Hawaii Secret Dot Com Blog

The entire state of Hawii is ecstatic about the recent victory of Hawaii Little Leaguers over Lake Charles, Louisiana. At stake was the United States Little League Championship.

The team from Waipio, started off to a 1-0 lead early on in the game. By the end of the 5th inning Waipio was losing 5-1.

Everyone thought the game was over. Spectators left. The Hawaii crod was quitet. A mother of a team member decided she could watch no longer. She left the field and walked away. “No way can they win”, she thought.

But tell that to 12 and 13 year olds who had come to play ball. The kids dug deep and did not give up. A battle was raging on the ball field. When the smoke had cleared the Hawaii team was victorious. They pulled off a staggering comeback.

The lesson is clear. Don’t give up. If you believe, you can succeed. There are many lessons we can learn from this Little League team.

Never say, never. And it’s not over til it’s over. Good luck boys. You are role models to all of us.

You can read more of the story here at ABC Sports

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

I recently met up with some fellow bloggers at Tokkuri Tei Restuarant (611 Kapahulu Ave Honolulu, HI 96815 (808) 739-2800).

The food was outstanding. Of course the company was great as well. Those in attendance included: Nate and Annie (House of Annie), Michele (The Accidental Scientist),and Deb (Kahakai Kitchen).

We were brought together by Food Buzz, as a way for their featured publishers to get to know one another. It was a wonderful evening. Very memorable.

The sushi was amazing. Each one I tasted was of the highest-melt-in-your-mouth quality.

The japanese food was also very good. For example there was a plate of portobello mushrooms, very tender and covered with a sauce which allowed the portobello to shine through.

All of the food was extra-ordinary. The soft shell crab was exquisite. A tofu salad we ordered was another standout.

Each dish was expertly prepared. The presentation of the food made it have extreme visual appeal. I would have to admit that Tokkuri Tei, has some of the best japanese food and sushi I have ever eaten.

As I mentioned before the company was also excellent and that may have added to the taste of the food.

I will definitely go back. As a matter of fact, Nate and Annie did go back several days later with Nate’s mom. (She insisted that they take her there.)

Nate ended up making a video. Here is a clip which shows how the salmon sashimi was prepared.

I recommend Tokkuri Tei, without hesitation or reservation. Enjoy.

Here is a grreat resource so you can learn to make your own sushi.

Be well. Stasy well. Sushi on Earth…
albert grande

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

[#3: Edit Options>MightyAdsense>Adsense Code]

All my friend Cody wanted to do was to do a little surfing on the Makaha side of Oahu. There is nothing wrong with that… I mean sure surfing can be dangerous. You need to watch out for those tricky breaks. For a very experienced surfer like Cody, who likes the big stuff, how dangerous can it be?

As, Cody found out: very dagerous. You never know…

As he was paddling his board, a needlefish jumped out of nowhere and pierced his eye lid and eyeball. What could he do? This is an exclusive first hand interview for Hawaii Secret Dot Info

Remember: let’s be careful out there.

The next best thing to surfing is watching surfing. Discover some incredible surfing resources right here.

Stay well,

Albert Grande
Bimwah-in-Training

Make Pizza Here
Unlock Hawaii Secrets
Make Pasta Be Happy

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

This review is compliments of my good friend, Mike:

Paesano Ristorante finally opened yesterday and we tried it out this
evening. It is located across the parking lot from Safeway in the Waimalu Shopping Plaza. We got there at the start of dinner service and had appetizers and entrees. If you are of a mind to try it out, I’d say it isvery much like Assagio in Mililani. Many of the menu offerings are the same as Assagio.

I liked the atmosphere. I had the cold antipasto and my wife had the Kahuku shrimp in a spicy sauce. Both were good. I had the small portion of a Veal alla Sorentino and my wife had the vegetarian linguine.

The small portion of my veal was huge. I can’t imagine what the regular portion looks like. We had to skip dessert. By the time we finished most of the tables were occupied. We ran into a number of people that we know. I think the restaurant will be quite successful.

