No really, and there’s at least six of them hanging around the club. Oh wait, Perverts 1-6 are only extras for the filming of Hawaii Five-0 at Club 939. But you gotta wait for episode 4 of season 5 to catch pervert 6 at 939.
The recent Made in Hawaii Festival pretty much wiped out the stock of VH07V gear.
Fortunately for me, the family was at the festival and managed to snag a few of the high demand clothing. I think I may have gotten the last of the new “fade” design which was pulled off the mannequin.
The printed bag was a nice touch too!
The day after the VH07V purchase, the extended family went box car racing and repped the VH07V love. I gotta get that dark navy blue design with the neon orange lettering!
Must be professional courtesy otherwise why hasn’t Gregg Hammer imitated the excellent traffic reporter, Danielle Tucker? Just listen to this combination of Gregg mimicking Danielle letting loose her personal commentary about the traffic situations.
The dream has died, and so went Island 98.5 from my car radio preset lineup. The dream? The reunion of the OG Wake-Up Crew with Rory and Gregg Hammer (and Krey-Z). I’ve fully accepted this will not come to pass.
Another impetus for this change is the emergence of ALT105.9. The new KPOI plays modern alternative music instead of classic rock. After a short listen, I was hooked. Hit after hit played with nary a pause. I don’t know if this is the longer term format sans deejays but for now the music has me hooked.
Back to Gregg Hammer and Hammertime on KRTR 96.3. Gregg, Davey, and Shawnee have their groove going. The team has definitely worked on their show and have polished out the rough edges. It’s no longer a one man show like I originally felt, and the format isn’t so formulated as before. Gregg is given his moments of genius within the framework of the overall show and spots. A slew of local characters now make a daily appearance from Aunty’s Storytime to interruptions from Bubbles. Davey does a much better job setting up Gregg and his impersonations. Then there’s Shawnee offsetting the goofiness of the dudes and bringing a practical viewpoint to the show, but you gotta love Gregg’s impersonations of Shawnee’s ethnic and cultural backgrounds. OMG!
Let me tell you don’t underestimate the traffic report from Danielle Tucker. Simply the best on the morning drive. Descriptive with enough personality mixed in, and she tweets with those stuck in traffic. Traffic on the Five is it and so much more.
So where am I going with all of this? Hammertime on 96.3 continues to flourish, I’m liking the tunes on Alt 105.9, so the odd station out is Island 98.5.
Life on Oahu returned to a state of normalcy as Iselle and Julio subsided. Case in point, the Sam’s Club Gas Station that was slammed last week. This is how it typically looks on weekday mornings. Yes, normalcy has returned.
For real life reports about the conditions in the Puna area of the Big Island, be sure to check out Damon Tucker’s updates.
How was your angst-filled weekend with Hurricanes Iselle and Julio headed for Hawaii? Hopefully, all went well for you and your family. Some places were hit hard while in other places, it was more or less typical Hawaii weather. Thanks to the advance weather forecasting, the entire state was aware of the two storms and took preparatory precautions. That’s when things got real, and the fun began.
Stocking up of staples like non-perishable food and water (and of course, toilet paper) began early in the week, starting on Monday. Stores quickly ran out of bottled water while other items like instant ramen held strong.
Bottled water shortages were so severe, I briefly considered vending machines but realized better and filled up containers with good old Hawaiian naturally filtered water.
As the week went on and Iselle held course for the Big Island, schools and business started shutting down for safety reasons. I left work, telling our mascot Mele about the incoming inclemencies.
Of course with anxiety slowly building, I needed a hit to calm down so I had to stop by Starbucks for a drink and maybe some old school tunes. Instead, I bypassed the tunes and got donuts instead.
On Friday, Iselle’s effects were supposed to hit Oahu. Again, some places encountered extreme weather, but luckily, this was our view for the day. Some showers, a few gusts, and mostly grey clouds.
That night we had a family dinner and watched movies where I learned firsthand of the appalling audio of newer flat panel televisions. With its skinny profile, there’s just no space for speakers, so oftentimes, the speakers are rearward or downward facing. This makes audio very difficult to hear and cranking up the volume to 100 is just a no go. This resulted in a Saturday morning trip to Costco for supplies and a sound bar after a breakfast of a pancake made in a rice cooker.
Luckily, Costco has the well reviewed Vizio S4251W-B4 on special with a discount. Yeah, it’s kinda big and yeah, we really don’t need the rear satellite speakers, but this set is just too well reviewed to get Costco’s other soundbar offerings. Our Costco bill was a little ominous though.
