Open House Pick of the Week: A Makiki Home With a Japanese Garden
A contemporary and spacious home in Makiki Heights.
Melissa Chang
Articles
Less is more at Gokoku Sushi
When Gokoku Sushi opened in grand style at Koko Marina Center a year ago, it was all set to bring upscale Japanese dining to Hawaii Kai. The problem was, the upscale prices matched the real estate market projections for East…
Bread + Butter for dinner
When Bread + Butter first opened in the former Angelo Pietro spot (next to Shokudo), I was all about the breakfast and lunch offerings. I’ve become a regular there because I like to coffice, with their wifi and bright surroundings.…
Something new: Angelo Pietro opens in Kaimuki
It’s been about a year and a half since Angelo Pietro closed its Kapiolani Boulevard location and disappeared for a while as the owners looked for a new place. Well, as you may have heard, they finally reopened, and are…
Preview: MODERN Chef Takeover
If you’re going to have a chef take over your hotel kitchen, you might as well make it Will Chen. The MODERN Honolulu’s chef Keith Pajinag brought Will in to develop two items for the hotel’s poolside menu all weekend,…
Tips on traveling to Singapore
We wouldn’t send you to a foreign country without tips! Here are some quick and useful tips to help you prep for your trip to Singapore. GETTING THERE Currently, there are no direct flights to Singapore. You have to transfer through a…
Open House Pick of the Week: This Kailua Home Has an Avocado Tree in the Backyard
Get cozy near the fireplace in this Kailua home.
Aloha Singapore! Henna tattoos and dinner at Ding Dong
Although Singapore is an island, and we did a LOT in a week, I couldn’t help feeling that there was so much we missed, too. I don’t know about Doug and Edwina, but I started my last full day in Singapore…
Chai’s Waikiki revamps
Almost a year ago, Chef Chai Chaowasaree opened his Waikiki restaurant in the former Singha Thai space as a take-out plate lunch venue. At the time, I was surprised to see such a casual approach to Chai’s food, and apparently…
Wandering Singapore: Raffles, museums and chili crab
With just two full days left on our trip, we had to pack in whatever else we had on our itinerary to be sure we ate, saw and experienced a good balance of what Singapore had to offer. The problem…
Aloha Singapore! Gardens by the Bay, Little India and Fatty’s
Take time to smell the flowers: A giant living clock at the Gardens by the Bay. On my first two trips to Singapore, I was there for just one or two days on my way to somewhere else, so there…
Open House Pick of the Week: A Hawai‘i Kai Home in a Desirable Gated Community
This home has the largest lot on the tip of the Peninsula in Hawai‘i Kai.
Dinner with a Singapore blogger
Oh, the power of social media. I follow a blogger named SingaporeanEats on Instagram and am always drooling over her food finds in The Lion City. So of course, as I was planning this trip, I pinged her to see…
Aloha Singapore! Geylang Serai and durian at Bugis
We did so much on our second day in Singapore that I had to cut some things out of my blog and split it in two. If you think you’re overwhelmed by my blog posts, just think of how our…
Open House Pick of the Week: An Oceanfront Home in Turtle Bay
Ocean Villas is known to be a vacation spot for celebrities including Justin Timberlake.
Aloha Singapore! From hawker stalls to high cuisine
I’ve finally arrived in Singapore! It’s a great time to be visiting the island nation, as 2015 marks its 50th year of independence from Malaysia. If you are planning to visit, keep in mind that there is no direct flight from…
Open House Pick of the Week: Luxurious Lanikai Home Owned by Famous People
Look for “Finding Nemo” on the bottom of the swimming pool.
A little North Shore adventure
The new Courtyard by Marriott North Shore Oahu in Laie. Life is full of unexpected twists … which is probably the theme of this blog post. I recently headed out to Laie with media maven Pam Davis for the grand opening…
Packing light like a pro
Happy 50th, Singapore! This year marks the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, when it was ejected from the Federation of Malaysia amidst social unrest. I’d say it’s done quite well for itself; in these five decades, the former British colony…
Open House Pick of the Week: A Classic Family-Built Home in Hau‘ula
This house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a den.
