HM October 2022

P.77

LOCALLY OWNED SINCE 1888

HONOLULU’S BELOVED DIVE BARS | NEXT BIG LOCAL COMIC | MOVIES ALFRESCO

PRESERVING THE ELEMENTS

OLA I KA WAI: WATER IS LIFE.

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REAL LIFE ANSWERS 7/28/22 11:43 AM

OCTOBER 2022 | VOL . LVII NO.3

From left, Hawaiian cultural specialists Hailama Farden and Earl Kawa‘a reflecting at Lo‘i Kalo Mini Park

28 Ola i ka Wai: Water is Life

We begin a multipart series that focuses our lens on climate change, a redefining issue with global impacts. For our Islands, the stories are poignant and precarious. We explore from the perspective of the natural elements, starting with the one all around us: water. by robbie dingeman

photo: aaron k. yoshino

77 College Guide Our annual guide will help parents and students navigate the road to and through college. Learn how to manage the admissions process, tackle financial aid applications and more.

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 3

OCTOBER 2022 | VOL . LVII NO. 3

DEPARTMENTS

8 Editor’s Page

Preserving the Elements Launching our climate series with a deep dive into water.

25 Style

by diane seo

Two new boutiques offer comfy chic fashions, while we’ve got the guys covered with custom caps.

13 Calabash

by stacey makiya and brie thalmann

14 October Picks 15 Get to know

comedian Tumua Tuinei 17 Where to find local rose veal 18 From Our Files

101 ‘Ono

Honolulu’s dive bars offer better food than other dives around the country. But they offer something else, too. by martha cheng

108 Afterthoughts

Here’s to the Nighthawks Without late-night restaurants, where do we go? by james charisma

P.77

LOCALLY OWNED SINCE 1888

HONOLULU’S BELOVED DIVE BARS | NEXT BIG LOCAL COMIC | MOVIES ALFRESCO PRESERVING THE ELEMENTS: WATER

Obachan’s fried chicken and Spam and egg sandwiches from Anyplace Cocktail Lounge

PRESERVING THE ELEMENTS

Special Promotional Section

OLA I KA WAI: WATER IS LIFE.

Page 49

➸ The sweet success story of how one humble candy shop grew to become the world’s premier purveyor of chocolate-covered macadamias.

OCTOBER 2022 | VOLUME LVII NO. 3 | $5.99

HAWAIIAN HOST 95TH ANNIVERSARY

ON THE COVER Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

(ISSN 0441-2044) © 2022 PacificBasin Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying, distribution, or adaptation is strictly prohibited and will result in liability of up to $100,000.

Published monthly by PacificBasin Communications. Advertising and business offices: 1088 Bishop St., Ste. LL2, Honolulu, HI, 96813-4204. Phone: (808) 537-9500/Fax: (808) 537-6455. MATERIALS Publisher cannot be held responsible for care or return of manuscripts, photographs or art. Unsolicited material must be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope and return postage. Publisher reserves the right to edit letters to the editor and other material submitted. Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION: one year $24.99 / two years $34.99 / three years $44.99. Foreign: one year $41.99 / two years $69.99 / three years $97.99 (US funds). For subscription inquiries, additional rates, information, notification of change of address and subscription service, please call (800) 788-4230. POSTMASTER Send address changes to HONOLULU Magazine, 1088 Bishop St., Suite LL2, Honolulu, HI 96813. Subscribers notify the same office. Please include new address and old address (mailing label preferred).

4 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

photos: aaron k. yoshino

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 1

2022

Offering award-winning Hawaiian breakfast, lunch and more!

We believe that brunch is the most important meal of the day, and that is why we make it our priority to consistently deliver food from the heart and service with Aloha!

Cafe Kaila appreciates our loyal guests who have become a part of our ‘ohana throughout the years.

For those of you we have not met yet, please come on by and experience our award-winning brunch for yourself!

Mahalo and see you all soon!

MARKET CITY SHOPPING CENTER | Open daily 7am–3:30pm | (808) 732-3330 | Cafe-Kaila-Hawaii.com |

6 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

For inquiries, contact our circulation department: Phone: (808) 534-7520 Email: circulation@pacificbasin.net

WE ASKED OUR STAFF “What magical or mythological creature would you be?”

Publisher: Scott Schumaker (808) 534-7541 | scotts@pacificbasin.net

The ultimate sea monster: Cthulhu.

Mainly because I love octopuses and am a dreamer, too.

editorial Editorial Director

Diane Seo | (808) 534-7105 dianes@honolulumagazine.com Executive Editor

Katrina Valcourt Editor at Large

Robbie Dingeman

design Creative Director

James Nakamura | (808) 534-7151 jnakamura@honolulumagazine.com Senior Art Director

Christine Labrador Art Director

Kayla Rivera

Food & Culture Editor

Martha Cheng

Food & Dining Managing Editor

Mari Taketa

Digital Dining Editor

Maria Burke

Contributing Dining Editor

Thomas Obungen

Managing Style Editor

Brie Thalmann

Senior Style Editor

Stacey Makiya

Senior Editor

Jasmine Chagnon Contributing Editor

Don Wallace Copy Editor

A fire demon like Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle.

I would help others fuel their dreams and fly around like a shooting star!

Elroy Garcia Editorial Intern

Emily Smith Contributors

marketing Marketing Director

Christy Davis | (808) 534-7503 christyd@honolulumagazine.com Branded Content Creation Manager

Māui. Who wouldn’t want to be a bit of a trickster who gets to fish regularly? Sounds like the perfect retirement.

Marisa Heung | (808) 534-7152 marisah@honolulumagazine.com Special Projects Coordinator

Chloe Tomomi

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Chief Revenue Officer

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Jeff Greif (212) 213-1155

I would be a wizard and live at Hogwarts.

That would be a dream!

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James Charisma David Croxford

advertising Associate Publisher/Advertising Director

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Boba Fett from Star Wars. Does Boba Fett count?

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For subscriptions call (800) 788-4230 I fax: (808) 537-6455 honolulumagazine.com/contact-us

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photos: getty images

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. Publication Title: HONOLULU. 2. Publication Number: 0441-2044.

3. Filing Date: August 5, 2022. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 10. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $24.99. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 1088 Bishop St. Ste. LL2, Honolulu, HI 96813. Contact Person: Chuck Tindle. Telephone: (808) 534- 7521. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: same as above. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: Scott Schumaker, 1088 Bishop St. Ste. LL2, Honolulu, HI 96813; Editor: Diane Seo, same address; Managing Editor: Katrina Valcourt, same address. 10. Owner: PacificBasin Communications, LLC, 1088 Bishop St. Ste. LL2, Honolulu, HI 96813; Stock of which is held by Duane Kurisu, same address. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12. Tax Status (For completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at nonprofit rates): N/A. 13. Publication Title: HONOLULU. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: June 2022. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) – Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 15,300; Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 16,312. b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 - Average: 7,767; June Issue: 7,964; (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 – Average: 3,906; June Issue: 4,629; (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mail Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS – Average: 1,332; June Issue: 1,518; (4) Paid Distribution By Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS – Average: 51; June Issue: 59. c.

Total Paid Distribution – Average: 13,057; June Issue: 14,170; d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 – Average: 48; June Issue: 49; (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 – Average: 292; June Issue: 394; (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS – Average: 0; June Issue: 0. (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail – Average: 1,077; June Issue: 0. e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution – Average: 1,417; June Issue: 443. f. Total Distribution – Average: 14,422; June Issue: 14,554. g. Copies not Distributed – Average: 878; June Issue: 1,758. h.

Total – Average: 15,300; June Issue: 16,312. i. Percent Paid – Average: 90.53%; June Issue: 97.36%. 16. Electronic Copy Circulation: a. Paid Electronic Copies - Average: 413; June issue: 630. b. Total Paid Print Copies + Paid Electronic Copies: 13,419; June Issue: 14,741. c. Total Print Distribution + Paid Electronic Copies - Average: 14,836; June Issue: 15,184. d. Percent Paid - Average: 90.45%; June Issue: 97.08%. 17. This Statement of Ownership is required and will be printed in the October 2022 issue of this publication. 18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: Scott Schumaker, Publisher. I certify that all information furnished in this statement is true and complete. (Signed) Scott Schumaker, Publisher

Arcadia

15 Craigside

2022 WINNER

Arcadia Adult Day Care & Day Health Center at Central Union Church

When it comes to your family, only the best will do.

Thank you to the readers of HONOLULU Magazine and to our supporters for your votes!

You helped us win the 2022 “Best of HONOLULU”” awards. For 55 years, we’ve been your trusted resource for senior living options. We will continue to serve and protect the lives of Hawaii’s kupuna.

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22-AFOC-096 HonMag Only Best.indd 1

8/12/22 1:21 PM

editor’s page

Preserving the Elements Launching our climate series with a deep dive into water.

8 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

This 1939 stone mural depicts the legendary discovery of water

by Native Hawaiian gods Kāne and Kanaloa on a Honolulu Board of Water Supply building off Beretania Street.

Meanwhile, in our Afterthoughts column, writer James Charisma laments the disappearance of not just 24-hour eateries, but late-night dining in general. During the past few years, amid the pandemic and even prior to that, several places where we used to be able to get a bite at any hour of the day either closed or changed their hours. It’s left a latenight emptiness that’s palpable across the city, and which James vividly describes: “I miss being able to find what Ernest Hemingway would call ‘a clean, well-lighted place’ somewhere, anywhere, that serves steaks or sandwiches or loco mocos at all hours. I’d even settle for a cup of coffee at 3 a.m. There needs to be a bastion for the night owls, the rogues, the misfits. We’re out here, keeping an eye on Honolulu after dark. And we’re usually hungry.”

And with that passage, my favorite in this October issue, I leave you to read on for yourselves.

Chart Ho

DIANE SEO EDITORIAL DIRECTOR DIANES@HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM

Ahana Kōkō Lele June’s Restaurant Guide referred to the cake from Hau Tree Lānai, but the restaurant is simply called Hau Tree. In the July/August issue, Heather Lukela was referred to as the former pastry chef of The Kāhala Hotel & Resort, but her title there was pastry cook. She was the pastry chef at Top of Waikīkī and Sky Waikīkī.

photos: aaron k. yoshino

W

E STARTED WITH THE INTENTION

to address climate change and its impact on Hawai‘i, a vital topic by any measure. Too much for one story, so to break it down, we turn to the elements. Water. Earth. Air. Fire. To ancient Greeks and in our own Hawaiian lore, these are the cornerstones of life. Now, each of these elements is threatened by climate change and human-made harms to the environment. In the first part of this series, we delve into water, or wai, examining its cultural significance in Hawai‘i, then identifying and tackling its problems. Editor at large Robbie Dingeman interviewed Hawaiian cultural practitioners, scientists and others and ended up with a thoughtful reflection that wraps in the latest scientific research and Hawai‘i’s pantheon as it relates to water. The hope is that by revealing the urgency of climate repair in Hawai‘i, we will inspire our readers to learn more about the issues and work as a community toward solutions.

Although seemingly an entirely different topic, Martha Cheng’s foray into local dive bars in the ‘Ono section also talks about preserving something essential in Hawai‘i—our local ways. As old-school and outdated as they may appear, these throwback Honolulu bars, like 8 Fat Fat 8, Shinsho Tei and Anyplace Cocktail Lounge, are not just beacons for exceptional food.

They’re boldly carrying on Hawai‘i’s heart: unpretentiously, with grit, while remaining homey and staunchly local.

“I realized that’s what I love about dives: their resistance to change. … It’s a bulwark against a world of constant striving and pressure to change, to optimize, to disrupt, to keep up,” Martha writes. “8 Fat Fat 8 provides the singular solace of dive bars, that this is enough. That you, right here, right now, are enough.”

After editing the piece, I thought a lot about the words “resistance to change.” There is so much pressure to move ahead, change. In fact, I am leading an effort to do this very thing in my job as editorial director. Sometimes, this is necessary, but other times, you need to recognize what’s lost in the process and what’s worth preserving.

WI NE AND DINE I N E L E GA NT DE SIGNS A R I T Z I A | J O H N N Y WA S | M A R I P O S A R E S TA U R A N T | N A H O K U | T R AV I S M AT H E W | VA L E X T R A

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Give

Where Your Heart Lives Giving Tuesday is November 29th Give Big Hawai‘i is HONOLULU Magazine’s online local fundraising initiative designed to spark Hawai‘i’s charitable spirit. Support the movement with an online donation on Giving Tuesday, November 29, 2022.

givebighawaii.com | #givebighawaii

➸ EVENTS THIS MONTH P·14 // HAWAI‘I’S NEW JOKE KING P·15 // THE VEAL DEAL p·17

Calabash

P E O P L E P L A C E S

PHOTO: DAVID CROXFORD

C U L T U R E

Dive-In Theater

➸ IF YOU THINK WATCHING A MOVIE alfresco sounds nice, try watching one in the open air on a new 20-foot high-definition LED TV wall screen while floating on an inner tube in a wave pool. Well, you’re invited to do just that, nearly every Saturday through the end of the year (weather permitting) at noon and at dusk, during Wet ’n’ Wild Hawai‘i’s Dive ’n’ Movie. A subtly spooky October lineup (Oct. 1: Addams Family 2, Oct. 8: Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and Oct. 22: Ghostbusters: Afterlife), will give you all the fall feels, even if it’s not quite sweater weather. Free with 2022 season pass or paid admission ticket, wetnwildhawaii.com, @wetnwildhawaii.

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 13

It’s Honolulu Pride Month! This year’s theme is Rooted in Pride, to reflect Hawai‘i’s culture of diversity and inclusion. hawaiilgbtlegacyfoundation.com

calabash | THINGS TO DO

October Picks

For more things to do visit honolulum agazi things-to ne.com/ -do

Delight in a diverse mix of happenings, including a Halloween-y one, of course.

SHOPPING

Wiki Wiki One-Day Vintage Collectibles & Hawaiiana Show

BY JASMINE CHAGNON

Oct. 2 / 10:30 a.m.

Celebration of Diwali with Chef Vikram Garg Oct. 2 / 6 p.m. $300 / TBD …, Lotus Honolulu at Diamond Head Indulge in Chef Vikram Garg’s fine Indian cuisine and wine pairings at this special culinary event. The dinner celebrates Diwali—the Indian festival of lights— and benefits the Hawai‘i Culinary Education Foundation, a nonprofit that provides state-of-the-art training to local culinary education programs. Dishes are inspired by Garg’s experiences at five-star hotels in India, as well as his upbringing in Port Blair, Andaman Islands, and his training at Delhi’s Oberoi School of Hotel Management. hcefchefvikramdiwali.eventbrite.com

Tickets from $5 / Blaisdell Center Hawai‘i Suite Scour an array of aloha shirts, Hawaiian jewelry, Hawaiiana, art, sports cards, textiles and so much more at this one-day pop-up shop featuring vintage items and memorabilia that are at least 20 years old. ukulele.com/wikiwiki.html CULTURE

Kona Nui Nights Oct. 5 / 6 p.m.

Free / Victoria Ward Park An event that celebrates the art of hula and more is back and in the heart of Kaka‘ako. Enjoy live music and dancing in the open air. wardvillage.com MUSIC

Big Boi Oct. 14 / 8 p.m.

ART

$39.50 / The Republik

Rebecca Louise Law: Awakening

Hip-hop legend and Grammy Award-winner Antwan André Patton (aka Big Boi) will hit the stage at one of Honolulu’s premier music venues this month. jointherepublik.com

Through September 2023 / 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

(Thursday and Sunday); 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

(Friday and Saturday) Members and children (18 and under), free; kama‘āina, $10; general, $20 / Honolulu Museum of Art Renowned British artist Rebecca Louise Law makes her debut with a yearlong immersive art experience at HoMA, where two galleries have been transformed into a floral fantasy, showcasing and celebrating Hawai‘i’s deep connection to pua—both endemic and imported flowers. In her work, Law uses flower petals, leaves and other organic matter found throughout O‘ahu. honolulumuseum.org

14 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

FESTIVAL

Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival Oct. 13–23 / Various times Prices and locations vary Celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, one of the longest-running and most respected queer film festivals in the country. Presented by the Honolulu Queer Gay and Lesbian Foundation, HRFF champions bridging the gaps between Hawai‘i and the Pacific, Asia and the continental United States, and honors the legacy of state LGBT pioneer Adam Baran. Enjoy feature films, shorts and documentaries, as well as panel discussions, workshops, a gala event and more. hglcf.org

HALLOWEEN

10th Annual Great Pumpkin Festival and Flick-or-Treat Drive-In Weekend Oct. 21–23 / various times Holy Nativity School Explore the legendary pumpkin patch and enjoy keiki-friendly festival games, a country store and evening drive-in movies at this beloved event.

The festivities are open to the public. holynativityschool.org ➸ Looking to get the word out about your upcoming event or activity?

Email info@honolulumagazine.com.

photos: leah friel, courtesy of rebecca louise law, getty images; opposite page: courtesy of tumua tuinei

DINING

Tumua Tuinei performs on Nov. 12 and 13 at Blaisdell Arena. tumuacomedy.com

calabash | BREAKTHROUGH

I mua Tumua!

Rising comedian Tumua Tuinei has been selling out shows with his straight-up, hilarious local humor.

B Y E M I LY S M I T H

A

FTER EARNING A SCHOLARSHIP and playing football at

the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Tumua Tuinei seemed destined to carry on his family’s storied football legacy. (His father, Tom Tuinei, is a former UH defensive lineman, and his late uncle, Mark Tuinei, was a longtime NFL star.)

But life pointed Tumua Tuinei in an entirely different direction. While taking a stand-up comedy course at UH, Tuinei unleashed a hysterical 10-minute set before a live audience that not only earned him a top grade but launched a blazing career. Over the past five years, the O‘ahu local has sold out show after show, including three consecutive nights at Blaisdell Concert Hall. On Nov. 12 and 13, the 26-year-old will play his biggest gigs to date, at Blaisdell Arena.

Tuinei said his success started to sink in when he sold out 18 shows at Blue Note Hawai‘i in 2021. Initially, he was booked for one show, but after the first night sold out, Blue Note continued adding performances. That led to his national tour, culminating in his successful run at the concert hall in 2021. “It felt great selling out a concert hall,” Tuinei says.

“And it feels like a blessing seeing that

“It felt great selling out a concert hall. And it feels like a blessing seeing that I can perform my material on the mainland.”

— Tumua Tuinei

I can perform my material on the mainland, and I’m excited to keep doing that.”

Tuinei describes his style as “observational comedy” rooted in Hawai‘i’s local culture. Some skits are in Pidgin, like the one about everyone on Kaua‘i knowing each other. He’s also riffed about running for governor of Hawai‘i with the slogan, “If you not shua, vote for Tumua.” “I want people to watch and say, ‘I know who he is talking about,’” he says.

CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 15

You can see (and try) local comedy every week: comedyuhi.com, improvhi.com, standuphonolulu.com

calabash | BREAKTHROUGH National and local comedians are lined up for gigs across Honolulu this fall.

Here are a few of the shows taking place in October.

R I TA RU D N ER  Oct. 11 and 12, 6:30 and 9 p.m.

Rita Rudner started as a Broadway performer in shows such as Follies and Annie before turning to comedy. In her shows, she enjoys taking a lighthearted approach and describes her style as observational and anecdotal. Some of her stories have to do with marriage and navigating life as a 60-something. She has been featured on The Tonight Show and has her own special called Rita Rudner: Live From Las Vegas. $35 to $45, Blue Note Hawai‘i, Outrigger Waikīkī Beach Resort, 2335 Kalākaua Ave., bluenotejazz.com

M I C H A EL B L AU STEI N  Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Michael Blaustein is co-host of the podcast Stiff Socks, one of the top 50 comedy podcasts on iTunes and Spotify. He and co-host Trevor Wallace answer silly questions and share unusual experiences. With more than 200 college campus performances, Blaustein has garnered a name for himself and starred in specials such as the Comedy Central on Campus tour. $35, Blue Note Hawai‘i

16 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

F EL I P E ES PA R Z A  Oct. 21 and 22, 6:30 and 9 p.m.

Felipe Esparza won season seven of Last Comic Standing, a show on NBC where comedians compete to win a talent contract. His signature saying, “What’s up, fool?” became the name of his podcast, in which he talks to random interesting people. Most of his content is focused on anecdotes from his childhood and growing up in East Los Angeles. $35 to $45, Blue Note Hawai‘i N I C K CO L ETTI  Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Nick Coletti is quickly gaining popularity for his comedic work and social media posts. He originally got his start on Vine but has now moved on to TikTok. One of Coletti’s most popular TikToks shows him mocking boxers who are on TikTok (exaggerating people’s mannerisms is a common theme in his work). Besides social media, he stars as Duncan in the television series The Real Bros of Simi Valley, which touches upon Southern California culture and its stereotypes. $30 to $50, Blue Note Hawai‘i J R DE G U Z M A N  Oct. 28 and 29, 6:30 and 9 p.m.

If you like comedy and music, this might be the show for you. JR De Guzman, who serenades audiences with his hilarious songs, was born in the Philippines and raised in California, where he became a music teacher.

Many of his jokes center around family life and culture, and he interacts with his audiences, like with his song “Office Romance,” about a couple in the front row at one of his shows. He was named the “new face” at Just for Laughs in 2017. $20 to $30, Blue Note Hawai‘i

photos: courtesy of tumua tuinei; opposite page: aaron k. yoshino

Along with performing at open mics across the island, Tuinei got his career on a fast-track by posting clips and skits on Instagram, especially after COVID-19 shut down venues. “I started making more videos on Instagram and saw my social media grow,” he says. As of mid-August, he had 115,000 followers on Instagram (@tumua_) and 186,000 followers on TikTok (@tumua_). One of his recent TikTok posts (with more than 255,000 views at the time of this writing) depicts him as a local TSA agent who takes his job way too seriously.

Another has him pretending to be a fitness instructor who goes to Costco and stands in line to exercise.

