Chicken of the Seafood

The first time we went back to visit my sweetie’s family on O`ahu (I had already met them on one of their visits to Seattle), we flew into Honolulu, picked up a rental car, and drove across the Ko`olau range to their home on the Windward Side. I was immediately invited to sit with her …


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Postcard: Waikiki, 7am

Two guys are opening their surf shack. One of them is digging perfectly spaced holes in the sand, the other is dropping bright yellow umbrellas into the holes and popping them open. A man sits on the stone wall facing the surf, barefoot, a cell phone glued to his head, a deep frown marking his …


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Making Mochi

There’s a whole complicated process around making mochi that I can’t explain properly. I remember something about a mallet and a lot of pounding, and how it’s some unfortunate person’s role to flip the mochi between swings of the mallet. There’s a lot of pounding and the end result is something that’s a lot like …


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Fish Tails Fish Tales

In order to meet Brooks Takenaka at 5am, I fall out of bed at 430, groggy, dizzy, and luckily, jet lagged enough so that it’s not too much of a shock. I’m happy not to be driving, it’s hard enough to navigate Honolulu by day, all those street names made up of Ks and Ls …


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Morning in the Pacific

I’ve been skipping out on a lot of the nightlife while I’m here in Waikiki. I am, unashamedly, a morning person and while I am not really anti-social, I do enjoy good company, I’m not much of a drinker anymore and I don’t particularly enjoy group events in loud places. I’d much rather share a …


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