If you followed me on Twitter Saturday night, you know that I couldn’t leave work because my car was blocked in by Evelyn Champagne King’s. No joke! Only at a job like this can I tell true stories like that!
Well, in the meantime, I went berserk shopping at Ang Namsilk. Their manager, Nina Chang (no relation) brought out a whole CASE of what looked like pearl necklaces, but were actually bra straps.
Cool concept: if you own a bra that enables you to swap out the straps, you can replace them with these baubly accessories. Many of my girlfriends are like, “Doesn’t it make your clothes lumpy?” NO. These straps should be used when you are wearing tanks, especially spaghetti straps, as they are meant to be seen!
I got some pearl + clear bead straps, but they have some that are pearl + pink, pearl + purple, pearl + green, pearl + multi-colored, the whole rainbow. Verrrrrrry bow-chick-a-wow-wow, but in a subtle way.
By the way, the chunky ring I’m wearing is also from Ang Namsilk, and also in a cornucopia of colors.
I was performing my flack duties and hand-delivering a complete packet including a gramatically correct press release and accompanying photos to Gannett’s Custom Publishing Group yesterday. While I was there, the esteemed Sr. Editor Stacy Yuen Hernandez put a call in to Rodney Lee.
Check it out! Rod’s just as nice In Real Life as he is in his blog. We actually talked about how I went to help Bruddah Al recently, and how Rod might get more involved in that to help us bloggers better enhance our pages.
Oh! That magazine in my hand is the latest issue of Homescape. As a flack, I’m constantly promoting everything I can get my hands on. So here’s my schpiel to you:
If you didn’t get the latest Homescape Magazine in your newspaper, you can get it in the magazine racks around town. One of the featured articles (if I may be so bold) is about achieving harmony in the kitchen through feng shui. Oh, there are other articles in there, too. But that’s the one that counts.
For some people, it’s a great chance to catch up with old friends that you haven’t seen for years. For others, it’s a way to get to know people that you didn’t really know before. An added bonus is seeing how people have changed, or how they have stayed the same. Remember Daniel Hahn, who spent his entire high school career with recreational herbs in the parking lot?
Leo Asunscion (known to everyone else at McKinley as LOFF) is closing off reservations at the end of this month. If you want to attend and get the party favors, email mhs83reunion@hotmail.com as soon as possible to reserve your spot!
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, or refusing to check your email like Keith Kotani, you already know about the reunion. If you need to be reminded, please go to http://mhs83.tripod.com. I need to stress that it’s really important that you get the details correct; there are a bazillion Hawaii reunions in Vegas that weekend, and I wouldn’t want you to accidentally drop in on the wrong one. God forbid if you attended the Aiea Class of 83 reunion by mistake!
Until then, mahalo from your reunion committee!
Mckinley High School Class of 1983
25th Year Reunion
October 9-13 (Reunion Dinner is on the 11th); Las Vegas Club
You might think I’m on some kind of a Japanese food kick–first Kai with Mari and Clayton, then Yohei with Bruddah Al (c’mon brah, post the photos!!), and today, lunch with Arlene Seredon and Carolynn Yamada at Yama Chan. It just happens to turn out that way, I promise!
Arlene and Carolynn suggested this restaurant for several reasons: it’s yummy, it’s affordable, it’s a comfortable place to eat, and (shamefully) it is in my neighborhood and I’ve never been there.
It’s a neighborhood restaurant that has an “old” feel to it, although it’s been open seven years. Many of the people who eat here–often braving the long weekend dinner line–are regulars, and sort of recognize each other as such. And yet, there are people like me who should have tried this place long ago, and are surprised to “discover” such a gem.
Arlene and Carolynn have their favorites, like the butterfish and the clams. Everything is served in dainty little dishes (”I’d hate to be the dishwasher here!” Carolynn mused) and in managable portions. We started with some edamame ($4), then their agedashi tofu ($5.25). Although it is fried, the tofu is very light-tasting. The steamed clams ($8.75) come with a broth that they said is usually quite rich, but since I squeezed some of the lemon over the bowl it lightened the overall flavor…not in a bad way, mind you! The clams were fat and tender, by the way.
We moved on to the hamachi ($8.50), their shrimp tempura side order ($11.25), and the miso butterfish, all very good choices. The hamachi tasted as fresh and fatty as it looked. The tempura is reflective of the restaurant’s proficiency with deep-fried foods. There’s a non-oily, delicate crunch on the shrimp tempura, as well as the accompanying tempuras of chiso, long bean, kabocha, eggplant, and potato. Some people think fried foods may be wrong for you. If that’s so, then I don’t want to ever be right. At least, not at Yama Chan! The butterfish was appropriately salty, but not overwhelmingly so. Usually I’m dying for a bowl of rice with the butterfish, but in this case, it’s kind of optional.
