More ‘Outings’ from readers

By Yen Phan
Special to Nonstop

It was a nice sunny Monday morning to bike ride through Waikiki. As I got to Queen’s Surf Beach, I noticed big white tents, huge cameras, audio and visual equipment, and a surf rental shack that hadn’t been there before. Behold, it was the “Hawaii Five-0″ crew setting up to shoot. Just as I positioned myself to get a good view, Alex O’Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett, walks right by me and says, “hi.” OMG!

While waiting with about 100 other bystanders, I talked with someone from the film crew, who gave me the inside scoop on the scene they were about to shoot. This definitely was the highlight of my day.

By Harry Covair
Special to Nonstop

I have a bunch of friends who are FAN-tastic supporters of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team. We’ve followed them for years, since the days of old, leaky, muggy, non-cushioned seats at Klum Gym. So when Na Wahine goes to the Mainland to play in the League Playoffs, we usually follow them to Las Vegas during the long Thanksgiving weekend.

This year, only four of us went up to watch the WAC Champion Playoffs at Orleans Arena, and only my friend, John, and I continued on to Napa Valley, which has become a semi-annual tradition for us. We met up with another friend who lives there and hit various wineries in Napa and Sonoma.

Of course, nothing is complete without a feast of sorts, so we ventured to Thanh Long in the Richmond District of San Francisco, thanks to the recommendation of Melissa Chang, and met up with a couple of ex-Hawaii patriots.

So here’s my story about my Thanksgiving weekend, which began in Seattle, and ended in Napa and San Francisco.