This was my first time attending a comedy sketch event. I had my +1 with me and we made it past…read morethe UH football traffic down to the agora across the street from Fisher's. The main show was a mix of comedy sketches and YouTube videos, but the wow factor here was the musical duo Sheen. (or is it Shean ?). I looked for their FB page but I could not find them, these two singers made my night. If I ever have a venue where I need music I will guarantee hunt these 2 down! Their covers blew away the original singers. This event was a kick off for fundraising the 2015 Sketch Comedy Festival coming this March at the Honolulu Museum of Arts.

I got the notification from Yelp and I just had to check this out! I love comedy. After getting my…read moreconfirmation, I was on my way! The presentation was very well presented. It was great having special guest Fernando Pacheco (former Jimmy Eats World band member and currently Pimpbot). I did not laugh as much as I hoped but there were some funny moments. The actors acted really well. I wished that there were less youtube videos because I had seen some of them before, but it was still good to watch. The music duo SHEAN was really good! The girl sings very well and has a really good voice. The guy plays the guitar well and knows how to sing! I wish them the best of luck. Free pupus and drinks were on hand. I chose water and grapes since I'm still dieting. I was happy to find healthy choices! What a great kick off event and good luck to Hawaii Sketch Comedy!

For the Top Award I like to give it to Yelp Hawaii for giving me the opportunity to attend this…read morespecial event. My +1 and I was seated with local business owners and people who make a difference in Hawaii's food economy, so awesome! As for Battle of the Chefs, Chef James Aptakin took two awards for Display and Presentation with his Kualoa Shrimp and Lobster Tom Yom Soup, while Chef Wade Ueoka took the taste award with his Shinsato Pork dish. I thought the voting was fair and well deserved, delicious, I want more than one, I better not because Dinner is coming soon bites. This event was so well organized, awarding local businesses with their contributions to the local economy supplying good food and desserts which everyone enjoys, while supporting local! Great Great evening with Good Hawaiian Music and wonderful service from the Pomaika'i Ballroom staff made the event a memorial night. Thanks to Yelp Hawaii and Emi H. for a giving me a opportunity to attend this Awesome Event!

We were so thrilled to be selected to attend this event! Thank you Yelp Hawaii and Hawaii Food…read moreManufacturers Association for giving us this opportunity. I give a shout out for the great attention to detail and service that was provided by Dole Cannery's Pomaika'i Ballrooms staff. This event was well-organized and was truly a pleasure to attend. The 2nd Annual TASTE Awards: Battle of the Chefs featured 3 local chefs who have distinguished themselves or have been innovative in the food manufacturing industry. Tonight, Chefs Wade Ueoka (Owner/Chef, MW Restaurant), James Aptakin (Executive Chef, Hilton Waikiki Beach) and Benjie Cabutaje (Sous Chef, Moana Surfrider, Westin Resort & Spa) showcased their signature dishes. Several other locally manufactured alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments were served such as MauiWines, Koloa Rum, PacifiKool, Pau Maui Vodka and The Tea Chest's Tropical Teas.. Each chef vied for attendee votes for Best Presentation, Best Taste or Best Display. In the end, when the votes were tallied, Chef Aptakin won BOTH awards for Best Display and Best Presentation for his Kualoa shrimp & Kona lobster coconut trio . Chef Ueoka won the Best Taste award for his Shinsato Pork with Ka'u coffee & Hawaiian macadamias. Did the battle be like Iron Chef America's kitchen stadium? Sort of...It turned out that the battle was an interactive cocktail hour and later, we were treated to a TASTE awards dinner. It was a good thing that we looked at the program as we wove our way through the crowds sampling the goodies. Emcees from Hawaii Krater 96.3 (Gregg & Shawnee Hammer) kept the program rolling along with local humor and provided background information about each of the nominated contestants. In addition, during the awards banquet, we were serenaded by Hawaiian group, Kaiao. We were fortunate to be seated with Award Finalists for Innovate Hawaii's Manufacturer of the Year, HC&S and Maui Brand Sugar brand and Hawaii Popcorn Company and members of a technology human resources company (Aon?). The room was filled with contributors and supporters to the local food scene. Everyone came out as winners...local food industry businesses were honored just to be nominated even if they didn't get the coveted wood poi pounder (pohaku ku'i 'ai). Ah, but, there's always NEXT year! Allez cuisine! #351

I like these types of events. It's free to enter for everyone which is always a plus. They had a…read morelot of different booths set up. Bank of Hawaii were giving out free popcorn with the option of li hing mui powder. They also had free giveaways to both Vegas & China. The photo booths were cool. You could take pictures of the Great Wall background or another background of a famous bridge in China and another picture taking display where you could wear a Panda head and snap away. They had a performance stage where they hosted a talent show. This marks the 11th annual of the Chinese festival. I would attend to this event again next year.

Went on Sunday since me being Chinese can't pass up a free deal. There were many stalls selling…read moreall the cheap made in China stuff that you would see at the swap meet. Glad they changed it to free admission I remember paying to go in years ago. Lots of food choices so you won't go hungry. Note to the guys who had the booth with the potstickers...it was stone hard cold, yuck! 3/$1 was not worth it. Thank goodness I didn't get a tummy ache otherwise I would be pissed. Several booths had small portions of samples for you to try which was nice. Saw a bit of the fashion show not bad. Lots of things to take pictures of but I got lazy lol.

The first Hawaii Greenroom Festival "Save the Beach, Save the Ocean" is a transplant from Japan, a…read morepositive, family friendly, Japanese friendly event with live music, food stands, and art vendors. Spend the afternoon with the grass between your toes, eat some local grindz, sip a cold one, and enjoy the eclectic line up of music from local performers/local ties Jake Shimabukuro, Shen Brown of Def Tech, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Mokka Rothman, with their special guests. With the warm setting sun and cool breeze, this is a relaxing and fun Sunday afternoon.

Thank you to Yelp for sharing this great festival with me!…read more First annual Greenroom festival in Honolulu, Hawaii. This festival has been going in Japan for a decade and the owners of the Greenroom decided to bring it to Hawaii. This is a surf themed music, art, and lifestyle festival which has Jake Shimabukuro, Def Tech, Makua Rothman, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Lotus. Located at the Waikiki shell on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Has food vendors, artists, surf related boutiques, and local nonprofits such as Surfrider and Sustainable Coastlines. We brought out beach towels and sprawled out on the lawn above the seating area. Vibe was really mellow and relaxing. Was nice to have beer concessions because the trades were very light. Beers were Kona Brewing Company Longboard and Big Wave plus Bud Light for $7/$6. A couple of food vendors but wish there were more food trucks. My fiancé and I split a Ramen Teriyaki burger with mushrooms, cheese, and grilled onions. It was saucy but went really good with our Big Wave beers. I also bought a TSSC x Greenroom T-shirt. It was pretty pricey but it's a nice quality T-shirt (not silkscreened). Should've brought sunscreen as there was not much shade in the afternoon and the trades were very light! A good mix of Japanese tourists, but seems to be a lot of locals. There were lots of families which was nice. Enjoyable Sunday afternoon festival with great lineup, mellow vibe. Overall very fun! This reminds me of a smaller Kokua Festival which is put on my Jack Johnson's Kokua Foundation. Well done Greenroom, look forward to next year! Hope there is a better lineup and more interactive, educational booths to educate the many tourists about the importance of Hawaii ocean, keeping it clean, local AG, and sustainability. Suggest allowing people to bring their own Hydroflask or water bottles and having free ice cold water fill ups. Also, suggest running full recycling stations where all waste is separated and recycled with food wastes, cans, etc. Also suggest food vendors be required to serve on non syrofoam containers.

The show started on time at 7:30 pm. Parking was good being there were no other events that night…read more 7th row ( B ) center for a 3hr show. A flawless performance from the band & Peter. Pete stayed out & played for the whole show. He did a couple solo spots so the band could get a breather. Almost all the songs had prelude intros that are not on the recorded versions & extended solos. Basicly bigger versions of the songs. An instumental version of Black hole sun was great. Pete's son Jullian came out & did 2 songs. Look for this guys cd he's good. Pete used about 8 guitars that night & his trade mark Black top Lespaul custom. My fotos really sucked. Its hard to get a good high volume sound at that venue but they did great. It was big & huge. Up that close to see Do you feel like we do by the actual guy was the high point. Great show. Only down side my friend , she could not get off from work. The extra star is for you Cheryl.

