More than 300 relay teams — about 100 more than last year — from Hawaii and Japan participated in yesterday’s Honolulu Ekiden and Music festival, put on by travel company H.I.S. The course was the length of a marathon (26.2…
Will (left) and Marv with the entire collection of snacks that we tasted.As you know, I went to Taiwan, China, and Japan recently, and the trips were so close together that I was able to stockpile a nice collection of…
Our last day in the Osaka area was actually one of the biggest highlights for me. It was different, delicious, and so far out of the way that I don’t know if I will ever get back there again. But…
Since H.I.S. provided us with a two-day train pass as part of the tour package, we had to decide where to go. So many choices! If you’re looking for an easy day trip from Osaka, however, Kyoto is always the…
On our first free day with the train pass from H.I.S., Scott Suzui of Ultimate Japan decided that we should do something easy. Nara is about 30 to 40 minutes away, with one transfer. So, off we went. You probably…
As you may have noticed, I’m a week behind in posting my blogs. Every day, as you will see in the coming blog posts, was a packed schedule of activities. Osaka is a city that is a feast for the…
You may have seen a lot of buzz in social media about how travel agency H.I.S. ran some crazy cheap round trip fares from Honolulu to Osaka for the summer, starting at $300. Although summers are notoriously hot in Asia,…
The home base for the 2022 Hale ‘Aina Restaurateurs of the Year is a hidden paradise that serves up the best Lao and Thai food in Honolulu.