Although Tuinei didn’t wind up with a career on the football field like others in his clan, he believes he’s not too far removed.

“Comedy is a sport because I sweat a lot on stage,” he quips.

A N J EL A H J O H N S O N-R EY ES  Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

This NFL cheerleader-turned-comedian is coming back to Hawai‘i. From jokes about her mom being cooler than her and a mall massage chair anecdote, her content remains relatable to her audience. Johnson-Reyes was on season 13 of MADtv, a sketch comedy series, where she played characters like a nail salon worker and a disrespectful fast-food worker. $39.50 to $65, Blaisdell Concert Hall, 777 Ward Ave., blaisdellcenter.com

calabash | FOOD

Traditional veal is usually a byproduct of the dairy industry, as a market for the male calves.

Sw

Venison striploin with béarnaise mousseline at La Vie

t ee

po

tato

La Veal en Rose In Waimea on Hawai‘i Island, Mahiki Ranch raises a different kind of veal.

BY MARTHA CHENG

F

ORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT VEAL , at least when it comes to Mahiki

Ranch’s. Instead of separating animals from their mothers at birth and confining them in crates, calves for Mahiki Ranch’s rose veal are raised hormone- and antibiotic-free on pastures on Hawai‘i Island. Find the veal in tender meatballs at Mud Hen Water; as strip loin served with béarnaise mousseline at La Vie; breaded and fried into a schnitzel lightened with liliko‘i’s tang at Fête; kiawe-smoked or even raw in a tartare at Nature, where chef Nae Ogawa buys the entire animal for her dishes.

Keith Gendreau and his wife, Allison Holt Gendreau, started Mahiki Ranch in Waimea about 20 years ago.

They recently brought back rose veal to Hawai‘i’s market, a continuation of an experiment that started and abruptly ended about a decade ago. (Some may remember when it was marketed as Hawai‘i red veal.) Because the animals are raised on grass, with access to their mothers’ milk, the meat has a redder hue than the ivory or light pink of the more common milk-fed veal, and has a mild flavor. To raise the rose veal, Keith says they “select the best calves we want to keep in Hawai‘i,” and then feed them “the best grass that we have” on pastures that Parker Ranch

When you keep out the bullies, the whole herd is less stressed.

once fertilized by helicopter. And having an ideal climate helps too.

But what makes a good calf ? A certain musculature, size and even demeanor. It turns out, just like humans, when you keep out the bullies, the whole herd is less stressed.

Mahiki Ranch raises the animals to less than a year old and about 500 pounds, versus the traditional age and market weight of about 2 ½ years and 1,200 pounds. (Mahiki Ranch also raises full-grown animals and sells calves to feedlots in the continental U.S., which helps it hedge its bets against the uncertainties that come with time and a volatile beef market.)

Raising beef in Hawai‘i for the local market is anything but simple—witness the rise and fall of various ranches and companies over the years—but Keith tries to keep Mahiki Ranch’s philosophy straightforward: “to have happy cows, happy calves, good grass, good water and focus on quality as opposed to quantity,” he says.

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 17

The first automobile touched down in Honolulu in October 1899, boasting a top speed of 14 mph.

calabash | FROM OUR FILES

October

1997 L AT E C R E W HONOLULU food critic John Heckathorn surveys the late-night dining scene at downtown’s buzzy Palomino Bistro, where one can pair craft cocktails with crispy wood-fired pizza until the wee hours of the morning.

HONOLULU Magazine emerged from predecessor Paradise of the Pacific, which began in 1888, fulfilling a commission by King Kalākaua. That makes this the oldest continually publishing magazine west of the Mississippi, with an enviable archive worth diving into each month.

BY BRIE THALMANN

1952 OH MY MOD Writer Nancy Bannick explores the interior of a young couple’s midcentury Liliha home, which employs sliding shoji doors and burlap drapes as space dividers, and features both a fireplace and an interior sunken patio dotted with Eames molded plywood lounge chairs.

1947 HAUTE TROPIC S

Elegant blockprinted holokū, dirndl skirts and sarongs in lively tropical prints are among the locally designed women’s fashions spotted during Aloha Week, the statewide festival celebrating Hawai‘i’s heritage.

1987 OF NOTE Musician-filmmaker Eddie Kamae of the Sons of Hawai‘i pays tribute to legendary composer and fiddle player Sam Li‘a Kalainaina, known as the “songwriter of Waipi‘o Valley,” in the documentary Li‘a: The Legacy of a Hawaiian Man.

18 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

1947 YA R D H O U S E Around 27,000 football fans (a record at the time) pack Honolulu Stadium in Mō‘ili‘ili to see Hawai‘i son and college football star Herman Wedemeyer, who later tackles the role of Detective Duke Lukela on Hawai‘i Five-O, take on UH Mānoa with the St. Mary’s Gaels.

Learn more about the evolution of covers in HONOLULU Magazine and Paradise of the Pacific: 125 Years of Covers, available at shop.honolulumagazine.com.

Find more photos from Honolulu’s past every Thursday on Instagram @honolulumag

1 9 6 7

1 9 8 2

2 0 0 7

Cover Represented by: RONDA CHING DAY & KYLE NAKAZAKI The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Affiliated real estate agents are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2022 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Anywhere Advisors LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

COVER PROPERTY

HONOLULU | $4,300,000 FS 3br/3.5ba at the Anaha of Ward w/2 parking. Amenities include a glass-bottom lap pool, jacuzzi, fitness center, golf simulator room, tennis court, putting green, theatre, 24-hour security & more.

KANEOHE | Price Upon Request FS 4br/3ba + den, tropical oasis in Kaneohe on 2.7 acres w/views of the Koolau mountains. This home has a pool, 74 owned PV panels, fruit trees & an accessory dwelling (2br/1ba & 2br/1.5ba units).

Christy Seaquist (RA) 808.358.4877 christy.seaquist@cbpacific.com | RS-75648

Ronda Ching Day (RA) 808.892.0888 | RS-47693 Kyle Nakazaki (RA) 808.465.6601 | RS-82303

HONOLULU | Price Upon Request FS Remodeled, 10 bd, 6.5 ba home w/open great rooms & possible multi-generational living. Separate electric meters for the front & back home. 5 entrances.

Move-in ready.

KAILUA | $2,250,000 FS Situated at the top of the hill this two story 3br/2ba Ocean View home backs up to preservation land. Enjoy Kailua Bay sunrises from the living room, bedrooms wrap around decks & tropical backyard.

Ronda Ching Day (RA) 808.892.0888 | RS-47693 Kyle Nakazaki (RA) 808.465.6601 | RS-82303

Debbie Schatz (RA) 808.258.7216 debbies@cbpacific.com | RS-60416

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guiding you home since 1906

HONOLULU | $2,750,000 FS 5br/3ba home perched high on Waialae Nui Ridge on a spacious, secluded rim lot with lovely ocean, mountain and city sunset views.

Andrea Pfeil (R) 808.255.4014 andreap@cbpacific.com | RB-18513

MILILANI | $1,777,000 FS 5br/3ba Mililani Mauka home w/ocean views, den w/Murphy bed, hardwood floors, new carpet, AC & flagstone on walkways, lanai & driveway, huge perimeter lot w/ breathtaking views & covered lanai.

WAIMANALO | $2,300,000 FS 7br/5ba w/guest suit, stand-alone studio, Ko'olau Mountain views, 46 owned PV panels & private grassed backyard w/cement entry.

Sally Palafox (R) 808.391.8813 sally@sallypalafox.com | RB-20713

Maria Kawananakoa (RA) 808.497.7967 mk@mkluxuryproperties.com | RS-72884

KAILUA | $1,570,000 FS 4br/2ba single-level home on a cul-de-sac tucked away at the back of Keolu Hills features an upgraded kitchen & backyard w/views.

HONOLULU | $1,399,000 FS 3br/2ba single-level w/large front patio, double French doors, spacious kitchen, solar water, sprinklers & nice level lot.

Diane Pizarro (RA) 808.343.0659 dianep@cbrealty.com | RS-73948

Leslie R. Lewis (RA) 808.295.1417 Leslie@LewisHawaii.com | RS-45767

WAIANAE | $1,398,000 FS Cottages at Mauna'Olu in beautiful Makaha Valley! Fully furnished w/upgrades "Waikohola Model",3BR/2BA, plantation-style home, ocean & mountain views.

HONOLULU | $1,375,000 FS 3br/2ba w/an abundance of fruit & flora on a 10,000 SF lot! Enjoy split A/C, fresh paint, and an upgraded kitchen.

Shelly M. Freitas (R) 808.226.8522 shelly.freitas@cbrealty.com | RB-17772

Tiffany Kanoa (RA) 858.692.8647 tiffany.kanoa@cbrealty.com | RS-83352

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EWA BEACH | $1,299,000 FS 4br/3ba on Coral Creek Golf Course overlooking the 16th fairway w/open concept first floor, covered lanai & energy-efficient design.

HONOLULU | $1,250,000 FS 3br/2ba updated single-family home w/luxury vinyl flooring, modern kitchen w/quartz counters, covered lanai & large carport.

Nancy Nino (RA) 808.347.4747 nancyn@cbpacific.com | RS-78826

Marina Snazina (RA) 808.266.0323 | RS-77997 Heather Leong (RA) 808.741.2701 | RS-77952

EWA BEACH | $1,150,000 FS Meticulously cared for 4br/3ba home features an open floor plan, upgraded Corian kitchen counters, an extra-large driveway & more.

WAIANAE | $1,149,950 FS 5br/3.5ba New construction home only minutes to Pokai Bay. This 2 story custom home boasts 2 entrances, 2 master bedrooms & legal wet bar.

Melonee Galaviz (RA) 808.216.8846 melonee.galaviz@cbrealty.com | RS-73005

Daniel Loli Batallani (RA) 808.783.5497 daniel.lolibatallani@cbrealty.com | RS-81949

EWA BEACH | $890,000 FS 3br/2ba modern plantation-style home. Open concept living w/covered porch, multi-functional kitchen, split A/C, two-car carport & landscaped yard.

HONOLULU | $579,000 FS Modern 1 bedroom, 2 bath with views. Over 1,000 sq. ft. with open-concept kitchen. Secured building, 2 parking, pet friendly, and amenities galore!

Chandra Garces (R) 808.497.1772 | RB-20168 Jaime Garces (RA) 808.285.0693 | RS-85047

Carl Higgins (R) 808.284.2459 | RB-18217 Erin Higgins (RA) 808.284.8055 | RS-83716

MILILANI | $1,230,000 FS

HONOLULU | $1,128,000 FS

EWA BEACH | $908,000 FS

EWA BEACH | $898,000 FS

3br/2.5ba home located in a cul-de-sac, has 18 owned PV panels on NEM & has beautiful curb appeal.

2br/2ba w/2 parking, ocean views, hardwood floors, Viking & Subzero appliances, full-size washer/dryer primary suite w/en-suite.

Spectacular view of Hoakalei Golf Course!

You will fall in love with this 3br/3ba/2pkg Town Homes at Fairways Edge unit.

4br/2.5ba home in Ewa Gen Laulani-Tides w/2-car garage, solar panels, luxury vinyl flooring & touch-up paint inside the home.

Jordan T. Kam (RA) 808.351.0876 Tamlyn Kam (RA) 808.679.7618 RS-66171 | RS-72695

Mary Anne Meeson (RA) 808.227.3808 Joe Di Condina (RA) 917.854.5069 RS-81296 | RS-80617

Cora Agliam (RA) 808.780.7226 | coraa@cbrealty.com RS-71106

Amelita Bing Provido Purpura (RA) 808.853.7423 | AmelitaP@cbrealty.com RS-72847

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KAPOLEI | $850,000 FS

WAIALUA | $847,000 FS

KAPOLEI | $810,000 FS

WAIANAE | $785,000 FS

3br/1.5ba well-kept single-level w/huge private backyard w/no back neighbors, newer flooring & freshly painted inside & out.

Charming 3br/1ba in quiet neighborhood w/good sized front and backyard. Just minutes away from beaches.

3br/2.5ba beautifully maintained home offers an open concept kitchen, spacious en-suite primary bedroom & fenced yard.

4br/3ba w/remodeled kitchen, luxury vinyl plank flooring, fenced-in yard w/fruit trees, attached garage & 20 PV panels.

Sunny Lee-Oshiro (RA) 808.368.3699 | sunny.leeoshiro@cbpacific.com RS-68661

Marie C.L. Valenzuela (RA) 808.561.6958 | marie.valenzuela@cbpacific.com RS-58879

Gloria C. Brasuel (RA) 808.352.8278 | gloriab@cbpacific.com RS-73388

Sam Paltikian (RA) 808.265.1450 | sam.paltikian@cbrealty.com RS-79996

HONOLULU | $775,000 FS

HONOLULU | $725,000 FS

HONOLULU | $699,000 FS

KAHULUI | $680,000 FS

Gated Moanalua Village 3 bd offers panoramic views, hardwood floors, split ac, stainless appliances. Pool, spa, fitness ctr, BBQs.

2br/2ba single-family home w/2 covered tandem assigned parking stalls, lanai, front lawn, storage space & bonus room.

2br/2ba w/fantastic ocean, city & mountain views. Excellent security and amenities, including pool, exercise room and more.

2BR/1BA attached home w/no maint/assoc fees. Features, vinyl flooring, stainless steel appliances & wraparound counter, gated.

Vina Marcello (RA) 808.225.7709 | vinam@cbrealty.com RS-64468

Christy Aiwohi (RA) 808.551.6364 Lance Takenaka (RA) 808.230.4077 RS-67380 | RS-83754

James S. Farmer (R) 808.542.4749 | jamesf@cbpacific.com RB-18575

Vina Marcello (RA) 808.225.7709 Kealoha Caldeira (R) 808.375.4664 RS-64468 | RB-18589

WAIANAE | $645,000 FS

KAPOLEI | $599,999 FS

HONOLULU | $599,000 FS

EWA BEACH | $568,000 FS

3br/2ba well cared for home is ready to move in w/open kitchen, central air conditioning, 2-car garage & fenced-in backyard.

3br/1.5ba townhome in Makakilo. Freshly painted, new laminate flooring, granite counters, community pool & more.

2br/1ba ground-floor unit w/lanai, sunset views of the Waianae mountains, stainless steel appliances, granite counters & AC.

2br/1ba w/2 half-bath in the West Loch Fairways Townhomes. With 2 parking stalls, fresh paint, waterproof Vinyl flooring & carpet.

Shaun G. Fergueson (R) 808.397.8361 | shaunf@cbpacific.com RB-23087

Joel F. Bumanglag (RA) 808.344.3239 Jennirose Trinidad (RA) 808.398.8177 RS-83318 | RS-84624

Kevin Pedersen (RA) 808.398.4147 Christian Nguyen (RA) 808.366.9532 RS-77808 | RS-84190

Hsiao Mon Alison Soong (RA) 808.330.3968 | alisons@cbrealty.com RS-57772

HONOLULU | $545,000 FS

HONOLULU | $430,000 FS

HONOLULU | $324,888

HONOLULU | $305,000 FS

2br/1ba townhome in highly desirable gated Crosspointe Community. Features fresh paint, newly installed carpet and flooring & more.

Highly upgraded 1bd/1ba unit in The Elms Condominium. All new kitchen, bath, flooring & paint. Centrally located w/sweeping views.

1br/1ba/1parking w/Mauka-West facing views, cool mountain breezes, community laundry, rooftop pool & 24-hour security.

A gem is situated in the heart of Waikiki.

Enjoy the amenities of this building; a pool, gym, sauna, BBQ area & the laundry.

Sunny Lee-Oshiro (RA) 808.368.3699 | sunny.leeoshiro@cbpacific.com RS-68661

Anita Rhee (RA) 808.295.0985 John Steinmiller (R) 808.381.5387 RS-81848 | RB-16415

Sissy Sosner (R) 808.938.5588 Chris Zhu (RA) 808.888.9754 RB-21875 | RS-81398

Kumi Beresiwsky (RA) 808.600.1370 | kumi.beresiwsky@cbrealty.com RS-81587

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TS 54 T DEN TIS ICONIC SIGNS 202 2 BES $30 COCKTAIL // HONOLULU’S OF THE WORST // SIPPING THE PAGE

SOUR POI AWARDS: THE BEST

Y S: THE MONIZ FAMIL

RAISED IN THE WAVE PLUS

ION FALL FASH FEEL-GOOD 4 ANDAGI WE CRAVE • THE WARRIORS’ NEW TURF • FIRST LOOK: THE MAILBOX CONSPIRACY

DID DISNEY DO LOCAL RIGHT? •

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UP YOUR THANKSGIVING LIVE THE QUEEN (THEATER) • ‘ULU

2022 KÜPUNA RESOURCE GUIDE //

130+

LOCALLY OWNED

SINCE 1888 LOCALLY OWNED

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THE $100 FRUIT • A SECRET IZAKAYA

LOCALLY OWNED

SINCE 1888

LOCALLY OWNED

EXPL AINS IT

ALL

the flag for How she carried women and a Hawai‘i, young her without losing hard-hit state the game. joy or herself in

labor shortages The pandemic, have taken and shipping delays blame. But what the brunt of the surge never if our recent price goes back down?

16

Find out where to get this platter on page 50

be a more

places that have been feeding our souls stomachs and for more than 60 years.

akamai

ways to , cultural 40+driver, swimmer d hiker, and all-aroun advocate l human thoughtfu

PLUS SEPTEMBER 2021

P.77

| VOLUME LVI NO.

Plate The Perfect Hawaiian Bar Hop Our Hale ‘Aina Middle East Feasts

RESTAURATEURS OF THE

WAY

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| REIMAGINING ALBIZIA

ELEMENTS: WATER

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TOP DOCTORS

3 PRIVATE CHEFS DOING IT THEIR

The queen of pizzas

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E EN’S ISSU THE WOM // 5 WAYS TO TRY PANDAN // GET TO KNOW OUR COVER ARTIST

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Good Dishes 44 Insanely RESTAURANT GUIDEgo-to brunch dish + The Best Cubano on O‘ahu

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BY S TA C E Y M A K I YA A N D B R I E T H A L M A N N

True to Reform Reformation’s first Honolulu boutique boasts a chic assortment tailor-made for Hawai‘i dressing.

The fashion gods must have heard my pleas because, finally, Honolulu has its first Reformation boutique.

The California-based womenswear brand—beloved by celebs such as Hailey Bieber, J.Lo and Emily Ratajkowski for its feminine, flirtatious silhouettes and dedication to sustainability—now has a 1,428-square-foot spot in Ala Moana.

Though not as big as some of Reformation’s other locations, the Honolulu boutique still boasts all of the brand’s signatures, including its floralprint tank dresses, two-piece sets and comfy-cute knitwear. In fact, our shop is stocked with more than the normal share of resortwear—think linen and denim shorts, sandals and breezy tops designed to keep you chic in the heat. And it’s even carrying bridal and event styles not offered everywhere else. It’s all you need for a little closet reform. –BT

photos: courtesy of reformation

Ala Moana Center, (808) 480-7225, thereformation.com, @reformation

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 25

style | ONE TO WATCH

If the Cap Fits We gave you a glimpse of the awesomeness that is Illikoi Goods in our Best of HONOLULU issue, but owner Anthony Duong’s talent, drive and custom-made hats are worth more than a mention.

learned to sew and moved to O‘ahu with his now-wife, Kristine. He had been living in San Francisco, where his nighttime job as a DJ got in the way of his plans to start a family. He yearned for a fresh artistic outlet, normal workday hours—and a sewing machine. “I spent days driving around Honolulu in search of one,” he recalls. Then he met an older Filipina lady who worked at a sewing shop and chatted with her about his newfound passion. A few days later, she gifted him his first sewing machine, a bag full of thread and a stack of fabrics. She also gave him her spot at a weekend sewing class. Hats were his thing, since “I have super thick hair and if I don’t comb it, it sticks straight up and looks crazy,” he says.

After meeting up with Duong, it’s apparent why people root for him—including the aunties at Kuni Island Fabrics and Kaimukī Dry Goods, who give him the inside scoops on fabric deliveries. His eyes twinkle and a radiant smile (including his darling dimples) pops up when he talks humbly about past projects, present life and future goals. “One of the most interesting, and challenging, hats I created was a bucket hat made from 20 bandannas,” which belonged to a customer’s grandfather, father and uncles, he says. “He wanted it all to be quilted together in a triangle formation and turned into a reversible bucket hat. I had no idea how to do either.”

The project sat for more than a year until Duong felt confident enough in his skills to take

26 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

“When they came to pick up the hat, immediately they started tearing up.”

— Anthony Duong it on. “It took four days, a bit of math and lots of coffee,” he says.

“The result was exactly what he wanted, and I added quilting to my arsenal!”

Other custom projects have hit Duong in a different way. His voice softens when he recalls a couple dropping off a Home Depot apron that had belonged to a family member who passed away while on shift. “When they came to pick up the hat, immediately they started tearing up.”

Duong also gravitates toward repurposing unique materials— Foodland grocery totes, USPS flat-rate envelopes, vintage Kāhala aloha shirts and Ralph Lauren plaid textiles—into six- and five-panel hats, the latter having a softer brim. “I love wearing five-panel hats, and the flexible brim doesn’t poke my daughter’s face when I kiss her,” says the work-from-home dad of 7-monthold Leila. She snuggles up against him in a baby sling while we talk. “There are tough days when I need to be in the creative zone and there’s a screaming toddler next to me who’s refusing to nap,” he says with a loving laugh as he looks at her. But, “I love being able to take my daughter on walks and spend bath and bedtime together.” He wears his girl-dad hat proudly. illikoi.com, @illikoigoods —SM

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ILLIKOI GOODS, ABIGAIL LAFLEUR-SHAFFER; OPPOSITE PAGE: AARON K. YOSHINO

A

NTHONY DUONG STARTED HAT COMPANY ILLIKOI GOODS IN 2019, the same year he

Above and right: Anthony Duong repurposes an HFD firefighter uniform into a hat. Bottom left: Duong with wife Kristine and daughter Leila.

