I'm a little late on this one--Good To Grill & Hawaiian Airlines is running a fundraiser to benefit the flood victims in the Philippines, which started yesterday. You & I missed the pork guisantes, but you can still enjoy Filipino food and help the cause!
Good to Grill Chef/Owner Almar Arcano created this event because of his special ties with both the Hawaiian & Filipino communities: He was born and raised in the Philippines and currently works very closely with the Filipino Chamber of Commerce to give back to organizations such as the Catholic Charities in his home country.
I got to try a few of the dishes this weekend as they were experimenting. Here's the pork adobo, which was pretty good--I liked that it wasn't overwhelming, and the pork was tender.
Morcon, a.k.a. Filipino meatloaf. They have meatloaf? The gravy is made by hand, not in a box.
And of course, Pinakbet with Chitcharon (sp?). It's chock full of veggies, especially okra (if you like that; I do). I'm using Jason Kim's photo because he captured most of it better, although I think my photo showed more of the glistening pork, which I know my readers like.
Here are the daily “Filipino Chalkboard Specials” for the week. When you purchase these for lunch or dinner, you'll receive one 10% E-Certificate coupon for your next flight to Manila on Hawaiian Airlines. All plates are $7.99 and the proceeds will benefit the flood victims.
While there, you can also enter to win a round trip for two to Manila on Hawaiian Airlines. My friend Lori Joy Watanabe also wanted me to tell you that you are automatically entered to win when you use your Hawaiian Airlines(R) Visa(R) card and will get two miles for every dollar spent.
Here I am eating everything in front of me, as usual; I'm including a gratuitous pic of Jason eating because he wants more face time on Metromix. I don't think he knows that getting into my blog is better.
Just a quick reminder that this fundraiser is this week ONLY, so I hope you get over there to show your support!
Good to Grill
888 Kapahulu Avenue at Safeway Center
Phone: (808) 734-7345
Monday - Saturday 7am - 10pm
Sunday 7am - 9:30pm
I know a lot of you have been asking for some linkage on my Special Olympics Over The Edge adventure on Thursday. It's funny--my friends and I are involved in social media and use so much technology, but it was technology that slowed me down this weekend. Sorry this is so late.
If you were watching the live feed, you know that I had a cel phone strapped to my back, streaming live video. Now...this was our first time trying this, so I had no idea what would come out! Also, we didn't know that my body heat would cause the phone to eventually shut off, which then interrupted the feed. We're sorry! We're sorry! Sheesh, we were just experimenting.
So for those of you who wanted to see what it was like, here's how it looked:
No one could take a photo of ME, so I took pictures of Nanea Kalani from Pacific Business News as she went Over The Edge before me. I tell everyone that the scariest part of this whole ordeal is really just getting your leg over that scaffolding at the top of the building.
The first part involves walking down the wall just a few feet, then the wall disappears and you're dangling.
...and there's the view. Don't look down!
Here's a photo of me going Over the Edge, as taken from the ground by Derek Young (@thestuffguy).
My dangling descent. To be honest, it was really fast and at the end, I thought I could have gone faster. Maybe I'll have to try it again next year!
And here's the video as seen from the back of my head! Thanks again to Derek; Russ Sumida (@Parkrat) has also uploaded a recording of the live stream to HawaiiIRL as well. Thanks, guys!
Kudos to Special Olympics Hawaii for putting this event together. About 100 people went Over The Edge of Waikiki on Friday and all the money raised went to this very worthy cause. If this event comes to your city, I highly recommend it!
Gah! This blog is late because I don't have internet service at home. Yes, I guess it's time I pulled together my pennies and bought some. Ah, the life of a freelancer.
So...some of you have been reading and asked about what we did. Now, keep in mind, I was only there from Friday to Saturday, and the others stayed the whole weekend. I didn't get to do as much, but remember, I've been to Molokai before--including staying in Kalaupapa! I don't have to do the same things every time I go!
We did visit Kanemitsu Bakery, but I didn't get to go on the midnight bread run because I left before they did it (Saturday night). I ended up buying some yummy lavosh, though.
There's a store downtown that sells bottled water by the gallon and encourages recycling of the bottles. They're hoping to open a branch here in Ewa!
Kaeo works for Akaku.org on Maui, a cable access station. There's a satellite office in Molokai, so he paid a surprise visit and was able to provide troubleshooting and tech support!
On Saturdays, there is a farmer's market in Kaunakakai. They sell fresh fruits and veggies, as well as some art and clothing.
One very creative artist takes gourds and fallen coconuts and paints them into whimsical characters. Even locals love this stuff!
Artist Linda Johnston paints scenes from Molokai and prints them onto shirts & cards. Her latest creation is a painting of the kupuna who play music, kanikapila-style, at the Hotel Molokai from about 4 p.m. I don't know if they play there every day, but on Friday, I could hear them joyfully banging out "It's Aloha Friday" at the bar!
We took a drive up to Kalaupapa lookout. I've stayed at Kalaupapa before, so it was nice to see it from a different perspective--especially now that Father Damien is officially a saint.
As we drove past the coffee plantation, we saw this coffee picking machine driving up the road. Shuchi (@autkast) was thrilled! She jumped out to take a picture of the guy, and he even paused to make it easier for her.
The coffee beans in the truck. Mmmmmmm
Speaking of the coffee plantation! Just as Hotel Molokai is the place to be for live local music every Friday night, the coffee company is the place to be for live jazz every Saturday night. And it's free! BYOB and you're set for a relaxing evening. There's not a lot of food there, so you may want to eat first or bring some food, as well.
