Every first Sunday in November, Pacific Beach Hotel's ballroom is filled with some of the best…read moredesserts Hawaii has to offer. And for only $25, you can sample them all and even get seconds and thirds if you desire. It's all a part of United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii's annual Dessert Fantasy fundraiser, and it gets better and better every year. The event typically has over 50 restaurants and vendors who generously donate their desserts to this wonderful event. A short list of participating businesses this year included: Kakaako Kitchen, Cake Connection, Pearl City HS Culinary Arts Program, Uber Factory, Kakaako Kitchen, Nisshodo Candy Store, Dave and Buster's, Hilton Hawaiian Village, and Chocolate on a Mission, Haleiwa Joe's, Chocolate and Vanilla Bakery, The Pig & the Lady, Gros Bonnet Culinary Academy/Hale Koa Hotel, Regal Bakery, Hokulani Bake Shop, and Bubbie's. In addition to the dessert sampling, there was also a silent auction (much mahalos to Dave F. for donating his beautiful photographs to the auction), face painting, a balloon man, and live entertainment. And if you don't get to try all of the desserts, or had a few favorites that you couldn't get enough of, when the event is over, you can purchase a take out container and stuff as many remaining desserts in it as you can fit. If you've got a big sweet tooth, mark your calendars for next year's event which will be on Sunday, November 6, 2016 at Pacific Beach Hotel ballroom.

If you're a dessert addict like me you're going to thank me for letting you know about this yearly…read morefundraiser event. Not only do you get 2 HOURS of unlimited sampling of the most delectable desserts in Hawaii, but you're helping a charitable cause at the same time. To Sum It Up: Who: The United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii What: * Over 60 different restaurants, bakeries, ice cream parlors, chocolate confectioners, and candy shops offer an array of their best desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth. * Live Entertainment * Silent Auction * Voting-People's Favorite Dessert * Door Prizes Cost: $25 Where: I'm unsure if it always happens at Pacific Beach Hotel every year , 2490 Kalakaua Ave. Honolulu, HI 96815 When: This year it happened on November 6 (I know NOVEMBER ....your currently mad at me, with your fists held high, yelling out profanities, with a tear in your eye , wanting to recite that notorious poem, "Remember, Remember the 6th of November!" -V for Vendetta. It was the 1st time I attended this event so give me some slack. Well at least you got a heads up right!?) This event has been happening almost as long as I've been alive and I've never heard about it! Until awesome fellow Yelper Thomos O. posted it on the Yelp events page. Big thanks to you Thomos O. Tips: PACE YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!! I attended this marvelous event with my friend and we went buck wild on the first table. Everything started to taste the same. Luckily, Cake Works was at the 1st table and I got to eat those heavenly chocolate dipped caramel French macaroons. * They offer complimentary water, tea, and coffee, but no milk (well they offer it for the coffee). As for me Milk makes desserts 10 times better. * Look at the paper that they hand out to you in the front this shows you what businesses are there. * Do a quick walk of the place so you know what you want to eat and grab what you want to eat. * Some of the tables had the bakers or owners handing out the dessert, so it was great asking them what I was eating and how it was made. But most of the tables had volunteers who only knew the name of what they were serving. * Don't worry of getting judged because you're surrounded with dessert addicts just like yourself. * TAKE HOME BOX at the end of the event. It only cost a mere $5. Come on now, what a deal, one of those desserts offered at the event cost more. I know my review doesn't do this event a bit of justice so here are other links about this event. A clip from KHON about the event: http://www.khon2.com/content/news/morning/story/Dessert-fantasy-at-Pacific-Beach-Sunday-Nov-6/qntYv3GUM0q6tGNx8nQfeA.cspx Event Photos- Pictures captured by Ed Morita from Non Stop Honolulu: http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/eating/party-pics-dessert-fantasy-2011/ Pictures from island views website: http://www.myislandviews.com/2011/11/on-november-6-2011-ucpa-held-its-annual.html Some (hence the word some, there were so many ono'licious lick your finger desserts to choose from) of Kim's Favorites: 1) Cake Works -Chocolate Dipped Caramel French Macron 2) Cookie Corner - Lilikoi Bar 3) Hokulani Bake Shop - Mini Assortment of Cupcakes 4) Hawaiian Host -Macadamia Chocolate Covered Nuts (I know their easily attainable but I love um) 5) Nisshodo -Mochi 6) Agne's Portuguese Bake Shop -Freshly made on site Malassadas 7) Choco le'a -Assortment of divine chocolates, truffles, and alcohol infused chocolates 8) The Alley at Aiea Bowl - Lemon Crunch Cake 9) Regal Bakery - Cake Doughnuts 10) Lappert's Hawaii - Yes, they were giving out ice cream at this event! Oh, Yes. 11) Cake Envy -Be careful you may turn green with ENVY on how delicious this is. Remember to write it on your calender, Do some sit ups before the event, tell a couple of your friends, tell it to "Siri" on your iPhone 4s so she remind you days before, Siri can pull it out the location on your GPS, and give you more information about the event. If you've got a sweet tooth like me this event you surely can't miss.

I haven't been to the Farm Fair for a few years. It was nice to see the new location. They have…read moreparking, food, plants, produce, livestock, few rides, and rocky portable toilets. Watermelon eating contest. Information on agricultural things. Corn, melons, sweet potato, apple bananas for purchase. Bring a hat and sunscreen. Check them out.

Great time, plenty to do and kids had a great time! Hope to see them back next year. Animals, food…read moreand fruit and rides .

There needed to be better quality lights along the pathways, the bags used for the bag lights were…read moretoo thick that it did not allow the candle light to come through enough. Again, there were too many people allowed in at the same time. There were many extra large strollers and wagons around. There needed to be more volunteers- about 3 parents were frantically looking for their children. The light displays like the tunnel, mushrooms, flowers, and trees were beautiful. It was a hot night and the huge crowds added to the heat. Good variety of food trucks and drink vendors.

What an amazing fun night for everyone, especially families! W told me he was working at the event…read moreand couldn't meet up so why not go check out something I've never experienced! Daytime, there's a number of activities for everyone to do, but at night, the whole garden lights up and it's magical! Definitely worth checking out and it helps the park. You can bring in your own food or purchase from trucks. Also, lots of families bringing chairs and blankets. Parking will be a challenge. There was an elementary school that had free parking. I parked at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza garage on Maunakea, lots of people did. What a great event! Mahalo Foster!

Food and New Product a retail therapy dream…read more.. Sadly has shrunk by half over the years it was the place to shop for items not usually found here on the islands is always nice for my personal reasons of visually seeing the products and giving it a touchy feely try with the added bonus of the show special pricing as well without the shipping and handling cost. The demonstrators of how things works and the deals always gets me in trouble but it was a lot of fun tasting and exploring fascinated by each items. Nevertheless going with a friend who loves loves these types of events as we arrived early (parking $8 admission $6) both prices definitely hurts though I was pleased to see a good amount of food and product balance and though the product are more shops selling their wears with just a few product demo and the same for food none of the samples to try the newest flavors and introduction but all great food vendors even some that I was eyeing was there which is a pleasant surprise. There was a good amount of large round tables to relax and enjoy the foods is a great great thing we totally took advantage of especially to snack on some the items we bought with an impromptu photo ops making it a fun night to remember though my camera was acting up so I didn't have much pics...sob! Chubby Fries & Wings, Honolulu Rose Cake Shop, Pacifikool, Bamboo Stickers, Tropical, Neha's Kitchen, Judy Shop, Chyler's Hawaiian Beef Chips...and so much more thank you! Bestie came straight from work still in uniform got a generous amount of massage time on the Daiwa chair which made her smile and now wants one lol but it was a great time browsing and supporting local. Thank you!

This year it was held at the Ala Moana shopping center on the 3rd floor parking lot…read more They allowed 500 customers every hour and you had 2 hours to look around and shop. The way they had you enter was crazy just to get in to the actual area to show your vaccinations card and ID you had to walked through a maze like the lines in Disneyland if you already had your tickets as the ones that didn't purchase their tickets ahead of time their lines to line up in was so much easier not like the maze we had to go through. I can understand Covid rules but there was no one in front of us until we went through 8 bends of the maze. Other then that the food and products show had a lot of good vendors and lots of new and different items for sale. Presale: $12.00 at the door: $15.00

Ric's- short attention span review:…read more 2017 was their 8th annual festival. Small in terms of what one would expect of a festival. Mostly food trucks, snacks with a sprinkling of service booths with information. (Yelp had their booth, yay!) There was a small entertainment stage area on the mauka side of the fest. Auahi street was blocked off roughly from between Nordstrom Rack and Agu Ramen. Area was really packed, hard to maneuver. No place to sit and eat in the fest. footprint. Most people ate standing up or took their goodies and sat by the Nordstrom/TJ Max area. A little more space with a couple of portable tables and benches would have been nice. Most interesting food offering: the pineapple fried rice with shrimp topping. A half pineapple boat stuffed with fried rice and topped with shrimp. Big enough for two, $13. Not a festival I would go out of my way for. But if in the area, why not?