Oh, and who knew Iselle and Julio’s impact would affect the poke supply at Costco?! The rest of Saturday night was spent at another family dinner, more food, hooking up the Vizio soundbar, and taking in David Ige’s win over Neil Abercrombie. As surprising as that was, the real turbulence was the Hanabusa and Schatz race which ended up essentially even with parts of the Big Island needing to cast its vote after Iselle shut down polling places. This political storm still rages on.
With Julio weakening and taking a northern turn, Sunday was back to normal which in this case turned into an out-of-character hike up Diamond Head. The weather and views were Hawaiian perfection.
Then came a few hours at the re-opened Ala Moana Center. Seems like these tanned Hello Kitty dolls at Sanrio are quite popular.
And since when did Starbucks Hawaii locations sell bags?
And to top off the crazy weekend is a supermoon! How was your weekend with Iselle and Julio?
I don’t know why or when but local weather dude (and surfer), Guy Hagi, has become an online meme under the tag of #liehagi. Where did this start???
There’s a conspiracy theory out there that Guy himself is the origin of #liehagi to up his Twitter cred.
Whoops, sorry. I forgot to post these pics inside of the new Peet’s in Kailua. Last time, I only posted pics of the outside of Peet’s. This time I actually went inside to buy a drink.
The inside is small with only a few seats and a table or two. And a very industrial-looking stainless steel table it is. The outside swivel seats are kinda interesting since they’re so huge. I don’t get it. Are you supposed to lounge in them? Seat two in a chair? Surprisingly, they are pretty comfy.
One point of improvement is the efficiency of the drink preparation. While the group in front of me took some time to finish up their transaction with the cashier, the barista could have started on my drink. So my raspberry mocha could have been ready immediately after payment, but nope, the barista stood idle. Live and learn I say. Not enough to deter my future visits.
Ala Moana Center continues its facelift and major renovations; this time working on the roof above Center Stage. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but the natural sunlight that formerly bathed Center Stage is now eclipsed by this temporary roof.
While ambient light still leaks in from the periphery, it’s just not enough lighting down on stage, casting it in darkness.
Along with the darker ambiance, there’s scaffolding everywhere to support the roof, giving an industrial vibe.
Just for comparison sakes, here’s a picture of the roofline looking towards Nordstrom with the covering protecting shoppers on the (working) escalators.
Here’s a picture looking the opposite direction, towards Center Stage and its roof under repair.
By the holiday season, I may not recognize portions of Ala Moana!
On Saturday, July 26, 2014, Windward Mall hosted the Discover Windward event. This gathering featured neighborhood vendors, live music, and food truck fare and was kicked off with a social media-based scavenger hunt. Thirty of us canvased the mall looking for, tagging, and posting these depictions:
Here are some of my (non-winning) submissions. In fact, since I stayed at the mall after the official scavenger hunt, I almost had another set of #DiscoverWindward submissions.
Although I didn’t win any individual prizes, every participant received a goodie bag and was treated to an overall fun night out. Congratulations to the Ozawa family for taking the top prize with this awesome (and akamai) collage. As soon as I saw that entry in my #DiscoverWindward Twitter stream, I thought to myself, “great idea.”
If you want to discover Windward, be sure to follow Windward Mall online.
The special Starbucks Clover brewing system has finally arrived in Hawaii, and it’s been here for two or three weeks. If you visit the newest Starbucks location in Aina Haina, you’ll find the first Clover on Oahu. Thanks to @yoda808 for the recon.
Using the Starbucks store locator confirms that store 1009038 is the only Clover system in Hawaii. What’s so good about the Clover? I’m going to really, really dumb it down, but it makes fancy coffee even fancier. Taste a Clover prepared coffee, and you’ll taste a difference.
Just let it be known that only stores that meet certain specifications have Clovers installed. Now, I’m really surprised that this new (untested) location in Aina Haina has a Clover instead of seeing one at a high traffic location like Ward, but Starbucks must have done their research. Or maybe just the potential of (wealthy) Hawaii Kai commuters needing an exquisite pick-me-up for the drive to town would justify the Clover placement. Who knows, but I do know Aina Haina is a far drive from the Windward side. 🙁
Now Starbucksmelody.com can finally show an entry for Hawaii for Clover locations.
Okay, okay, I’ll ultimately overlook these gaffes because I don’t want to be banned from Liliha Bakery Coco Puffs. And I know they’re overwhelmed getting their new location fully operational. But the mistakes on their boxes? Yikes.
Here’s their box.
Look closer at the instructions to keep “refrigeated.”
Maybe I should leave a message at lilihabakeryhawaii.com. Oh wait, or is that lilihabakeerykawaii.com??? Ow, mistakes in the Assurance of Quality section.
But both you and I know, it’s what’s in the box that really matters.