Category: Updates

A goal helps the medicine go down

Sometimes you need to set a goal in the road to wellness.

I’ve gone through two rough months recently; March and April were tough and challenging, with an insistent flu bug and/or cold virus that wouldn’t stop and brought me recurring fever, headaches, coughs, a runny nose and, yes, duress and perhaps distress.

On a day that I felt I was in the gutters,  I remembered  what one of my doctors at Queen’s Medical Center told me last summer: the road to wellness requires a goal, which serves as an incentive to go-for-broke and embrace it, because if you have a destination, it’s beneficial in your struggle to get well.

So, on a day I felt lousy, I checked with my wife Vi, about suitable travel dates, and that was enough of a nudge I needed. A fever and sore throat didn’t matter; I went to my computer, searched for, and booked, a roundtrip flight to New York, and quickly secured a hotel room. I felt my temperature going down when the confirmations trickled in.  

I haven’t felt better since. Sorry, chicken soup, but that doc was right:  the best medicine for feeling better was a positive goal. The mission is not yet accomplished, but booking the trip and finalizing the itinerary were booster shots I needed.

Further, my primary physician kindly did two Face Time chats and he also prescribed antibiotics and meds to help ease and address my struggles with mucus that came up when I coughed, and he followed up with a wellness telephonic check.

The fever has subsided, the coughs minimized, so I finally added to my goals regular at-home exercises I learned at OrthoSport earlier; the exercise regimen helps strengthen my legs and address my lower back pain; the benefit here is that some of the workouts can be done horizontally, while lying in bed.

I continue to have mobility issues –  still not stable on my legs – so Mr. Walker (my walker)  will make his first New York trip, joining Mr. Wheelchair (a power chair I’m renting) and Mr. Cane (my trusty standby).

Truly, I need all the help I can get to navigate the uneven sidewalks and streets in the Theater District. The excitement is mounting.

When I’m on Broadway, as my friends know, I see as many shows I can attend on the limited timetable there. That said, I booked eight shows, with a pal of mine joining us for three productions (one matinee, two evenings) over two days. So, it will be a tad frantic. But fun!

As my doc said,  you gotta have a plan. Goals  matter…

And that’s Show Biz…

Vinyl records will likely be the center of attraction at Hungry Ear Records’ Hawaii Record Fair 2024 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday (June 1) at The Barn at SALT at Our Kakaako, 327 Keawe St.

And it’s the first time, since 2019, that Hungry Ear is scheduling its Record Fair, clearly one of the best events to acquire collectible music from all platforms.

Admission depends on time: $5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (children under 12 free), and $25 for early birds, from 9 to 10 a.m. It’s free, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Vendors and music fans will convene to buy, sell, and trade at the island’s largest assembly of music media, old and new, including vinyl records, compact discs, cassettes, stereo equipment, and music memorabilia.

“With the resurgence of physical media, primarily vinyl records, The Hawaii Record Fair is the perfect way for record collectors young and old to meet up with other like-minded music enthusiasts and have a chance to buy, sell or trade both classic and new vinyl records, from The Beatles to Taylor Swift all under one roof,” said Jim Williams, manager-buyer for Hungry Ear’s record fair.

He said the event will draw more than 30 sellers, with wares to sell in all physical music formats, including classic vinyl records now enjoying new appeal among collectors, compact discs, even  outdated cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes, eight-track tapes, plus stereo equipment, and music memorabilia.

Like book sales, someone’s trash will be another one’s treasure, and with musical tastes ranging from rock to classical, from country to Hawaiian, the sky’s the limit.

Door Prizes donated by both local and national companies will be drawn throughout the day.

Ward Yamashita still is proprietor of Hungry Ear Records.

Information: www.hungryear.com, (808) 262-2175, email at www.hawaiirecordfair@gmail.com

‘NCIS: Hawaii’ is pau, no reboot planned

Since the cancellation of “NCIS: Hawaii”  — which completed filming three seasons in the islands here – there’s been a myriad of disappointment, desperate hopes  of a relaunch, dismay about unfairness and even conspiracy theories.

The latest is a fruitless notion of snubbing “NCIS: Origins,” the prequel of the Mark Harmon  character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in his youthful and formative years, because it will occupy a slot on the “NCIS” season this fall.

The reality is nothing is forever in prime-time TV, but the dismissal of “Hawaii” was somewhat unexpected. The then-newest spinoff of the “NCIS” franchise seemed to be in the driver’s seat, when two CBS procedurals were not yet tapped for a return this hall.
“Hawaii” was one; the other was “S.W.A.T.,” which was canceled for maybe a week but strangely uncancelled, which became an indicator that our Pearl Harbor-based crimefighting team was not going to be around too much longer.

CBS authorities suggested production costs are high, and that’s true, when you shoot in Honolulu. Yet these budget watchers proceed to relaunch the popular duo from the original “NCIS” team, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David (Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo), to star in their new, untested series, “NCIS: Tony and Ziva,” set to film in Europe, where production tariffs surely will costlier than Hawaii. The new show won’t be part of primetime but will screen on Paramount+ instead. Go figure.

Loyal “Hawaii” fans thought perhaps their beloved procedural could jump networks and move to NBC, like CBS’ “Magnum P.I.”  which was rescued for half-a-season. A similar path would have been impossible, since “Magnum” had six episodes in the can to fill a slot that NBC had. No such vacancy existed now, to try to do the same network jump, not without a back-up of shows in the can.

For Vanessa Lachey and cast, the cruelty is that the actors could not do a proper farewell show, simply because the final episode already was complete.

The ethical solution is for a new team of writers to create a new brand to film in the paradise we call Hawaii. OK, Lachey might be the cheerleader for something like this, but I’m certain her aloha is long gone for now…

Broadway grosses, for the week ending May 19

A host of new Broadway shows are joining the Top10.

Consider:

1–“The Lion King,” $2,030 million.

 2–“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1,965 million.

 3–“Hamilton,” $1,858 million.

 4–“Wicked,” $1,847 million.

5–“Merrily We Roll Along,” $1,582 million,

 6–“Hell’s Kitchen,” $1,557 million.

7–“MJ the Musical,” $1,523 million.

 8–“The Wiz,” $1,497 million.

 9–“The Great Gatsby,” $1,279 million.

10—”Aladdin,” $1,273 million.

The entire list, courtesy the Broadway Guild:

And that’s Show Biz…

Silence is golden, or so goes the saying, but mum’s not the applicable response here.

So, honesty is the best policy here.

I don’t know how many times I’ve gone to Zippy’s in my lifetime; it’s been a convenience, for a quick meal, a gathering place to meet the gang. I’ve enjoyed the benefits of the Senior Card, from start to finish, and I’ve heard the complaints about how prices have gone up, up, up, and portions smaller, smaller, well I hear you.

But when I visited Zippy’s Kahala for dinner Wednesday night, I spotted Hawaiian Stew as a daily special, which I hadn’t ordered for about year.

So, I placed my order, and went full throttle to make it a complete meal (for more than $10 now) but you get a choice of soup or salad, coffee, tea or soft drink, and dessert – a slice of apple pie to “go.”

When my soup arrived, I stirred it ‘round and ‘round, and ‘round and ‘round again, because something was not right. In the same size bowl Zippy’s uses for a small saimin or won ton min order, there was a lot of cabbage, celery, potatoes, and carrots but an absence of meat. I stirred some more, and voila, there was one measly morsel of meat, baby-sized  and drowning amid the veggies, if I may say so, and I told my wife about the situation. Where’s the beef?!

She knew I wasn’t going to be silent, so I flagged my waitress (a nice soul, who used to work at the now shuttered Koko Marina branch, who’s retiring this year after 48 years of waiting tables) to report the injustice.

She, too, couldn’t believe me – yes, one is a lonely number – and without hesitation, uttered “I’ll bring you more meat.”

She returned, a few minutes later, with a small bowl of meat containing perhaps a half-dozen portion of beef that was ample. But in years past, an order of Hawaiian Stew  would have included five or six hefty chunks of beef. Disclosure: the stew depicted here is from the Zippy’s website, which lists the price as $14.95, and shows four of five beef pieces, each one larger than the portion in my order.

This faux pas should not be a reason to downsize ingredients as Zippy’s continues to let prices soar; everything costs. But being manini with meat is a mistake, just as it would be lamentable if a bowl of won tun min only had a single won tun swimming with a sea of saimin noodles.

If the restaurant can’t bear the cost of beef, relabel it as Vegetable Soup. I’m sure it was an honest error, but the kitchen needs to eyeball what it is serving and stir the soup and make certain all ingredients are there.

I’m not ashamed about bringing up this issue, and perhaps I did it for some of you who have been in a parallel situation and too embarrassed to flag. It’s the principle that matters.

And our waitress earned a 25-pct. tip.

Reyn Halford will portray the dual roles of Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in the Broadway musical, “Tootsie,” premiering May 31 at the Diamond Head Theatre.