Pearl City was ready for this. There are so many mediocre restaurants in the Pearl City-Aiea are.
It is definitely a family restaurant.This is the second restaurant in this “chain”, the other being in Manoa Marketplace.

There was no pizza on the dinner menu. I guess pizza doesn’t fit. I haven’t seen the lunch menu, so maybe they have pizza then.

Pricewise, the check was comparable to Assagio. Two appetizers, 2 ice teas, and 2 entrees came out to $82.00 including tax and tip, which might be a little high for a weeknight dinner, but it was a try.

One nice thing is that you can buy the marinara sauce, fresh bread, and some of the various pastas. The other nice thing is that for now, there is plenty of free parking.

Thanks, for the review, Mike. I will definitely check this restaurant out.

You can discover some of my own favorite Italian recipes at this link:

Pizza Therapy’s Italian Recipes

You can also discover a number of pasta recipes at Pasta Therapy Recipes.

And of course I recommend:

That’s all for now.
Eat, eat….

Albert Grande
pizzaiolo -in -training

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

There it was in the newspaper (Honolulu Star-Bulletin 7/9/08), the same sad story written by a visitor to Hawaii. I see this same letter several times a year. The story is almost exactly the same. The only difference is the author.

The visitor came to Hawaii, had a wonderful time, people were great, the weather was fabulous, they really felt the Aloha spirit. Then: disaster. They got ripped off. They lost everything. Their luggage, their cameras, their wallets their valuables. Everything gone in the blink of an eye.

It’s the same sad story, again and again.

The saddest part of the story is this disaster was totally preventable. Totally and completely preventable. Totally and completely.

Let me explain: in the latest version of this letter, the tourists had just finished a wonderful vacation. They had a late flight and decided to stop at Ala Moana (a major shopping center), for a late night dinner before their departure.

Here is a qoute from the letter:

The writer goes on to explain, the entire family will never return to Hawaii. They will also discourage anyone else from vacationing in Hawaii.

I really am angry and frustrated that no-one from the rental car agent to their hotel clerk to anyone else they met, explained Hawaii’s dirty little secret: there is a very small but very dangerous group of locals, whose full time job is to steal from anyone they can.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Hawaii is any different from any other place. You will find the same small dangerous group of rip-off artists anywhere you go.

But, just because you are vacationing in one of the most beautiful places on the planet does not mean there are not criminals here.

Listen: these creeps know that the only person who would drive a Chrysler Sebring convertable, is a tourist.

Believe me, your rental car sends out a beacon to would be crooks that says: “Steal from this car”. It’s like there is a flashing light and an arrow in the air pointing directly at your rental car. “Beep beep. Flash flash. Valuables inside! Steal from this car now”

Listen: there are literally thousands of cars parked at Ala Moana at any given time. What do you think the odds are that these Bozos picked out a random car to break into?

This was no random act. This was planned and calculated. The car was there less than an hour. This was a crime of opportunity. And unfortunately, you just rewarded these cockroaches with new luggage, clothes and souvenirs. So now the next time they see a tourist rental car, they will break in again.

Sure, I agree that there needs to be better security and more police patrols and hasher sentencing for criminals.

But the best thing you can do is to follow this advice:

Never, ever, never leave anyting of value in a rental car.

Never, ever.

This is one of those times when an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Be procactive. Be smart. You need to outwit the bad guys before they act.

This one bit of advice will save you a ton of heart-ache. Had these latest victims taken their luggage with them, to the food court, a crook would have broken into an empty car. Or they easily could have checked in their baggage, and eaten at the airport.

So if you come to Hawaii and you rent a car: never leave anything of value in the rental car. This includes going to the beach, going shopping or even stopping off somewhere for a plate lunch.

So now you know. If my rant saves one less tourist from getting ripped: I will be elated!

Taste some Hawaii right now:

Respectfully.

Albert Grande
Pizza Therapy
Pasta Therapy, Make Pasta, Eat Pasta, Love Pasta
Discover Hawaii Vacations and Hawaii Vacation Videos

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets