"Geek Paradise- Hawaiian Style"…read more Initial event here in Hawaii. As described on their Facebook page: "a curated craft market specializing in "hand"-themed crafts of all kinds; clothing, accessories, toys, home decoration, furniture, art... if it's geeky and made by hand, it can be found at a GeekCraftExpo. This expo can be found around the country in areas such as Seattle, Portland and Madison Wisconsin. They feature items made by local artisans so each expo is unique unto itself. This initial Hawaii expo features 29 artisans and occupied one of the ballrooms on the third floor of the convention center. As the Facebook page indicated, they kept it small for this initial expo to gauge response and help it to grow. Always nice to see the creativity of artists in the community. Of particular interest was the remarkable miniature origami figures that were made used to make more intricate figures- this was located at the Seiartsu table located at the mauka/Ewa corner of the room. The admission fee for those over age 12 is FREE if you preregister through event brite- otherwise it's $5 at the door. A promising beginning and a great way to spend some time this weekend to feed your inner geek.

I'm a veteran when it comes to running in races. But for some reason, this race made me super…read morenervous. I had nightmares the night before on waking up late and/or being in the wrong spot when my teammate needed to pass off the sash to me. I think I was mainly nervous because I'm used to running in races as a solo runner and only I mattered. But running in a team puts more pressure on me to perform because now I have my entire team depending on me to do well! Plus, this was my first time running in this event, so I didn't know what to expect. The Honolulu Ekiden is a 26.2-mile (42.195 km) course divided into six sections. Each relay team can have up to 2-6 runners. There's 5 relay stations along the race course. That is where team members pass off the sash to the next person who will complete the next section. The first leg starts at Kapiolani Park and runs 3.3mi to Kaimuki Middle. The 2nd leg then runs from that station to Maunalua Bay Park to run 5.6mi. The 3rd leg then runs to Sandy Beach for 3.9mi. The 4th leg runs back to Maunalua Bay Park for another 3.9mi. Passed off to the 5th leg, they make their way back to Kaimuki Middle for 5.6mi. And the last leg takes the sash back to the finish line at Kapiolani Park for 3.9mi. Even though this event is catered more towards the Japanese, this event was a lot of fun to run in and very well-organized. Because every station is shattered and start/finish stations are not the same location, the organization provides free shuttles. Transportation to each station are done in 3 ways: 1) park near Kapiolani Park, then catch the shuttle to your leg start station (shuttle times for each leg station is listed on their website), complete your leg and then catch the shuttle back to the park from your finish station; 2) park near your leg start station, complete your leg and then catch the shuttle back to your leg start station; or 3) get dropped off at your leg start station, complete your leg and then get picked up from where you are. At Kapiolani Park where the finish line is, they have food, music and games for all participants. Because I was the 5th leg running from Maunaloa Bay to Kaimuki Middle, I made sure to make my way back to Kapiolani Park and enjoy the festivities. You can also join your last teammate as they make their way to the finish line and run to the end with them! Not to mention, this year was the first time they passed out medals to the entire team :) The last leg gets their medal when they cross the finish line. And it is the Team Captains job to pick up the rest of the team's medal. The tent was located near the finish line area. Origins of the Ekiden date to early Japan when important news was relayed from distant provinces to the capitol using a series of messengers, each of which would carry the message for an individual leg of the journey. Today, the tradition of Ekiden lives on as a sport, which, in addition to being highly competitive, is also used in Japan to promote unity as a team along with personal perseverance.