And that was IT....my whirlwind unplugged weekend on Molokai! There's a lot more to do there of course--hike to Kalaupapa, hike up Halawa, visit the salt farm, check out the Zagat-rated Molokai Pizza, and more. There just wasn't enough time to do it all. I hope to go back; after all, it's good to unplug once in a while!
Big Mahalo to Amber Watt, Michael Drew, and the Hotel Molokai for their awesome hospitality!!
OK OK OK OK You guys want to see food first, so that's what I'll post! I'll show you some of our activities, tomorrow.
Kaeo and I arrived on the 6:20 flight, and Amber was good enough to pick us up at that ungodly hour (so delirious she ended up at Kalaupapa Lookout instead!). We dropped our bags and met her colleague Lori for breakfast at the Hotel Molokai....although it looks like we were too tired to enjoy the oceanside dining!
Lori's order of French toast, which she totally cleaned up.
Kaeo's make-your-own omelette. Meat, meat, and more meat.
How would you like your eggs, Amber? "By the water, please."
LOOK at this massive pile of fried rice! It's full, full, full of bacon. There are cubes of ham, spam, and Portuguese sausage, as well, all charred & smoky. This was the most epic plate of fried rice that I've had in a long time. Maybe ever.
This is a little out of order, but we went into town on Saturday and Gypsy Raven went to Big Daddy's Store for halo halo. She rarely gets to eat this Filipino dessert because whomever is selling it, is usually out of something.
On this day, the store was out of coconut, but the husband said, "Wait, give me five minutes," and off he went to the back.
He came back into the kitchen and cracked open his own coconut and started to grate the meat by hand! How's that? Only on Molokai! So of course, we all had to have a hand made halo halo, too. I gave him props for wearing a Mazie Hirono shirt. He just looked at me and smiled. Oh wait, did he smile? Hm.
A true mom & pop operation.
Amber with the finished product. Her first halo halo!
That night we had dinner at the hotel. To START, we had fresh poke...super ono...
We also had seared ahi. Very nice!
Coconut shrimp, which was surprisingly really, really good for a fried dish.
At dinner, I had their glazed chicken. I was afraid it would be dry, but it was moist all the way through. Turns out that when Molokai Ranch closed, Hotel Molokai was able to hire their chef, which may be why their food is a cut above what you might expect. Good food in an oceanfront setting. What more could you ask for?
OK so that was the food porn for all my readers (all 11 of you). I'll show you what we did on Molokai tomorrow!
Those of you who know me, know I'm quite addicted to Twitter, Facebook, texting, etc. And I'm not the only one!! So one day, one of my Twitter friends, Amber (@Tiabla) suggested we get away to Molokai for an unplugged weekend: No electronic equipment except for our cameras.
Good timing: Aqua Hotels & Resorts, where Amber works, has a sales & marketing agreement with the Hotel Molokai, which has undergone massive renovations. After a very hectic week, we packed our bags and made our way to the Friendly Isle.
My beautifully appointed single room.
My ocean view, complete with the sound of waves lapping.
Our welcome bag. Note the flat screen TV in the back!
Big mahalo to Hotel Molokai's General Manager Michael Drew, who was our host for the weekend. He was a wealth of information and took some free time to show us around one day. Michael came to Molokai about three years ago and went to work renovating the hotel inside and out. All of the rooms, in fact, were completely gutted.
Shuchi Rana (@autkast) of San Francisco, right, was one of the many tech geeks visiting us last week for [re]think Hawaii and TEDx Honolulu; however, she was the only one that made it over to Molokai for a day. It was her first trip to Hawaii and one that she won't soon forget.
Hotel Molokai is tagged as "the last authentic Hawaii experience," and Shuchi couldn't stop raving about how she was so lucky to experience at least one day of "the real Hawaii" while on Molokai. I guess when you live here, you take a lot for granted. Somehow, it was different looking at Molokai through Shuchi's eyes.
Now for the unplugging. I think it was hardest on the first day, getting used to operating without any connection to the outside world or touching our electronics.
Ed Morita (@Nctrnlbst), as you can see, adjusted quite quickly. Then again...look at his reading material! Blog Blazers?
Kaeo, Jill, Ray, and Ed spent a lot of time at the pool.
In the absence of Twitter, we ended up writing our "tweets" on pieces of paper and documenting them in photos. Ray (@zenxacred) will compile those photos and I'll post a link for you in a future blog so you can see how hilarious they were.
You know what? After the first day, I didn't even have the urge to write my tweets on those pieces of paper. Maybe I'm not the addict that we all thought I was. I survived, for the most part...but I should warn you that if you do this, it's harder to "unplug" on a weekday than on a weekend. I arrived on Molokai on Friday, which meant that several clients were still calling or emailing me during the day. I didn't have this problem on Saturday.
OK so that was how we coped with our addiction. Next up: I'm going to show you a little of what we got to do there!
This is a little out of order, but we went into town on Saturday and Gypsy Raven went to Big Daddy's Store for halo halo. She rarely gets to eat this Filipino dessert because whomever is selling it, is usually out of something. 
Big mahalo to Hotel Molokai's General Manager Michael Drew, who was our host for the weekend. He was a wealth of information and took some free time to show us around one day. Michael came to Molokai about three years ago and went to work renovating the hotel inside and out. All of the rooms, in fact, were completely gutted. 
