Category: Updates

If you like haupia and kulolo, two popular Hawaiian desserts, you should enjoy the hybrid product called Haulolo, produced by a Kailua company and sold locally in select stores. I have some reservations, however.

The “hau” refers to haupia, the pudding-like white treat made from coconut milk. The “lolo” refers to kulolo, the healthy and tasty purple-ish dessert made from taro.

I found and bought the Haulolo at Foodland Farms. Times Supermarkets should have it, too, and perhaps a few 7-Elevens. You’ll find it where poi, the Hawaiian staple, is sold in a refrigerated  (not freezer) shelf.  At Foodland, seek Haulolo next to the poke counter.

So, how’s the taste? Sweet and  delightful. But you’ll find more haupia than kulolo, and the kulolo sticks to the bottom of the plastic bento-type tray, and there’s perhaps a quarter inch of the purple treat, beneath about an inch of haupia. When you cut the product, you can’t get the kulolo to stay  ‘neath the  haupia, so I spooned the kulolo and placed it atop the white haupia. In the accompanying photo, you’ll see traces of kulolo on top of the haupia — not pretty, but it (sorta) works.

 It’s a bit messy to serve, but it’s ono –  too bad the kulolo can’t be firmer to serve as a crust…like a graham cracker bottom of a chocolate pudding pie. Perhaps the better notion would be to purchase haupia and kulollo separately, in portions to your liking.

I had my first dinner outing last night, since my recent gall bladder removal surgery Jan. 5, and it was a joyous occasion.

The destination was Gyotaku, the Japanese restaurant at the Niu Valley Shopping Center,  and my entrée choice was one of my favorites: misoyaki butterfish teishoku.

Familiar turf + familiar meal = a happy camper.

I had been having mini meals at home, comprising the likes of miso soup with soda crackers, beef broth with cone sushi, chicken noodle and chicken vegetable soup, and chazuke with broiled salmon, vegetable salad with tofu and imitation crab,  and my tummy was agreeable to these.

So, the misoyaki butterfish – and the accompanying bowls of rice, miso soup and salad – were within my palate choices.

Because Gyotaku regularly serves its butterfish in a tiny plate with a yellow border, it looked like any other pic I’ve shot at the restaurant over the years.

But this ol’ friend was a something I relished and cherished.

No more fried chicken, Korean kalbi or traditional steak for me till I know my diet regimen can handle ‘em. For now, I got no complains.

My annual creative output, to make Valentine’s lapel pins for Valentine’s Day. was blessed with generous contributions of wooden pins this year.

My former work colleague, Lynne Chang, was diligent in painting these hand-crafted wooden hearts, shown here, all shaped by her woodworking husband Dale Chang, in two sizes, small and large. So recipients should notice the new addition — easily 150 in the mix of the traditional stock. I embellished a number of the pins.

So thanks, Lynne and Dale.

The V-Day pins are all in the mail now.

Hawaii native Nicole Scherzinger will make her Broadway debut when she stars in a Broadway revival of “Sunset Boulevard,” portraying Norma Desmond, in the Andrew Lloyd-Webber hit. The show has been a hot ticket in London, where it just closed on Jan. 6.

The stripped-back production, directed by Jamie Lloyd, had huge buzz during its West End run at the Savoy Theatre.

Scherzinger making Broadway debut in “Sunset Boulevard.”

The modern take shucks much of the glamor of the original and targets a modern vision, embracing hand-held live photography, showing actors in often massive closeups, and also tracks backstage exits and entrances seemingly like an earlier, innovative element attemped by a failed “West Side Story” revival on Broadway.

Scherzinger’s co-stars from London – Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, the struggling screenwriter; Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer as Gillis’ girlfriend; and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling, Norma’s butler– will also be making their Broadway debut.

Scherzinger previously starred as Grizabella in a London run of “Cats.”

She is widely known for her work and popularity as leader of the Pussycat Dolls, so she brings a vigorous, powerful voice to the stage.

The production removes much of the glamor of the original, in the tale of a fading silent movie star incapable of transitioning to talkies.

As Norma, Scherzinger is costumed only in a black slip throughout the show, and she roams. bare feet like an alley cat, shadowed by her mute younger shadow (Hannah Yun Chamberlain).

The mood is dark and shadowy, befitting Norma’s looming madness.

“Sunset Boulevard” revival is dark, moody and modern.

Gone is the trademark grand staircase of the past, where the likes of Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige have descended —  to deliver the character’s memorable line, “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille,” alluding to iconic director Cecil B. DeMille.

Her pipes surely will make “With One Look” and “:”As If We Never Said Goodbye” show-stoppers…

Tam in off-Broadeway ‘White Chip‘

Jason Tam, a Honolulan who’s become a regular Broadway trouper, will be in the cast of “The White Chip,” an autobiographical recovery comedy by Sean Daniels, set for a run from Feb.1 through March 9  at the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater aI The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theatre Space. Previews of the off-Broadway show begin Jan. 22.

Sheryl Kaller, a Tony nominee, will direct.

Tam, pictured left, is best known for his role as Paul San Marco, in the last revival of :”A Chorus Line,” and launched his Broadway career playing Gavroche in “Les Miserables.”

The cast for “Chip” also\features Crystal Dickinson and Joe Tapper…

And that’s Show Biz…