The Kamaka Ukulele is the gold standard in fine ukulele quality and there is a reason for that. The Kamaka family has been making the best ukes in the world since 1916 when Honolulu resident Sam Kamaka Sr began making the instruments in his Kaimuki basement. Since then the Hawaiian ukulele has made it’s way…
Category: Hawaii
Kakaako Graffiti – Honolulu Hawaii’s Gritty Urban Chic Neighborhood
Kaka’ako is one of the fastest growing and most vibrant neighborhoods in Hawai’i. This formerly neglected area between the financial district and Ala Moana consisted mostly of industrial and low rent business for most of the 20th century. In the past ten years it has been transformed with seven luxury condo towers going up in…
Matsumoto Shave Ice – Matsumoto General Store on Oahu’s North Shore
If you ask any child in Hawai’i what they want for dessert or a treat – chances are you are going to hear most of them say the same thing- shave ice. That’s shave ice, not shaved ice because Hawaiian language doesn’t have a ‘D’ in it and our local language ‘pidgin’ officially known as…
A Beautiful Free Waterfall Hike On Oahu – Manoa Falls Trail
Sure, you will enjoy this hike more if you pay for it – the guides will tell you lots of stories, you will learn about the plants, the history, the geology – and you won’t have to worry about parking your car. But if you want to go for a great free hike on Oahu…
Mike’s Huli Huli Chicken on Oahu’s Windward Side
There are few places as beautiful as Windward Oahu (East side of Oahu in Hawai’i). The Windward side offers sweeping mountain vistas, lush tropical rainforest, both rugged and serene coastline with fifty different shades of blue water, and much more. It also offers some amazing food choices…and if you have a taste of BBQ rotissarie…
Saturday Slideshow: I Love Honolulu – It’s Perfect – Even if it’s not Perfect
I love living in Honolulu. I work all the time and still don’t make enough money to pay all my expenses. I rarely have time to go to the beach. I have a smaller and much more expensive living space than I’ve had in a decade. I am stuck in my car looking for parking…
Flashback Friday: 2008 PhotoEssay: Urban Hiking in Hawaii – Chinatown Honolulu
This was a very fun day which I am reposting from a decade ago back on July 3, 2008. The photos were taken with my old Motorola Razor. Total time: About 3.5 hours Total $: About $25 including lunch, groceries, and snacks. Total value: Priceless…check out the pictures if you don’t believe me. It was…
The Hitachi Tree in Honolulu’s Moanalua Gardens
On the west side of Honolulu, just near the big pink building (Tripler Army Hospital) – just on the edge of the Salt Lake Neighborhood but before you reach Aloha Stadium – is one of the most famous trees that you’ve seen but never heard of (unless you are Japanese). The tree is located in…
Kapena Falls – Free, Beautiful, Not Crowded, Easy Oahu Walk with Petroglyphs
It always amazes me that there aren’t crowds of people at Kapena Falls – I really can’t figure it out. Manoa Falls has a bizillion people on the trail even when it’s raining or the falls are a drizzle – people go past the ‘don’t go past this sign’ signs and wade into the shallow…
Honolulu Biki Bikes – A fun and reasonable bikeshare program for Hawai’i
The Biki-Bike (https://gobiki.org) program in Honolulu is a winer. Getting around by bicycle is the best way to get around Honolulu and the Biki-Bike program opened that up to everyone. There were bike rental companies, but the beautiful thing about Biki-Bike is the sheer volume and accessibility. You can pick up a Biki-Bike in 100…