feedback and win awards on their brews. Around 90 entries were submitted for beer, mead, and ciders. On November 3, a group of a dozen judges took it to task to scrutinize and rank the entries. A best of show round was performed Saturday morning before the festival. The festival itself ran from 11am to 3pm with three brewing demonstrations, tables of information, free food and beer of course! Square Barrels donated delectable burgers; BeerLab donated a few crowlers of beer. The extra entry beers were also opened for sampling. Awards were given out at 2pm. Hosted by Homebrew in Paradise in Kalihi, it was a large event space with plenty of room. The smell of roasting malts and hops filled the air the entire day. I think everyone went home full of great food and beer.

This is an awesome event. There are many people who go there for a whole bunch of different…read morereasons. There is stuff for fishermen, divers, water lovers, boaters...heck, it's the whole ocean expo! There was a poke making contest, which I helped to judge (with the rest of the crowd) by tasting poke. They were all so good it was hard to choose! There were a bunch of local food vendors, as well as places selling snacks. I was stoked because some guy (Patrick) was selling North Shore Goodies peanut butter, which I'm obsessed with. There were sample sales, and cool clothes, and lots of neat stuff for keiki to do/play with. I was jealous, because I didn't get to do the climbing wall. NOAA was there, and some other cool groups that were educating people on the ocean, etc. I was volunteering at a booth, so I got in because of that, but it's not expensive -$8 general admission, so I heard. During my breaks from volunteering, I wandered around, bought too much stuff (darn you sunrise shells!), and sampled the goodies. Oooh and I got icecream from RBs! Yum!! Best part of the day was getting to see old friends (yes, Danelle, I know you're not stalking me), and make new ones. :-D I'm definitely going to go back next year, even if I gotta pay to get in!

Hawaii Ocean Expo 2014: Entrance $8.00 per person. Blaisdel parking $6.00. For 2 of us $22.00…read more We were hyped to come to this event this year, missing last year. We did not find much of what we were looking for for freedivers. We won't be back to this event next year. I rate 2.5 star.

East meets Poke…read more.. For the first time Kahala Mall has hosted Poke Fest by Folic and what a welcome event to celebrate all things we love about it as there's so many ways that we all love about it and I was thrilled to explore the creativity that was found here tonight. The anticipation was thrilling as you're able to purchase a poke pass online which gives you five passes to participating vendors and is to be picked up at the event and along with a map to start you on your journey. Majority of the vendors were located outside the parking lot in front of Planet Fitness while a few lined up right along CPK with cocktail tables all dressed up was scattered along the halls of Kahala Mall giving many places to enjoy your bites without too much of a struggle but for me the highlight was Better Homes who gave out trays for those that filled out an online form saved the night as it made it so much easy to carry the various little trays I've collected...and here's what I tried! - Nico's Pier 38 "Fried Garlic Ahi Poke" First stop Nico's Pier 38 was a classic bite very saucy though they ran out of rice so I got the Nacho version and probably the most stunning choice, very fresh a the best cute of fish could barely taste the garlic but a very refreshing - Alii Fish Market "Garlic Butter Ahi Poke with Furikake" Next stop one of my favorite place created a richer palate with the garlic butter sauce which I did love as I ate the poke itself was good but the sauce gave it the creamy richness which stopped me in my tracks. - Local Poke Bowl "Miysoyaki Ahi Poke" Moving on to this version of the local favorite flavor of miso and have transformed it into a poke...intersting as the it starts subtle and the flavor explosion along with tobiko and fried pork skin was actually my favorite part of it all. - Sato Seafood "Spicy Maui Maui" Excited for Sato Seafood as I've enjoyed their poke bowl and tonight was too spicy for me...love my spice but this one hurt a bit the creamy spicy mayo along with Hawaii Loco Chili Oil which apparently is from Maui given it's name wasn't the most athletically pleasing of all and given the least pieces as well. - Kapa Hale "Japchae Poke" The last one and found Kapa Hale on the inside and this is the sweet a creative of our beloved Japchae and they certainly did that in poke form...along with sesame, seaweed, carrots the tapioca tossed in to simulate the long rice noodles was pure genius as it's transforming it to Japchae it was a tad sweet but the best creative and fun bite of the night. How do you choose...support all these local small biz that went beyond to give us what makes Poke "Poke" I just wished we had the option to more poke pass versus the five as missing out on a few feels like you're not giving them a chance though some had sold out very early and wished they could've had everyone in one area as walking around got quite exhausting. Thank you!

2023 Hawaii Wiener Derby Champion KOKOLO…read more Soooooo FUN Thank you so much for all hard work from Dachshund Rescue and Support of Hawai'i and volunteers

This is the first year I decided to enroll my little boys in the races. From what I understand,…read more2012 was the biggest year for The Hawaii Wiener Derby (over 150 dachshunds entered). It's a lot of fun! They do this event in conjunction with the Hawaiian Humane Society's Canine Game Day. It's really something to see so many dachshunds in all different sizes and colors. If you're there to compete seriously, you're probably going to be the only one. Everyone (staff and attendees alike) are very pleasant! There was a bit of confusion during the registration (we couldn't see the sign that had letters indicating where you should check-in and they couldn't figure out where to send me to pay). It wasn't a big deal though. Overall, I recommend everyone attend/participate. Even if you don't own a dachshund, it's an enjoyable experience watching these little guys hoofing it down the race track.

