Wine Tasting Coming to Roy's Hawaii Kai Aug. 11

On Wednesday, August 11, 6:30-8:30 p.m, Roy's Restaurant presents an evening with seventeen leading wineries from across the country at the flagship Roy's Hawaii Kai.

Held last year for the first time, and a great success, Roy's has decided to make the event an annual affair. The wine tasting, which is normally only open to industry professionals, will feature more than 90 labels. This is a rare opportunity for wine enthusiasts to experience some really great American labels.

Chefs from Roy's will create pupus. As reported by Honolulu Magazine, suggested menu selections include Frying Dragon Ahi Tartare, Hiramasa Poisson Cru, Grilled Szechuan Spiced Baby Back Pork Ribs, Kulana Beef, Shiso Pesto Scallops, Balsamic Marinated Lamb Tenderloin, Yuzu Pesto Shrimp Scampi Forks, Lup Cheong Dynamite Stuffed Oysters, Truffle Hamakua Mushroom Risotto Cakes, Duck & Foie Gras Sliders, Wild Boar Sausage, Crispy Chicken Potstickers, Lobster & Waimanalo Corn Pudding, Hot Iron Seared Misoyaki Butterfish and Cheese & Paté.

Participating wineries include:
Plumpjack Winery (Napa Valley)
Cade Winery (Napa Valley)
Domaine Serene (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
Duckhorn Wine Co.
Duckhorn Vineyards (Napa Valley)
Paraduxx (Napa Valley)
Goldeneye (Anderson Valley)
Miner Family Vineyards (Napa Valley)
Handley Cellars (Anderson Valley)
Selby Winery (Sonoma County)
Robert Biale Vineyards (Napa Valley)
Jeriko Estate & San Greal Winery (Mendocino County)
Bonny Doon Vineyard (“Earth”)
Paradigm (Napa Valley)
Truchard Vineyards (Carneros/Napa Valley)
MacRostie Winery & Vineyards (Sonoma County)
John Anthony (Napa Valley))
JaM Cellars (Napa Valley)
Landmark Vineyards (Sonoma Valley)
Rombauer
Vino del Sol

Price per person is $65, including tax and gratuity. The evening promises to be a memorable event for wine connisseurs and casual tasters alike. Call Roy’s Hawaii Kai at 808-396-7697 or e-mail honolulu@roysrestaurant.com for reservations.

As readers of this blog know, Roy's started in Hawaii Kai, and is one of our best-known restaurants. We have others though - plan on spending some evenings trying our eateries and looking at real estate while you are enjoying our Hawaii Kai lifestyle.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com
www.activerain.com/blogs/abeb

Help Literacy in Hawaii Kai

An Oahu literacy group is conducting a get-out-the-vote campaign in hopes that Hawaii can once again win a national contest and get thousands of free books for needy children.

First Book Oahu is directing people to the First Book-Cheerios Trivia Challenge at http://booksforkids.firstbook.org/jonscieszka/index.php. For each correct answer, the participant gets one "vote" for the state of his or her choice. The five states with the most votes will get 20,000 books to distribute in their state. (Hint - make the web site a favorite on your desktop and click it every day.)

Local residents and supporters made Hawaii the national winner of 50,000 new books for needy children last year.

This year, First Book and Cheerios have teamed up with best-selling children's author Jon Scieszka to distribute 100,000 new books to kids in need across the country.

Scieszka is also the founder of Guys Read, a nonprofit organization dedicated to motivating boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read, according to the First Book website.

The books will be distributed through community-based programs serving children in need. To be eligible, at least 80% of the children the programs serve must be from low-income families, and the programs must sign up with First Book at its online registration page, http://booksforkids.firstbook.org/register.

The contest runs through Aug. 31, 2010. Urge families and children you know to take the Trivia Challenge so Hawaii can again be the national winner.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
http://www.barbarashawaii.com/
http://www.movetohawaiikai.com/
www.activerain.com/blogs/abeb

(resource - StarAdvertiser)

Hawaii Kai is Finish Line for Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard Champtionships

This Sunday, July 25, will be the 2010 Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard competition, felt by most in the sport to be the World Champioship of Paddleboard Racing. The event has become the single most iconic event in the paddling community.

Both Stand Up Paddling and Paddleboarding champions from around the world will compete to test their athletic ability against the 32-mile crossing of the Ka'iwi Channel. At its deepest point, the channel is over 2300 feet deep and creates a funnel effect that shoots billions of gallons of seawater between the islands each hour. This venturi effect, combined with trade winds blowing roughly in the same direction, creates seas that can range anywhere from 8 feet to 15 feet on a average day, and upwards of 20 feet on an extreme day.

Because of the danger the Ka'iwi presents, each athlete is required to have an escort boat and support crew to accompany them across the channel. The first stand up paddleboard and prone paddleboard athletes across the channel will be crowned a World Champion, and the finish line is the Hawaii Kai beach park in Maunalua Bay.

The course begins at the north shore of Molokai and ends on the south shore of Oahu. It is the ultimate test of endurance – no engines or sails, just a paddler and the propulsion power of his/her arms. Top paddlers can ride swells for 100s of yards, and must navigate across open ocean at the same time. The record crossing time is 4:45:03, set by Jamie Mitchell in 2004.

Visit Molokai2Oahu.com for videos and photos of this exciting race. (Photo above courtesy of this web site.)