Candice and her Evoke media team exceeded my expectations with the delivery of my wedding film this…read morepast October. As a marketing and brand executive, I have over 20+ years of experience working with photography and video professionals. Candice not only captured EVERY meaningful moment, but she captured the spirit of our big day. She beautifully weaved the essence of beachfront setting, our vows, our pastor's words, and all the special moments we shared with each other and those around us. She seamlessly worked as a team with our photographer and delivered our film within a few short weeks of our wedding, earlier than promised! Some vendors can take up to 4 months. Most of all, Candice has a heart for her work and it's evident in every detail and professional interaction you will have with her. If you're looking for a wedding film beyond the ordinary, one that will evoke all the emotions you'll have our your big day when you watch it, I highly recommend Evoke Media!

Candice at Evoke Media was wonderful. She was sweet, engaging, and had a great energy to her the…read morefirst time we met. We won a discount package through the Wedding Cafe workshops which was great! She helped us stay within our budget and was reasonable in her pricing. It was easy to get in touch with her and she was quick to respond which was nice. The day of the wedding she had many helpers who were also awesome. She made us feel at ease and worked very well with our photographer. I was worried at first that with so many media vendors I would feel overwhelmed or too self-conscious and that was entirely not the case. Candice was very present yet discreet. The final product was so beautiful and moving which is exactly what I hoped for. She focused on all the elements we asked for and some candid ones that were awesome. Many people told us it was the best wedding video they'd ever seen and it made several friends and family members cry... my husband and I definitely did. I would recommend Candice to anyone looking for a top-notch videographer.

MY wife won all access festival passes from work so we headed to see a series of shorts so far on…read moreSunday, which was great and a lot of the stories ranged for very dramatic to very hilarious. I like shorts. They tell a story and convey a emotion but in a nice concise nature. I feel because of the time constraints of short there is so much more to be done in a limited amount of time. Anyway we wanted to go to some of the full movies but the ones were were particular interested ran too late cause I work really early. So far we have the other series of shorts planned and the Red carpet event. Kinda wish they had some weekday option but the festival is mainly on the weekend. I saw a few SNL members of the cast on some of the pieces such as Cheri Oteri and Molly Shannon. I kinda wanted to see the movie Ideal Home with two dads Paul Rudd & Steve Coogan but Didn't work with my schedule. So far the experience has been great.

How is there only one review?! Well make this two…read more I have volunteered for HRFF for the last three years and attended it prior to that as a patron, but it gets better and better every year! The film selections this year were fantastic, the staff was hilarious, inviting, efficient, and hard working. They put on an amazing event. The receptions were so much fun and the actors/directors that came out to support the festival and their films were great. Was great to see familiar faces and make new friends during the course of the festival and I cant wait for next year's. I love that it is an intimate space at the Doris Duke Theatre which is part of the Honolulu Museum of Art.

This is a show hosted by the Rock and Mineral Society of Hawaii 2-3 times a year. This year's and…read morelast year's shows have been happening in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort Kou Ballroom. All the vendors and experts are from Hawaii too - so as you can guess, it's not that big, as no one is flying in from mainland or overseas, but it's got a bit of everything and the folks are friendly and are happy to share their knowledge with other gem enthusiasts! It's my first time at this show so I didn't know what to expect. It's definitely smaller than what I've been to. There were maybe around 15 vendors? But each vendor had their own niche - fossils, meteorites, cut loose gemstones, jewelry, amber with trapped insects, rare specimens, polished crystals, etc. the show had a bit of everything and the prices were actually reasonable! It's a good, quick dose of mineral exposure without having to fly to Tucson. The folks were very friendly and some were so nice to give out little free gifts for the Keiki. The ladies at the very front gave my son a Dalmatian jasper. He saw the black spotted rock and immediately picked it out. It's also heart-shaped! If you're curious what a gem show is like, this is a good place to start as admission is free and they validate parking for just $10 for pretty much half day. (But the hotel parking structure is terrible, so tight it can't have 2 cars turning into and out of the ramp at the same time.) It's also great to see what these local folks have to offer. Also, you got to see the minerals found in Hawaii on display! There's sulfur from Kilauea, 2 olivine specimens from Hualalai, and a beautiful calcite cluster of crystals from O'ahu!