#7 of 2017 I…read moreattended this event on March 24, 2017. We were invited by Robyn F. who graciously acquired an invite for my cousin visiting from down under. I wasn't sure what to expect. Didn't really want to go but I did. Go along for the walk... get some exercise... they said. I got that, and much more. Once we had our group together, there was a line we stood in to get checked for age because this was a 21+ event only. Colored wristbands were secured on that allowed us access to the various venues. A passport was provided that included information to the participating stores. There were several big prizes to be drawn later in the evening. To qualify all you needed were 6 stamps posted in your personal passport. Approximately 23 stores participated in the event. Starting at 6pm, you had until 8pm to visit as many stores as you'd like before gathering at Bloomingdale's. Most of the shops were on the 2nd level making it easy to visit. We were greeted warmly, black and tie, with a nice smile. Endless champagne with a nice food offerings was presented decadently to your mouth watering eyes. With more than enough time to visit 6 stores, we managed to complete 8 narrowly escaping the tight grip of drink and food. Would have loved to go on to more but time was running out and I had drunk more than my fair share for moi and company. I will say the most impressive visit was to Ben Bridge. They stepped up their game for this event. First, the invited several local Beauty Pagent Queens to participate. We were greeted by Miss Maui who striked up a conversation with us beautifully entertaining. Quite charming if I must say so. lol. Two, several food offerings around the room. When we came in refreshing sliders on the table. In the middle of the room, a gentleman carried a tray of sweets. Towards the back, the champagne. Sometimes spending a little more will get you to become more noticed. It worked. It was 8pm now. Time to go to Bloomingdales, cast our passport for prizes and tour the store for fashion and deals, and do tastings from some of the best restaurants and chefs on the island. Here is just a few of the items attendees had the luxury of eating and drinking. There was lots more than that. 1. Mentaiko Tarmasalata by Pai Honolulu (opening soon) 2. Fois Gras Cream and Papaya Confit EClair by 53 By The Sea 3. East India Lychee-Chi by Jennifer Ackrill\Sky Hawaii 4. Caviar Chazuke by Forty Carrots 5. Smoked Salmon with oven dried tomato, pickled cucumber, wasabi mascarpone and sesame lavash by Ravish\Modern Honolulu 6. Vietnamese Inspired Beef Salad by Top of Waikiki 7. Hy's mini beef sliders by Hy's Steak House I really enjoyed the beef salad most of all. The right sourness and sweetness in the dressing combined perfectly with the fattiness of the beef creating a wonderful taste. It was so good I made my own beef salad at home a couple days later. Awww, not the same, but still good. Reading about the prizes in the passport got me excited. Any prize was worth winning, and I was hoping I would be one of the luckiest ones. The prizes 1. Ala Moana Shopping Center; $500 gift card 2. Alaska Airlines; 2 unrestricted coach round-trip tickets to any Alaska Airlines destination, no black out dates. 3. The Modern Honolulu; 1 night stay ocean view studio suite, dinner for 2 at Ravish, VIP access to Addiction Night Club and day bed for 2. 4. Bloomingdale's; Set of blue hard side carry on suitcase and black nylon shopping bag. 5. Honolulu Club; 3month membership In the passport it states you need be present to win. As we entered Bloomingdale's we were told to go ahead and walk around to participate in all the offerings. Prize drawings would be announce ovder the speakers and should have no problem hearing. As we did I tried to listen to the prize announcements because I really hoped to win. Wouldn't you? Well, I did not hear a single thing. Like I said, I had no clue what this event was about. Therefore, I was not appropriately dressed... in fashion. However, that did not hinder my participation in anyway. We did look at jewelry and accessories, perfums and more clothing than I care for for everyone in our party. Modern Luxury Hawaii Magazine did put on a wonderful event. Going around hunting for the various treasure troves of food and drink was certainly an enjoyable tour. And, they succeeded. We did try clothes on. And, my cousin did purchase a parfum' from one of the stores. Mission accomplished. Looking forward to next year. Tip #1 Find out what stores participated, start frequenting there often and make a friend. Become a good customer and get the invite. Tip #2 Get there early hit as many stores as you can and get the good stuff. lol