The service is quick and attentive at Yama Chan, always gracious. Since Arlene and Carolynn are regulars, Nikki could suggest what we’d like to eat next and was very pleased to see us clean the plates.
It was an added bonus to find that Yama Chan is a BYOB establishment. When I return with my neighbor Clayton, that’s probably what we’ll do, and safely stagger back home. Ah, I love this neighborhood!
Restaurant Yama Chan: 1145-B S. King St. (If driving, turn into the alley after Yama Chan but before the bike shop and park behind.)
596-YAMA (9262)
11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday
The “greening” of America is finally taking off, thanks in part to celebs like Al Gore, Leo DiCaprio, and Ahnya Chang(who I’d like to say was an excellent member of the Environmental Lobby). The impact of this movement was obvious at last night’s event, “Green is the New Black,” put on by the Wedding Café, Kanu Hawaii and Divas Doing Good.
It had all the makings of an environmentally-friendly event: It was on the water at Waterfront at Aloha Tower; it featured a fashion show by environmentally-conscious local designers; it had a silent auction full of items promoting this concept; and a presentation with tips on how YOU can conserve our resources.
I sort of do my part, but they had some tips I had never even thought of, like not asking for a receipt at the ATM, go vegetarian once a week, and recycling wire hangers.
I was not the only one who noticed that they seem to be against bottled water, but bottled water was served at the event. Someone else told me later they tried to throw their empty water bottle in a recycle bin, but there was none! Oops.
Anyway: Unless you are Song Choi, you were following me on Twitter, so you may already know that this event was THE place to be. I was amazed at how hip & chic everyone looked at this event, even old people like me.
Here’s Christa Wittmier (she’s on the right) and her crew near the pier bar. See how subdued and Christina Applegate-ish she looks? She’s sad because she’s leaving Visionary Radio but is happy because she’s going to Better Brands. Call me, Christa! I got some ideas for you! Right behind her is Hawaiian Ryan. Remember him? He was a hilarious DJ in the 90s and moved to Kauai. I hear he’s returned. And he’s still funny.
Remember my blog about “It’s all relative?”I highlighted my cousin Lynda, who saw me on TV. Well, the gal in yellow is her daughter Kristen Conner. (Note to readers, my family is everywhere—just like the pod people. And this is just my mom’s side.) When I told Kristen that her mom is on my blog, she tripped out because she perceives her mom to be very low-tech, and not the type to access a blog. Just the other night, Kristen had to help her send emails!
I was going to show you photos of our favorite foods, which included a dish from Fred d’Angelo: He created oysters with a CRAB luau and a lovely blue salt to imitate water. I wanted to ask him to conserve the plates and just pile a whole bunch on one for me! But alas, the food did not photograph very well. There was also delish wedding cake, champagne sorbet, Gordon Biersch finger foods, and more.
Well, no sense crying over spilled milk….as you can see, you should have been here for a variety of reasons. But you can still do your part to save the earth! Join Kanu Hawaii and learn about the various ways you can reduce your carbon footprint, then put it into action.
Mahalo to Tanna Dang of the Wedding Café for an amazing event!
Cool concept: if you own a bra that enables you to swap out the straps, you can replace them with these baubly accessories. Many of my girlfriends are like, “Doesn’t it make your clothes lumpy?” NO. These straps should be used when you are wearing tanks, especially spaghetti straps, as they are meant to be seen!
Arlene and Carolynn have their favorites, like the butterfish and the clams. Everything is served in dainty little dishes (”I’d hate to be the dishwasher here!” Carolynn mused) and in managable portions. We started with some edamame ($4), then their agedashi tofu ($5.25). Although it is fried, the tofu is very light-tasting. The steamed clams ($8.75) come with a broth that they said is usually quite rich, but since I squeezed some of the lemon over the bowl it lightened the overall flavor…not in a bad way, mind you! The clams were fat and tender, by the way.
The “greening” of America is finally taking off, thanks in part to celebs like Al Gore, Leo DiCaprio, and 
Remember my blog about “
Well, no sense crying over spilled milk….as you can see, you should have been here for a variety of reasons. But you can still do your part to save the earth! Join Kanu Hawaii and learn about the various ways you can reduce your carbon footprint, then put it into action. 