STORE SPOTLIGHT | style

Nice and Easy Gillia’s first stand-alone boutique is a dreamy space in Kailua.

“I

ALWAYS IMAGINE A NATURAL GIRL,” says Gillia owner-designer

Saori Santos, describing the inspiration behind her breezy, effortless fashions. “You know, not too much makeup. She puts on just this with some simple jewelry.” She gestures to the clean-lined linen caftan she’s sporting. “My clothes are like that and the store is too— natural, organic.”

Opened earlier this year on Kailua’s quaint tree-lined Hekili Street, the bright and airy boutique is the realization of a lifelong dream for the Tokyo native, who spent more than a decade honing her design skills in Japan’s fashion world, working her way up from sales associate to office manager to designer. “I actually learned from my company’s pattern makers on my days off and after hours,” she says.

A move to Hawai‘i in 2011 to be with her now husband gave Santos the push to start her own label, and she launched Gillia the same year. Her casual-chic aesthetic—feminine but unfussy—and breathable silhouettes, often featuring dipping necklines and open backs (foils to Japan’s conservative styles), quickly garnered her a cultlike following.

Today, the same relaxed vibe echoes throughout her shop. “I wanted a European-island look, all white and wood,” Santos says, referring to the shop’s floating white oak rails, arched door handles and textural pendant lights. Sunlight streams in, bouncing off the polished concrete floor and playing up the floaty, slightly diaphanous nature of the garments. At the center, a massive fluted island invites customers to plop their belongings down and talk story.

The new Dixie x Gillia Collection, a collaboration with jewelry designer and Arvo owner Dixie Rose, offers a punch of color. You’ll find maxi skirts and tank dresses, plus wide-leg pants and shirt dresses in playful tie-dye patterns and sunset hues. “Dixie wears the button-down shirt with a sarong and bikini,” says Santos.

The shop is also dotted with covetable pieces from Santos’ favorite accessory brands, including Grecian leather sandals from Maria Farro and Released from Love’s minimal twisted hoop earrings. Up next? Keep watch for a slew of fresh prints, more collabs with local talents, swimwear, and totally new Gillia categories, including handbags and matching little girls sets. And if you find yourself wanting to take home one of everything, not to fret. It’s perfectly natural. 131 Hekili St., Suite 113, Kailua, (808) 888-0413, gilliaclothing.com, @gilliaclothing — BT

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 27

28 28 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

A M U LT I PA R T S ER I E S O N P R E S ER V I N G T H E EL EM EN T S

BY ROBBIE DINGEMAN | PHOTOS BY A ARON K. YOSHINO

We begin this multipart HONOLULU Magazine series—Preserving the Elements—by casting a lens on climate change, one of the defining issues of our time—and one that profoundly impacts the health and livelihoods of people across the globe.

As a geographically remote archipelago, Hawai‘i had a legacy of sustaining itself long before the recorded arrival of Westerners in 1778. However, like the rest of the world, our Islands now grapple with the impact of soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, eroding shorelines, shifting rainfall patterns and more. At the same

time, our community faces other dramatic, human-made threats—the U.S. Navy contamination of our fresh water at Red Hill—combined with the environmental impacts of urbanization. While frequent droughts and extreme weather events preview the looming climate crisis, it was the threat to Red Hill/Kapūkakī that ignited public outcry and a call for decisive action to protect our water.

Amid the vast scope of climate change, our series explores each of the natural elements that shape our island life, starting with water. To understand Hawai‘i’s con-

nection to water, which for this report includes fresh water and the ocean, we begin rooted in Hawaiian culture. What is the connection of our Islands to water, looking back to our earliest history? Then, as we examine the issues, we talk to scientists and policymakers and discover what’s being done to address them. And finally, we delve into how each of us can take action—by changing our daily habits, voting, volunteering and advocating for the future—to achieve more together.

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 29

E ui aku ana au ia oe, Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?

Aia i lalo, i ka honua, i ka wai hu, I ka wai kau a Kāne me Kanaloa, He waipuna, he wai e inu, He wai e mana, he wai e ola, E ola no, ea!

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One question I ask of you: Where flows the water of Kāne?

Deep in the ground, in the gushing spring, In the ducts of Kāne and Loa, A well spring of water, to quaff, A water of magic power, the water of life!

Life! O give us this life!

—from “Ka wai a Kāne,” The Water of Kāne, a Native Hawaiian chant

Rain on the horizon.

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WE A R E S E AT E D at Salt at Our Ka-

ka‘ako, four of us discussing the public policy challenges connected to climate change and water when Native Hawaiian educator, community strategist and kahu Hailama Farden begins reciting “The Water of Kāne,” first in Hawaiian and English, then chanting in a resonant baritone.

The message of the ancient oli reverberates through the space, revealing how Kāne, the god of creation, blessed Hawai‘i with fresh water, the essence of life. In honoring Kāne’s gift, the oli highlights the spiritual and cultural significance of water, repeatedly asking, “where is the water of Kāne?” Each verse emphasizes more places to find water coursing through our community, across the Island chain, in the springs, valleys, mountain peaks, ocean and clouds.

“Fresh water is life,” Farden explains. “It is against my culture to ruin and exploit and destroy this important resource that will take care of my environment, my people.”

We’re meeting with Farden and Hawaiian cultural practitioner, Earl Kawa‘a. Raised on the Wai‘anae Coast, Farden has worked at Kamehameha Schools for 30 years—16 years as a kumu of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, eight years as vice principal—before

32 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

shifting into his role there as a community strategist. Kawa‘a grew up on a taro farm in Moloka‘i’s Hālawa Valley, is Hawaiian, a native speaker of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, and serves as a resource specialist for Kamehameha Schools. Both he and Farden have been declared Living Treasures of Hawai‘i for their contributions in sharing Native Hawaiian culture and values. (To hear Farden chanting the oli, go to honolulumagazine.com.)

Lore and Legacy F R E S H WATE R B U B B LE S up from deep beneath the earth at Kun-

awai Springs in Liliha, an oasis now ringed in concrete. Birds warble in the limbs of a massive monkeypod tree that shades the tucked-away park. Hawaiians sought healing from this water since at least the 1800s. Now, children feed the ducks here after wearing themselves out at the nearby playground, workers break for lunch and apartment dwellers stretch their legs. This spring is the lone survivor of a series of six springs and ponds that dominated this region before being covered by sprawling residential development.

Kunawai exists as a symbol of both endurance and loss, common themes in exploring the role of water in the Hawaiian Islands.

A worn plaque hung by the city Department of Parks and Recreation in 1966 recounts Kunawai’s history as part of an ancient healing center run by a wahine kahuna, a priestess, said to be a descendant of the first mo‘o. In Hawaiian, mo‘o are defined as lizards, dragons or water spirits—supernatural beings sent to Earth by the gods to guard freshwater sources. Farden says Kunawai was well-known as a sacred pond where ancient healers drew water to cure illnesses (though it did also feed the taro of Nu‘uanu Valley).

As the Christian minister of Wai‘anae Protestant Church, Farden still seeks the spring water for blessings.

Both Farden, 51, and Kawa‘a, 77, know that some of their fond childhood memories—of days spent along Hawai‘i’s shores and in its streams—will likely never be shared by future generations because of the effects of urbanization and neglect compounded by climate change. “I grew up where I knew where I could get my limu,” Farden says, wistfully recalling his favorite seaweed, līpoa. He gathered limu from the shore with his Hawaiian grandfather in Wai‘anae, fished in streams near Kapahulu for ‘o‘opu with his Japanese grandpa, caught and ate crabs from the From left, Hailama Farden and Earl Kawa‘a Ala Wai. In the wake of warmer waters, at Lo‘i Kalo Mini Park. nearshore runoff pollution, drought and

“We use the water, then give it back and that maintains the ecosystem.”

–Earl Kawa‘a

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“... if we pollute it, we will be polluted.”

— Hailama Farden

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development, most of that is gone or dramatically changed.

Kawa‘a and Farden look to Hawaiian practices focused on concepts of kuleana and mālama, sharing responsibility and caring for natural resources to help our community wrestle with the climate crisis we are witnessing. They, along with scientists, professors, and government and sustainability experts we spoke with, cited the Hawaiian ahupua‘a system of mauka-to-makai water management as a resilient model that can provide lessons for the future. “We use the water, then give it back and that maintains the ecosystem,” Kawa‘a says. “But when you take water out of the stream and it doesn’t go back, you’re changing the climate.” In our Island community, Kawa‘a says everyone who calls Hawai‘i home, regardless of heritage, shares kuleana for protecting this precious resource. “What are we doing for climate change?” Kawa‘a asks. “Water is central to all of us; and central also means that we’re also responsible.”

Restoring Hawaiian Values AT T O R N E Y

AND

L AW

PROFESSOR

D. Kapua‘ala Sproat spent nine years with the public interest group Earthjustice, advocating in court for environmental issues before joining the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. The activist lawyer has written extensively on water, and since 2015 has served on the board of directors of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. She says before outsiders arrived, the ahupua‘a system sustained the community as it protected fresh water for drinking, supported traditional agriculture including the staple crop of kalo, recharged water supplies and fisheries, and protected resources for shared use. Those who failed to heed the rules of operation and maintenance could be banished or even put to death. Water wasn’t owned or sold but maintained as a public trust resource for the community, Sproat explains in Ola I Ka Wai: A Legal Primer For Water Use And Management In Hawai‘i.

She cites the traditional Hawaiian law developed around that management called

◄

Urban pollution often shows up in Nu‘uanu Stream as it travels through Lili‘uokalani Botanical Garden.

kānāwai, translated to relating to water. The system included ali‘i nui or area chiefs at the top, and below them, konohiki who acted as resource stewards over each watershed. Luna wai, water stewards who managed distribution, were under the konohiki, and the system relied on the citizens below them, the maka‘āinana, to tend the land.

While the effects of the global climate crisis can be seen in real time, it’s not the only threat to our environment. Another is increased urbanization, which dismantled the traditional water systems of Hawai‘i. Westerners built massive irrigation systems to support crops of sugar and pineapple to be exported, commodified water and moved it to where it would make the most money for power-brokers and plantations, and introduced the concept of private ownership of lands. But after statehood in 1959, Sproat writes, pushback began, with locally appointed judges reaffirming that Hawai‘i water resources should be held in public trust for the benefit of future generations. That was gradually strengthened through changes to the Hawai‘i Constitution as well as legislation and court cases to provide further protection of natural resources and Indigenous culture through the state Commission on Water Resource Management. In 1987, the Hawai‘i Legislature enacted the State Water Code.

Sproat, in her legal work to preserve and support Native Hawaiian culture, fought in court to return diverted water to natural stream flows and to restore traditional Hawaiian agriculture and aquaculture.

She makes the case for restorative justice to address the impact of climate change that considers loss of land, culture, health and self-governance. “Climate change is simply the latest

environmental injustice that native peoples must grapple with, exacerbating a long and painful history of cultural and ecological devastation due to significant harms imposed by colonization,” she writes.

Water for All S O M E C O R E H AWA I I A N con-

cepts prove relevant as we navigate modern water issues, says Arthur Aiu, a community relations specialist with the Board of Water Supply. He’s Native Hawaiian and sees parallels of good stewardship reflected in contemporary practices to nurture a more sustainable future.

He says ancient Hawaiians saw respect for water linked to its status as a gift from the gods and restricted access to upland forests, the home of those gods.

Today, watershed lands remain kapu, off-limits to protect water resources that recharge the aquifer and provide fresh water for our community. While the konohiki of old oversaw ahupua‘a water, Aiu sees the State Water Code and Commission on Water Resource Management as having a similar role today, overseeing water for the public trust. “It worked then. What do we need to do to incorporate the same today from mountain to sea?” Aiu asks.

Before we end our discussion at Salt, Farden quotes another ‘ōlelo no‘eau: O ‘oe ka luaahi o kāu mele, literally translated as “you are the firepit of your own song.” Farden explains the phrase warns us to be careful of what we do because our actions can have longlasting consequences. “How we take care of nature and if we pollute it, we will be polluted,” Farden says. “We recognize that not just as a value but as a guide by which we live.”

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Coping with Crisis TEMPERATURES REGULARLY SOAR into

the 90s, a decades-old North Shore home crashes onto the beach, torrential downpours interrupt stretches of drought.

And contamination of our freshwater supply by U.S. Navy jet fuel exposes our vulnerability as an island community as sea level rise and warmer ocean waters threaten our marine environment, coastal waves topple beachside trees, and the city moves oceanfront lifeguard stands farther inland so they won’t be swamped.

Sea level rise, king tides, coastal pollution. Hawai‘i’s major climate-change issues linked to water cut across our community, from human-made contamination that threatens the entire ecosystem, to rainfall shifts that make future water supply more unpredictable, and harmful ocean warming that ties into higher coastal temperatures and rainfall.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation, best known for its leading role in advocacy through philanthropy, this year took to social media to encourage people to vote for candidates who make water issues a priority. “This election season, use your voice and your vote to protect Hawai‘i’s most precious natural resource. Choose leaders dedicated to conserving, recharging and reusing Hawai‘i’s fresh water,” the foundation wrote in an Instagram post.

Foundation program director Dana Okano says a change in tactics was needed to tackle some of these “really tough issues that we’re facing in the community; we do have to be more vocal and start advocating our stance on certain issues.”

By backing systemic change and leadership committed to that goal, Okano says, “we can change the way our water is managed across the state.” The foundation’s focus on water began nearly a decade ago. In 2013, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation convened a panel of experts from across the community that produced a blueprint for action in 2015 with some aggressive target goals to address the looming issue of providing safe fresh water to our community.

The Wai Maoli: Hawai‘i Fresh Water Initiative stresses the need for action: Hawai‘i’s population doubled from statehood to 2015 and could double again in the next 60 years. Community leaders saw a mandate to get to work as Hawai‘i’s rainfall decreased by 23% over a 30-plus-year period. Additionally, the state experienced a prolonged drought from 2008-2015, followed by periods of drought almost every year since, including

36 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

King tides in Waikīkī, ī, 2017.

portrait photos: courtesy of hawai‘i community foundation, honolulu board of water supply

O‘A H U

“extreme” and “exceptional” drought periods in 2020 and 2021.

The plan outlines conserving more than 40 million gallons of water per day; recharging the supply with more than 30 million gallons of water per day; and reusing more than 30 milDana Okano lion gallons of water per day, all by 2030.

“A lot of the people who I feel are the most passionate and invested in any of this work, are people who really are truly thinking of their children and grandchildren and really want to make sure they’re leaving them a livable place, even if it’s hard for us to do right now,” Okano says. “But we have to figure it out. It’s not an option. It just needs to be done and so you just do it right. You keep plugging away.”

tice and previous leaks drew environmental criticism for years, this crisis sparked an uproar across the island and state. Ernest Lau, manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, has been on the front lines, pressing the Navy to act swiftly to clean up and permanently close the facility to safeguard the community’s drinking water. The Navy’s timetable for Ernest Lau defueling and closing the facility has been rejected by the public, the city and the state Health Department as too slow.

Lau has remained steadfast. When the Navy proposed a deadline of 2024 to safely remove the fuel, he and the state pushed back, insisting that quicker action was needed. “That investigation needs to proceed quickly with a great sense of urgency,” Lau says.

“The military should be held to account for the investigation and the cleanup.”

To gauge the extent of the fuel contamination in the aquifer, the Board of Water Supply monitored additional wells to determine if contamination had spread underground. On Aug. 4, Lau confirmed that low levels of petroleum-related chemicals had been detected in a well in Moanalua Valley, about 1,500 feet southeast of the Red Hill facility. While experts emphasize the water remains safe to drink, Lau says this heightens his concern that contamination could continue to spread and cannot be ignored. “Our precious and irreplaceable water resources are at risk of further contamination every day the fuel remains in the Red Hill tanks.” As it has been throughout the crisis, Lau’s message is clear. “We urge the Navy to expeditiously defuel and permanently close the Red Hill facility.

Ola i ka wai.”

The state Department of Health also continues to call for swift action. After the Moanalua Valley detection, Kathleen Ho, deputy director of environmental health, emphasized the risk of moving too slowly: “The fuel in the Red Hill tanks continues to pose a threat to our water resources—we need the Navy to feel the same sense of urgency that we do to safely defuel and decommission Red Hill.”

Red Hill Water Crisis, a Human-Made Disaster I N TH E PA S T D E C A D E , climate change grabbed our

attention on O‘ahu and across the state, compounded by a human-made threat to our community’s freshwater supply. In November 2021, the Navy revealed that a 14,000-gallon jet fuel leak at a World War IIera facility at Red Hill/Kapūkakī was contaminating O‘ahu’s drinking water (after earlier leaks sickened military families connected to the separate military water supply). That November revelation prompted the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to stop pumping three of its wells—the Hālawa Shaft and the ‘Aiea and Hālawa wells—to try to prevent further contamination. The Navy for decades has stored 200 million gallons of fuel just 100 feet above the aquifer, the main drinking-water supply for our island. While the prac-

Estimated losses if sea level rises by 3.2 feet by 2100 380 acres $10 million 0 displaced

5,760 acres $2.6 billion 3,370 displaced

9,400 acres $12.9 billion 13,300 displaced

3,130 acres $3.2 billion 1,600 displaced

2,590 acres $280 million 2,590 displaced

4,550 acres $430 million 1,000 displaced

↑

↑

↑

↑

↑

↑

L ĀNA‘I

KAUA‘I

O‘AHU

MAUI

MOLOKA‘I

HAWAI‘I

Miles of roads submerged per island by 2100 L ĀNA‘I KAUA‘I O‘AHU MAUI MOLOKA‘I HAWAI‘I

0.2 miles

0 miles

6.5 miles 2.2 miles

11.2 miles

17.7 miles

source: hawai‘i sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation report

CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

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By leveraging our influence and collective capacities to build a foundation on which climate initiatives can succeed, we will help ensure an equitable transition to a climate resilient economy, society, and environment for all Hawai‘i’s people.

Taking action on climate isn’t just our commitment, it’s our kuleana.

38 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

Climate has a seat at this table.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37

E VE N B E FO R E TH E R E D H I LL C R I S I S , the

Board of Water Supply in 2019 assessed how its system is vulnerable to climate change. The report projects rising sea levels causing coastal erosion and threatening nearshore pipelines and operations.

Charles “Chip” Fletcher, a paleoclimatologist at UH Mānoa, serves as interim dean of the School of Ocean Studies and Earth Technology and has emerged as a climate change evangelist, keenly aware of the critical importance of water to our island community. “We have drought. We have reduced rainfall. We have extreme rainfall. We have sea level rise. We have king tides,” Fletcher says, urgency rising in his voice as he outlines the intertwined issues.

King tides, or exceptionally high tides, made headlines in 2017, when high tides combined with a rise in sea level flooded roads, washed across Ala Moana Beach Park and surged through Waikīkī, sending the ocean lapping at beachfront hotels.

Months before, Fletcher and a fellow UH researcher had co-authored a widely publicized report predicting that a significant part of urban Honolulu,

including Waikīkī, will experience frequent flooding because of sea level rise.

According to the report, a 3.2-foot rise in ocean levels is expected by the end of this century, threatening more than 6,500 buildings and 20,000 people with chronic flooding across the Islands, including in Waikīkī, the Ala Wai Canal and lower McCully-Mō‘ili‘ili.

“This flooding will threaten $5 billion of taxable real estate; flood nearly 30 miles of roadway; and impact pedestrians, commercial and recreation activities, tourism, transportation and infrastructure,” wrote Shellie Habel, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at UH’s Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Scientists say chronic flooding could lead to an estimated 25,800 acres of land becoming unusable statewide, with 38 miles of major roads, 550 cultural sites and $19 billion in assets vulnerable.

Maui’s Water Woes O N M AU I , declining rainfall already has led county officials to impose water restrictions for Upcountry and West Maui residents and prompted the state water commission to intervene. In July, the National Weather Service classified several parts of Maui in “extreme drought” after recording no measurable rainfall the en-

In February, a home on the North Shore collapsed due to coastal erosion.

40 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

Victoria Keener

tire month. Because the municipal water system relies heavily on streams, drought affects Maui more severely than other counties.

In a landmark decision in June, the state water commission unanimously ruled it would “increase and enhance” its management of Maui’s Lahaina aquifer system beginning in August, citing drought, a century of water disputes and the need to support the community’s growing population.

When we asked the commission’s deputy director, Kaleo Manuel, why the water commission needed to step up, he responded: “E ‘ai kekahi, e kāpī kekahi— eat some and salt some; the commission’s action ensures intergenerational water equity and takes proactive steps towards ensuring a sustainable and resilient water future.”

Victoria Keener, a Honolulu Climate Change Commission member who researches practical applications of climate science as an East-West Center fellow, says she’s impressed by the state’s decisive action on Maui. “This is one of the most progressive and proactive actions that the state has taken to consider and protect public trust water uses, including consideration of climate change,” she says.

Without intervention, Maui could be forced to take much more drastic measures to deal with drought and dwindling water supplies. In the U.S. Southwest, for example, reservoirs fed by the Colorado River have dropped to record low levels because of severe drought, prompting the Biden administration in August to announce unprecedented water cuts in Arizona and Nevada. The Lower Colorado River Basin had reached a Tier 2 shortage, requiring cuts of 21% to Arizona and by 8% to Nevada.

photos: courtesy of hawai‘i department of land and natural resources, east-west center; illustration: james nakamura

Sea Level Rise; King Tides; Waikīkī Under Water?

FROM THE AHUUPUA‘A SYSTEM, TO THE LAND TODAY, AND TOMORROW HAWAI‘I CLIMATE IMPACT:

Streams carry rainwater from ridges down steep slopes Rain water flows downslope to streams

from ancient ahupua‘a to today and beyond

Water diverted to narrow Stream diverted tarowater lo‘i that fit intoto the kaloupper lo‘i valley Human-made ditches Manmade ditches linedlined with compacted dirt

1600s

Fishing village

Fresh water feeds rock Fresh water returns wall fishpond which from also lo‘i to main stream opens to sea water.