The story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart involves a competent actor, who can’t find work, until he disguises himself as an actress. The comedy was a hit film starring Dustin Hoffman, adapted for the stage by Robert Horn (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics).

The cast also features Chandler Converse as Julie Nichols, Aiko Schick as Sandy Lester, Moku Durant as Jeff Slater, Sam Budd as Max Van Horn, Mary Chesnut Hicks as Rita Marshall, Andrew Simmons as Ron Carlisle, Rick Smith as Stan Fields, Alex Bishop as Stuart, Ixchel Lopez-Duran as Suzie, Issac Liu as Carl, and Marisa Noelle Capalbo, Brandee Doi and Lainey Hicks as the Vocal Trio.

John Rampage is director, Roslyn Catracchia is musical director and Rampage and Celia Chun are choreographers.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through June 16; extended at 7:30 p.m. June 22 and 3 p.m. June 23.

Tickets: $37 to $62; best available seats June 22 and 23, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com or (808) 733-0274…

MVT’S ‘Salesman’ extended

Manoa Valley Theatre’s “Death of a Salesman,”  starring Dwight Martin as failing salesman Willy Loman, opens May 23 but has added two extended performances, at 7:30 p.m. June 8 and 3 p.m. June 9,

The show’s scheduled run May 23 through June 2 is expected to be a sellout; hence, the added performances. Tickets: $25 to $48, at www.manoavalleytheatre.com or (808) 988-6131…

Broadway grosses, for week ending May 12

 There are two $2 million club members this week; “The Lion King” and “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.”  Didn’t take long for “King” to say willkommen to “Cabaret.”

The Top 10:

1—”The Lion King,” $2,114 million.

2—”Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $2,009 million.

3—”Hamilton,” “$1,723 million.

4–“Wicked,” $1,721 million.

5—”MJ the Musical,” $1,609 million.

6—”The Wiz,” $1,567 million.

7–“Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” $1,528 million.

8—”Merrily We Roll Along,”  $1,518 million.

9—”Hell’s Kitchen,” $1,503 million.

10—“Aladdin,” $1,274 million.

The full list, courtesy The Broadway Guild:

And that’s Show Biz…

If you like your meals simple yet satisfying, I have a few suggestions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Of course, you have to explore multi-destinations, to partake of these fun edibles. And no, these meals were spaced over several days, so the truth is, you need to pace the fun, or you’d burst.

For breakfast, I discovered a generous treat only because I ventured into Tanaka Saimin on Nimitz Highway after the noon cut-off for its breakfast specials. This was a Saturday, but also a menu item I never encountered, because of  the day and time: A modified waffle with  chicken special, available till 2 p.m., was a nice surprise.

The platter came with four individual Belgium waffles (a circular version) and oodles of popcorn chicken on a tray. Eaten fresh, the waffles were delish; ditto, the chicken. I ate two waffles and perhaps a half-dozen of the crispy chicken bites, including skin, so I had a bundle to brown-bag. Only problem: the waffles don’t get crispy in the microwave but were too bulky to fit into the toaster. But it was another breakfast meal, so no complaints.

For lunch, try the cobb salad at Kona Brewing Company. I had it at the Hawaii Kai branch, and it was a visual feast – the bed of lettuce boasted sliced avocado, boiled eggs, bacon, cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese – begging for a photo op, so I got out my iPhone and started shooting. I would have had to be rolled out if I consumed the entire serving, so I ate half, with the remainder rescued as a side-salad for dinner.

For dinner, this is a repeat – it had been quite a while since I had Panya’s Shanghai Fried Udon, a wok-seared medley of udon noodles, cabbage, and chicken tidbits, in a love sauce. If it looks like a whole lot, it is, and I have yet to gulp down every bit of this noodle dish since it became of my regular choices at Panya. Besides, a nuke in the micro refreshes the dish without overcooking, for a dinner hana hou, and who doesn’t an encore?

Dessert, you wonder? On a recent sunset visit to Roy’s in Hawaii Kai, for an all pupu dinner (instead of entrees)  for the four of us, the fare ranged from multi orders of assorted sushi, edamame, grilled Brussel sprouts, a double order of escargot, beef ribs and an item or two I can’t remember, there’s hardly room for dessert. Well, not this crowd. Scoops of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and Kona coffee ice cream were chilled delights, but in my corner, I opted for Roy’s gourmet bread pudding, a confection not like most others, surrounded with fresh fruit and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Amid all the nibbles and drinks, half my bread pudding came home with me, maintaining my customary tradition to have something in the fridge for tomorrow…