Waikiki Wanderer Returning

After a long siege, lasting well over a year (and not quite finished just yet) the Waikiki Wanderer will be returning at waikikiwanderer.com. The blog will no longer be hosted at Blogspot, but all the old posts will be retained. The focus of the blog will change, too. See the new site for more information, coming around June or July 2012.

Blog Discontinued

The Waikiki Wanderer has been slowly but surely building up a nice weekly readership, something we greatly appreciate.

Unfortunately, we must disappoint our loyal readers by announcing the discontinuation of this blog after only five months of publication. A sudden, unexpected and serious health issue prevents walking the streets on a daily basis in search of stories and photos. This makes further publication impossible, at least for the foreseeable future. This leaves Waikiki again without a full-time, dedicated blog.

However, we've noted that the most popular columns by a very large margin have been the restaurant reviews. As we're still able to do these, we'll be launching a new column called "Oahu Dining Info" which will be found at oahudining.info. We hope you'll drop by, beginning later in 2011 or early in 2012.

Review: Makittii Japanese Seafood Buffet

This month's restaurant review appears a week later than usual due to our special Neighborhood Board feature last week.

Makittii Japanese Seafood Buffet is located on the mauka side of Kuhio, opposite Ka`iulani Avenue, on the site of the former Perry's Restaurant.

When Perry's closed somewhat suddenly last summer (2010), we witnessed one of the fastest construction jobs we've ever seen in Waikiki. Makittii rose from the ashes of Perry's in just a few short weeks and opened in record time.

We visited just after opening, and there were some startup problems to be worked out, so we returned again quite recently. Makittii, after a number of months of operation, is still tuning its business model.

Whereas previously there was a fixed dinner price of $32.95, there are now two options. If you want lobster and prime rib along with the buffet, the price remains $32.95 and a 20% kama`aina discount is available. If you're willing to skip the lobster and prime rib, the price drops to $18.95, although no
discounts or coupon deals apply to the lower price. Drinks are extra at $2.95 for cold drinks and $2.00 for hot beverages.

The buffet selections are quite extensive and varied. There are the Japanese items that you would expect, such as sushsi and tempura; there are also a surprising number of Chinese items like pot stickers, choi sum and others.

The big attraction, of course, is king crab--- piles and piles of it.

Then there's garlic ahi, teriyaki chicken, roast beef, roast pork, all manner of shrimp ... it goes on and on; there's a grill-to-order station featuring beef and pork, and an extensive dessert bar. We doubt that we covered even a fourth of the items ourselves.

How's the quality? We found the sushi didn't taste fresh and the poke was overly salty. The roast beef was "well done" if not beyond that, and was somewhat fatty. The grilled-to-order beef was very good, as were the pot stickers. The crab was outstanding.

The rest of the dishes that we tried were pretty average, certainly not bad if not quite exceptional, either.  The desserts lacked appeal to a Western palate; it was again a situation of not so bad but nothing special.

Overall, we thought there was a lot of value in the $18.95 menu as long as you're not looking for top quality or utter freshness of ingredients.

We did have some issues with the service. We arrived just after dinner opened, and even though most of the tables inside were empty, we and everyone else had to give our names and wait 15 minutes or so to be seated. This was probably because the restaurant is seriously understaffed. After we were seated, it was another little while before our drink orders were taken. The staff were nice enough and tried hard to be helpful, but there just weren't enough of them to go around.

Makittii has a tie-in with the Sanrio "Hello Kitty" franchise, and you see Hello Kitty items around the restaurant. "Hello Kitty" arrived in person during the evening, to the great delight of kids, whose parents paid extra for a photo of their child with this popular character.

Do we recommend Makittii? It's truly an odd place. For a while, they seemed to try hard to attract Japanese clientele--- but at the time, they offered a 20% discount to residents of North America. If you were Japanese, sorry, you paid full price. That struck us as a really backwards marketing strategy. Today, with their reduced-price menu offering, they seem to want to attract anyone who is willing to come.

But, yes, we do recommend Makittii for a satisfying meal that, by Waikiki standards, is moderately priced. It's definitely not upscale dining, but it doesn't pretend to be. The restaurant still has some things to work out; maybe they will, maybe they won't--- progress has been slow--- but that shouldn't stop you from giving it a try, especially if you happen to be really hungry.

Neighborhood Boards: They're All About Communication--- Um, Well, Aren't They?

The Waikiki Neighborhood Board Met on May 10, 2011

The concept of the "Neighborhood Board" in Honolulu County is an interesting and worthy one. The idea is that a group of elected representatives get together every month in an advisory rather than a legislative or decision-making capacity. They hear reports from various County and local agencies, ask questions, and provide input.

There are a number of such boards on O`ahu; Waikiki has one, Neighborhood Board #9. To bring the concept closer to the citizenry, the Neighborhood Boards have subdistricts; Waikiki has three of them. Board members are elected for a term of two years. In Waikiki, an election is currently in process in all three subdistricts.

Members of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board During a Meeting

Candidates for election publish brief personal statements. These statements appear on the Internet, on the website of the Neighborhood Commission Office (NCO) and in printed material sent by mail to voters.

The first thing we noted was that statements were brief indeed and contained no contact information. Some candidates provided no statement at all.

We thought we should explore this issue further, so we contacted the NCO and asked for contact information for the candidates, stating that we wanted to poll them for further information about their candidacies. The response we received absolutely astounded us.

The NCO told us, very politely but in clear terms, that since Neighborhood Board positions were unpaid, voluntary, and non-decision-making, it was their policy not to release contact information. Elected candidates had the option, but not the obligation, to publish contact information on the NCO website.

In other words, Neighborhood Boards bring government down to the people--- except if you'd like to contact the candidates who want to represent you.