Water leaving the lo‘i returns to the main stream

Fishing village Stream water feeds fishpond, then to sea

Heiau

Some species die due to habitat loss Habitiats and species distributions change

Winds and waves change

Baseflow in streams change Stream flows reduced Sea surface temperature Air and sea surface rises temperatures rise

2000s

Sea level rise more visible

Sea level begins to rise

Ocean heat and chemistry change

Coastal erosion threatens homes

Cultural practices and burial sites threatened

Ocean chemistry changes, damages coral and more

intense waves MoreMore intense heat heat waves Water supply impacted Water supply will be impacted

Loss of agricultural Agricultural land lossland affects foodfood supply will impact security

2050

Groundwater flooding and urban drainage failing

Whales stop migrating to Hawai‘i

Loss of habitat for rare species Cultural sites endangered Coastal erosion continues; beaches shrink Groundwater flooding Reef bleaching and loss and drainage failure in Loss of habitat for rare urban areas species Costal erosion and Adapted with information from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and beach The Fourth loss National Climate Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Keener, V.W., Helweg, D.A., Asam, S., Balwani, S., Burkett, M., Fletcher, C., Giambelluca, T., Grecni, Z., Nobrega-Olivera, M., Polovina, J., Tribble, G. (2018). Ch. 27: Hawai‘i and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands, Washington, D.C. bit.ly/hn-climateassessment Reef bleaching and loss HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 41

Coastal Erosion

Warming Waters

TH AT H O U S E T U M B LI N G onto the beach earlier this

I N J U LY, Fletcher introduced visiting acclaimed scientist Matthew

England at UH Mānoa’s law school. The topic was “ocean as proyear at Rocky Point on the North Shore provides a dratector—and punisher” and England outlined how oceans both slow matic example that our community already is grappling global warming and bring disastrous conditions associated with sea with challenges different from what we’ve seen in the level rise, storm surges and other impacts. past.

England started with the iconic image of the Earth from space Suzanne Case, director of the Hawai‘i Department of centered on Hawai‘i, emphasizing the power of seawater that covers Land and Natural Resources, calls the collapse a wakethree-quarters of our planet’s surface. England, who’s from Austraup call and warned of the potential for more destruction. lia, says island communities must understand the duality of being “This is sad … climate change, sea level rise and wave fundamentally protected by the ocean while exposed energy in new powerful patterns.” to its power.

State climate data now estimates Along with drought, a sharp rise in seawater 66,000 people statewide are at risk of temperature is a relatively new phenomenon assocoastal flooding. The climate change ciated with climate change that Fletcher explains commission says 13 miles of beaches are compounds the effects of other conditions. “You’ve gone. On O‘ahu, 10% of the beaches have got marine heat waves, one of which settled in around vanished because of coastal erosion over Hawai‘i in the summer of 2019 and broke over 300 the past century, and 70% of the beaches temperature records across the state,” he says. around the state are threatened.

Scientists say ocean warming may be less immeOther coastal houses are at risk bediately visible but the consequences are stark. That’s cause they were built on sandy berms, because the ocean provides a major source of food as known to shift over time, further affectit regulates our climate, rainfall and temperature. ed by the world-famous wave power of Charles “Chip” Fletcher “If we destroy the ocean, which we’re in the prothe North Shore. While homeowners try cess of doing, there can be no human life,” Fletcher to block the waves with sand burritos says. “We need it for the oxygen we breathe, for the and other temporary fixes, Case says there are no easy fresh water that comes from it; a sterile ocean doesn’t support life solutions: “We’re up against powerful shifts in natural on land.” mechanisms and we’re all going to have to face a new Community awareness of the bleaching of reefs has grown but future. Rocky Point is the tip of the spear because the Fletcher calls attention to much broader consequences. “We have ocean is so dynamic and that makes it particularly difocean acidification, which is the ocean water dissolving CO2 from ficult.” the air, and those two combine to attack our ecosystems, not just And the troubling cultural impact of coastal erocoral reefs, but marine ecosystems of all types,” Fletcher says. sion is felt elsewhere too, as higher waves disturb iwi And that comes amid pressure from overfishing, ship traffic, kūpuna—human remains intended to remain buried for noise and pollution. Fletcher explains that as the dissolved oxyall time—initially along the Windward O‘ahu coastline. gen content of the ocean decreases, the ocean surface warms. “The The Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement is ocean sort of develops a cap of warm water that doesn’t mix with the striving to prepare, expecting that future waves will lower layers immediately below it, and this tends to lead to oxygen wash away many more graves as coastal erosion worsstarvation.” Runoff pollution and partially treated sewage can lead ens. Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, CNHA cultural ambasto “the growth of algae that then dies and sucks all the oxygen out of sador and former member of the O‘ahu Burial Council, the water column because the tissue decays by oxidizing,” Fletcher says it’s a complicated and emotional issue. “I know that says.

Hawaiians have put themselves in great harm’s way to In 2016, Honolulu voters approved creation of a new agency—the go and retrieve all the burials,” Wong-Kalu says. Some Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency—specifitook remains home with them to safeguard them, she cally to tackle climate impact. Matt Gonser serves as the agency’s says, while others see the waves as a part of the circle chief resilience officer and executive director. of life and the will of the Hawaiian god of the ocean.

“We’ve actually measured a decline in tradewind days since “If it were me, I would not try to recover them; I would the ’70s. And not just the decline in days but actually a decline in step back and allow Kanaloa to take them,” Wong-Kalu their magnitude,” Gonser says. That decline has resulted in rainfall says. But she says there’s no consensus for the best path shifts associated with climate change, weather patterns that go forward and the wishes of descendants of those buried from drought to torrential downpours then back to drought within may vary from district to district: “There’s absolutely weeks. no easy answer.”

“If we destroy the ocean, which we’re in the process of doing, there can be no human life.”

— Chip Fletcher CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

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photo: kellen garcia

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Innovation and Activism TO

F LETC H E R , who serves on the Honolulu Cli-

mate Change Commission, these entwined impacts on people and marine life sound a clarion call for revamping government policies. He echoes the need for increased political action and encourages voters to support people who understand these problems. He sees reasons for optimism in climate-resilient developments that look to reduce greenhouse gases in multiple ways: catching water, growing food, using renewable energy and reusing treated wastewater.

Overall, he emphasizes the need to adapt. For example, to preserve existing rainfall, communities can add landscaping and engineer rooftops and retention basins to capture rainwater.

“Let’s look at the fact that when rain falls from the sky, most of it runs off into the ocean,” he says. “We need to do a better job of catching that gift from the sky and using it in a couple of different ways,” Fletcher says. Existing reservoirs, canals and concrete ditches that replaced natural streambeds served adequately in the past. But to plan for a future where rainfall is likely decreasing, “we need to trap this water, slow it down.”

Meanwhile, agencies across the state are planning and assessing. Gonser is now sorting out a combination of stresses, such as increasing temperatures and rising sea levels, and shocks, like the huge downpours once expected every century that now show up every five to 10 years. Gonser’s office is analyzing the impacts of these shocks and stresses on city facilities and coordinating action and policies to develop resilient systems.

On Earth Day 2021, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi unveiled the city’s first climate action plan.

It outlines nine strategies and 47 actions for O‘ahu to pursue to reduce emissions by 45% by 2025; doing so would put the city on the path to carbon neutrality by 2045. A couple of programs in progress target water conservation, measuring where water and energy are used, and more efficient plumbing, Gonser says.

Some water-saving strategies are literally green.

The city reported more than 45,672 trees have been planted by communities and the city since December 2017. Rain swiftly runs off of concrete, buildings and other hard surfaces. Green spaces and undeveloped areas soak up water, with much of it dripping down to replenish freshwater aquifers. “Planting and caring for vegetation and trees will provide increased benefits over time. Trees are one of the few pieces of infrastructure that actually accrue benefits through time,” Gonser says.

44 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

The city’s 2021 Sustainability Report underscores the need to change now to anticipate an uncertain future. “Part of that includes only using precious fresh water for those uses that need it and becoming more efficient in our use of wai,” the report says.

Pooling resources I N D EC E M B E R 20 20, Honolulu also adopted a “One Water” climate

adaptation policy, under then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell. It calls on city agencies to work proactively on infrastructure systems, planning for and integrating freshwater, wastewater, recycled water, groundwater and stormwater resource management for long-term resilience and reliability.

Other cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Milwaukee, have used this framework to help save water and benefit multiple agencies while more effectively addressing climate change impact. “Similar to the ancient ahupua‘a system, each process of the watershed has a specialized, valued role, but ultimately it works as an integrated system to provide for both the needs of the community and the environment,” declares the One Water white paper.

For example, pooling resources to address sea level rise that affects every agency with shoreline roads, pipelines or buildings can help improve government’s ability to respond to the growing crisis despite limited budgets and aging infrastructure.

Fighting Inertia J E F F M I K U LI N A has spent 23 years working on environmental is-

sues in Hawai‘i, a decade at the Sierra Club, and another decade as executive director of the Blue Planet Foundation, where he still serves on the board. “Institutional inertia to me has always been just the biggest challenge in tackling these issues,” he says. By contrast, Mikulina says he’s been impressed by the leadership of Lau and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply: “Ernie has just been really out front and vocal in protecting our water given this dire threat of fuel leakage.” And he cites the influence of Sproat, the longtime Native Hawaiian water advocate and BWS member. “That’s transformational,” Mikulina says. “If all agencies worked this way, we would have so much less conflict and more progress.”

Mikulina sees technology as a key to large institutions conserving more water. “Air conditioning is a big energy hog but it’s also a big water hog, and that’s why I was excited about seawater air conditioning,” Mikulina says. But the latest Honolulu seawater air conditioning proposal was dropped in 2020, with investors blaming soaring construction costs. Plans had called for pumping deep-ocean water, instead of fresh water, into cooling stations—to air-condition Waikīkī hotels and Downtown office buildings before being pumped back into the sea.

Still, Mikulina is encouraged by other promising ways to significantly boost water conservation, “everything from high-efficiency washing machines to waterless urinals.”

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HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 45

PR E S E RV I N G T H E E L E M E NT S : WAT E R

Reuse, Recycle M I K U LI N A A L S O S E E S B I G P O TE NTI A L for govern-

ment and private industry to recycle more wastewater for beneficial uses through improving technology.

(Hawai‘i Health Department data shows the amount of recycled wastewater hasn’t changed much in recent years.)

Mikulina is interested in the work of Massachusetts-based Cambrian Innovation, which contracts with companies and the government to extract clean water and energy from wastewater.

“It’s a startup company that’s been Jeff Mikulina funded by the nonprofit Elemental Excelerator locally,” Mikulina says. Cambrian works under what’s called a water-energy purchase agreement to clean and reuse water that would otherwise be discarded.

Gonser says the city is working to increase the capacity for the distribution of recycled water. “We use recycled water for various golf courses,” he says. And he says pending Hawai‘i Health Department rules are designed to support more recycling and reuse.

“Not all of our toilets need fresh water. Not all of our landscaping needs precious freshwater resources,” Gonser says. “The more that we can think about both conservation, reuse and recharge as a means to think about the water cycle, the better we’ll be in the long run.”

Gonser says the city is making major water and energy-efficiency upgrades to city facilities to save taxpayer money and boost clean energy jobs, and has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reevaluate the controversial flood mitigation study of the Ala Wai Canal Watershed.

Park Grass IS Browner G O N S E R A PPL AU D S the very visible work of the city

parks department, partnered with the Board of Water Supply, to aggressively conserve water. Measures include cutting watering time for play fields, scheduling watering for twilight hours, installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, planting less thirsty plants and using drip irrigation.

Parks spokesman Nate Serota says the city also is working with the Board of Water Supply to fix reported leaks more quickly. And he says the city upgraded

irrigation systems, including work at Koko Crater and Foster botanical gardens. The city trimmed the running time of park fountains at Kapi‘olani Park and Thomas Square to twilight hours (6–10 p.m.), the minimum needed to keep the fountains working, a 75% reduction. Serota says even the Honolulu Fire Department is reducing its water use: During training, exercises are set up so that water seeps into park landscaping instead of running down drains.

Like Fletcher, Gonser sees big change as both intimidating and empowering.

“The more that we talk about the opportunities in front of us, the challenges and the consequences of inaction, hopefully that provides clear direction about how our community can adjust and adapt to climate while also taking strong and assertive climate action,” he says. Saving waMatt Gonser ter and energy saves money, Gonser says, and “expresses our respect and values for these resources and the ‘āina while creating a more affordable and resilient Honolulu.”

Fighting Coastal Pollution AC TIV I S T A N D AUTH O R Stuart Coleman worked to enact the na-

tion’s first laws to create smoke-free beaches and ban oxybenzone in sunscreens. Now, he’s targeting the enormous impact of nearshore water pollution statewide caused by sewage leaking from aging cesspools and failing septic systems by co-founding an organization called Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations.

Started in 2018, the nonprofit aims to help communities upgrade to systems that are affordable, efficient and eco-friendly. The approach links owners with innovative technology and funding resources to help pay for the expensive conversion process.

That, in turn, can reduce an estimated 53 million gallons of untreated sewage seeping Stuart Coleman into the state’s waters daily, Coleman says. It’s no coincidence that the acronym spells wai. Coleman, a surfer, has shared his passion for the water in award-winning modern Hawaiian history books that include Eddie Would Go and Eddie Aikau: Hawaiian Hero.

And in June, Gov. David Ige signed into law a bill to provide grants of up to $20,000 to help low- and moderate-income homeowners with the cost of converting their cesspools. With increased federal and state funds on the way, “Hawai‘i should jump on this historic opportunity to improve our water and wastewater systems,” Coleman says.

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46 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

photos: courtesy of jeff mikulina, city and county of honolulu office of climate change, sustainability and resiliency, stuart coleman

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Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa

C

ELEBRATING ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR, Honolulu-based Outrigger Resorts & Hotels has made it its mission to be the premier beach resort company in the world. With properties in Hawai‘i, Fiji, Mauritius, Thailand and the Maldives, it relies on beautiful, pristine sand and healthy oceans to draw visitors from across the world. It’s no surprise, then, that Outrigger takes ocean conservation seriously.

Launched in 2014, Outrigger’s ZONE (OZONE) is a global conservation initiative started as part of the brand’s pledge to keep our oceans thriving for generations to come. Outrigger has incorporated conservation efforts into its brand DNA, from reducing waste on-site to making guests a part of the difference. Hundreds of thousands of guests are hosted at its 33 properties globally each year, and empowering visitors to take eco-conscious steps during their stay ends up making a big difference. “We’ve been very intentional about the education guests receive when they’re here,” says Monica Salter, Outrigger’s vice president of global communications and social responsibility. The brand added eco-conscious guest activities, including coral propagation, beach cleanups and, in June, events centered on World Ocean Month. “They’ve been a hit,” says Salter. “Travelers have become more mindful about their destinations. They fall in love with them and want to help us protect them – which is a win for our local communities and regenerative tourism.”

Outrigger’s ESG (environment, social, governance) efforts have not gone unnoticed: In 2020, it earned the prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association Gold award in the Climate Change category for OZONE. And it’s not stopping there. It’s currently in pursuit of Green Seal certification for seven of its properties in Hawai‘i as well as beach resorts in Fiji and Mauritius, making it the first hospitality brand to pursue the certification both in Hawai‘i and outside of the U.S. “The Green Seal certification is just one of the ways we are holding ourselves accountable to do right for our people and places,” says Salter. “In island communities such as Hawai‘i – water is life – which is why we’re committed to doing our part to keep our oceans thriving for generations to come.”

Outrigger Castaway Island Fiji

Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort

Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort

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What Can We Do? LIT TLE C H A N G E S can add up. That’s

the message from Lau of the Board of Water Supply, who sees what happens when a million people using water on O‘ahu take action. We can tackle simple things: shorter showers, turning off the faucet when we’re brushing our teeth, watering our yards less. Lau’s recent call for a 10% cut in water use resulted in a drop of just 5% this summer. But that drop comes at a time of year when water use usually rises. “It may seem like a little bit, like you’re only saving a few gallons each day but when you add it up to a million people over the whole island, that little bit of water that you’re saving yourself,” Lau says, “it makes a big difference.”

Lau also reminds hikers to help protect O‘ahu’s fresh water by staying out of remote watershed areas.

“People should respect kapu,” he says.

“The watershed is the source of our water; it’s the sponge that captures the rainwater.” When people tromp around in the watershed, they bring along invasive species, dogs, harm native wildlife, leave waste, which can all trickle into our water.

Water-Saving Tips Turn the water off while brushing teeth and shaving.

Turn the water off while washing dishes, turning it on just to rinse.

Cut your shower time by 2 minutes.

Fill the bathtub halfway.

Summer Keli‘ipio

Work on Different Levels

While waiting for the shower to warm up, collect that running water in a bucket to water plants.

S U M M E R K E L I ‘ I P I O has more than

20 years of experience striving to build strong resilient Native Hawaiian children, families and communities. Working with students gave her a good idea for saving water: “A trick that you do when you have young people and you’re trying to shower 25 to 50 middle school students is playing a song so they get one song to shower and when the song changes out, it’s the next person’s turn,” she says.

As managing partner of ‘A‘ali‘i Alliance, Keli‘ipio sees climate change as important to grapple with, on multiple levels. “Everybody’s got to take shorter showers, everybody’s got to try and drive less and conserve as much as they can,” she says. And in the community “we have to do things like air conditioning the schools that need it” most, such as those in Ka‘ū and on the Wai‘anae Coast and Moloka‘i.

At the same time, she sees the need for people in institutions and organizations to push for systemic change that supports better conditions for all.

“It’s slow, it’s like a big tanker ship to turn,” Keli‘ipio says, “but I think it’s totally possible to address those root causes of climate change.”

National Imagine a Day Without Water will be observed statewide Oct. 19 and 20 to highlight water’s essential role. Check boardofwatersupply.com in Honolulu and imagineadaywithoutwater.org to learn how you can take part.

48 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

Do one large load of laundry instead of more frequent smaller loads.

Water your yard just once or twice a week, water plants before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. and put a nozzle on your garden hose.

Check for plumbing leaks—dripping faucets and running toilets— and fix them.

Install water-efficient fixtures: from toilets and showerheads to kitchen faucet aerators.

Source: Honolulu Board of Water Supply

More Resources: Designed by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to provide timely info on Red Hill updates, latest news, water conservation tips and rebate information: protectoahuwater.org photo: courtesy of ‘a‘ali‘i alliance

Keener, the Honolulu Climate Change Commission member and East-West Center fellow, says we can’t give in to hopelessness “because every small positive change has an incremental effect on making the impacts slightly less severe.” She points to lessons that can be learned from Pacific Islanders who keep fighting despite being deluged with narratives about rising seas and impending doom. “I think that Pacific Islanders embody this spirit, with activist groups declaring that they are not drowning, but fighting and reframing the media narrative on adaptation successes and communities pulling together rather than islander vulnerability and existential losses.”

Much more information is available at the main website for the Honolulu Board of Water Supply: boardofwatersupply.com From Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, a list of ways to save water: resilientoahu.org/conserve-808

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HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 1

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Contents

PHONE: (808) 537-9500 FAX: (808) 537-9500 honolulumagazine.com PUBLISHER Scott Schumaker scotts@pacificbasin.net (808) 534-7541 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Donna Kodama-Yee donnaky@honolulumagazine.com (808) 534-7501 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Michelle Stofle MARKETING DIRECTOR Christy Davis BRANDED CONTENT CREATION MANAGER Marisa Heung SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR Chloe Tomomi PROJECT WRITERS Maria Kanai Lennie Omalza CREATIVE DIRECTOR James Nakamura

2

Legacy Note from Ed Schultz 14 Leaving A Legacy Behind

4

The Host with the Most

18 Q&A: Shane Victorino

6

Best Sellers

19 By The Numbers

10 When Sweet Worlds Collide

20 Hawaiian Host Timeline

11

22 Hawai‘i’s Gift to the World is Going Green

Q&A: Hawaiian Host Japan

12 Q&A: Tony Takitani 13 Q&A: Ric Noyle

24 Donations

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Christine Labrador ART DIRECTOR Kayla Rivera WRITTEN, DESIGNED AND PUBLISHED BY:

HONOLULU Magazine, October 2022. © 2022 by aio Media, 1088 Bishop St., Suite LL2, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Mahalo to Hawaiian Host for 95 years

of putting smiles on so many faces.

For 95 delicious years, Hawaiian Host has been putting big chocolatey smiles on people’s faces.

We can’t wait to see (and taste) what the next 95 years has in store.

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Happy 95th Anniversary!

Legacy Note from Ed Schultz

A FROM BAY CITIES PACKAGING & DESIGN

lmost a century ago, young Mamoru Takitani — a third-generation Japanese descendant —started the beginning of something special. Upstairs, above his family’s business on Maui, he experimented with dipping crunchy macadamia nuts into a secret blend of milk chocolate. As he always strived to exceed excellence, he continued to experiment until he had a unique creation.

In 1960, Mamoru learned that a famous chocolate shop in the Kaimukī neighborhood of Honolulu was for sale. He and his wife, Aiko, acquired the shop and moved to O‘ahu, eager to share their amazing discovery. In no time, Aiko was driving all over town in her stylish station wagon delivering the creamy and delicious chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.

Our founding couple had a vision to be the ultimate Hosts of Hawai‘i. To this day, we continue to draw inspiration from the Takitanis’ bold vision. As the current Hosts of Hawai‘i, we are united in carrying on their incredible legacy to deliver moments of joy while supporting those around us. The Mamoru & Aiko Takitani Foundation, as well as many of our current partnerships with local businesses and non-profit organizations, are great examples of that.

