Tired of visiting McDonald for breakfast?  If so, you have some other options in Hawaii.  Several pancake houses are your other options before you head out for your work.  Today we stopped by the Kalia Café at Market City to try out their breakfast menu.  It was already crowded with early wakers (not walkers as seen in zombie TV show) and tourists when we were there.  it was about 9am early Hawaii morning time.  We waited about 15 mins before we secure a table.  The place is as clean as you would expect from any decent restaurant.  We were seated and offered a menu.  Staff there were nice and polite.  They asked us if we wanted coffee to start off.  I do see many people have their coffee on the table.  Being adventurous, we decided to try their Mocha, but later we wish we would have chosen the regular coffee instead.  It was a bit on the sweet side which we expected since it was a mocha but it was not hot enough for our coffee drinker.  I am sure if we complained the staff would be nice enough to help us heat it up though. 

     Now let’s look at what we ordered.  Omelet has always been my favorite dish even more than pancake or waffles so my order was Italian omelet.  As seen in the picture below, you get to choose white rice or potatoes and also the types of bread (wheat, white, rye).  A little package of jelly is provided for your bread.  I must say the portion is just right and indeed better than fast food breakfast.  However, the omelet is not as impressive as we had expected, but good enough for quench your morning hunger without being labeled as junk food.  We would definitely try their pancake or waffles next time to update our readers and visitors our unbiased review.  Again we think it is a nice local restaurant to hang out with friends for breakfast or lunch.  Waiter and waitress were nice and sweet.  Early morning at Market City there isn’t really any food place open and Kalia has its unique niche that would attract more early wakers to visit.  We would also want to try their French toast next time to give a more fair judge on their overall value to consumers.

     Closer to the end of 2011, shoppers are seen in increased number in many of our malls and stores.  Today is Saturday 11/19/2011, we see many people out dining and shopping at Ala Moana Shopping Center.  One of the busiest place we saw was the APPLE STORE, it was packed with customers and those who were just hanging there to wait for wives to finish shopping at close by Victoria Secret store or other clothing stores. 

At the center stage, we saw young hula dancers dancing skillfully while crowds cheered on for them. 

Ala Moana has been a shopping location for many visitors and locals alike.  If you are hungry there is also a food court on the first floor where you will find many different cuisines to suite your appetite.  If you enjoy fine dining you can go to the upper floor to find buffet, Italian, Chinese, American, and Japanese foods. 

     Hidden in the not so obvious ally of King Street, closed to University Ave and King St intersection,  Kohnotori Restaurant is indeed a rather special dining experience in Hawaii.  It is a Japanese style Yakitori restaurant where a cook is standing behind the counter to prepare your foods.  It is a “hot” job to stand there the whole night but the cook seems to enjoy it.  It is unique in its own way and definitely is a good place to chat with friends after work and have a glass of cold beer or two. 

     The place is not very big so the tables are limited in number.  It is recommended to make reservation prior going there if you want to get the table seats.  However it is not too bad to sit at the counter if you just have two people since it gives you a rather different experience as well.  Our favorite dishes are their beef and shrimp.  We also enjoy the cold tofu to go along.  For those of you who are big eaters, you may also consider order the ramen with chicken broth.  Some friends love the cow tongue and some like to order French fries to go with beers.  To order, you simply take the paper in front of you and check the dish that you want and choose either T (Teriyaki) or S (salted) style. 

You also put down the quantity that you like for each order.  When you see shrimp $2.50, it means one shrimp on the stick.  We also like the Enoki wrapped inside the bacon and the delicious chicken wings.  We enjoy our Kirin cold beer while eating. 

There is a limited number of parking stalls in front of the shop.  Next to the Kohnotori, another famous Japanese restaurant, Imanas,  is found .  There is a bus stop close to the restaurant right on the King street. 

Again we do feel that this restaurant is worth your visit.  Average spending is about 50-70 dollars with two people that drink modestly.  

With APEC summit taking place from Nov 11-13, 2011, residents of Hawaii should be ready for the traffic that it may cause.   Hale Koa Hotel at Waikiki and J.W. Marriott Ihilani in Ko Olina may expect difficulty with transportation.

