This past weekend, my girlfriend and our dog all went up to hike Manoa Falls. It’s located in Manoa by Paradise Park. I would suggest parking in the residential area and walking through Paradise Park since they charge $5 for parking. And from the residential area, it only takes about 5 minutes to get to the beginning of the hike.

The hike is actually a very fun hike. It’s only 1.5 miles long, with most of the hike shaded. It’s a pretty easy hike, so if you are looking for a “real” hike, this isn’t the one for you. It’s a hike where you take in the nature of it all, and walk through a bamboo forest, rainforest, and finally reaching the base of the Ko’oaus Mountain where you can view a waterfall that drops down 150 feet into a small pool.

The trail can get a bit tough for those who don’t hike much, since there are areas where you have to climb a little bit up rocks and such, but it’s still relatively easy. The only thing I would recommend is to check the weather before you go. If it’s raining, I wouldn’t recommend going. This is because most of the trail is dirt, so when it gets muddy, it’s very easy to slip on the rocks with the mud, where you can slide over the ridge or down onto the large rocks. Besides that, it’s a pretty fun hike. Our little chihuahua-toy fox terrier mix was able to make all the jumps except for just a few, and he had a great time too. So if you have a dog, they allow you to bring him/her along, but you have to make sure they are on a leash.

Have fun on the hike! It’s not only a great workout, but it also gives you a chance to take in the beauty of Hawaii!

A guaranteed great time on hump day is 80’s Acid Wash Wednesdays at Next Door on Hotel Street in downtown Honolulu.  For a year now, my friends and I have been going to this place to dance our butts off to our favorite 80’s music (like “Take on Me” by A-ha!).  When we first started going last spring it was still one of Honolulu’s best kept secrets.  It’s since been discovered by many night owls and always gets packed on the dance floor by midnight.

Bartender Chris is a mainstay here at Next Door and will stir up an awesome drink for you.  Guys must wear covered shoes — and a collared shirt is also recommended.  Girls, as usual, can wear whatever the heck they want.  Doors open at 9 p.m., but people don’t start rolling in til 11.

If you’re looking for a place to chill out before stepping back in time, look no farther than thirtyninehotel, which is next door to Next Door. There’s a great open mic night on Wednesdays, and you can even enjoy the music from their very cozy outdoor patio.

(808) 548-6398

The Honolulu Weekly recently came out with a “Cheap Finds” issue for visitors and residents on a budget, and I’m following up on their list of cheapies by providing a short list of my own.

If you traveled to Hawaii the right way, the only thing you packed was your bathing suit.  That really is all you need to survive in this tropical paradise.  Once you’ve settled into your newfound island lifestyle and you’re looking for some good ole cheap island attire, here’s a quick guide to some really decently priced apparel stores in the Honolulu area.

1. Savers

This is a huge warehouse of second-hand clothing, shoes, houseware, and books.  You might have to dig a little, but there are some really great clothing bargains that are from Banana Republic, or other high-end stores!

1505 Dillingham Blvd #115, ph #808-842-0061

2. Stylus Honolulu

This place is tucked up on the third floor of the building at the corner of University and King, across from Puck’s Alley.  Most clothes are about $10 and are stylish second-hand stuff.  They also have a neat music collection where they sell CD’s for under $10.

2615 S. King Street #A-301, ph #808-951-4500

http://www.stylushonolulu.com/

3. The International Marketplace

With dozens of booths to choose from, you will be sure to buy the cheapest aloha attire and bathing suits somewhere in this Waikiki labyrinth.

2330 Kalakaua Ave, #808-971-2080

http://www.internationalmarketplacewaikiki.com/

It’s crunch time, people!  Mother’s Day is fast approaching and if you don’t yet know what to get for your mom, here’s a quick idea.

The Star of Honolulu has been running lunch and dinner cruises for over 50 years!  Your mom would certainly appreciate a little rest and relaxation while cruising the south shore of Oahu.  Cruises start at $50 per adult, but can be as high as $170 (for the 5 star dinner cruise).

You can browse different cruise options and book tickets online too!