Preview: “Paradise Come Dawn” at Stage
October 15 is the last special performance dinner for the year at Stage Restaurant as they gear up for the holidays, so they’re ending with a big throwback to the cruise ship era, when the Lurline sailed through Honolulu with…
New at Chez Kenzo: veg-friendly menu items
There must be about 100 items on the menu at Chez Kenzo, which makes it hard for people to choose whenever they go. It made me wonder if new items would make things harder for people trying to decide on…
Do good: Fight hunger with CANstruction
Yesterday was the 10th annual CANstruction® competition, put on by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honolulu, where teams of architects, designers and engineers used their talents to create gigantic structures made of canned goods to benefit the Hawaii Foodbank. If…
Farewell, David Nagaishi
I don’t usually post bad news in my blog, but this one is a little different. I had just uploaded photos for an upcoming post, where my friend Pam Davis and I went out to Laie to visit various people — among…
Party pics: Honolulu Coffee Experience Center grand opening
Honolulu Coffee Company officially added its twelfth Hawaii location to its roster last night with the grand opening of its Coffee Experience Center in the former Hard Rock space across the Hawaii Convention Center. The new venue serves coffee, of…
Open House Pick of the Week: This Kailua Condo Has Good Feng Shui
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit at Windward Cove.
Something new: Fortune Noodle
What comes to mind when you think of Chinese food? Orange chicken? Egg rolls? Peking duck? Well, one of those three actually hail from the Middle Kingdom. Recently Honolulu got an injection of some authentic regional Chinese cuisine, and we went to…
Open House Pick of the Week: A Hidden Home in Kalihi With Views of Kalihi Valley
Three-bedroom, two-story home for $495,000.
Party pics: The Hawai’i Waterman Hall of Fame
Four legends in Hawai’i’s water sports were honored last night by the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation for their accomplishments, as well as contributions to the sport and community: surfer Duane DeSoto, paddler Walter Guild, surfer Joey Cabell, and swimmer (the…
Chinee like me: Moon Festival 2015
Well, I finally got it right. After years of doing the last-minute moon cake rush, I am telling you ahead of time about the annual harvest moon celebration so you can get your treats to enjoy this weekend. That’s right,…
A toast to Tuscany with Frances Mayes
From left: Jim Hansen, Alvin Savella, Matt Skaletsky and Frances Mayes. As if you needed an excuse to hop over to Maui … On September 23, Pūlehu, an Italian Grill at The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort (KOR) Villas is having…
Something new: Maui Pie
On the way home from my recent adventure at the Grand Wailea, PR maven Yvonne Biegel mentioned that there is a new pie shop in Kihei, and some people are even surmising that it could be better than Leoda’s in…
Open House Pick of the Week: Relax in This Affordable Condo in Nu‘uanu
The lease on this condo goes through 2070.
Preview: Tiki’s wine dinner
Okay, this isn’t exactly a preview of the wine dinner at Tiki’s Grill & Bar tomorrow night. It’s more of a recap of their last wine dinner, but this will give you an idea of what kind of creativity you’ll get to…
Party pics: Signature Chefs Food Festival
The rain didn’t deter any of the 520 attendees at the sixth annual Signature Chefs Food Festival, benefitting the Honolulu Firefighters Foundation. It was originally going to be held on the Monarch Lawn of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, but the…
#HFWF15: Caviar and champagne
There is no better way to taste fine caviar than with equally fine champagne. As an encore to last year’s “Caviar and Krug” event, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival upped their game with French Sturia caviar paired with Cristal, Dom Pérignon, Krug, and…
Open House Pick of the Week: Makakilo Home Has a Garden With Papaya Trees
Enjoy the breeze in this Makakilo Home.
A skating lesson with Kristi Yamaguchi
Olympic medalists Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano announced that they are bringing Hawaii’s first ice skating show in 20 years to the Blaisdell Arena on November 20 and 21 yesterday, and wowed us with a little performance of their own.…
Golden Moment: Q&A with Kristi Yamaguchi
Olympic Gold Medalists Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi. Tickets go on sale today for the first ice show in Hawaii in nearly 20 years, featuring a star-studded cast of figure skating champions. The Blaisdell Arena will be frozen over on November 20…
Ka Malama at the Grand Wailea
Chef Michael Lofaro getting ready to dive into dinner. Photo provided by Grand Wailea. Lucky we live Hawaii. There is no place in the world like it, no culture like it, no food or language that embodies the paradise we…