Why is there no review yet? Passport to Luxury is an annual event and It's in to support the…read moreAmerican Red Cross. So it's basically a shopping event while participating stores (luxury meaning ballah expensive stores.. break the bank kine) will give discounts and 10% usually is donated to American Red Cross. This is reoccurring sponsored by the Modern and Ravish.. Held at Ala Moana Shopping Center. Tickets for this event is sometimes competitive and its "invites only"... Why you ask? Well people like me I'm in for the BUBBLES, booze booze more booze and food! Yep you read that right.. Since it's a shopping event, dress code is a must... Had to wear my wedges to fit in and it was muggy hot this year! You go to the center stage first, get your wristband and give your VIP tickets and one of the peeps in the bar tables will give you a passport book. Aside from the discounts in stores, youre tasked to get 6 stamps for 6 diff stores to enter for a drawing. Each store has booze and a little treat... The shopping is from 6pm - 8pm. Then Bloomingdales well this year (2017) it's bloomingdales each year it changes a bit... so at the end around 8pm - 9pm , Bloomingdales has 2 floors of FOOODDDD AND MORE BOOZE.... yow! For a foodie it's like heaven and if you're a fellow elite, you know how are events are... it's way more bomb diggity! Bottomless booze, many vendors with food.... It's all the top notch food places too like HYs, EH1849, BLT steak, etc... Big thank you to Ms. Terry for getting me tickets and my sasster Daven H for going with me. #BOOGIELIFE

Pick me, pick me...I was hoping to be selected for the Yelp Night Symphony tickets but, alas, I was…read moreNOT! Congratulations to fellow Yelpers who were selected. There will only be two performances, the first one is Saturday, December 12 at 7:30 PM and the second performance is scheduled for Sunday, December 13 at 2:00 PM. I still feel fortunate that I was able to just do an online purchase to what I'm sure was going to be an exciting performance when I signed up for this concert. When we were ushered in to our seats, we were surprised that this concert wasn't sold out. Perhaps it was because there were potential concert-goers who are Honolulu Marathoners resting for tomorrow's race. There was a lot of parking in the concert hall's parking structure for a $6 flat fee and even more free street parking that was also quite conveniently located. The people of Hawaii are lucky to be treated to HSO's premiere holiday pops event that featured World-renown conductor, music director and pianist, Rob Fisher. Maestro Fisher directed the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra through holiday classics ranging from Big Band Sounds of composer Irving Berlin to classical composers, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. He also presented multi-year Nā Hoku Award winning local talents of Nā Leo Pilimehana. Their melodic voices harmonized with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as their "back-up band". It was a special accompaniment for them. Nā Leo ended their performance with a sing-along to local Holiday standard "Mele Kalikimaka". As we sang along, we found ourselves moved to tears as we reflected back upon our younger days when we'd celebrate Christmas together with our parents and families. On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen... which ever way you get into this event, you'll be transported into the Holiday Season on a rocking Sleigh Ride! #487

Poke showdown all in one location! This year, the festival was held at Park Lane parking lot,…read morekinda of a random place. I didn't like the location, although it's shaded, but the noise level was horrible, and with the muggy weather, I really much rather be in open air. There were over 10 poke shops, demonstrating their variation of how poke is done. I would say that We tried about at least 6 shops, and our favorite was Tanioka's, and Aloha poke. I think the event could have been better if there are areas for the patrons to sit down and enjoy the poke with drinks. Doesn't have to be fancy, but like Kapiolani or Ala Moana Beach Park would work.

The 2nd annual Pokefest underwent drastic changes from prior year. Now admission is free in the…read morecovered parking lot under Park Lane condominium in Ala Moana, but with two levels of Poke passes, which function like Disney like fast passes, except without the screaming, whining preteens and toddlers. The poke pass was totally worth it. Offered in two levels, $35 for 6 passes, or $50 for 10 passes, they offered their holders vastly shorter lines and pre-paid for poke pass specific food options. While the poke pass food items were smaller, they were significantly less expensive than the ala carte prices for non-pass items. I shared a $50 pass with two other friends and we went family style sampling options down the poke line. The pass was an economical way of trying lots of options without stuffing yourself silly. Only a limited number of passes were available and were sold out by event day. My two favorite poke items of the night were PF Chang's slightly seared ahi over lettuce, and the salmon belly poke from Hawaii Sushi. The seared ahi reminded me of 3660's seared ahi, with firm texture and good ahi flavor in a In-N-Out Protein Style lettuce wrap. The salmon belly tasted fresh with firm meat, and just the right level of seasoning. Off the Hook's shoyu ahi was a bit too much swimming in sauce, but the addition of firm, mild onions helped balance the dish out. Gochi's grill went a bit overboard on the citrus in its poke medley. Aloha Cone's sesame ahi was small, but had good quality fish without an overpowering sauce. Pai Hawaii's scallop ogo poke was massively disappointing with slightly mushy barely there scallops and not much flavor. Overall, there was a huge variety of options, including pork. Yes, you read that right, Pork. Fish apparently took the name literally at Poke On Da Run and ran out around 6 pm, so they substituted kalua pig in place of fish. The festival was a bit disorganized, as it wasn't clear where to cash in the PokePasses, but that may have been due to the number of entrances not next to the redemption table. That's understandable due to vendor and safety needs, but some instructions would have been nice to have included with the email ticket. A fair number of tables were spread out for dining convenience and a small bar was setup at the west end of the festival. In terms of photos, the lighting was bad being in a parking lot, but at least there were lots of mall bathrooms and lots of free parking. All in all I'm coming back for 2019's festival.