In the next few pages, we’ll share a bit more about our history, our products, our partnerships, and our community. We want to thank all our Hosts of Hawai‘i, our partners, vendors, and customers for 95 incredible years. Without each and every one of you, we wouldn’t be where we are today – and with all of you on board, the best is yet to come.

Aloha, Ed Schultz, President and CEO

bay-cities.com

2 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

Chocolate is even sweeter after 95 years.

CPB congratulates Hawaiian Host as it celebrates its 95th anniversary.

As a bank founded by Japanese American World War II veterans, we appreciate the story of how Mamoru Takitani started Hawaiian Host in the attic of his family’s home on Maui and built it into the largest maker of chocolate-covered macadamias in the world.

Today, in addition to being a kama‘aina favorite, it’s also Hawaii’s most popular omiyage, a gift of aloha to Japan and the world.

Genuine. Classic. Original. All words that describe the Hawaiian Host legacy. Success doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

Visit us at cpb.bank.

Member FDIC HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 3

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The Host with the Most

As it celebrates 95 years in business, we look back at how Hawai‘i’s favorite confectionery came to be.

BY M A R I SA H E U N G

1

927 was a time of new beginnings in the Islands. On Ward Avenue, the state welcomed its first-ever art museum as the Honolulu Academy of Arts opened its doors to the public.

Along Kalākaua Avenue, the KC Drive Inn emerged onto the dining scene with a novel drive-in service. In Waikīkī, the ribbon was cut for the opulent 400-room Royal Hawaiian Hotel, a welcome lush escape for visitors boarding off Matson’s new luxury passenger liner. And, in downtown Honolulu, a local candy maker named John Dye began his own legacy by way of chocolate.

Previously managing the candy department in the old Alexander Young Hotel, Dye branched out to start his own candy business with his wife, Georgina Dias, by his side. He opened Ellen Dye Candies, named after their daughter, at 75 South Pauahi Street. It was during this time that Dye began playing with the idea of combining two decadent ingredients—chocolate and Island-grown macadamia nut—into a new kind of delicacy.

The shop became an overnight success, and he became the world’s first maker of chocolate-dipped macadamia nuts.

Back on Maui, Mamoru Takitani was hard at work crafting his own version of chocolate-covered macadamias, which were also gaining fame among Valley Isle residents. Born in Yamaguchi, Japan, he had moved to Maui with his family when he was just a boy. Blessed with an inventive personality and an entrepre4 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

Hawaiian Host Founder, Mamoru Takitani, and wife, Aiko Takitani.

neurial spirit, Takitani took to candy making as a new hobby. His parents’ kitchen became his culinary laboratory, where he concocted his own spin on chocolate-covered macadamias that were uniquely indulgent thanks to an extraordinary secret chocolate recipe.

Takitani married his wife, Aiko, in 1936, and the pair moved to Honolulu soon after to start a family in the up-and-coming city. It wasn’t long before he discovered Ellen Dye Candies, which by then had outgrown its little Downtown spot and found a new home, with a bigger factory, on Wai‘alae Avenue. The entrepreneur saw an opportunity in this candy shop: It was a chance for him to take his chocolate treats to a new level and share them with the rest of the world. And so, on Jan. 1, 1960, he purchased the business from John Dye and replaced the Ellen Dye Candies sign with a new one: Hawaiian Host.

From there, the rest is history. Armed with his secret chocolate recipe, Takitani and his wife went to work on improving the world’s first chocolate-covered macadamia. They began spreading the word through door-to-door sales, meetings with potential wholesalers, even selling the candy out of the back of his station wagon. He knew he had a winning product on his hands and was confident that Hawaiian Host would take off. And take off it did: The business quickly gained momentum in the retail and restaurant industries, later expanding its reach to the US

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The tiki was the inspiration for the logo that Takitani envisioned when he enlisted an art teacher friend to help create the design.

Production workers assembling Hawaiian Host chocolates in the 1970s.

The limited-edition box to celebrate Hawaiian Host’s 95th Anniversary. Available for purchase on hawaiianhost.com.

Mainland, Singapore and Japan. In 2015, the company acquired Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts, one of the largest processors of macadamias in the world, cinching its place as the world’s premier purveyor of chocolate-covered macadamias.

Decades later, Takitani’s legacy still runs strong. Hawaiian Host has become a household name in Hawai‘i—not just for kama‘āina craving that unique combination of delicate chocolate and buttery rich macadamia, but also for visitors from around the world wanting to share a piece of aloha with their friends and family back home.

Now the largest producer of chocolate macadamias in the Islands, and, with more than 40 confections and snacks, Hawaiian Host products have achieved Takitani’s dream of

becoming Hawai‘i’s gift to the world.

More than 1,000 boxes are produced each day, and its chocolate treats— still made using Takitani’s original, decades-old secret recipe—can be spotted on store shelves throughout the globe. This year, keep an eye out for special Hawaiian Host boxes featuring a limited-edition design celebrating its biggest milestone yet.

The special 95th anniversary box features Hawaiian Host’s most premium product: two whole macadamia nuts, covered in the company’s signature decadent milk chocolate and individually wrapped in ready-to-savor, bite-size portions.

To a legacy of visionary leadership, rich heritage and delightful confections with aloha in every bite, we say cheers to 95 years of sweet success.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 5

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Best Sellers An Island company fused with the Aloha Spirit, Hawaiian Host truly is Hawai‘i’s gift to the world. As the largest manufacturer of chocolatecovered macadamias for almost a century, its treats have created countless sweet moments with people all over the globe. The following collections are a few customer favorites.

BY L E N N I E O M A L Z A

Founder’s CollectionTM The Mamoru Takitani Founder’s Collectiontm pays homage to the man who started it all with a secret recipe nearly 100 years ago. The entire collection — from classic creamy milk chocolate to smooth white chocolate infused with matcha leaves — is made with premium, dry roasted macadamias that are perfect little pieces of aloha.

AlohaMacs ® Featuring tropically grown macadamias and handcrafted chocolate, the best-selling AlohaMacs® are Hawai‘i’s original chocolate-covered macadamia delight. Hawaiian Host’s finest macadamias are dry roasted, then coated in silky, decadently rich milk or dark chocolate, creating the ideal sweet treat for friends and family.

Paradise Collection

6 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

Designed to provide a little taste of paradise, the pan coated macadamias in this collection feature the flavors of Hawai‘i in bite-sized pieces. Sea Salt Toffee Milk Chocolate features a tantalizing mix of salty and sweet, while Toasted Coconut Milk Chocolate offers luscious layers of toasted coconut, crunchy toffee and creamy milk chocolate.

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8 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

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Maui Caramacs® Caramel lovers will delight in the rich, buttery flavor that emanates from this extra indulgent rendition of Hawaiian Host macadamias. The delightful concoction consists of a cluster of dry-roasted nuts that have been smothered in house-made caramel, then covered in smooth milk chocolate.

Flavors of Aloha Collection Created in collaboration with artist Kim Sielbeck, this colorful collection of artisan chocolate bars features playful monikers including everything from Tropical Sunrise Swirl — made with passion fruit and dried mango — to Surfer’s Breakfast, which boasts decadent dark chocolate, granola and coffee.

Original Tiki Box Boasting the iconic tiki design known to locals and visitors alike, the Original Tiki Box pays homage to the vintage tiki image commonly associated with the Aloha State. The box of Hawai‘i’s quintessential treat is filled with Hawaiian Host’s original recipe: one whole and a half macadamia nut draped in its signature, creamy milk chocolate. The Original Tiki Box is exclusive to Japan.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 9

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When Sweet Worlds Collide Two local brands join forces for an indulgent new venture.

BY M A R I SA H E U N G

H

awaiian Host prides itself on its products and the aloha that goes into each box it makes. Using only the best ingredients around, it’s no wonder Hawaiian Host has garnered such a loyal following. And when the iconic brand crossed paths with Uncle’s Ice Cream—and discovered that founders Paul and Barbara Logan and their team share the same affinity for quality ingredients, and a true love for the Islands—it was only natural that a partnership was soon to follow.

Paul Logan, co-owner of the North Shore-based Uncle’s Ice Cream, wasn’t always known for his ice cream sandwiches. In fact, he and Barbara first got their start at the farmers markets selling Paul’s locally grown lettuce. It was there they noticed that, while plenty of vendors were selling dinner options, desserts—arguably the best part of any meal—were near impossible to find. Logan had been chef of the couple’s own restaurant in a previous life, so he drew upon his culinary skills to create something delicious and easy to eat with one hand while patrons shopped. The niche was his to fill and the wheels of innovation began to turn.

10 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

Thus, his take on the ice cream sandwich was born. In 2013, they started selling his handmade frozen treats.

An inventive spirit? A pioneer of a local brand? One man’s vision realized?

It was a narrative shared by another local company almost a century old.

Fast forward a few years, and Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches took the island by storm and popped up in retail stores and restaurants across O‘ahu. Its success caught the eye of a certain Island chocolate maker. In 2020, Uncle’s and Hawaiian Host announced a sweet new collaboration that combined “Uncle” Paul Logan’s homemade ice cream with Hawaiian Host’s dark chocolate AlohaMacs®.

The two brands launched their new line with a signature flavor featuring chunks of Hawaiian Host’s dark chocolate AlohaMacs®, blended into Uncle’s Big Island honey and macadamia ice cream and sandwiched between fresh-baked sugar cookies.

“We incorporate the best local ingredients we can find,” says Logan. “For our macadamia-infused sandwiches, there could be no better match than Hawai‘i’s premier mac nut candy company.”

Two years and six collab flavors later, the partnership is still going strong. And while there’s no doubt that chocolate and ice cream are a classic culinary combo, this winning combo is based on more than that. “When we first visited Uncle’s in Waialua to start experimenting on flavors, we witnessed the same passion for their products in their kitchen as our founder Mamoru Takitani had when he first created his secret recipe on Maui,” says Hawaiian Host director of marketing Theresa Tuxhorn. “That passion continues to be present in our factory today. We just knew it was a perfect match.” The ultimate goal?

Put smiles on the faces of visitors and kama‘āina alike, sharing the aloha one sweet bite at a time.

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Q&A: Hawaiian Host Japan President Koichi Suzuki shares the story behind Hawaiian Host Japan, how the company pivoted during the pandemic and what’s coming up for the famous chocolate covered macadamia nut brand.

BY M A R I A K A N A I

As local chocolate and macadamia nut company Hawaiian Host celebrates its 95th anniversary, it is also marking 49 years of business in Japan. The brand began as a travel agency in Japan and rapidly expanded into the Japanese retail market.

Despite the challenging few years, Hawaiian Host has maintained its reputation for offering Hawaiian omiyage and delicious “choco” treats in Japan. We chatted with president Koichi Suzuki to learn about the company’s origins in Japan, how they adapted to the pandemic and what’s new as they head closer to half a century of business.

What’s the story behind Hawaiian Host expanding to Japan?

Our founder Mamoru Takitani has roots in Japan – he was born in Yamaguchi and he lived there until he was 19 or 20 years old. He then moved to Maui and as the story goes, he bought

the candy shop from Ellen Dye Candies in 1960. They started making chocolate macadamia nuts and he began looking to expand the business to Japan.

In 1973, he returned to Japan with plans to start Hawaiian Host there.

We actually started out not as a candy distributing company, but a travel agency called Hawaiian Host KK. Takitani’s idea was to send Japanese tourists to Hawaii and spread the word through the agency about Hawaiian Host.

Another key factor was when Takitani met Mr. Morita, one of the founders of Sony, and asked him to help sell Hawaiian Host in Japan. Morita’s family owned a bakery company called Shikishima Sei Pan, which is now known as Pasco. Today, the business has transferred completely to Hawaiian Host KK. I remember we started out with Hawaiian Host’s chocolate macadamia in a half-sized box.

The import tax was 40% at the time - today it’s 10%. I believe after Expo ’70, a world’s fair held in Osaka in 1970, many importers started to grow and expand to meet consumer demand.

Is it true that the chocolate is his secret recipe?

Yes, it is his secret recipe! The chocolate is carefully made to pair well with the macadamia nuts.

How long have you been working with Hawaiian Host Japan?

I've been working with Hawaiian Host Japan for over 40 years and had the opportunity to work with Mamoru Takitani on his vision for Japan. Two other employees, Hashimoto-san and Nakagima-san, worked alongside Takitani as well.

Is the travel agency still operating?

No, the travel agency division was sold a long time ago and we are now a company 100% owned by Hawaiian Host, handling only imported food items. We do have an omiyage catalogue business, where we would partner with large travel companies like JTB. The companies would issue a catalogue for tourists to buy omiyage here instead of in Hawai‘i, so they have gifts already waiting at home for them. This business accounted for maybe 30 to 40% of our total business until COVID-19.

What are some of the challenges caused by COVID-19?

Due to the coronavirus, our sales took a hit as all travels to Hawai‘i stopped for a long time.

We used to target large groups of tourists (since individual tourists typically can buy omiyage on their own) with our omiyage catalogue, but during those two or three years, we weren’t able to partner with those large groups. We had to pivot our business to retail market sales. You can now find Hawaiian Host in high end specialty shops like Seijo Ishii.

We also shifted from the larger macadamia chocolate boxes to smaller bags that contain individually wrapped candies. People seem to enjoy the smaller bagged products better because they are easy to travel with. Even in Hawai’i, they are making more of these bagged candies as well.

We are thankful to see an increase in sales today as travel is picking up.

Do you have any special products unique to Japan?

We have a dried mango product that is coated with chocolate.

We also have the dried mango covered with white and dark chocolate – it comes in a bag with 40 individually wrapped treats. It’s currently selling in Costco in Japan.

Another product unique to Japan is the Original Tiki box.

Hawaiian Host Japan has carried it from the very beginning.

Based on its popularity, it’s become a Japan exclusive and expanded into other packaging including a stand-up bag with individually wrapped pieces.

Have you noticed any seasons when Hawaiian Host products sell more or are especially popular throughout the year in the Japanese market?

In Japan, chocolate is usually not popular during the hot summers. Luckily for us, people love the “Hawai‘i” brand so our chocolate continues to sell well during summer. Overall, we do notice our chocolate is especially popular during September through November – these months are known as “candy season” in Japan.

Why is Hawaiian Host so special to Japanese market?

Here in Japan, Hawaiian Host is a very famous and wellknown product, thanks to Mr. Takitani’s advertising efforts.

The design of the chocolate macadamia box stands out in stores, with the charming tiki and dark brown box.

Also, giving omiyage is an important part of Japanese culture and Asian culture. When we go abroad, friends, parents and family give us money to spend during vacation and we are expected to buy omiyage in return. I believe this gift-giving culture is shared across Asia.

Even here, when staff from Hawaiian Host come to Japan, they bring malasadas or Hawaiian sweet bread.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 11

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Q&A: Tony Takitani Nephew of Mamoru Takitani and a born-and-raised Maui boy, Anthony P. “Tony” Takitani witnessed Hawaiian Host grow into what it is today. We stopped to chat with the former Hawai‘i State congressman, attorney and chairman of the former Hawaiian Host Inc. board of directors about the candy company’s journey and his favorite memories of Uncle Mamoru’s business.

It’s Hawaiian Host’s 95th anniversary! Is there anything you’d like to say?

On behalf of the Takitani family, we thank the public and our guests in Hawai‘i for making and keeping our product “Hawai‘i’s gift to the world”!

What are your first memories of Hawaiian Host?

It was in the late 1950s or early ’60s, I remember my mom and couple of her sisters, sisters-in-law and others sitting in a very cold room making the Hawaiian Host original candy by hand, one by one. There was a mound of melted chocolate and the ladies would take a whole piece and a half of macadamia nut and put it in a paper cup, scoop some chocolate and pour it over the nuts, then make the swirl at the top. I would sneak pieces of the unmelted chocolate chunks and nibble on it outside.

How has the brand evolved over the years?

The original Tiki and Founder’s Collection™ are still the same. But Hawaiian Host has added many more varieties and choices of treats for the public to enjoy. The purchasing of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts has moved Hawaiian Host Group into a very unique position of owning the two most iconic macadamia brands in the world.

What makes Hawaiian Host so special?

The quality and care that goes into 12 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

making each product reflects our family’s concern and understanding that these products represent Hawai‘i throughout the world. It is a matter of pride.

start this company. For example, my grandfather and some of Uncle Mamoru’s brothers made the original equipment used to create the initial product.

It was quite the family affair.

What’s one memory of your uncle that sticks out?

Uncle Mamoru was a pretty interesting man. He had a vision to make this product special, and he kept at it until it became a reality. He was soft-spoken, but gutsy. He tried other things on a large scale that may not have panned out in his lifetime, but some of it worked out later.

What has made Hawaiian Host so successful?

I think it is primarily due to its consistency and absolutely delicious taste. I personally have been eating the product for nearly 70 years and still love it!

Any personal experiences of Hawaiian Host?

I would be remiss if I did not mention the entire Takitani family, who helped

What is your favorite Hawaiian Host treat?

Original Tiki and Maui Caramacs®.

Mmm, mmm, GOOD!

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Q&A: Ric Noyle What the veteran photographer has to say about shooting Hawaiian Host’s assortment of candies.

Do you have a comment/quote for Hawaiian Host’s 95th Anniversary?

I have been extremely fortunate to work almost 20 years as a commercial photographer for Hawaiian Host.

How has the brand evolved over the years?

Hawaiian Host has always remained true to Mr. and Mrs. Takitani’s original dream of creating a world-famous candy. They accomplished this with a second-to-none product line and made sure that the quality and consistency of the product never wavered.

What is your connection to Hawaiian Host, and what has it meant to you over the years?

I first started photographing Hawaiian Host products with an ad agency called Loomis & Pollock. They had a spirited and talented art director named Richard Puetz. Richard would call

me and layout his ideas and prop requests. Soon after his calls, my studio fax machine would spit out Richard’s impeccable detailed drawings and ideas. At the time, my food stylist Barbara Gray would be brought in for a pre-shoot phone call.

Barbara was always cool, calm and immensely talented. She had more food styling gear with her than a kitchen store. There were scalpels, knives, plates, blow torches, koa boards, honey pots of all sizes and textures along with fresh flowers that she had picked to match the size of each product.

Barabara made us all look good, and of course, always made the product the star.

Any personal experiences/fun memories of Hawaiian Host that you’d like to share?

At the beginning of all photo shoots, we’d plan to avoid eating any product but as the day went on we soon realized that none of us had the will power to resist eating “just one bite”. Needless to say once one of us inhaled a single piece of chocolate all bets were off and well, we always had to taste each item whenever possible. We often laughed at ourselves for thinking we could possibly resist the allure of the Hawaiian Host chocolates.

What is your personal favorite Hawaiian Host treat?

The AlohaMacs® Dark Chocolate would be my goto answer.The Maui Caramacs® with the rich buttery caramel is also of top my list along with the Founder’s Collection™ Dark & White Chocolate. I once put two of those chocolates in my green tea matcha smoothie with a little bit of milk and it was a great smoothie. Yum! In your opinion, what makes Hawaiian Host special?

The high quality of their product ingredients and hiring passionate people on staff with true aloha spirit.

HAWAIIAN HOST Almost a century ago a classic was born and for 95 years Hawaiian Host has been bringing this delicious present from the Hawaiian Islands to the rest of the world. Congratulations to our friends at Hawaiian Host for making this original treat into a genuine legend.

M IC R ON E S I A N B R OK E R S , I N C.

545 CHALAN MACHAUTE STE 200 | MAITE, GU 96910 USA | T: 671-477-0970 | F: 671-477-8418

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 13

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Leaving a Legacy Behind With great success comes great generosity.

BY M A R I SA H E U N G

F

The beginnings of Hawaiian Host started with selling the confections out of a station wagon.

14 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

or Mamoru and Aiko Takitani, success came from humble beginnings. He opened Hawaiian Host in 1960 and started ramping up business by selling his confections out of the back of his station wagon. Back then, the Takitanis aimed to sell 100 boxes of chocolates per day, a modest goal that quickly skyrocketed as their sweets became a local favorite. Today, the Hawaiian Host legacy still runs strong: It’s the Islands’ biggest producer of chocolate-covered macadamias, can be found across continents and offers dozens of products.

