Yakiniku Camellia

I want to write about Yakiniku Camellia. This shop is located on 2494 South Beretania St. if you are not good at looking a map, you should go to star market because it is located near the star market. If you arrive at star market, you may find the shop quickly. You can eat a ton of meat that is seasoned with spicy salty-sweet sauce. Of course there are some fruits, many kinds of salad, and many kinds of soup. This shop is buffet service, so you can take the food that you want. This shop’s main dish is spicy chicken. There are beef, chicken and pork as the main meat. I think chicken is the tastiest in those meats. This shop is not very big, so during lunch time, you should go quickly. There is no time limit, so you can eat until you feel full. Dessert is also good, but there is no dessert during lunch, so if you want to eat dessert, you should go there during dinner time. If you go to the shop, you don’t dress up. After eating, your clothes are stained by Yakiniku smells. I recommend that you wear casual clothes. This shop’s price was not so expensive. Maybe the price was about 15$ per person. If you have never experienced Yakiniku, you might feel satisfied. On the other hand, if you have experienced Yakiniku in Japan, you might notice some differences.

MAGURO YA

I am from Japan so sometimes I really want to eat Japanese food but it is difficult to find a real Japanese restaurant in Hawaii. Of course, we can find very good Japanese restaurants in the Honolulu area and the food’s taste is also very good however the Japanese restaurants in Honolulu are super expensive. When we compare the Japanese restaurant in Japan with Honolulu, the costs may be almost double in Honolulu. Even if we can find a cheap Japanese restaurant, the food’s tastes are totally different from real Japanese food. Therefore I could not eat really good Japanese food so far. However finally I could eat traditional real Japanese food at a restaurant this weekend. The restaurant’s name is MAGURO YA. The MAGURO YA located in the Kaimuki area is known to many locals. The restaurant specializes in tuna, but they also serve traditional Japanese food such as tempura, soba, and udon. The restaurant’s atmosphere is just like in Japan. The cost is by no means cheap but not expensive. If you do not want to spend money but you want to eat very good Japanese food at the restaurant, it is possible because you can eat several good Don, that is a bowl of rice topped with chicken, beef, pork or fish for about eight dollars. I was irresolute what I would order but after all I wanted to eat many Japanese foods so I ordered the MAGURO YA special. The MAGURO YA special was eighteen dollars so it was a little bit expensive but the menu included sushi, sashimi, tempura, soba and salad. I was surprised when I saw the menu because all the plates had tuna, and there was a lot. I think the price was very reasonable. If you need to eat real Japanese food in Hawaii, You should to go The MAGURO YA.

Yamagen

This shop is located on 2210 S King St, and also near the Longs Drugs and Honolulu Stadium State Park. There is only one Longs Drugs on S King St, so you can’t lose the way.

We can eat delicious Japanese food such as Tendon, Katsu Curry, and Chicken Yakitori Don in this shop. At first when you entered this shop, you may feel a little bit dark and so small, but food is incredible good. I have ever eaten Tendon, and Chicken Katsu. I can really recommend Tendon because this shop’s is the tastiest in their menus. Japanese people like salty-sweet taste, and it can express the taste perfectly. When I brought it to my mouth, I remembered my country. Of course you may have fun from others dishes, but if you can choose any dish, you should order Tendon. It is made up with rice and some tempura which are a shrimp, a white fish, and a vegetable. In this shop, each dish’s price is a little bit expensive, but lunch menus are not expensive. You should go during lunch time. If you go during lunch time, you may buy each dish under 8 dollars, and you will be satisfied the taste and the amount. When you have it in your hand, you may feel the weight.

Sogongdong

I went to Sogongdong this weekend. The Sogongdong is a famous Korean restaurant in Hawaii. The restaurant is located at Mccully Shopping Center’s second floor. Even if you do not know the Mccully Shopping Center, you can find it easily. Go walk through Ala Wai Blvd, turn right at the first bridge, and walk until the first traffic light, then there is Mccully Shopping Center. If you cannot find the shopping center, you should ask the taxi driver. The shopping center is a very famous place so every taxi driver might know it. I usually do not eat Asian food so I cannot compare it to the other Korean restaurants but the restaurant’s food, service, and cost were good. Firstly, the restaurant had menus that were written in English, Korean, and Japanese so people can order easily even Japanese tourists and also the restaurant’s atmosphere was nice. There were a lot of pictures of famous people with the restaurant’s owner so it looked like a very famous restaurant. The restaurant’s popular menu item was tofu with spicy soup that was cold Soondubu. I dislike spicy food and I ordered Bibinbap that was rice with egg and many vegetables so I did not eat the Soondubu but the smell was so nice. After we ordered, many kinds of side dishes were carried that included Kimchi and rice. We could eat the side dishes and rice by service and also we could refill any number of times. Each ordered dishes were 8 dollars to 12 dollars so it was not too expensive and also we could eat many side dishes and rice by service so I think the restaurant is very good for filling your stomach.

Waikiki Shorebird at the Outrigger Reef Hotel

I went to the Outrigger Reef on the beach hotel to eat dinner with my friends. Actually, this is one of my favorite restaurants in Hawaii because the price is reasonable and you can cook your own food. This restaurant is located in the outrigger hotel. A couple months ago, my local friends recommended here because he is working at the restaurant. When you decide to go there, I recommend you make a reservation and if you go with a date, you should go before 5:30 because if you are lucky, you can watch a sunset. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go before 5:30 at that time because apparently, they were already full. This restaurant’s style is BBQ, so we can choose beef, chicken, and fish. After looking at the menu, I ordered “Regular Chicken” The price was $16.95. When I first came here, I felt relatively expensive, but if you ordered meat, you can eat salad bar. Especially, this restaurant’s Poki is awesome. I have never eaten this kind of Poki. Salad bar also has rice and bread. Of course we couldn’t drink alcohol, so I paid only 20 dollars. This restaurants looks like a fancy restaurant, but many people come to this restaurant easily and this restaurant is very popular among people of all age groups. When you go here, I recommend going as party. Maybe, your date will be happy and they will prefer this restaurant.

Yogurtland

My roommate and I went to Yogurtland, so I will explain the shop. It was located on University Ave and on the Metcalf St. if you are not good at looking map, you should go to University of Hawaii at Manoa because the shop was very close from the university. You can eat new type sweets at this shop. These are called a frozen yogurt. Its sense of touch is like ice cream, but its taste is yogurt. It is a little bit softer than normal ice cream. This shop was not so big, but you may not be uncomfortable. As soon as you entered this shop, you will be able to see a lot of machines. You can get yogurt from them. You can decide amount of yogurt that you want to eat. There were many flavors. These were Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, Pistachio, New York cheese cake, Peanut Better, Mango, Taro, Green tea, Espresso, Mint chocolate, Peach, Banana, Cookie’ cream, and Pumpkin. Price is not expensive. If you eat much amount of yogurt, you may pay about less than $5 dollars. After you chose yogurt, you can add toppings. Toppings are chocolate chips, fruits, cereals, gummy candy, and M&Ms. Tastes were so good. If you don’t like yogurt taste, you shouldn’t choose a plane type. According to my friend, other taste yogurt ice creams were so delicious than plane type.

Waikiki Aquarium

I went to Waikiki Aquarium. I go running to Waikiki every weekend and I always do not have money during running but I had twenty dollars by chance on that day. Therefore I did not expect to go there even though I decided to enter the Waikiki Aquarium suddenly. The approach there is fairly easy. It is almost at the edge of the east of Waikiki. Even the person who doesn't know how to get there will be able to find it if advancing toward the direction of Diamond Head along the Waikiki beach, and there are some big monuments in front of the aquarium so everyone can find it easily. It will not take longer than 20 minutes walking from the center of Waikiki. The charge is not high at all either. It is possible to enter for ten dollars or less. It had a calm and clean atmosphere when entering inside. A lot and tourists and local families were there. The service of the aquarium was quite good. When entering, the hand-held narrated guide machine was passed out, and the machine explained about the fish of each water tank. The machines were passed out for each person so I could watch many fish at my own pace and the machine translated in many languages. Therefore I could hear the explanations in my native language but you can just look around instead and read the signs on each tank. The aquarium was very small but worthwhile to see little fish up close. They also have monk seals, jelly fish and small sharks. Among them all there were especially a lot of water tanks with jelly fish in them. Those Jelly fish tanks were lit up by blue light so they shone beautifully. It did not take one hour to see everything in the aquarium. If you need a break from the sun and sand, visit the aquarium