Last year a group of friends and I completed the Rainbow Ekiden and had a blast. This year a…read moredifferent group of friends invited to me participate in this relay marathon Ekiden. BLUF: I prefer the Rainbow Ekiden to this one. Let's start with the positive: This race had plenty of bathrooms and drink stations. Bathrooms are so essential! If you've ever had to run five miles on the brink of a poop, you understand. I also appreciated the detailed race map with elevation gain that the organizers provided. This made it easy for our group to decide who would do which leg. However, these positives can't make up for the race committing the biggest no-no in running: They ran out of medals. Yes. You read right. Ran. Out. Of. Medals. So let me just asterisk by saying that there were people completing the entire 26.2 miles alone - by themselves. Being someone who has also completed a marathon by myself, I find this unforgivable. So instead after running in the hot, hot heat, our team captain wrote her name, number, email address, and number of medals needed on the back of a sheet of paper. Will we ever hear from them or see those medals? A week on and that remains to be seen. Another negative is that the buses took a really long time. When we finished a leg, we had to wait on a bus to get to the next leg or rally point for the team. There were over 11 buses yet we waited twenty minutes for one to come by. Last negative is that they were out of food when we finished. Mind you, we weren't even close to being the last teams/runners to finish, yet no medals and no food. They made "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" a reality because that's all we got from this race. My take: there are better, more organized races in Hawaii. Do those instead.

Great carnival especially considering this is the 1st year that the school is doing it…read more FOOD: Let me start by saying majority of the booths are run by groups from the school like Band Booster, Athletics, & Project Grad so you know it will be a little bit more. So let me tell you that I was presently surprised how good the Poke Bowl and Flying Saucer was especially considering it was probably made by volunteers. PARKING: $3. When we went in the afternoon it wasn't hard at all to find parking. Loved that there was a lot of handicap parking that was really close to the actual event. SUGGESTION: I would have loved to see local fruits & vegetables and maybe baked goods for sale. Definitely will come back next year.

The Honolulu Pride Parade provides a safe space to be yourself, be accepted, be celebrated, be…read moreLOVED...because YOU matter. Find me for a mom hug, or this guy (sorry didn't get your name!) for a dad hug. Eat your vegetables! And brush your teeth. Love, Mom

Went to the Honolulu Pride Parade for the first time in October with some friends. It was a lot of…read morefun! Lots of businesses and community organizations walking in the parade. Lots of colors, music, costumes, and fans. This parade is very family friendly, and lots of groups gave out candy, stickers, and other swag. Unfortunately, it feels very corporate. There was a festival after the parade at the Waikiki Shell. It was free, but you had to register online ahead of time. And no water bottles were allowed inside. Lots of security. I appreciated this positive celebration of the LGBTQ+/mahu community in Hawaiʻi!

This is a show hosted by the Rock and Mineral Society of Hawaii 2-3 times a year. This year's and…read morelast year's shows have been happening in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort Kou Ballroom. All the vendors and experts are from Hawaii too - so as you can guess, it's not that big, as no one is flying in from mainland or overseas, but it's got a bit of everything and the folks are friendly and are happy to share their knowledge with other gem enthusiasts! It's my first time at this show so I didn't know what to expect. It's definitely smaller than what I've been to. There were maybe around 15 vendors? But each vendor had their own niche - fossils, meteorites, cut loose gemstones, jewelry, amber with trapped insects, rare specimens, polished crystals, etc. the show had a bit of everything and the prices were actually reasonable! It's a good, quick dose of mineral exposure without having to fly to Tucson. The folks were very friendly and some were so nice to give out little free gifts for the Keiki. The ladies at the very front gave my son a Dalmatian jasper. He saw the black spotted rock and immediately picked it out. It's also heart-shaped! If you're curious what a gem show is like, this is a good place to start as admission is free and they validate parking for just $10 for pretty much half day. (But the hotel parking structure is terrible, so tight it can't have 2 cars turning into and out of the ramp at the same time.) It's also great to see what these local folks have to offer. Also, you got to see the minerals found in Hawaii on display! There's sulfur from Kilauea, 2 olivine specimens from Hualalai, and a beautiful calcite cluster of crystals from O'ahu!