As Hawaiian Host grew, the Takitanis began thinking about the legacy they wanted to leave behind. With no children of their own, the couple looked to build a way to help future generations achieve their potential free of financial barriers. Thus, the Mamoru and Aiko Takitani

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2022 GRADUATES

$6,000

Janice Luke Loo President Dr. C. Scott Wo Vice Chair & Treasurer Stuart T.K. Ho Vice President & Secretary Karen Uno Vice President

Mamoru Takitani Outstanding Student Award

Aiko Takitani Outstanding Student Award

Karen Uno Distinguished Student Award

Directors’ Award

Tyler Lee

Joanne Wong

Pearl City High School Leeward O‘ahu District

President Theodore Roosevelt High School Honolulu District

Kescher Nakahara-Akita

Natalie Dziuban King Kekaulike High School Maui District

Mid-Pacific Institute Hawai‘i Association of Independent Schools

$5,000 DISTRICT FINALISTS Kairi Gervacio

Elvis Imamura

‘Aiea High School

‘Iolani School

Natali Keni Kahuku High & Intermediate School

Hawai‘i Association of Independent Schools

Central O ‘ahu District

Windward O‘ahu District

Emily Lei

Riley Lau

Savanna Peng

President William McKinley High School

Moanalua High School

Sacred Hearts Academy

Central O ‘ahu District

Hawai‘i Catholic Schools

Honolulu District

Angeline Chan

Camylle McDonald

Kaua‘i High School

Kealakehe High School

Kaua‘i District

Hawai‘i Island District

Jodecee Jardine Wai‘anae High School Leeward O‘ahu District

$3,000 WINNERS O‘AHU

Mairi Travis Assets School

Christie Jiang James Campbell High School

Grace Andrade James B. Castle High School

Amber Godefroy Damien Memorial School

Jayden-Joseph Acoba Gov. Wallace Rider Farrington High School

Milana Rose Camilon Hanalani Schools

Kaylee Ann Tani Hawai‘i Baptist Academy

Kristin Chun Island Pacific Academy

Andy Ye Kaimuki High School

Madeline Tamura Kailua High School

YuBin Park Henry J. Kaiser High School

Clara Kathman Kalāheo High School

Eun Ho Kim Kalani High School

Destiny Lum Kamehameha Schools – Kapalama

Timothy Wiley Kapolei High School

Kamanakai Natividad Leilehua High School

Juliana Rhee Le Jardin Academy

Crishelle Ildefonso Maryknoll School

Kirah Evile Mililani High School

Ella Mae Faeldonea Nānākuli High & Intermediate School

Noah Chung Punahou School

Kyla Musso Arthur W. Radford High School

Keythan Sato Saint Louis School

Miyu Owada University Laboratory School

Cyan Tyger Mezin Waialua High & Intermediate School

Taylor Fukunaga Waipahu High School

Maya Oishi Hilo High School Mildred Higashi Director’s Award

Jake Bannister Honoka’a High & Intermediate School

Jacob Momohara Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i

Baily Gapusan Kea’au High School

Kymani Alani Konawaena High School

Ashlee Kubo Pahoa High & Intermediate School

Eleanore Kowardy Parker School

Matthew Labasan Waiakea High School

Kaylee Cordeiro Henry Perrine Baldwin High School

Temi‘i Pua Hana High & Elementary School

Ku’umakale hiwaonālani Ruidas Kamehameha Schools – Maui

Kathryn Hussey Lahainaluna High School

Mark Ruaburo Lāna‘i High & Elementary School

Sophia Otsuka Maui High School

Grace Martin Maui Preparatory Academy

Luc Guidroz Seabury Hall

Joshua Dobashi Island School

Alexander Henriques Kapa‘a High School

Kamalani Goo Waimea High School

HAWAI‘I

Lily Kassis Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy

MAUI

Mamoru and Aiko Takitani founded Hawaiian Host, the country’s largest manufacturer of chocolate-covered macadamias. The Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation, Inc. was established to give back to the local community and provide the gift of education to Hawai‘i’s youth. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded scholarships each year to an outstanding student at every qualifying high school in the state. For more information, visit takitanifoundation.org.

KAUA‘I

Foundation, a nonprofit charity, was started in 1993. It was a way for the Takitanis to invest in bright young minds and give them what they needed to continue their education. It was also their way of giving back to a community that had supported them from the beginning. After decades of growth, the Takitanis never forgot their modest start—or those customers who fell in love with their chocolates. Now they wanted to pay it forward to a community that helped make Hawaiian Host a success story.

Today, the Takitani Foundation continues its mission of helping Hawai‘i students achieve their educational and career goals. The foundation donates hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in the form of scholarships and grants to deserving students who embody those same standards of excellence, innovation and dedication that Mamoru and Aiko Takitani lived by. It also supports local programs that create innovative change in education. “Prior to the Takitani Foundation coming in and supporting our students with scholarships, money was a major barrier to higher education,” says Allison Ishii Blankenship, director of the KA‘I Programs, a community partnership between ‘Iolani School and Pālolo Valley that empowers young scholars from Pālolo Valley through transformative educational opportunities. “Now we have 30 kids in college. We know that wouldn’t have happened without the Takitani Foundation.”

Since its inception, the Takitani Foundation has given more than $6.3 million in scholarships to students across the state.

It offers three main branches of scholarships: the Legacy Scholarship Program, Community Scholarship Program and Tribute Scholarship Program.

$8,000

Michael W. Perry Chair

$10,000

Takitani Foundation Officers & Directors

$10,000

This year, the Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation awarded $217,000 in scholarships to Hawai‘i senior high school students.

THE MAMORU AND AIKO TAKITANI FOUNDATION INC. presents $217,000 in scholarships

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 15

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Legacy Scholarship Program Offered through public and independent accredited high schools across the state, the Legacy Scholarship Program awards scholarships to senior high school students nominated by their respective schools to continue their education at accredited or licensed vocational schools, community colleges or four-year colleges of their choice. Since it was started in 1993, the Takitani Foundation has awarded scholarships each year to an outstanding student at every qualifying high school in the state. Students awarded a scholarship for their freshman year are eligible to apply for additional foundation scholarships for up to three more years of their undergraduate education.

Community Scholarship Program The Community Scholarship Program was born as a way for the Takitani Foundation to expand its reach in the community and lend a hand to (or to aid) more students in need. This program offers financial support to students with academic and vocational scholarships, which are handed out through universities, colleges and nonprofits that offer educational and career-building programs for Hawai‘i’s young generations. These grants are given through the foundation by invitation only. Some of its many recipients include Boys and Girls Club of Hawai‘i, Chaminade University, Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapi‘olani Community College, The KA‘I Program at ‘Iolani School, the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) at UH Shidler College of Business, PUEO Program at Punahou School and YMCA of Honolulu.

16 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

“Prior to the Takitani Foundation coming in and supporting our students with scholarships, money was a major barrier to higher education.”

— Allison Ishii Blankenship, director of the KA‘I Programs

Tribute Scholarship Program The foundation’s third, and lesser known, program dedicates support to causes and interests Mamoru and Aiko Takitani held close to their heart.

Currently, its main recipient is the Pacific Buddhist Academy. The school is affiliated with the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i, an organization that Aiko Takitani had been a major supporter of in her lifetime. After she passed away in 2006, the foundation chose to continue that support in her honor and donates to the school directly to help fund education for students in need. Aiko’s love for Japanese culture has led the Takitani Foundation to give funding to other programs—taiko, ikebana and bon dance—as well.

Through its three programs, the Takitani Foundation has touched the lives of thousands of local kids. For many, Mamoru and Aiko’s generosity has been nothing short of life-changing.

The foundation often receives letters of thanks from students who found hope and opportunity through its financial support. “There aren’t enough words to express how grateful I am for everything you do for KA‘I,” writes

Jersey Mahi‘ai, who went on to major in communications at Chaminade University. “I have been making the most of this huge opportunity and am proud to say I am one of the few honors students at Chaminade!”

“I cannot convey how appreciative I am,” writes Abcedy Lemalu, another recipient who went on to study at University of Hawai‘i-Hilo. She was the first in her family to attend a university, something she says could not have happened without her scholarship.

“Without people who are generous and caring, like you, a college education would not be possible for students like me.”

It’s amazing how just one success story can create bright new futures for so many. What’s even more amazing is how much the Takitanis believed in our young generations. Although Mamoru and Aiko passed away in 1988 and 2006, respectively, their passion and generosity lives on through the Takitani Foundation and those who, through it, have found, and continue to find, their own success stories.

“Every day, I’m so grateful to the Takitani Foundation,” says Allison Ishii Blankenship. “The Takitanis’ support is life-changing for our students. It completely changes the trajectory of their lives for the better.”

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Renceh Flojo was the 2019 Karen Uno Distinguished Student Scholar (8K) from Maryknoll School.

Charlene Tan was the 2019 Aiko Takitani Scholar (10K) from Kaua‘i High School.

The Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation presented a check for $3.6 million to the University of Hawai‘i’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific on August 27, 2019. Pictured (from left) are: Carolyn Lee, Takitani Foundation administrator; Karen Ueno, Takitani Foundation board member; Stuart Ho, Takitani Foundation board member; John Morton, retired UH vice president for community colleges; Ed Schultz, Hawaiian Host president; Janice Luke Loo, Takitani Foundation president; and Kelvin Ro, donor and volunteer fundraiser.

Michael W. Perry with Vivien Chen. She was the 2016 Aiko Takitani Scholar (10K) from President William McKinley High School.

Michael W. Perry with Moses Bae. He was the 2016 Mamoru Takitani Scholar (10K) from President Theodore Roosevelt High School.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 17

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Happy Anniversary!

Q&A: Shane Victorino Hawai‘i’s own Major League Baseball legend connects with Hawaiian Host.

Watanabe Ing LLP

Congratulates Hawaiian Host on its 95 Years of Rich Heritage and Sweet Success.

Do you have a comment/quote for Hawaiian Host’s 95th Anniversary?

Congratulations on 95 amazing years of making some great tasting chocolates. Looking forward to celebrating this accomplishment and many more!

What is your connection to Hawaiian Host, and what has it meant to you over the years?

The most recent connection to Hawaiian Host has been with Ed Schultz, talking charitable efforts, marketing ideas and much more.

All my life, it’s been my love for chocolate macadamia nut candies and gifts to fellow friends and family around the world!

Any personal experiences/fun memories of Hawaiian Host that you’d like to share?

There are many, but one of my favorite memories is sharing this amazing brand with all the people I have crossed paths with. No one ever said “NO” to a box of chocolates and all the other amazing treats Hawaiian Host makes. YUMMY! 999 Bishop Street, Suite 1250, Honolulu, HI 96813 (808) 544-8300 | wik.com Jonathan W.Y. Lai, Managing Partner

18 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

What is your personal favorite Hawaiian Host treat?

The simple box of chocolate macadamia nut candies – AlohaMacs® Milk Chocolate.

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By the Numbers A quick look at some of Hawaiian Host’s fun facts.

1 ...original milk chocolate recipe created by Mamoru Takitani, which is still used today.

250 million

2 3 6

miles high

...chocolate-covered macadamia produced by Hawaiian Host each year!

Hawaiian Host is currently sold in over

23 countries worldwide.

4.3

million pounds

...of macadamia kernels are used each year in Hawaiian Host products.

350 ...employees working at Hawaiian Host today.

Hawaiian Host’s 15 million boxes of products produced each year would create a stack tall enough to reach the International Space Station.

4.5

million pounds

...of chocolate per year go into making the company’s sweet treats.

he year Hawaiian Host’s most senior employee began their career at Hawaiian 1974 THost.

They make their 48th anniversary this November!

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 19

Hawaiian Host Timeline :

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1960

1927-2022

After purchasing Ellen Dye Candies, Takitani opens Hawaiian Host with six employees, making $800 in sales the first month.

BY M A R I SA H E U N G

Takitani enlists an art teacher friend to design a logo for Hawaiian Host—a tiki—which has since become one of the most widely recognized symbols in Hawai‘i.

1950s

1927

While working at his family’s business, a young Mamoru Takitani dreams of inventing a new candy sensation. He and wife Aiko begin blending different kinds of chocolates and dipping macadamias into the secret blend.

Ellen Dye Candies opens as a small candy shop in Honolulu. The company is the first confectioner to dip macadamia nuts into chocolate.

2008 2013 2015 Hawaiian Host acquires Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts.

AlohaMacs® Collection is launched! Hawaiian Host unveils its package redesign, including images of the new Hawaiian Host-ess, Kawehi Navarro, for the launch of its new product.

2018

Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann proclaims July 20 Chocolate Macadamia Nut Day. Hawaiian Host celebrates with games, prizes, live entertainment and free chocolate at Ala Moana Centerstage, and announces the grand prize winner of its 80th Anniversary Golden Ticket Giveaway.

Hawaiian Host becomes the world’s largest manufacturer of chocolate-covered macadamias, which are sold in more than 23 countries.

20 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

1965 Hawaiian Host incorporates.

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1970s Hawaiian Host introduces MacNut Crunch, its macadamia nut chocolates enhanced with the addition of crisp rice.

1993 1973

1983

The company expands to a 25,000-square-foot building in Honolulu.

Hawaiian Host introduces Maui Caramacs, a delicious taste sensation, by combining chocolate, macadamia nuts and creamy caramel.

The company expands into Asian markets, starting with Japan.

The Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation starts a legacy of awarding scholarships to outstanding students at every qualifying private and public high school throughout Hawai‘i.

1996 2002 Hawaiian Host introduces its new tagline: “Genuine.

Classic. Original. Since 1927.”

1999 Hawaiian Host unveils its website, providing a new opportunity to share “Hawai‘i’s Gift to the World.”

Hawaiian Host moves its corporate headquarters and production operations to a new 67,000-square-foot facility in Iwilei.

The facility features state-of-theart manufacturing machinery, more than doubling its production capacity to meet the growing demand for its treats.

2020 Hawaiian Host redesigns website and launches international shipping.

2022 Hawaiian Host celebrates its 95th Anniversary milestone with a limitededition gift box, using the signature milk chocolate recipe from Mamoru Takitani with two whole macadamia nuts.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 21

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Hawai‘i’s Gift to the World is Going Green With great success comes great responsibility.

BY L E N N I E O M A L Z A

B

eing more environmentally conscious is something Hawaiian Host strives toward every day. Putting sustainability at the forefront of the business helps the company make moves toward keeping its purpose of making the Islands’ future flourish.

The macadamia processing plant in Kea‘au has been creating some of its own energy for years. By cleanly burning waste products such as discarded macadamia shells and channeling the steam generated by the factory’s nut-drying tanks, the renewable biofuel covers more than half of the facility’s electric needs, reducing the company’s dependance on fossil fuel. Solar panels were installed in early 2022, and the installation will directly power 85% of the processing plant in Kea‘au, Hawai‘i with solar energy. The addition complements existing clean energy sources at the facility, which will now be powered by 100% renewables.

The Kona facility has also been utilizing solar energy since 2008. With nearly 300 panels powering both the main building as well as the housing station, there is typically more than enough energy flowing through the two Hawaiian Host buildings most months. “The solar system here is actually feeding back to Hawai‘i Electric Light Company,” says supervisor Alida Blanco. “Whatever we don’t use gets fed back, and the company gets credit for it.”

But changes aren’t only oc-

22 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

The macadamia processing plant in Kea‘au has been creating some of its own energy for years.

curring in Kea‘au and Kona. All of Hawaiian Host is switching over to carbon-neutral packaging from Advance Paper Box/Packaging Spectrum, a company that has been verified as Carbon Neutral, meaning that whatever CO2e emissions it is not able to reduce through its own internal measures is offset by an equivalent amount of CO2e reductions elsewhere. The labels on its packaging provide a visual cue, letting customers know that the fiber used to produce it has come from an environmentally responsible source.

In addition to producing eco-friendly products, Advance Paper Box/Packaging Spectrum makes it a point to recycle paperboard waste in the most responsible way possible. A comprehensive waste recycling system at the folding plant increases recycling collection efforts and dramatically reduces the amount of paper waste going into landfills. Hawaiian Host is proud to work with such an earth-conscious company and looks forward to continuing its 40 plus year partnership for many more years to come.

At company headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaiian Host is going one step further, working toward being completely paper-free. Forgoing individual printers, converting to a digital payroll system, and having 90 percent of customers on paperless billing will reduce paper consumption considerably. The Honolulu kitchen and breakroom is also stocked with reusable plates and utensils, and a still-and-sparkling water dispenser will replace single-use bottled water and water delivery services.

Solar panel installations, packaging revamps, and eco-friendly office amenities are just the start of Hawaiian Host’s journey toward being a more sustainable company, living with aloha while shrinking its carbon footprint every step of the way.

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The completion of the 1.2 MW solar farm and 500 kW battery storage system for the macadamia processing plant in Kea‘au.

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 23

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HAWAIIAN HOST IS PROUD TO HAVE DONATED TO THE FOLLOWING LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MANY MORE!

24 HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022

HAWAIIAN HOST 95 YEARS October 2022 25

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HAWAIIANHOST.COM

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When it comes to momentous steps in life, an important and impactful one happens fairly early along life’s journey—the start of one’s college career. All the studying, all the homework and tests, it has all led you to this celebratory moment in time! But as exciting as your pursuit of a higher education can sound, there may be times when you find yourself facing difficult questions, especially those that revolve around personal finances and money.

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We hope this year’s College Guide inspires you to do great things for your future! With thoughtful planning, we have no doubt you will succeed in life, both on and off-campus. Congratulations on your many achievements past, present, and in the future.

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Financial Wellness Experts at HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union offer some tips as you send your child to college.

I F C O L L E G E I S I N YO U R C H I L D ’ S F U T U R E ,

P L A N N I N G I S K E Y. And, after the past three years of a pandemic in which many of us lost jobs or experienced unexpected financial setbacks, it’s especially important for you to make smart money choices. Here’s what the experts at HawaiiUSA FCU have to say about starting off on the right financial foot, for your child’s education and your family’s financial well-being.

BY MARIA KANAI

S I T D O W N A N D TA L K F I N A N C E S A S A N ‘ O H A N A

It’s never too late to have a transparent conversation about finances with your children. Involving them, even at a young age, makes it a team effort. Talk about basic financial literacy skills and be open about your general financial picture, as this will guide their day-to-day living when they go to college.

Make sure your children understand how credit cards work—if that’s a tool your family would like to utilize—and why it’s important to have a good credit score. If they’re planning to work through college to help with expenses, talk about the differences between a checking and savings account and how to use them. Follow up with a quick visit to HawaiiUSA FCU to open up accounts for your children.

Your conversation with keiki should focus on setting financial priorities for when they actually start college. You can do this by creating a college-life budget together with your kids. A financial coach at HawaiiUSA FCU can help with that. Creating weekly meal plans and researching student discounts are good places to start. Other money-saving ideas include carpooling, using the bus instead of driving a car and borrowing books from the library instead of buying from the college bookstore. Also, splitting family memberships for things like Costco, Disney Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime can help as well.

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SP E C IAL P R OMOTION AL SE C TION

K E E P T R AC K O F YO U R M O N E Y

You’ll need to keep track of your kids’ spending to make sure they’re meeting their monthly budgets. HawaiiUSA FCU and other financial institutions have digital banking, which gives real-time updates on your accounts, including your debit and credit cards. And the HawaiiUSA mobile app connects to other bank and credit card accounts so you can see all of your finances in one place.

RESEARCH COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS

This should be an obvious step. The coronavirus rescue package that passed in 2020 included emergency relief for higher education to help ensure learning continues during the pandemic. By March 11, 2021, $39.6 billion had been distributed. You can stay up to date by visiting www2.ed.gov.

Another option to look into is HawaiiUSA FCU’s $2,000 college scholarship.

You’ll need to be a primary HawaiiUSA member for at least 12 consecutive months prior to applying, be in good standing, and be enrolled as a full-time student during the

upcoming academic school year. Prior recipients of the scholarship can reapply. The application period is from December through February.

To increase your child’s chances of earning college scholarships, make sure they have a professional online presence as colleges may look them up online. Start early and get involved with the community, apply for scholarships that are only available to local students rather than the whole country, and don’t ignore scholarships with smaller financial awards as they often have smaller pools of applicants.

E X P L O R E A LT E R N AT E O P T I O N S

Even after federal assistance, scholarships and grants, college tuition can still be a lot to take on. If you’re an eligible homeowner, opening a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, can be an option to help with tuition and other college-related expenses. Here’s how it works: With a HELOC, you can borrow against the equity in your home. The home serves as collateral for the loan and approved borrowers can withdraw funds from a predetermined credit line to pay for expenses like college tuition, books and more.

Pros of a HELOC include lower interest rates, repayment on the amount borrowed (not the entire credit line at once), a onetime application and a manageable payment schedule.

PA R T N E R W I T H YO U R LO CA L BA N K

Let’s face it—it’s easy to worry when you’re a parent, especially if your child is moving away from Hawai‘i for college. Using a trusted local institution like HawaiiUSA FCU allows you to continue your credit union membership on the mainland through shared branching, other credit union branches, ATMs and co-op ATMs.

FINANCIAL CHECKLIST FO R FA M I L I E S 1 Start a joint bank account with your child. If you’re still supporting your keiki financially, it’s a good idea to have a joint account so you can deposit money easily and monitor spending activity and balances.

2 Get a debit card. This way, your child will have convenient access to his or her checking account and can utilize tools like spending alerts and budgets.

3 Set up digital banking.

Keeping a budget requires tracking and managing your money.

With digital banking, you can get online statements, easily transfer money and keep a close eye on your child’s spending. Your child can also deposit checks online (think birthday money, part-time work or graduation checks) and utilize security features such as blocking and reporting a card if it’s lost or stolen.

4 Load your children’s debit cards to payment apps. Make it easier for them to shop at the college bookstore, eat at the cafeteria or hail a ride via a mobile wallet.

5 Consider a credit card. If you feel your kids are ready and have a good grasp of how finances work, you can get them each a credit card to start building their own credit now.

6 Leverage available resources to help your child monitor and understand the factors that impact their credit score, such as My Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney® and available as part of HawaiiUSA’s digital banking and mobile banking app.

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A Local Kid’s Guide to Surviving College

BY CASSIDY KEOLA, SHINAE LEE, E V E H U D D L E S T O N A N D E M I LY S M I T H

SCHEDULING CLASSES 1 Meet with your adviser every semester. The saying “five to graduate” is real.

Before choosing your classes, make sure that you meet with your adviser so they can help you build a schedule that will allow you to graduate within four years.

4 Remember to check not just the times, but also locations. If you have back-toback classes across campus from each other, will you make it? And remember, Hawai‘i kid, if snow is involved, it could take you longer to get there.

2 Before signing up for classes, check ratemyprofessors.com. Professors can often make or break a class and your GPA, so it is helpful to see what previous students have had to say.

5 Interested in studying abroad? It might be difficult to find classes that meet your major requirements abroad, so save some of your core requirements to take abroad instead. It might be best to study abroad in your sophomore year so that you get acquainted with college life before switching to another new campus.

3 Take your general education courses first. It is not uncommon for students to change majors throughout college. However, the last thing you want to do is lose money while doing that. To give yourself time to figure out what you are passionate about, fulfill your general education requirements first.

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Getting Around • Research public transportation. Bus or metro passes are often included in a university’s student fees.

• Split rides with friends.

Riding by yourself in an Uber or Lyft can be expensive and sometimes sketchy, so travel in groups.

• Search areas near your school for free parking.

Parking on campus might be convenient, but it can be costly, so if you’re commuting from far away, drive to areas like mall parking lots or safe neighborhoods nearby. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to go the rest of the way.