This is an exciting event. The Hawaii Kai community always supports the racers and residents are there in large numbers to cheer the finishers. If you live on Oahu, come out and join us. If you don't - but would like to live in Hawaii Kai - call or email me and let's discuss how you can be part of our Hawaii Kai lifestyle.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com
http://activerain.com/blogs/abeb

How to Downsize in Hawaii Kai

Buying a home in Hawaii Kai is not always easy to afford, and you may have to downsize in order to enjoy our Hawaii Kai lifestyle. Many of us realize only after we have bought the big house and stuffed the closets with clothing and the garage with toys that we have too much stuff and too many financial obligations. Unwinding ourselves from these habits can be challenging. Here are some ideas.

1. Make incremental changes. Look around and ask yourself what you can get rid of without regretting your decision. If you are keeping something for just sentimental reasons, and you don't use it, it can probably be given away or recycled.

2. Think about what you want, not what you’re supposed to want. Justify the decision to you, not the world, if you are selling a larger home for a smaller one. The Joneses will probably follow you.

3. Save your money. You won't make much interest right now, but you will make more than if you spent it.

4. Fewer fixed expenses equals more freedom. Just ask the sellers who got out from under a mortgage they couldn't afford or someone who has finally paid off a large credit card debt.

Hawaii Kai offers homes and prices for everyone, but that waterfront estate on Maunalua Bay may only be for some buyers. Call or email me and let's find what you can afford. Remember, rates are still at historic lows and prices and inventory still support a buyer's market. You can enjoy the Hawaii Kai lifestyle!

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com

Hawaii Kai Vets Offer Low-cost Microchips for Pets

Veterinarians on Oahu are partnering with the Hawaiian Humane Society to offer low cost microchipping of pets. Throughout August, participating vets from Waianae to Hawaii Kai will offer the service for just $5.

A microchip typically costs $25. Participating veterinarians are waiving the cost of the doctor's visit so that dogs and cats can receive the microchip implant at a substantial discount.

Sponsored by the Hawaiian Humane Society, which provides the microchips to islandwide clinics, the August promotion aims to reduce the number of lost pets in the community.

Participating Microchip Madness veterinary clinics are as follows:

Aina Haina Pet Hospital
Animal Clinic of Honolulu
Animal Hospital of Hawaii
Animal House Veterinary Center
Blue Cross Animal Hospital
Cat-Bird Vet Mobile Hospital
Feather and Fur Animal Clinic
Haiku Veterinary Clinic
Island Veterinary Clinic
Kailua Animal Clinic
Kalihi Pet Clinic
Kapalama Pet Hospital
King Street Pet Hospital
Kokua Pet Clinic
Makai Animal Clinic
Newtown Veterinary Clinic
Ohana Veterinary Clinic
The Cat Clinic
The Pet Doctor
VCA University Animal Hospital
Wahiawa Animal Hospital
Waianae Veterinary Clinic
Waipahu-Leeward Veterinary Clinic

Contact me with your questions about relocating to Hawaii Kai with your pets.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
http://activerain.com/blogs/abeb

(resource: KHON2.com)

Jake Shimabukuro Performing for Hawaii Kai Fireworks Show

Jake Shimabukuro will be performing tomorrow, July 4, at Maunalua Bay, in the Fireworks Show. According to Show and Tell Hawaii, he is also offering a free download of his beautiful tribute piece to the 442nd Infantry Division’s 100th Battalion, "Go for Broke," at his website, jakeshimabukuro.com.

He composed the tune, reaching back to his small-kid-time memory of the 442nd’s Club 100 hall near his grade school, Ala Wai Elementary, to honor the most highly-decorated U.S. unit in military history.The tune will be part of Shimabukuro’s unnamed new CD, due in August.

“Go For Broke” is the trademark motto and battle cry by the Island soldiers to give it all they had to risk everything, including their lives, to honor their country amid the challenges of the wartime battlefront. The slogan was popular during post-war Hawaii, particularly to boost morale and fighting power.

The Maunalua Bay Fireworks display in Hawaii Kai has become a tradition. Be sure and enjoy it from the Bay or good vantage point in the hills.

Come join our Hawaii Kai lifestyle and use this opportunity of low rates and low prices to invest in Hawaii Kai.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com

Hawaii Kai Towne Center Events

Makana performed for the first Summer at Hawaii Kai Towne Center Sunset Concerts, June 19. His band includes Lono Kaumeheiwa (bass and nose flute); Richard Marquez (percussion); Florence I. Koanui (Aunty Flo) hula; and Small Boy (Lono's grandson- percussion).

Here's a description of Makana from the Last.fm site: "A protégé of the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar legends, including Bobby Moderow & the late master Uncle Sonny Chillingworth, Makana has dedicated his life to perpetuating as well as evolving the traditional Hawaiian art form of Slack Key or 'Ki Ho’alu.' From this tradition Makana has evolved his own dynamic, high-octane style, coined 'Slack Rock': slack key infused with elements of bluegrass, rock, blues and raga."

These free concerts at the Hawaii Kai Towne Center continue August 28, 5:30 PM, with John Cruz as lead artist. Na Hoku Hanohano and Grammy Award winner, John has attracted stellar fans over the years, distinguishing himself as one of the most talented artists that has ever come from Hawaii.

Other scheduled events at the Center include the East End Hot Rod Car Show, July 24, and hosting the Blood Bank of Hawaii the 1st Sunday of each month, 7:30-1:30. There will be a drive tomorrow, July 4, and again August 1.

Anchor stores for the Hawaii Kai Towne Center are Costco and Ross Dress for Less. There are more than 20 specialty stores, services, and restaurants available. The Center generously offers these free events for the public, so mark your calendar.

If you aren't in Hawaii Kai to enjoy our lifestyle, call or email me to discuss how you can become a part of the Hawaii Kai community.

Barbara Abe, Realtor
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com