Waikele Premium Outlets Center

I went to the Waikele Premium outlets center on Sunday with my friend to buy new shoes. I would buy at the Ala Moana center but there are no shoes which I want to buy. On the other hand, Waikele is a very famous outlet center and many go there to buy clothes and shoes. I wanted to buy a “Vans” shoes and “Converse” shoes because these companies released new spring shoes. A couple days ago, I went to the Ala Moana center to buy these shoes, but no shop had the shoes, so I decided to go to the Waikele. There are a lot of stores such as clothes shoes and jeans. After we arrived, we went to the “Converse”. I found shoes which I wanted to buy also, they have my size. I decided to buy this very quickly. These shoes were made of leather and the color was black. It was probably 60 dollars. However, if I buy these shoes in Japan, it costs approximately 80 dollars. I can buy new shoes relatively cheaper than in Japan. After, “Vans” we decided to eat lunch then I really wanted to eat a BBQ plate. Fortunately, my favorite plate restaurant is located in Waikele. This store’s name is “Yummy’s” and this is a Korean plate restaurant. A lot of these store are located in Hawaii. I always order “BBQ” chicken. This is awesome. You can buy probably 8 dollars and you can choose four salads choices. After we had lunch. We went to the “Vans” This company also released new shoes. These shoes name is “Half Cab”. People are wearing these shoes while they are skating. They released it with new colors. I also bought this for about 60 dollars. If you want to go there you should go with a car.

Ala Moana Beach Park

I went to Ala Moana Beach Park on May 1, 2010. The beach park was as nice as Waikiki beach but when compared to Waikiki beach, this is a much quieter beach. The water is very clear and calm. The beach park was located next to Ala Moana shopping center, and at the southern part of Ala Moana. Ala Moana area was next to Waikiki area so we could go there easily to walk from Waikiki to go through Ala Moana Blvd. The distance was about 2 kilometers so it was possible to go in a short time. The beach park had a large free parking area so we can go there by car too. The beach park had a very large park and clear beach, and there were many showers and restrooms so it is not difficult to change clothes there. We could see a lot of people were enjoying barbecues at the park side, and the sea was very deep, almost no waves and there was about two kilometers from the edge to the edge so a lot of swimmers trained there, on the other hand the waves were high when going further out by about 300 meters so a lot of surfers were there. In addition the beach park had some tennis courts and nice running courses. The running course is a popular place for runners as it has a great path that runs along the waterfront. Some females with a baby carriage were running so it is possible to look at the public peace good. We can play many kinds of sports at the beach park. We enjoyed there until the evening and we could see the sunset at there. The sunset was very beautiful. Ala Moana beach park is one of the best places on the Island to go and see a sunset.

Bubbies Ice Cream

I went to Bubbies Ice Cream. There are three shops in Hawaii. I want to explain about the Varsity Center’s shop. It is located on University Avenue, and it is located near the Burger King on S Beretania St. This shop’s atmosphere was very antique because its interior is wooden and old style. Lighting was not so bright. It was part of the reason that this shop was antique. As soon as you entered this shop you will see a big glass case. Many kinds of ice cream were put into this case. This shop was known for a lot of Mochi-ice cream. If you ate those, you will have a strange feeling in your mouth because those ice creams made with Mochi and ice cream. Mochi is like chewing gum, so you will feel that you can chew it forever. There are many kinds of flavors. There are red bean, blueberry, chocolate-coconuts, chocolate-espresso, mint-chocolate, peanuts butter-chocolate, vanilla-chocolate, guava, litchi, mango, passion fruit, pistachio, raspberry, cherry blossom, strawberry, strawberry chocolate chip, tiramisu and vanilla. If you don’t want to eat ice cream, you can choose a cake, or you can drink some coffee or juices. I ate chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Those were very good. I recommend that you buy chocolate because if you choose chocolate, you will not make a mistake about the taste. Mochi ices are not expensive. Each ice is about $1.30, and you can it by the piece.

Kaimuki -Yoga, Mexican, and Sconees!

There are many interesting shops and stylish cafes in Kaimuki. I have been to Kaimuki with my friend before for Yoga Class. Firstly, we went to coffee shop, Coffee Talk. The shop is popular with Kaimuki people. I like atmosphere of the shop. There are many good artistic pictures on the wall. In addition, the shop always connected to the internet. I think it is really convenience for student and worker. I ordered an ice coffee latte. The coffee was good taste. After that, we walked around Kaimuki. There are some Mexican restaurants. I especially want to try the Mexican restaurant, B. C. burrito. Next, we went to the Sconees. The shop’s scone was very good. I bought 2 chocolate, 1 raisin, 1 apple for souvenir to my friends. I really recommend the scone shop. After we stayed Kaimuki, we went to Kahala beach. Weather was good, so the sea was very beautiful. There were few people on the beach because of early morning. In addition, there were many big houses in Kahala. I thought that I want to live there.