Leaders from 20 other member states will come have a meeting here including President Obama of United States of course.  Homeland Security is hoping for Hawaii residents’ patience and cooperation.

Note: 

Road Closures around Hale Koa from 10pm Friday Nov 11, 2011 to midnight Saturday

Conclusion: 

One should avoid Ala Moana Blvd, Ko Olina, Airport, Harbors, and always bring ID with you in case you are blocked and asked for ID.  

Where to find a 24hr coffee bar in Hawaii?

88 Piikoi Street
Honolulu, HI 96814

Yes, this is a rare place where you can go drink coffee late at night to study for finals or just for the fun of not sleeping.  It was visited by our 808 Business Network, and here is how we feel.

When we went in we like the spacious feeling that it gave us.  It is definitely a good place if you are hungry and want something to munch on.  It is also giving you free WIFI so you can surf while you enjoy your lunch or coffee there.  The internet access is free for you for 2 hours per purchase.

This is where you will order your drink.  To us since we are really picky with our coffee, we would give 3/5 stars to this place.  However, we like the idea of having other food items to choose from in case we are hungry.  The open space is definitely a plus.  This place is well lit.  The parking is along side the road “Meters” or if you want you can try park some nearby mall and walk over.  Well, to many students it is a bless since they don’t have to stay in the dark and cold library anymore just before the finals.

They also have a big TV hanging to entertain the place when you get bored with reading.  The cozy couch is also a plus for people who just want to chat and relax.  This place Is near Ala Moana shopping mall.  For those who enjoyed going to the borders at Ward, it has become an alternative place for them.  We must say it sure has its niche market in Hawaii.

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     Protestors have been planning the so called “United for Global Change” movement to protest against the capitalism exploitation in our society today.  With the help of social media such as Facebook and twitter, messages can be updated easily and followers can be updated on plan changes without much delay.  It seems the number of participants are increasing through time to protest bad economy, joblessness, and capitalism exploitation. 

How will this affect the economy?  Although the gathering is supposed to be peaceful, we expect there to be more than just a peaceful gathering.  Any civil unrest would either bring changes or disasters.  The organizers of this movement is asking people to join them globally to make their statement to the world.  They felt that the leaders of the country are protecting the benefits and capital gains of the few while over sighting the justice and benefits of the majority of people.

Rage Over Capital Exploitation Movement

To Thai For Restaurant

Offers a unique and especially inviting environment to enjoy with family and friends

Reviewed by 808 Business Network

Good news for those who enjoy Thai food.

We walked into this restaurant  from the parking lot via its narrower entrance. Upon entering we passed the drinking bar and then we saw the dining area.  It was our first time visiting this Thai restaurant.  We like the environment and the dining atmosphere.   Interesting paintings of flowers were hung on the wall that made this place even more appealing. 

We were seated and started to look at their menu.  As a fan of Thai’s Pad Thai, we ordered it and requested medium spicy and we added a few dollar to get the extra appetizers (such as spring rolls and chicken on the stick). 

We also ordered the Pad Seyu, which is a stir fry flat noodles with broccoli, carrot, and cabbage (you can choose your meat such as chicken or beef).    Waitress kindly advised us that medium spicy can be spicy for some, but we wanted to try it nonetheless. 

Yes, the medium spicy is indeed spicy for those with weak taste buds and for those with upset stomach or acid reflux problem.  However for us, we love it.  We have tried many different Thai places on the island and to Thai For is one of the best we have tried and we feel comfortable to recommend it to others.    

We didn’t have a chance to try other dishes but we will definitely return again to try some other dishes.

The parking is very convenient located in the back.  No validation of parking is available but the parking rate is reasonable.

Location: 3571 Waialae Ave

Phone: 8080 734-3443

(Natalie, owner+manager, on the far right of the picture

and our leader Rex on the far left)

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Hawaii’s Growing Online Discussion Site

     Upon arriving at the resort, we first need to go through the main entrance of Ko Olina.  Visitors will be directed to go straight on the main road until one see the Aulani on the right hand side of the road and make a turn into their driveway for valet parking.  We were greeted no differently from any other hotel but we were quite excited to see this new resort by Disney in Hawaii.