I imagine the This Week, which can be found in Waikiki, would have a discount for something like this, or could provide you with another great idea (like dinner at the Top of Waikiki).

You have three days to figure it out!!

There was a record turnout tonight, as roughly 10,000 Democrats attended statewide caucuses this evening.  Barack Obama, who spent 14 years of his life in Hawaii, won the caucus, his 10th state caucus win in a row, which may be the swing of momentum he needs to win the important caucuses in Texas and Ohio in early March.

John McCain appears to be the delegated candidate for the Republican party.  With a race between he and either Hillary Clinton or Obama, it is anyone’s guess who will take the Presidential Office come November.

I think it is an exciting time in politics, with the front-runners in both parties promising change for our nation.  If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can do so by following the link below, downloading the application, and mailing in your registration as soon as possible.

 http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm

The statewide democratic caucus is tomorrow, starting at 7 pm! Let your voice be heard. The caucuses meet by precincts, so be sure to make it to your particular district’s caucus site.

To find your caucus site, visit the HawaiiDemocrats.org site or follow the link below:

FIND YOUR CAUCUS SITE

The caucus tomorrow is designed to decide which Democratic Presidential candidate Hawaii would like to see on the ballot this fall. In addition, you will elect precinct officers, district officers, and delegates to the State Convention.

Reading up on some of the news happening around our island, I came by a story reported by KGMB 9 news about a family from Punchbowl who traded in their van and bought two cars, only to find them breakdown just a few days later.  The victim purchased a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipise and her mom bought what looks like to be a 1998 Nissan Altima.

The victim purchased their car from Deals on Wheels on Nimitz Hwy, which is a used car dealership right before Nimitz turns into H1.  She said that she has been paying a ton of towing fees, and her mechanic checked it out afterwards and told her it was going to cost her $3000 to fix.  She purchased the car for $10,000 after the trade-in.

The owner of the dealership said that he is not bound to help her out in anyway, but that he would send her car to his mechanic to check out and fix what he thinks is necessary.  The owner buys his cars from auctions and checks them out, but I’m assumming doesn’t do a thorough inspection of the vehicle.  In fact, when they opened the hood the car, the engine bay had some modifications for the 3 seconds it was on TV.  I quickly noticed a modified intake, but was not able to check what else was different.  People who modify their cars incorrectly oftentimes suffer the consequences of their car not working properly, and voiding their warranty at the same time.

The owner of the dealership did make a good point to bring your own mechanic to check out the car, but I feel that it is the duty of the dealership to make sure the car is in working condition and not to sell as is, unless you tell them what’s wrong with the car.  I understand the dealership wants to make money, but at the same time, the victim could have been involved in a severe accident due to a problem with a car.  It’s not just about making money, but selling someone something that is safe.

Now I’m more inclined to purchase a used car from a reputable dealership, ones that do thorough inspections, or even certifying the car which comes with a warranty that is given to a new car.  This ensures that the car is most likely safe, and also guarantees that problems will be fixed if a problem does arise.  Yes, you are more than likely to pay more for that vehicle, but I think safety and less headaches is worth the money.

Getting spotty coverage in the Waiahole and Kualoa area, and you happen to have T-Mobile as your wireless carrier?  Well, help may be on the way.  T-Mobile has applied for a permit to build another telecommunications antenna facility at Kualoa Ranch (Source: Honolulu Advertiser).  The tower will help to increase more coverage to T-Mobile customers in that area.

The facility will include a 105 foot tall tower with all the necessary electrical, equipment, and infrastructural support.  Best of all, it won’t be a tower sticking out of nowhere.  In fact, they are planning to build the tower to look like an artificial pine tree.  Pretty cool huh?  I’m sure you’ve seen them before, but it’s hard to notice unless you really look or catch something out of the ordinary up there in the tree.

We’ll see how the permit will play out.  So far the odds are against T-Mobile, since the district they want to build the tower has a 25 foot height limit.  Yups, that’s pretty much 4 times over the limit.  T-Mobile did apply for a waiver for this height limit, but you never know what can happen.

