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Cocina = Ono

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Cocina
Cocina
Oh Cocina, Cocina. I think the word translates to kitchen, but in any language, it has to mean yummy (or ono in Hawaii lingo). Cocina is a relatively new eatery in the Kakaako area, and while tiny in size, the food is packed with huge flavor starting with the chips and salsa.

Crispy, crunchy, smokey – you can’t stop.

Chips and salsa
Chips and salsa

The menu isn’t complicated featuring a variety of tacos, but everything we tasted was great. Everything was flavorfully seasoned, but the secret is with the sauce pairing. Each taco comes with its own perfectly complementary sauce. The tacos are on the smaller side but are sufficiently filling.

If you want something heftier, definitely go with the Tortaguesa. Basically, it’s a burger, but oh what a burger it is. The sweet and spicy habanero sauce contrasts the earthy beef excellently. Do you dip the burger, pour the sauce on? No matter, just use it all up. The Tortaguesa was my favorite.

Tortaguesa
Tortaguesa

I’m not sure how often Cocina’s menu changes, but here’s a (blurry) shot of their current menu.

Menu
Menu May 2014

Check out Yelp for more reviews.

iTunes Nested Smart Playlists and iCloud Status Field

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With the knowledge of how to create nested Smart Playlists in iTunes, how about using this along with the new-ish iCloud Status field. The goal is to find music stored locally on my small SSD drive but has a match in iCloud via iTunes Match. This way I can delete the local versions of the music and rely on iTunes Match to stream the very same songs.

Now how to construct the appropriate Smart Playlist…

Morning Runs at Disney Aulani

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morning-run-pano
Lagoon 1 in the Morning

The one benefit of the Disney Aulani fitness center being temporarily closed during my stay? Going out for morning runs and catching these sights.

Running path
Running path
There’s a great paved path that passes by all the lagoons. The path starts at the Ihilani and winds by the four lagoons. At the end of the pier area, there’s a roundabout to come back. The path isn’t really lit so head out after sunrise. The route was safe with other tourists and locals walking or running, and no derelicts to be aware of. In all, little over a two-mile run of serene ocean scenery and sunrises illuminating the hotel architecture.

Nesting iTunes Smart Playlist Rules

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This just shows how much I use the features in iTunes. I only recently learned that you can “nest” rules when creating Smart Playlists. The default is to have and/or behavior represented by the Smart Playlist terms of “all” or “any.” But what if you want a Smart Playlist that follows any of a certain set of rules and all of another set of rules? You use the obscure nest feature of iTunes Smart Playlists.

You won’t visibly see the Nest feature by default, but while creating your Smart Playlist rules, hold down the Option key and the Add button becomes a Nest button. Who knew? And it’s not so obvious in the Apple support article.

Amenities in a Two-Bedroom Villa at Disney Aulani

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If you’re staying in a two-bedroom villa at the Disney Aulani, don’t worry, it’s fully stocked with amenities. Featuring a full kitchen and a washer and dryer, the accommodations comes with all the necessities you need. Take a look.

And yes, the villas includes daily room cleaning and turndown. Down the hall, you can dump your trash and recyclables. If you bring your own food, the villa is a great option for families.

I’m with the BitBand

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For real, I am with the Atlassian BitBand. Check out my swag for proof.

BitBand
BitBand

Yup, thanks to Atlassian’s sense of humor, I won this Git shirt along with a BitBand band as part of an April Fool’s giveaway. Back on April 1st, the software company announced a hardware product, the BitBand. If you followed the press announcement and attempted to fund their hardware project, you would have found the giveaway entry form. Luckily, I won some Git goodies. The front of the shirt says “Just Do Git.”

Just Do Git
Just Do Git
BitBand band
BitBand band

Thanks Atlassian (but stick with the software)!

Hawaiian Slang: Cheehoo!

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Now here’s an interesting one – cheehoo! This exclamation is a fairly recent addition to the Hawaii kine vernacular. It’s not old school pidgin since by no means did Andy Bumatai shout out cheehoo! in All in the Ohana. There’s a Samoan origin to cheehoo! but what does cheehoo! mean? It doesn’t matter what cheehoo! means since it’s a colloquial exclamation in today’s Hawaiian slang. Think of it like yahoo, wahoo, woohoo, or yee-haw. It’s just something you say when you’re excited or when you’re celebrating.

Notice too that I list cheehoo! with an exclamation point. The one thing with cheehoo! is that you have to say it from deep down. If you’re going to cheehoo!, you have to go for it and commit. Cheehoo! comes from the soul and isn’t for the meek. Watch local deejay, Slick Vic, demonstrate the proper cheehoo! to Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie when the Today Show visited the islands. Jump to 2:13 for the cheehoo! demonstration.

When done properly, a cheehoo! is truly a force. Witness a hearty cheehoo! stop the most powerful man in America. Not only did a cheehoo! interrupt President Barack Obama, it broke his train of thought, needing some time to regain his composure. Cheehoo!

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