• Depending on the size of your school, you may want to invest in a bike or skateboard to shave off minutes when getting from one class to the next.

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Tips to stay on top of academics, money and more.

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• Search the school’s job database. Campus jobs usually hire for the next year or semester, so more crop up near the end of term.

• Check your emails regularly. Your school will send you emails regarding exclusive internship and job opportunities, so make sure to check them and apply to all your desired positions.

• Look for “help wanted” signs on and off campus. Go on a walk downtown and keep your eye out around campus. Some jobs might not be posted online.

• Walk into places where you want to work and ask if they’re hiring. Bring your résumé and leave it with them in case of an opening.

• If all else fails, the dining hall is usually an easy place to get hired as a student.

GEARING UP

BUYING BOOKS

1 If you’re heading someplace cold, it’s best to buy winter jackets there to save money and space in your suitcase. Plus you can see what the others kids are wearing.

4 If you’re lucky you’ll get a twin XL in your dorm, but most likely you’ll be stuck with a twin bed.

Either way, college dorm beds are not comfortable. A mattress pad, however, is an easy fix.

2 In many places, it will get dark around 4 p.m. during the winter.

So consider buying a sun lamp to fight those dark afternoons and seasonal depression.

5 Buy an extension cord. Your dorm will most likely be small with one outlet.

3 Be the cool kid from Hawai‘i with all the ‘ono Hawai‘i snacks—Spam, furikake popcorn, li hing mui sour belts—and a rice cooker. Spread da aloha.

Depending on your dorm regulations, consider purchasing a microwave and air fryer. This way you can save money by making your own food and ditch the unhealthy options of eating out.

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Money Tips Download an app such as Venmo or Cash App. Every time you go out to eat with friends, come across a campus fundraiser or just need to pay your roommate for toilet paper, various apps and some banks let you do it instantly, so you can request and send money from a bank account. Also, Unidays is a website that allows college students to get exclusive discounts on subscriptions, clothes, technology and more. Be sure to sign up with your college email to save some coin. myunidays.com

• Don’t go to the campus bookstore first! While it’ll be your No. 1 resource for school swag, the books are almost always pricier there.

• To clarify what books will be used in your class, contact your professor. Email them before the class starts so you have enough time for your books to come in.

• BookFinder.com is an incredible online resource—it compares prices of new and used books from more than 100,000 sellers, so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal.

• Buying used textbooks is cheaper; plus you may find useful notes to help you ace the test.

(Think of it as a free personal tutor.)

• Check Amazon for textbook rentals. Anyone with a school email address can start an Amazon Prime Student account for half the usual membership price, which comes with free two-day shipping and access to free movies and music. (Amazon also offers a sixmonth free trial.)

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Preparing for College in High School A student’s involvement sets the foundation for college acceptance—and beyond. Here’s how to build that foundation with strength and purpose.

BY KATHRYN DRURY WAGNER A N D E M I LY S M I T H

Students should seek out areas where they can take on leadership roles. “That doesn’t always mean being the president of a club or its founder,” says Prince.

“What events did you organize? If you’re just listing on your application that you were a member—what does that mean to an admissions officer? Define your role. Now, in ninth or 10th grade, there aren’t a lot of leadership roles but, if you stick with it, if you rise up to captain or co-captain in an athletic setting, or treasurer or president in a group; this shows the qualities colleges are seeking within their own school’s population.”

Schools can tell from a mile away when an applicant is trying to build a résumé out of nothing, grabbing onto 15 random activities. If, on the other hand, a student is involved with Model UN and student government and Girls Learn International, the school can see a pattern and a purpose.

According to Prince, students should use ninth and 10th grade for experimen-

N E W S PA P E R . C H I N E S E C L U B . VO L L E Y-

B A L L . Sign up for it all! Not so fast. It’s not

the number of activities students do in high school that counts, experts say. Think quality over quantity.

“And whatever you choose, do it consistently,” says Amy Prince, a school counselor at Southampton High School, in Southampton, New York. “It’s what you’re engaged with actively. Somebody might do 40 hours of community service, but was it 40 hours over one week during a church mission, and the other 51 weeks of the year they did nothing?” Compare that to a student who volunteers with, say, Best Buddies, helping people with developmental disabilities, once a week, all year.

“When students can demonstrate they have had consistent involvement and that they are leaders within the organizations, we get excited about their potential to contribute positively on our campus,” says Mark Cortez, director of Outreach and Recruitment at The Ohio State University. “This doesn’t have to just be school activities; we want students to think broadly about experiences like community opportunities and/or work experiences. They each add something a little different and that is what we consider.”

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PREPARING FOR COLLEGE IN HIGH SCHOOL

trying to figure out: What drives the student?” says Prince. “If you want to be pre-med, and haven’t done well in science or math, maybe that’s not a realistic goal. That’s a student who is going to change major.” Think about classes that are genuine passions, things that can extend into interests in college. Otherwise, Prince warns, “students become machines of cranking out grades and don’t find what resonates with them.”

S T R O N G E S S AY S

Most schools require students to submit supplemental essays with their application, which can be a way for college admission officers to decipher whether you will be a good fit at their university.

This is especially important now, as many schools are loosening their SAT requirements and taking a more holistic approach when reviewing applications. Recent graduates recommend focusing on telling the admissions officer about yourself, especially outside of academics.

FINISHING STRONG SENIOR YEAR

tation, to find out what they are most interested in, and then home in. Remember that “colleges and universities have seniors graduating and need to fill leadership roles or spark something new,” Prince points out. For an athletic program, they may need a new quarterback; for an orchestra, a new cellist.

“It’s not like they put an ad out: ‘Hey, we need a cellist,’ but it’s part of the thought process,” she says. “I think one of the reasons I got into the college I did, York College of Pennsylvania, was that I had been a DJ for a high school radio station and they had a radio station that needed a manager.”

CHOOSING COURSEWORK

Even though AP coursework is a great opportunity, again, think quality over quantity. Consider your strengths and your goals. For example, someone interested in engineering might not want to take AP literature, but, instead, explore an engineering program, even without an AP label attached to it. “Schools are

Students should avoid giving in to senioritis, or playing what Prince calls “a game of academic chicken.”

That’s when seniors try to find the line of how little effort they can put in. “It’s not a good game to play,” she says. “If you were a 90 student, you should stay a 90 student, even in senior year. Schools are still watching.” There is some wiggle room, of course.

For example, if a student is challenging himself or herself with AP physics, he or she might not get a 90, and schools will understand that.

Your senior year will also be the time when colleges see if your grades have shown consistent growth. This upward trend gives grace to those who might not have gotten the highest grades but have improved over time.

“We encourage students to stay in a foreign language, and recommend electives. It’s free in high school!” says Prince. “Electives cost a lot of money in college. Take advantage. A lot of the AP and honors-level kids haven’t gotten to take a lot of electives.”

Last, remember that being engaged doesn’t stop after college acceptance. “Once they get on campus we expect that students will be actively involved, as doing so contributes to their social and academic success,” says Cortez. “As students work to discover their passions in college, they are doing this with [other] students who are diverse in majors, experiences and backgrounds. This discovery stage leads to rich experiences where students can learn from those around them and, in most cases, benefit.”

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BY DIANE SEO

S AT S N O L O N G E R R E Q U I R E D

The biggest change in college admissions has been the rise of test-optional policies.

Once deemed mandatory, submitting SAT, ACT and other standardized test scores is now optional at more than 1,800 schools, including many of the country’s most prestigious universities, says Todd Fleming, director of college counseling at ‘Iolani School.

To be clear, it wasn’t the pandemic that instigated the change—it just sped up the timeline. Schools for years had been considering deemphasizing standardized testing, acknowledging its

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S T R AT E G I E S F O R C O L L E G E A D M I S S I O N H AV E S I G N I F I CA N T LY S H I F T E D S I N C E C OV I D - 1 9

R O C K E D T H E W O R L D . While schools still seek

out students with stellar academic credentials and glowing teacher recommendations, the pandemic pushed institutions across the country to scrap standardized testing requirements, roll out virtual campus tours and more.

As policies have changed, so have tactics for gaining admittance. We spoke with a local college counselor and one who works with students nationwide about the shifting landscape, seeking their insights and advice for today’s college-bound students and their families.

limitations in evaluating students and the inequity of some students being able to afford test prep courses while others could not.

Thus, when COVID-19 struck, and SATs and ACTs were canceled, colleges swiftly announced that students were no longer required to submit standardized test scores. The ability to opt out led to record numbers of applications at many selective schools—and lower acceptance rates. Suddenly, students who didn’t have test scores that met school averages were emboldened to apply.

Although some institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have announced that applicants once again will be required to submit SAT/ACT scores, many have gone the opposite route. None of the nine University of California campuses, for instance, will consider SAT and ACT scores in admissions or scholarship decisions. Other schools are following suit.

In deciding whether to submit standardized test scores to places where they are optional, students should evaluate their individual situations, counselors say.

“If a student has access to take a test, then they should do so. And if they do well, they should submit their scores because it’s another metric, another measure of their academic preparation for college,” says Connie Livingston, a former admissions

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Having an informed, personalized strategy is critical for college admission, especially since the pandemic.

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GETTING INTO COLLEGE

officer at Brown University who now serves as a counselor at the California-based college consultancy Empowerly. “As a former admissions officer, in some instances, I did value being able to see those test results, particularly for STEM fields. If I saw high math scores and the student was applying to an engineering program, for example, that was valuable and confirmed their preparedness.”

Fleming agrees, saying ‘Iolani’s counselors still strongly encourage students to prepare for and to take standardized tests. “The beauty of test-optional is that students can look at a school and decide whether or not to submit their scores,” he says.

“They can ask themselves, ‘Do these scores represent me well? And do I believe they will assist me in my application to this particular college?’”

M O R E F I N A N C I A L C O N S I D E R AT I O N S

Along with changing admission requirements, students and their families have been wrestling with more financial considerations as college costs rise and economic uncertainties grow.

“I think students and families are now considering more variables than they have in the past,” Fleming says. “They might be looking more now at not just what they’re going to be asked to pay, but how much they would be comfortable paying. It’s always been a huge issue for most families in the United States, but discussions of paying for college are probably more common than they used to be.”

Fleming says another change he’s noticed is that selective schools—but perhaps not the most selective ones—are less predictable in terms of how they distribute merit aid. “We’re seeing merit packages that we wouldn’t have necessarily expected in the past,” he says. “It’s a college’s acknowledgment that this is a great student. We’d love to have them on our campus, and we’re willing to have this family at a lower price point to do that.”

Upcoming Dates October 1 FAFSA forms become available. The online FAFSA application must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2023. However, many colleges will require this earlier.

Complete the CSS Profile to find more scholarship options.

November Hawai‘i Community Foundation opens its scholarship application process. Check hawaiicommunity foundation.org for updated deadlines.

February/March The deadline for financial aid applications at most colleges.

March/April Many colleges send out acceptance letters during this month.

May 1 Many colleges require that you reply with your intent to enroll by this date.

M O R E S T U D E N T S A R E A P P LY I N G E A R LY

Another trend in college admissions, although not necessarily driven by the pandemic, is that more students are taking advantage of early decision and early action programs because acceptance rates are often higher, Livingston says.

There’s an important distinction to make, however, between early decision and early action. While early decision is a binding agreement—you must attend if you’re admitted—students applying through early action can choose other schools.

“You should only apply early decision if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is your top choice school,” Livingston says. “I also caution students where finances could be an issue, because when you receive your early decision admission, you will likely receive your financial aid package, and 100% of your needs may not be met.

Not all families are able to take that financial risk.”

Another thing to note for early applicants is that because of the early deadlines—typically in November—admissions officers likely will analyze them through their junior years instead of their senior years.

RIS E O F V IRT UA L CA M PU S TO URS

During the height of the pandemic, with institutions veering to remote learning and campuses shutting down, college tours came to a halt. Schools across the nation began offering more virtual tours of their facilities and programs. “It’s a

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Crunching the Numbers at UH M noa (2022–2023 School Year)

$11,304

$33,336

$16,956

$16,956

In-state tuition (includes Native Hawaiian nonresidents, active duty military and other exemptions)

Nonresident tuition

Western Undergraduate Exchange rate

Pacific Island Exemption rate

very positive thing that has come out of the pandemic that so many more schools have shored up their online resources for students,” Livingston says. “Before, you had the traditional in-person campus visit, which isn’t accessible for all students.

Now, there are either live or recorded information sessions along with live Q&As and chats with current undergraduate students. Students can now go to college websites and take advantage of virtual online opportunities that can give them a thorough idea of what their life and

educational experience would be like.”

For Hawai‘i students, the convenience of the virtual tour is clear.

“Not all of our families or students are able to travel and visit colleges,” Fleming says. “That’s a stark contrast to kids going to high school in the Northeast where they can hop in the car and visit five or 10 different selective colleges within a week.

So when colleges were forced to offer more online, that allowed our students to avail themselves to additional resources that didn’t exist prior to the pandemic. There’s no replacement for actually being on campus, but it did help.”

COLLEGE JOURNEYS

“Bring It On!” TOM NITAO | Sophomore, Rice University

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OM NITAO WAS IN THE MIDST OF HIS JUNIOR YEAR AT PUNAHOU WHEN COVID-19 STRUCK,

dramatically disrupting his and other students’ lives.

With pandemic restrictions still in place, the 19-year-old began his senior year that fall, assuming the helm as class president.

It was hardly a typical year, with countless school activities and traditions revamped or canceled. Applying to college also was starkly different. For one thing, SATs and ACTs were now optional at schools across the country.

But as he explained in his commencement speech, he and his classmates rose above the challenges. “In a year that was defined by distance and sacrifice, only an

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unshakeable class could end it in arms together,” he told his classmates. “And while most people would end it here by saying something like, ‘Get ready for us, world,’ I’ve got a new message: ‘Bring it on.’”

When it came to selecting a college, Nitao focused on what was important to him. “I’m always open to trying new things,” he says. So he was comfortable with venturing far from home, even to parts of the country that Hawai‘i college-bound students typically haven’t flocked to. And since middle school, he’s had his sights set on business.

(His dream job is to become a general manager in the NFL.) While researching competitive universities with prestigious business programs, he learned about Rice University in Houston and its equally strong campus culture. He appreciated that students took on leadership roles in multiple ways, and he was impressed with how the school administration navigated through the pandemic, disseminating information in a transparent way and adopting restrictions to protect students. (With high-risk family members, staying safe during COVID is a priority for Nitao.)

After enrolling at Rice in the fall of 2021, he, like many other college students, attended hybrid classes his first year. It wasn’t ideal, but again, he was thankful that Rice was taking pandemic precautions.

Nitao advises students just starting the college application process to do their research. “Google the college you are interested in and find the student leadership,” he says.

“This is a simple yet effective way to get the perspective of students at your desired school.” —Emily Smith

photo and illustration: courtesy of tom nitao, getty images

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Hawaiʻi Pacific University is the Top Choice for Students.

Aloha, Pono and Kuleana are the values of Hawaiʻi Pacific University.

We prepare graduates to live, work and learn as members of a global community.

Our innovative programs empower students to fulfill the growing needs of a changing world.

With a low student-faculty-ratio, we offer students individualized attention and expert faculty. Our students develop critical skills, including problem-solving, communication, and team-building, to prepare them as leaders now and well into the future.

• *Guaranteed Scholarship and Admission Program for Hawaiʻi high school Class of 2023.

• The only Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Hawaiʻi (launched in the 2022-23 academic year).

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• HPU’s Military Campus Programs support the Armed Services and Veterans Communities.

• Graduates who make positive impacts in their workplaces and communities.

• Classes located at Downtown Honolulu, Hawaii Loa, and at the Oceanic Institute and Center for Marine Debris Research in Makapuʻu.

• Global experiences through more than 400 approved Study Abroad options in more than 70 different countries.

* Qualifications needed.

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T E L L YO U R S TO RY

The normal flow of schooling changed for many students during the pandemic. Remote learning became the norm, grading systems shifted, and sports and other extracurricular activities were canceled or postponed. Admissions officers are fully aware of this and want students in their personal essays to indicate how they’ve been affected by the changes and how they’ve adjusted.

Fleming says the student essay has always been a critical component of a college application, but it’s clear now that a person’s story should not be solely defined by their activities. “A person’s story could encompass something from their own history, from their family, from something more than a rehashing of their activities list,”

he says. “The pandemic perhaps forced students to see that they need to show colleges more of who they are and what makes them tick. The essay has always been the vehicle for that, and students now recognize that their essay isn’t just an activities listing, but a chance to reveal who they are.”

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College Disrupted JOEY COOTEY Senior, Portland State University

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OLLEGE HAS BEEN VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT JOEY COOTEY EXPECTED after arriving

at Portland State University in the fall of 2019.

In March 2020, the Hawai‘i Island native, like college students around the globe, returned home because of the pandemic.

The 21-year-old spent the rest of her freshman year and her entire sophomore year attending classes virtually from her Waimea home, a setup she describes as isolating and difficult. “It was really confusing at first. I had just gotten used to all my classes, going to school in person and collaborating with my classmates,” says Cootey, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools on Hawai‘i Island. “They tried their best with creating breakout rooms on Zoom, but it’s not the same as sitting next to classmates and doing projects together. COVID totally changed the way I did college.”

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Cootey returned to Portland State for her junior year, and although half of her classes were still online, she’s grateful for even the limited face-to-face contact with students and professors. “It’s definitely nice to sit in a classroom and see my professor and talk to my classmates,” she says. “I personally prefer in-person school.”

Majoring in public health, she is looking to become a physician’s assistant and eventually return to Hawai‘i to work in an underserved rural area.

Her tip for high school students as they consider colleges: Make sure you pick a place where you can do things outside of school. She chose Portland because she loves both city life and the outdoors. “Base your college choices on passions in and out of school,” she says.

Cootey is also glad she considered her family’s finances when she applied to college. One of the main reasons she chose Portland State was because of the lower tuition compared to larger universities. She said she’s paying about half of what she would have paid at other schools she had been considering.

And finally, she urges applicants to stay organized during the process. “Start writing essays early, have a calendar with all the deadlines and keep a folder with all your materials,” she says. —Diane Seo

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DON’T FOCUS ON RANKINGS

Overall, Livingston advises college applicants and their families to not be consumed by rankings. Schools should be selected based on how good a fit they are for them. “What the rankings do is establish prestige, and students and families want to be associated with prestige,” she says.

“It’s hard to change that mindset, but I try to explain to students that this is going to be your home for the next four years, your community. Dig deep into what a particular college community can offer you, and what you can offer them.”

There are about 4,000 colleges in the United States, and the vast majority offer excellent educational and social extracurricular opportunities, she adds.

“It’s incredibly important for students to build a balanced college list,” she says. “You want to have some safety schools, target schools, reach schools,

and maybe even a few of those high reaches, like the top 10 schools. But it’s important that every school on your list is one that you would be happy to attend, where you can see yourself thriving and excelling. Safety schools should not just be a place to go if you don’t get in anywhere else. You should be excited to attend them too.”

Fleming said his main advice to students is to think critically about what experiences they’re hoping to get from college, and to identify that in a way that’s not contingent on what others want or what they’ve heard but on what school will fit them best.

“We ultimately want them to find a place where they will be challenged, but they’ll also be successful,” he says. “We want them to be comfortable, but not too comfortable. We want them to grow. It’s the next four years of their life that can create amazing opportunities for them for the rest of their life.”

YO U

COLLEGE JOURNEYS

Missed Connections ANGIE LANCASTER Junior, University of Hawai‘i at M noa

N

OW HALFWAY THROUGH COLLEGE, Angie Lancaster can’t help but feel the pandemic has denied her and her classmates the full college experience. After graduating from Mililani High School in May 2020 (in a drive-thru graduation ceremony), she decided to attend college at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Even prior to the pandemic, the 19-year-old chose to continue her schooling in Hawai‘i to save money and be close to her family.

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T T IS! H

As the owner of Fairypotz, a small ceramics and crochet business on Depop and Instagram, Lancaster was drawn to UH’s strong business program, which she hopes will help her expand her business. Ultimately, she’s hoping for a career in real estate.

Like with many other students, the pandemic was rough on Lancaster, especially on the social front. A social butterfly, she had been greatly looking forward to meeting new people at college. But with COVID cases still rampant during her first year, she decided to live at home instead of moving into a dorm. She believes attending classes online also prevented her from making meaningful connections.

Lancaster eventually moved into a dorm during her sophomore year and started attending at least some in-person classes, paving the way for her to make new friends.

Now, she says she’s trying to live in the moment and remain positive about her future, but that COVID and the current state of the economy have taken a toll. “I am hopeful that by the time I graduate within two years, there will be more jobs available, and the market will be better,” she says. —Emily Smith

photo and illustration: courtesy of angie lancaster, getty images

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photo and illustration: courtesy of angie lancaster, getty images

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17

TIMELINE TO SUCCESS

Timeline to Success Finding and getting accepted to the right college or university is actually a four-year process. That may sound daunting, but take each step one at a time and stay organized, and you’ll be fine. Here’s how to manage the road to college admission:

GR A DE

Enroll in challenging classes.

Keep grades up.

Get involved in extracurricular activities.

Explore potential career paths.

Set up a college savings plan.

Develop good timemanagement skills.

10th GR A D E

Try some AP classes.

Take a practice Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT). Juniors qualify to compete for the National Merit Scholarship Program, but younger students can take it for practice. collegeboard.org/ psat-nmsqt Consider volunteering during the summer.

Visit campuses while traveling, just to get a sense of what type of college appeals to you. Small? Big? Public?

Private?

In October, take the PSAT/NMSQT (this year, it’s Oct. 12, 15 and 25).

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11th

12th

Sign up to take the ACT or SAT. Colleges usually accept either one, but check with where you’re interested. Many students will take the test once as a junior and again as a senior. Is it worth taking it twice?

According to ACT, 57% of 2015 graduates increased their Composite score on the retest.