I know a lot of T-Mobile customers and they are kind of spotty everywhere, but it’s a pretty good wireless provider, especially since they have very reasonably priced packages.  Being that I’m using Sprint since all my friends have Sprint, and I get free mobile to mobile, I’ll still stick with Sprint.  So far no problems.  But I do feel that this tower will help their coverage and make more customers satisfied.  We’ll just have to wait I guess to see how this permit unfolds…

Go to any Taco Bell on Oahu, and snatch a free crunchy seasoned beef taco.  Yes, you read that right.  So why are they doing this?  For every base stolen in the 2007 MLB World Series, Taco Bell is giving away a free taco to everyone in America.

Since Boston Red Sox center fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury has stolen a base, Taco Bell is living out to their promise and giving out free tacos, which starts tomorrow from 2-5pm.

So make sure you head down to Taco Bell!!!  I’d say go early cause there will be a line guaranteed.  Here are the lists of Taco Bells on the island:

Ala Moana - 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814
Beretania - 1215 S. Beretania, Honolulu, HI 96814
Ewa Beach - 91-763 Papipi Street, Ewa Beach, HI 96706
Hawaii Kai - Koko Marina Shopping Center, Honolulu, HI 96825
K-Bay - MCBH Mokapu Mall, Kailua, HI 96734
Kahala - Kahala Mall, 4211 Waialae Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816
Kailua - 121 Oneawa Street, Kailua, HI 96734
Kaimuki - 3113 Waialae Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816
Kalihi - 615 Waiakamilo Road, Honolulu, HI 96817
Kaneohe - 45-1014 Kamehameha Hwy., Kaneohe, HI 96744
Kapahulu - 717 Kapahulu Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816
Kapolei - 590 Farrington Hwy., Kapolei, HI 96707
Laie - Laie Shopping Center, 55-510 Kamehameha Hwy. #7, Laie, HI 96762
Makiki - 1345 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96814
Manoa - 2752 Woodlawn Dr., unit 5-1119, Honolulu, HI 96822
McCully - 1960 Kapiolani Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96826
Mililani - Mililani Town Center, Mililani, HI 96789
Moanalua - Moanalua Shopping Center, Honolulu, HI 96818
NEX - Naval Exchange Center, Honolulu, HI 96818
Pearl City - 98-376 Kamehameha Hwy., Pearl City, HI 96782
Pearl Harbor - 850 Ticonderoga St, Ste 200 Honolulu, HI 96860
Pearlridge Downtown - 624 Pearlridge Center, Downtown Aiea, HI 96701
Pearlridge Uptown - 98-1005 Moanalua Road, Uptown Aiea, HI 96701
Stadium - 4510 Salt Lake Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96818
Wahiawa - 146 South Kamehameha Hwy., Wahiawa, HI 96786
Waianae - 85-752 Farrington Hwy., Waianae, HI 96792
Waikiki - 2250 Kalakaua Ave. #104, Honolulu, HI 96815
Waipahu - Waipahu Town Center, Waipahu, HI 96797
Waipio - 94-790 Ukee St., Waipahu, HI 96797

HAPPY FREE EATING!

When I moved to Oahu several years ago, I just loved the local food here. Living in the New England area of the east coast did not really allow me to eat good Asian food for a long time. I really didn’t care why I was eating rice and mac salad at the same time. It didn’t feel strange about eating pounds of chicken katsu without a single gram of vegetables… I also got very fond of poke and poi as well. Unfortunately, I did gain a few pounds, which means that I can’t fight in the lightweight any more… Some of you probably know exactly how I feel: Portuguese sausage in the morning, spam musubi for snack, chicken katsu for lunch, kalbi for dinner with some beer, and shave ice or mochi ice cream for dessert maybe?

Now you can watch out for yourself when you each local foods. A team at the UH is developing a website where you can check the nutritional facts of local foods. You can either type in or browse by the name of food and get its facts. You can also register and get your online dietary assessment as well. The website is www.hawaiifoods.hawaii.edu.

I know it is not the greatest feeling in the world reading the nutritional facts of your food, and it does piss me off when people tell me how bad my food can be. But hey, if you want to find out how healthy or unhealthy your diet is just out of your curiosity, go on line and check it out. Maybe it will help you start eating more healthy.