Not All Members Attend Each Meeting

Despite the NCO's refusal to provide contact information, we developed it on our own, and chose Subdistrict 3 to test things a little further. We wrote to each of the six candidates in Subdistrict 3, soliciting a more detailed candidacy statement and promising to publish whatever we received. We only got one response, and Mr. Frankie Kam's statement and photo appear at the end of this story.

To be fair, at least minimal contact information for each currently sitting member of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board appears on the NCO website. Some members give just an email or a phone number; some others give more detailed information.

But what can we conclude from all of this? An open, neighborhood-oriented representation process apparently is only open to a certain degree. The NCO won't provide more than the bare minimum of candidate information, some candidates provide none at all, and many candidates apparently don't want to be contacted.

An Address on Homelessness at the May 10 Meeting

Is there something wrong with all of this?

We answer that question with an emphatic "Yes."

But in any event, thank you Mr. Frankie Kam for taking the time to send us a detailed candidacy statement, which we're more than pleased to present below.

Mr. Frankie Kam, Candidate for Waikiki Neighborhood Board Subdistrict 3:

My name is Franklin "Frankie" Kam and I'm of third generation Immigrant stock, born in Waipahu, Hawaii on October 19, 1940 as both of my grandparents; Kam Tong on my father, Francis side and Lum on my mom, Thelma's side were from Canton, China and contract sugar plantation laborers plus farmers too (Kam Tong, 30 acre rice farmer & Lum, lotus root farmer) My parents Francis & Thelma were from big, 10-children families, where everyone worked hard and grew up in rural Waipahu, where "Sugar was King" in their days. My mom, Thelma tended to her one woman grocery store in Waipahu across from the Waipahu Sugar Mill and my dad, Francis took car of our hog slaughterhouse business ,receiving farmers with their livestock during the day and he started the boiler at night for the slaughtered hogs, pushed into a tank of hot water before being pulled on a table to have the hairs scrapped off and then, my father's younger brother, Albert "Yunny"would slit the hog carcasses in half and he then shoved them off to the Agricultural Inspector for his approval that the 1/2 carcasses would be okay for the markets. The insides on the 1/2 carcasses: heart, stomach, intestines and liver would be checked and my mom would wash them out with water to be sold in her grocery store. My parents grocery store was called New Hing Chong Store and their hog slaughterhouse was called New Hing Chong Slaughterhouse as they added the word "New" when they bought both businesses for $600.00 from the original owners.

I did go to public school, August Ahrens School on Waipahu Street but my parents switched me to Saint Joseph Catholic School, when I cried a lot after I found out that I wouldn't be with my neighbors: Mae and Michael Minagawa, who walked with me to school, in starting 2nd grade but I had to redo first grade at Saint Joseph's school and graduated there in 1955. I then went to Saint Louis High School and graduated there in 1959, when Hawaii became the 50th State! I later graduated from Chaminade University in 1964 with a B.A. in History.

As a candidate for the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, I do have a lot of volunteer work experience with a First Lady Volunteer Award in 1989 for my work as Neighborhood Watch Coordinator signing up everyone in my Alii Plantation community for this Neighborhood Watch Program with Honolulu Police Department from 1987-89 that included a men's Softball Team that I coached and opponents included Governor Waihee, Mayor Fasi, Hungry Lions Celebrities (Tom Selleck a member) Saint Louis 59ers, Crosspointe and Foster Village. In North Carolina, I started a Community Watch Program in 1995 working with Sheriff Randy Cartwright. Here in Waikiki, I've been involved with Kanu Hawaii regarding a Special Election for Congress (Colleen Hanabusa), Ballot Box Station 2010, Abercrombie for Governor Region 2 Volunteer and Organizing for America, Hawaii Democratic Party Member 2010-101. I am the author of 'Above The Clouds," Xlibris, my 19th poetry book and I have a Ainahau59 Blog. Please Vote For Me For The Waikiki Neighborhood Board! That would be "Shaka Hooray!"

9th Annual Spam Jam

The 9th Annual Waikiki Spam Jam took place last Saturday afternoon and evening (April 30, 2011). Though seemingly smaller than some previous editions, it was by any measure a great success, with thousands of visitors and kama`aina in attendance.

As usual, part of Kalakaua Avenue was blocked off; this year it was just a few blocks, but that was more than enough to cause a Spam Jam traffic jam.

There were just two performance stages, but the entertainment was top-rate, with all sorts of local artists participating. Kahiko hula was featured in the performance shown below; throughout the afternoon and evening, just about every form of Hawaiian music and dancing was on display, to the great delight of the crowds.

The theme was Spam and everything Spam. One of the volunteer workers at the party wore a unique Spam-themed hat.

Attendees could also pick up a great variety of Spam-related merchandise, including a huge choice of Spam tee shirts.

Of course, there was no lack of Spam on the menu of the numerous participating food vendors. A Spam cheeseburger, perhaps?

Or perhaps some Spam-flavored macadamia nuts? We hadn't seen these before, so we tried them; let's just say their taste is "unique."

Statistics show that Hawaiians consume about twice as much Spam per-capita as mainlanders. Conventional accounts trace this back to World War II, with GIs bringing the product with them as they passed through Hawai`i on their way to the Pacific Theater. Spam is actually produced in Minnesota, a state about as unlike Hawai`i as we can imagine.

Tourists delight to Spam and eggs breakfast menu options at local fast food restaurants, but Hawaiians take it in stride. It's not surprising that Spam is sometimes called "Hawaiian steak."

The 9th Annual Spam Jam was a terrific event and an enjoyable time for everyone. That it's a good thing for tourism is self-evident, and we congratulate the organizers on a job well done. Here's to next year!