Kaimuki and Coffee Talk

We went to Coffee Talk in Kaimuki on April 20, 2010 for a field trip. We were able to arrive there from Waikiki by the car in about ten minutes and the way was very simple. It advances toward east on the Kapiolani Blvd to Waialae Ave until 12th Ave. I think it would be possible to go there with the bicycle in 30 minutes. We decided to stop the van in a nearby parking lot and to walk there. Kaimuki has a different atmosphere from Waikiki. There were no tourists and we were able to feel the Hawaiian time of the local. We could see a lot of ethnic food restaurants while we were walking. The Mexican restaurant that was called B.B.Burrito seems to have been especially famous. The character of BYOW, Bring Your Own Wine, can frequently be seen in the restaurant in the sphere of Europe, but we could see the character of BYOB, Bring Your Own Beer, at the front of the restaurant. After we had looked at some restaurants and shops, we finally went to Coffee talk around 9:30 a.m. The shop opens at 6 a.m. so it is possible to go there in the early morning. There were many kinds of coffee drinks, bagels, and pancakes. I ordered ice coffee. The price was similar to other coffee shops and cheaper than Starbucks coffee. We relaxed for a while there. We could use free internet at the shop so we could see office workers and students there. The shop was clean and some paintings were put on walls and also nostalgic jazz music flowed there and I was able to feel like the atmosphere was in the 90's.

Pearl Ridge Shopping Center

I have been to Pearl Ridge Shopping Center many times. Actually, Pearl Ridge Shopping Center is the second largest in Hawaii. There are many shops and restaurants. I especially like Forever21, Hollister, and MAC. These are clothing shops and cosmetic shops. Firstly, I went to Pearl City by bus from McCully, and went to Pearl Ridge by walk. Then, I bought coffee and bread at Starbucks for brunch. I love Starbucks, so I often go to Starbucks. After I had brunch, I walked around Pearl Ridge Shopping Center with Momo. I bought some clothes and shoes. I love shopping. It makes me so happy. Prices were cheaper than shops in Waikiki and Ala Moana. In addition, there were few Japanese tourists, so there were many local people. There was a famous pretzel shop. Therefore, we bought some pretzels before we went back home. After we left the shopping center, we waited for the bus. Finally, we went back home spending one hour getting on the bus. I thought that today was very full and I had very nice time with Momo. I’m looking forward to going to Pearl Ridge Shopping Center next time.

Todai Sushi Review

I went to Todai with my friends on Saturday for lunch. It was a very good restaurant because there were lots of food such as sushi, fried food, and dessert. We ate many kinds of food. My friend ate a lot of sushi. There were many kinds of sushi, but there were two that were kinds strange. We called one of them hybrid sushi because it was made of tuna and salmon. This case was a little bit strange. There is no type of sushi like that in Japan. The other one also surprised me. It was called California Roll. I knew it, but I had never eaten it before I went to Todai. The two unusual kinds of sushi were very tasty for me, but my friends didn’t think so. We also ate some desserts. There were small pieces of cakes, mousses, and crapes. I ate all of them because I like sweet cakes more than anything else. The cakes and mousses were so delicious for me, but crepes were by far the tastiest. When I lived in Japan, I used to eat crepes. In Japan, my favorite crepe contained slices of bananas, strawberry jam, and a lot of whipped cream. Todai’s crepes were almost same as my favorite one, but Todai’s crepes had custard cream and chocolate syrup instead of strawberry jam. I had great time because of crepes. Next weekend, I’m going to go out to eat more crepes. If you know any good crepe shops, please let me know.

Ala Moana shopping center is the biggest shopping center in Hawaii.

Ala Moana shopping center is the biggest shopping center in Hawaii. There are approximately 220 stores and 70 restaurants. You can get anything you want there. You may enjoy shopping or eating at the shopping center whether you are a rich person or not. If you like brand name products, such as CHANEL, PRADA and LOUIS VITTON, you can enjoy shopping there for certain. We can see so many expensive stores there. If you do not have enough money to buy these products and do not have an interest in them, don’t worry. There is also an Old Navy in ala moana shopping center. Their products are really inexpensive; we can buy a pair of beach shoes for only 5 dollars. I have never shopped there, but my friend often goes there and he enjoys shopping there. Also, the restaurants are so enriched. If you have a lot of money, I recommend you go to Tanaka of Tokyo, a Japanese seafood and steak restaurant, because you can enjoy the chef’s performance. You sit down in front of a chef and they make your meal with a fantastic performance. It is kind of like a circus. Of course, the chefs’ performance is pretty high level. Unfortunately, if you do not have much money, I recommend you go to the food court. At the food court, you can enjoy so many kinds of meals. Also, they are relatively inexpensive. Especially, a hamburger shop in the food court is my favorite shop. Their products are really fresh and we can have very tasty French fries. Actually, they are tastier than Mc Donald’s hamburgers. In fact, Ala Moana shopping center has more fantastic stores and restaurants. Even I didn’t know all of the stores in Ala Moana shopping center. I will do more research about there.