Who is crazy enough to run a 5k in costumes? This family is! Well I thought we were gonna walk so…read moreI wore my boots. But my kids were so proud of their costumes that they decided to run it. Running in a cape is a challenge. My middle son had his arms up almost the whole time while I tried my best to hold my cape to my body. The Deets: This 5 K happens at Ala Moana Beach Park. Participants chase bananas and a strawberry around. They are Hawaii's own KHON news anchors and they bring a lot of enthusiasm to the crowd. Especially Kelly, she was pumped from beginning to end. There are awesome prizes to be won. I can't believe how generous Jamba Juice is. 1st Place winners get Jamba Juice for a WHOLE YEAR. 2nd Place gets 26 Jamba Juice coupons. 3rd Place gets 12 coupons. Not just for 3 people... For each age division. There is a male and a woman division. Each participant got a t-shirt and a medal. Keiki Run: After the 5K my kids still had the energy to run the keiki run. The keiki run is 500 meters. This Year: They had a handful of different activities to enjoy such as face painting, photo booth, keiki prints, bounce house, the Yelp booth, and more. Costume contest: Alaska airlines gave a trip for 2 to anywhere they fly. We tried our luck at the costume contest, we placed 2nd. Even though we didn't win the grand prize it was well worth it. My kids had so much fun wearing their costumes during the race. They enjoyed hearing their fruit being cheered on as we ran. I know this memory will forever be etched in their minds. Thank you Yelp Hawaii and Jamba Juice for the slots.

Such a great event! Thank you Emi and the Yelp team for another fantastic day…read more This is a well, organized family fun event. Jamba offers a year of free smoothies to the first male and female finisher in each age category, categories are every 5 years between 12-80. After the race, bananas and smoothies were waiting for everyone. T-shirts and medals were given out to all finishers but they did run out of medals for the keiki race and ask adults to donate their medals back to the kids, which we both did after we took a picture with the medals. Plenty of free parking all around Ala Moana Beach Park. It was a truly great morning, so lucky we live HI!

FOOD: The Mini German Buns really stood out this year. Just the right size to pop in your mouth…read morewith an A-W-E-S-O-M-E amount of bread to jelly ratio. L-O-V-E-D the Oka from the Wings of Love Church booth, basically went there almost everyday to get my raw fish fix (if you no see it on the menu board jus ask cause the first time we went they forgot to list it and several times I was lucky enough that they made it for me). The only thing I wish was that the booth that had the Fish & Chips (which was really good) had an option for rice instead of fries and came with gravy like they serve it in American Samoa. PARKING: Had to go early because of all the construction but that wasn't going to stop me from getting my Samoan food fix. Not really any handicap parking so don't plan on it. My suggestion is to go early and avoid going after 4:30pm (that train of cars coming in at around 5:00pm was almost nonstop on some days).

Inaugural event. So definitely room for improvement. They definitely need more space for people to…read moresit and a bigger dance area. Also maybe open up the event earlier so that there is not a sudden rush for the food booths/trucks that there are long lines the whole night. Other than it was a great event with lots of live and recorded music.

*Disclaimer: This review is from the viewpoint of a volunteer…read more The Inagural Megabon Festival was a large community project hosted by Jaycee chapter JCI Honolulu. Most local chapters were there providing volunteer support, especially my chapter the Hawaii Kai Jaycees. Before the day of the event volunteers such as myself picked up their volunteer packets, which included detailed information of the roles and responsibilities we were assigned to and our volunteer shirt. Upon checking in our group was directed to our game tent. We were in charge of the yo-yo sukui game. We were feed somen noodles (thank you!). Key take aways and room of improvement: 1. First of all, I congratulate JCI Honolulu on hosting this successful event! Looking forward in this being an annual event in the years to come. 2. I hope the space gets expanded next year, there was a point where I felt it got over-crowded. 3. Some of our volunteers in our group were augmented away and we felt short-handed at our game station. We did receive assistance later on that evening but my hope is that more volunteers will be recruited to cover. Again, great community event!