Aulani Resort is located at the west of Oahu near the Kolina Golf Course.  If was quite a comfortable drive to get there and the mountain view along the way was a great scenery experience.  Valet parking is free if you show the receipt to them that indicates at least $35 was spent at the resort.  This means there is no need to get stamped from the restaurants within the resort to get the free valet parking.  It was a nice sight as we entered the hotel.  This hotel was made to give visitors a feeling of Hawaii.   Many people may feel it was not so Disney Land Like, and we believe it was built in such way that the focus is still on the Hawaii cultures and scenery.  However Disney ingredients are also intertwined as you would expect.

Image on the left shows the sight that you will see as you pass through the lobby.  It is indeed something that you don’t see much in other hotels on Oahu.  In the middle of the resort is where the water fun and other activities are at.  On the sides you will see Aulani Resort’s buildings.  This means that all the hotel guests will have a view of it.  There are lounges you can sit down with friends and chat. 

As you walk through the center, you will see hotel guests enjoying the water slide, Waikoihohe Stream, Waikolohe Pool, Volcanic Vertical (tunnel body slide), and even the snorkeling lagoon.  If you are not a staying hotel guest you will not be able to enjoy those water activities, since they are reserved for the hotel guests only. 

Dining Experience

    There is the AmaAma by the beach where you will enjoy music and fine dining.  It is recommended that you make reservation with them first since this place seems to be booked early.  AmaAma will be a good choice for couples who enjoy beach view while dining.  For those who want more of a variety of food choices, you can try their buffet at the Mahahiki.  There are also musicians playing at this location at night.  Since we dined at the Mahahiki, we will write our experience here. 

In our opinions , from a scale of 1 to 5 stars 5 being the highest rating, this buffet only gets a 2 and a half stars.  Although some of our reviewers wanted to give just one star, we felt it was a bit harsh.  However, we really hope that Aulani would improve its menu and food for the buffet.  Nevertheless, we did enjoy friends getting together at this new environment to eat and chat.  We did enjoy our visit to the resort despite the food failed our taste buds.  Perhaps AmaAma side has better taste? Maybe you can share with us your experience.

Being a Disney resort, we would expect to see some cute characters coming out to greet us.   Yes there were.  We met two chipmunks.  Chip and Dale were there to greet the kids and the family.  It was nice to see the smiles on those youngsters as they interacted with them.  Yes we also learned that Chip is the one with black chocolate nose— another lesson we learned that day.

After dinner, we decided to have a stroke around the hotel again to see the campfire.  Now we must say the music and the campfire were great.  There was even a Hawaiian man by the campfire telling story and interacting with the visitors.   Please do be careful the fire is real do not go too close.

While the resort is about to have its grand opening, we were glad that we had opportunity to visit there.    The experience was nice even for those of us who are locals here.

We hope you will have an enjoyable time there with friends and family.  Please do share with us your experience at our discussion site so we can help others better planning their trip.

      KuruKuru Sushi is a good addition to the Kahala Mall dining experience.  In the mall, we really do not have too many choices of food to choose from.  KuruKuru Sushi is similar to Genki Sushi in food selections.  The group table is a bit narrow but long enough to fit up to 6 people comfortably.  Food quality is about the same as other Genki Sushi in Hawaii.  Spicy tuna sushi is our favorite while nato was probably the delicacy to some people only.  We enjoy the hot tea while dining at the restaurant and the service people were polite.  It is a good place to dine with friends and the cost was really affordable

Many cute doggies were there.  Some were  running around and some in the cage resting.  Besides doggies, there are cats, rabbits, hamsters, and mice.  Some residents with kids were there visiting those cute animals.  Many are waiting to be adopted.

“The Hawaiian Humane Society’s mission is a joyful one full of challenges and opportunities. Since 1942, its busy shelter in the heart of Moiliili has become a community hub for animal lovers featuring 30 programs and services focused on strengthening the human animal bond: rescuing the abused, engaging volunteers, fighting for better laws and caring for nearly 30,000 animals a year.”

Come here to adopt one today if you have a desire to have a pet and to help them find a good home.