In the fall, repeat the ACT/SAT tests. Send in scores.

GRADE

Visit campuses if possible.

Attend college fairs and network with the college representatives.

GRADE

Gather teacher and other personal recommendations.

Send thank yous afterward!

Narrow down the list, but have at least four to eight schools to apply to.

Draft your essay. Leave enough time for at least two people to read it and comment.

Check all due dates at the colleges you want to attend; they vary by institution and you don’t want to miss anything.

illustrations: getty images

9th

Wherever you want to go, we can help you get there.

At the University of Hawai‘i at M -anoa, we give you the tools to follow your dreams with a choice of 99 different majors, 87 graduate majors, 52 doctoral degrees, and 5 first professional degrees. Begin your journey with us!

For undergraduate admissions, visit manoa.hawaii.edu/admissions For graduate admissions, visit manoa.hawaii.edu/graduate

MANOA.HAWAII.EDU

#TakeMeToManoa

PHOTO CREDIT: JOSE MAGNO The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.

2023 COLLEGE GUIDE

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19

Standardized Tests The nationally administered SAT tests reading, writing and math and is used to test how ready a student is for college. SAT Subject Tests and the optional SAT Essay are no longer offered by College Board. For more, go to sat.collegeboard.org/home.

Registration deadlines are typically a month ahead of the test, with late registration a week or two before the test. SAT dates this year are

ACT

as follows: Oct. 1, Nov. 5, Dec. 3, March 11, May 6, June 3. satsuite. collegeboard.org/sat/registration/ dates-deadlines

DO bring a current photo ID issued by a city/state/ federal government agency or the high school, as well as printed test ticket and approved calculator.

If you have been tested for dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or believe you may qualify for accommodations such as extra time, visit accommodations. collegeboard.org to learn more.

DON’T bring a cell phone, smart watch or even a fitness tracker to an SAT test; they are prohibited. ACT test sites allow phones if they are turned off and placed out of reach.

The ACT is a national college admissions exam that includes English, math, reading and science questions. The ACT Writing Test includes a 40-minute essay, which is required by some colleges and not others. In Hawai‘i, the state picks up the cost of taking the ACT for all public school juniors. To register, visit act.org.

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Hawai‘i | Honolulu | Kapi‘olani | Kaua‘i 20

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| Leeward | Maui | Windward

photo and illustrations: getty images; opposite page: courtesy of university of hawai‘i mānoa, getty images

TIMELINE TO SUCCESS

TIMELINE TO SUCCESS

Upcoming ACT Test Dates October 22

Register by September 16; late registration until September 30

December 10 Register by November 4

February 11

Register by January 6

April 15

Register by March 10

June 10

Register by May 5

July 15

Use a site like myscholly.com to sniff out scholarship opportunities.

Scholly requires a subscription, ranging from $4.99/month to $34.99/year.

Register by June 16

KAPOLEI, HAWAI‘I

GATEWAY TO YOUR FUTURE Hawai‘i Tokai International College is an accredited two-year college in Kapolei that offers an internationally oriented liberal arts education. Students can meet new people, broaden their horizons, and discover new pathways to peace. After earning an A.A. degree, many graduates successfully transfer to baccalaureate colleges and universities in the U.S. and Japan.

9 1 - 9 7 1 F A R R I N G T O N H I G H WAY • K A P O L E I , H I 9 6 7 0 7 • A D M I S S I O N S @ T O K A I . E D U • H T I C . E D U

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STUDENT TO STUDENT

Advice from a Recent College Grad How to set yourself up for success.

BY E M I LY S M I T H

L AU D E F R O M T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F H AWA I ‘ I AT M Ā N OA . I enjoyed the comfort of being

a student, but I’m excited for my future because I know I worked hard. I got good grades, took advantage of internship opportunities, and made connections with professors that ended up easing my emotions and even helped me finish college early, in just three years. Post-graduation life is going well too: I’m interning full-time with HONOLULU Magazine and am set to attend the University of Southern California to get my master’s degree in communication management. Here are some steps I took in college that can help lower the stress of graduating into the real world.

Look out for internship opportunities. Let’s face it, what makes college priceless is not necessarily the education, but the opportunities that it presents. I was amazed to see how many companies would ask UH to blast their internship posts to students. With how challenging it is to get a job, taking advantage of internship opportunities is a great way to give yourself some leverage.

I Zoomed into my first internship with a public relations company. My palms were sweaty, not knowing what to expect. My goal was to add a bullet point to my résumé. On the first day I was given the responsibility of creating graphics, handling certain posts and drafting captions for social media. And I soon realized that internships are about more than just building a résumé. They’re about building skills.

Get to know your professors. Shy and timid before college, I was the student who would walk with my head down and sit at the back of the class.

This mental wall cost me the connections I could

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have made with my professors during my freshman year. However, in my sophomore year I realized that I would inevitably need an academic recommendation letter. In English class, we were learning about Associated Press style, and I had a lot of questions. I emailed my professor multiple times, and hopped onto Zoom calls with her, too. Through this, she got a sense of who I am and my work ethic.

A year later, I started applying to graduate schools, and she was more than willing to write my recommendation letter, which helped me get accepted to all the universities I applied for.

Take notes on a laptop during lectures. This seems like a no-brainer; however, you would be surprised at how many students sit at the back of the classroom on their phones or chatting with their friends. Taking notes will help you ace that test and keep your grades up. In my first semester of college I took an American Studies class, which consisted of 1 ½-hour lectures. Originally, I brought my trusty colored pens and notebook to take color-coordinated notes. But after the first 30 minutes, my hands were in excruciating pain from trying to keep up with the professor’s slideshow.

I switched over to my computer. It was easier to keep up that way, and painless as well. By the time finals rolled around, I had about 50 pages of notes that I could study from, which ended up paying off on my final exam.

College is what you make of it. If you put in the work, you will get results, and if you do not, you might lose sight of what you are really there for.

Anxiety and uncertainty are unavoidable, but you can take steps to ease your angst and ensure success. Take it from me, a recent graduate. And make the best out of every opportunity.

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photo and illustrations: courtesy of emily smith, getty images

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N M AY 2 0 2 2 , I G R A D UAT E D S U M M A C U M

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ono

OCT

Food and Drink in Hawai‘i

2022

I N C A S E Y O U M I S S E D I T P.1 0 7

BY MARTHA CHENG | PHOTOS BY AARON K . YOSHINO

BARS

Worth the Dive I set out to eat at Honolulu’s dive bars, which offer better food than other dives around the country.

But I found something else.

The green beans deluxe at Shinsho Tei

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‘ono | BARS

I

WAS LO O K I N G FO R S O M E T H I N G AS I WA N D E R E D be-

tween warehouses where it smelled like something had died. As I ate kalbi in a pink-fluorescent lit booth wondering if I was in a hostess bar. As I decided between the smoking or karaoke room while the server redirected a group of men to the strip club next door. As I listened to everyone from teenagers to grandmas and a Hawai‘i Supreme Court justice belt out karaoke in Chinese, Japanese and English.

At first, I thought I was looking for food. Maybe a budae chigae and soondae at Café Princess Pig, a Korean bar hidden on the ground floor of an office building. Or a lup cheong and cured duck clay pot rice and corn riblets at Red Café, where bathroom signs admonish in Chinese not to squat on the toilets. Or fried chicken and a kim chee pancake at Café Duck Butt, the interior somewhat spiffed up and shochu girl posters gone, but the outside as sketchy as ever—Kaka‘ako gentrification be damned.

I was looking for the best food in Hawai‘i’s dive bars because I worried that we might be losing what I love here—how well you can eat in the diviest, most unpretentious places. V Lounge, Top of the Hill and Home Bar and Grill are gone. The original Side Street Inn, once the vanguard of craveable dive — Mary Ann Yeung bar food, recently underwent renovations and now looks like a generic sports bar. Nostalgia grips Hawai‘i more tightly than in other places I’ve lived, but is it possible that even here, it’s losing to rising costs and changing tastes?

In the end, I did find amazing food. But I also found what it really is that makes me love our dive bars. And it isn’t just the food.

Escargot and fried chicken at 8 Fat Fat 8

“You can meet people in any job, but it’s the range here—it’s not just blue collar, it’s not just white collar.”

8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille I’D NEVER NOTICED THE ESCARGOT at 8 Fat Fat 8 before. Maybe I’d just

gotten stuck in what I always order—what everyone always orders—the Fat Fat Chicken, half a bird freed from heavy breading and fried intact, resulting in a parchment-thin brittle skin, and served with a side dish of salt and pepper. And the pork chops, fried and tossed with plenty of garlic and green onion, the salt and bite of garlic tamed with beer or whiskey sodas with $4 shots of Jack Daniels on special. But the escargot? It’s in the “Pupus from the Sea (and Shell)” section of the menu—and I’d overlooked it for years.

Owner Mary Ann Yeung says it’s been on the menu since her dad and a few friends opened 8 Fat Fat 8 in 1986 (or sometime around then). He brought the idea over from the Hibiscus Club on Ward, where he used to bartend.

It’s as unfussy an escargot as you can get: shell-less snails tumbled out of a can, sautéed with butter and garlic and something that tastes like Maggi seasoning, but which Yeung says is a secret. It’s served with toasted white

102 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

bread to mop up all the savory juices.

Yeung’s parents emigrated from Guangdong, China, and worked in Honolulu hotels, restaurants and bars before opening 8 Fat Fat 8, which explains the blend of local Chinese and Chinese food here—from the only-in-Hawai‘i cake noodles and gau gee to Cantonese-style fried chicken and stirfried romaine lettuce. Bars are hardly destinations for vegetables, though this place might be an exception, the lettuce softening to embrace the garlic while still retaining its fresh crunch. But why a bar? A dark dive bar at that, with darts and karaoke and booths patched up with painter’s tape? That, she doesn’t know. She didn’t expect to be here— in 2000, she was teaching English in Japan;

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‘ono | BARS

8 Fat Fat 8 owner Mary Ann Yeung

she came back to help her mom after her dad passed away. Twenty years later, she’s still here.

Yeung doesn’t drink. “I have the Asian sickness” and “I’m not much of a people person, but meeting a lot of great people is the best part,” of 8 Fat Fat 8, she says. “You can meet people in any job, but it’s the range here—it’s not just blue collar, it’s not just white collar.” Bernadette Hernandez, Bruno Mars’ mom, used to bartend at 8 Fat Fat 8—“being from a family of singers, she really encouraged the karaoke,” Yeung remembers, and one of her regulars, Kevin “Boolly” Watanabe, came because of her. Now, long after Hernandez stopped working at the bar, he still returns a few nights a week to sing after he gets off work at Costco’s tire shop.

Another regular, an alcohol rep, is at the bar when I come to talk to Yeung.

He’s trying to convince her to get rid of the booths—most bars and restaurants have replaced them with high tops for more seating capacity and open space, he says. I’m about to say that the booths are part of what I love about 8 Fat Fat 8, fulfilling my paradoxical desire to be alone, among people, when Yeung says, “I can see his point of view, but that’s kind of the identity—the booths. It’s what makes it more homey.”

I realized that’s what I love about dives: their resistance to change. Most items on the menu have been there for more than a decade. Not that Yeung won’t try some new things. She’s brightened the space (slightly) and tests out new items from distributors, like fried fish “pillows” that resemble chicken

104 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

nuggets but taste like fish clouds in a crackly salty sweet shell, and bite size jin dui and yuzu cheesecake—my favorite dive bar desserts, even if they’re brought in frozen. But for the most part, Yeung wants 8 Fat Fat 8 to feel and taste the way it always has. It’s a bulwark against a world of constant striving and pressure to change, to optimize, to disrupt, to keep up. 8 Fat Fat 8 provides the singular solace of dive bars, that this is enough. That you, right here, right now, are enough.

1327 S. BERETANIA ST., 8FATFAT8HAWAII.COM, (808) 596-2779, @EIGHTFAT

The family behind Shinsho Tei (from left): Guy Soares, Jerry Galmiche, Helen Galmiche, Gina (Galmiche) Kakalia, John Galmiche

Shinsho Tei WHAT KIND OF DIVE BAR has green beans

for the first three items on the menu? Or the better question: What kind of dive bar has green beans good enough to order every time? One that stir-fries them with Spam, lup cheong and dried shrimp, deep-fried, which is the best treatment of those small shriveled shrimp that are usually annoyingly chewy and tough but here echo the crunch of the beans.

This is Shinsho Tei, tucked away in Nu‘uanu Shopping Plaza, a place with just eight vinyl swivel bar stools, seven tables, brown booths and a short menu that includes “Bacon,” “Musubi/Bowl Rice” and “Vienna sausage (two cans).” But approach the menu like a box of Lego bricks, as many regulars do, and you end up with variations like deluxe green beans over fried somen, or the fried pork chop over fried somen, or for the sashimi, abalone (from a can and sliced).

Regulars Phillip and Valerie Kapaona met each other at Shinsho Tei 15 years ago and married two years later. Now, they live a block away and meet other regulars at the bar about three times a week, ordering the deluxe green beans over somen noodles; the Shinsho Tei shrimp, sautéed with garlic and butter; ‘ahi sashimi when it’s available, but with the high prices lately, the canned abalone will do; and fried chicken. People say don’t order chicken at restaurants—it’s the throwaway dish meant to appease the masses, but in dive bars, where the point is appeasement, always order the fried chicken. It’s been reliably good at every Honolulu dive bar I’ve been to, and Shinsho Tei is no exception: well-marinated boneless thigh meat, fried for a skin with chicharronlike perfection. “It’s not a very large menu,” Valerie says. “But it’s a tasty menu.” Which sums it up exactly.

Shinsho Tei had a larger menu when it started as a Japanese restaurant in 1988. After Gina Kakalia’s parents took it over in the early ’90s, “it morphed into a more local bar,” Kakalia says. Today, her mother, Helen Galmiche, runs Shinsho Tei and Kakalia bartends a few nights a week.

She’s a teacher by day: “Drunk people prepared me for dealing with children,” she says. “The type of patience, slow, clear talking.” She grew up at Shinsho Tei, with regulars paying her and her brother to karaoke to Britney Spears and R. Kelly. “I saw regulars more than my extended family.”

Now, those same regulars have attended her wedding, met her daughter.

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Maybe because of Shinsho Tei’s small size, it really does feel like everyone knows your name here. “It’s just a place that’s very homey for us,” Valerie says. “It’s a wonderful little place, you know?”

1613 NU‘UANU AVE., (808) 528-1007

Anyplace Cocktail Lounge WHEN ANYPLACE LEFT ITS HOME of more

than 40 years for a former bank, a space twice the size, I worried it would no longer feel the same. That the old bar, tinged with Hawaiiana and a bit of Western saloon, would have morphed into a soulless modern version. I needn’t have worried. The original Anyplace lives on in the old booths and brass-studded saloon chairs brought over, the previously black walls painted the same shade of green as the old spot, hibiscus-printed fabric draped over the windows. There’s a ramshackle quality with plastic picnic tables and folding chairs filling out the rest of the space, a dart room and more TVs, including one propped up on cardboard boxes covered with a tropical print cloth. It’s the original Anyplace meets rec room meets friend’s garage. No, this isn’t anyplace. It could only be Anyplace.

The menu’s the same, with a Spam and egg and hamburger sandwich combo that has been a part of Anyplace for at least three decades— the fluffy softness of the sliced white bread and egg smooshed against crisped-up salty Spam.

Anyplace’s menu focuses on old-school local comfort food, from Obachan’s fried chicken to shoyu-sugar Vienna sausages, with one exception for creativity: the chopped salad, romaine tossed with ranch dressing, bacon and pops of briny capers, and heaped with furikake and crunchy chow mein noodles.

Judy Foster Long doesn’t consider Anyplace a dive. Certainly not a dive that fits the dictionary definitions of dives as disreputable, sinister and detriments to the community. Fair enough. There is something different about Anyplace. I notice it first one night when a Hawai‘i Supreme Court justice shows off a

Top: Anyplace Cocktail Lounge owner Judy Foster Long. Left: Spam and egg sandwich and hamburger sandwich combo 106 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

Small Bites

1018 MCCULLY ST., (808) 947-8977, ANYPLACEHAWAII.COM

Here’s a taste of what’s happening in the dining scene from Frolic Hawai‘i. frolichawaii.com

This Dadi’s Mad

Townies have been driving to Kapolei for Mad Bene’s East Coast Italian-style pastas and pizzas. Now the pizzas have come to town. bit.ly/hn-pizza-dadi

Cinco Tacos

No two tacos are alike.

Frolic’s Maria Burke rounds up her favorite versions: barbacoa, lengua, birria, Bajastyle fish and crunchy carnitas. bit.ly/hn-tacos

Da Last Anna Miller’s PHOTOS: THOMAS OBUNGEN, LEE TONOUCHI

thrilling vibrato before launching into the high notes of “Age of Aquarius.” And then a few weeks later: I’m talking to Long, and she starts crying just 10 minutes into our conversation, thinking about the gift baskets a regular made for Anyplace’s educator appreciation day. “Whenever I think about it”—Long stops to wipe away tears —“all the unsolicited acts of kindness, it really all makes this worthwhile. People are amazing.”

It occurs to me that we don’t hear that enough: People are amazing. That lately, the opposite feels like it’s pressing in on us—rage, violence, isolation, disconnection. But not here, not at Anyplace. Where an elderly couple shares a lū‘au plate in one corner, where a family with two teenagers takes turns with the mic, where Long stops by all the tables to distribute avocados from her tree, and where the kitchen serves fundraiser lau lau and banana poi bread to send the Na Keiki Mauloa volleyball team to nationals. And when they’re seen celebrating on TV, Long will tell her employees, “That’s why you guys bought the lau lau, the kālua pig, the pickle onion, the banana poi bread—for those girls, so that they could go win.”

Long is a third-generation bar owner.

Her grandfather died in an accident when her mom was 7, so her grandmother raised her two children in Kobe, Japan, after World War II, and opened a bar to support her family. In 2000, Long bought Anyplace from her mother (who bought the Honolulu bar in 1990 from its original owner). Long had been pursuing a graduate degree in psychology at the time— this, after practicing as a lawyer. Earlier this year, she wasn’t able to renew the original Anyplace’s lease, but she wasn’t ready to retire. She wanted to keep Anyplace going so that people could “experience some of what it was like when I was growing up—local hospitality. People keep telling me, ‘you got a bigger space, you got to do shot specials, you got to do this, you got to do that.’ And it’s like, I know, I gotta do more stuff. But I can’t go away from what our core is, which is local, old-style hospitality.”

Even Pidgin author Lee Tonouchi, who grew up going to Anna Miller’s, nevah know lotta stuff about dis ‘Aiea icon. bit.ly/hn-anna-millers

HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022 107

afterthoughts

BY JAMES CHARISMA

contributor

Here’s to the Nighthawks

S

OME NIGHTS AT 3 A.M. , a man dressed all in black would

sit at a corner booth inside the former Downbeat Diner on Hotel Street. His pompadour hairdo and shaggy sideburns were jet-black too, which, coupled with the ’70s-style Nautic sunglasses he usually wore, made the guy a dead ringer for a late-career Elvis. I’d seen him around town for more than a decade but I didn’t know who he was or why he dressed like the King. Yet here we were, more than a few times: Two late-night enthusiasts stopping in for bacon and eggs in Chinatown. But that’s the past.

Downbeat, now called The Other Side Diner, doesn’t sell breakfast that late.

When we finally put the pandemic behind us—if we ever do—I hope more 24-hour restaurants return, or at least late-night dining. I miss being able to find what Ernest Hemingway would call “a clean, well-lighted place” somewhere, anywhere, that serves steaks or sandwiches or loco mocos at all hours. I’d even settle for a cup of coffee at 3 a.m. There needs to be a bastion for the night owls, the rogues, the misfits. We’re out here, keeping an eye on Honolulu after dark. And we’re usually hungry.

When I was in high school, I briefly worked backstage at Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre’s production of Destiny, helping dancers coat their bodies first with honey, then a powder-fine gold glitter to achieve a majestic, otherworldly look for the show’s big finale. After the performances, usually around midnight, some of the dancers and I would go to Wailana Coffee House for pancakes. The place used to be open 24 hours; now it’s closed.

But back then, no matter what time you went, it looked like the cover of a Village People album, filled with cops, construction workers, sailors and at least one person dressed all in leather.

108 HONOLULUMAGAZINE.COM October 2022

And none of them seemed to care that our group was more or less covered in glitter (the stage-quality stuff was too difficult to scrape off completely). Everyone else seemed to have their own things going on, whether it was finishing a long shift somewhere or just getting ready to start one. Or maybe they were stopping by before heading to a nightclub.

This is part of the late-night dining experience; for some reason, looking disheveled and feeling groggy in a restaurant doesn’t have the same allure at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. There’s an invisible camaraderie among those of us who are up late, having a meal or downing cups of coffee (or bourbon), and it isn’t something you can get by ordering takeout or cooking at home.

Even though hardly any of my nights include glitter anymore, I’m still up writing at all hours.

I think better when everyone’s asleep and the city gets quiet. (I also think better on a full stomach.) There used to be no better way to feel connected with a Honolulu not normally experienced by most people than by having an after-hours session at Anna Miller’s, M.A.C. 24/7 or even the ubiquitous Zippy’s. When the clock invariably strikes 3 a.m. now, I’ll peer out the window—I live in a high-rise that overlooks Waikīkī— and wonder what everyone else is up to. Where have all the Village People gone?

I know these past two-plus years have been a nightmare for restaurants, and I understand that a lot of places can’t stay open through the night right now, even if they want to. But when it’s feasible, I think it’s important for Honolulu to once again have gathering places for folks to stay connected at odd hours. Back at The Other Side Diner, the booths are empty late at night. (The guy who looks like) Elvis has left the building. Here’s hoping he’ll return one day.

photo: getty images; photo illustration: james nakamura

Without late-night restaurants, where do we go?

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