Parking was horrendous, we spent maybe 20 minutes circling around the parking garage floors before…read morewe got lucky. At least it was free. Rice fest was set for 3-9 pm. We arrived around 5 ish & it was still dreadfully hot. Dozens of vendors were there so I was excited to explore, it was pretty lively with entertainment and games to support Meals on wheels. Some vendors accepted card purchases & some were cash only...luckily I had a $20 What's disappointing was a few booths had "sold out" signs & it was only 5 pm. My favorite booths: I can't recall the name but it's the booth with rolled ice cream? The strawberry mochi was amazing!!! The horchata ice cream was yummy too & im usually not a fan of the drink. Lines were long for the corn booth, I got the Mexican corn & it was delicious! Corn came from the bulk packs you get from Costco. We got our BBQ plate at Chamorro grindz around 6 ish & they ran out of their signature red rice, definite bummer. If I knew before I ordered, it would have definitely impacted my decision to eat there. Kelaguen was good, BBQ ribs were ok. Ulu's lemonade: refreshing as always. Favorites are rob's special (favorite?) and blue hawaii. To be completely honest, I don't know if I'll return next year. This was my first year and it was just way too hot and pricey. Major plus was there were dozens of dogs, win!!!

Date: October 3, 2015 Where: Kaka'ako Agora…read moreReason to go: Attend my first comedy sketch show Yelp had two events for October 3, 2015. I was bummed out that I didn't have the opportunity of attending the Yelp Day at the Movies: Pan which started at 10am. My luck turned around when I received confirmation that I was chosen to attend The Scratch Paper Sketch Comedy Show at Kaka'ako Agora which started at 8pm. I traveled from Waianae to Kapiolani Boulevard/South Street via the Country Express Bus. From there I walked it to Kaka'ko Agora. I must have been so excited to attend that I arrived at 6:30pm and the establishment was still close. To kill time I ended up walking to Highway Inn on Ala Moana Boulevard to have a light dinner. Fast forward to 7:30pm...the establishment is finally open to welcome guests. I walked into the partial warehouse area and noticed two tables with chairs facing the ocean. There was two rows of chairs facing the mountain. Individuals who showed up at the comedy show were able to sit in either of the two rows or on the wooden benches against the wall. The lucky Yelp attendees and walk in tourists were greeted by Kimee who is the founder of the Improv Hi. She explained to the audience what the event is all about. Think of it as Saturday Night Live only with live actors from Improv HI reading from the manuscripts in the rough draft stage. I liked few of the manuscripts that the actors did: a) The Starbucks versus Dunkin Donuts coffee with the radio news. b) The boyfriend and girlfriend in a meeting with a relationship counselor c) The owner of a dog asking his neighbor on the whereabouts of his dog...the neighbor says that the dog is playing with his children and the dog tells the neighbor that he enjoys watching college football instead of the NFL. The event also consisted of several short comedy sketches and films that the audience were able to watch on the wall from the projector. One of my favorite comedy sketch was a video that starred comedian actor Kevin Yee in which he sang about Gay Love. A catchy tune "You can't get pregnant from gay love". Jason Lind was the guest musician during the event with help from John LeBlanc. They performed several times after the live short sketches. Overall it was an awesome event even though the live performances was in the rough draft stages. I'm curious on how the final short comedy sketch films will turn out....better yet I would love to see the actors perform the scenes by memory. Mahalo Yelp Hawaii and Improv Hi for a night of music and laughter. Awesome work by the actors reading the sketches for tonight's The Scratch Paper Sketch Comedy Show. Awesome seeing Jay T., Terry H., and Darin O. at the event. It was great meeting Sophia D for the first time in real life. Made a new friend in Ku'uipo D as well.

On nights that there is not too much going on down in Kaka'ako except for big fitness buffs that…read moreare going to the gyms at all hours of the night- there are still some things for us to see at Kaka'ako Agora. Kaka'ako Agora is a really unique location that looks like a warehouse turned into an open theater. They seem to support many 'ARTS' events- and HI Improve is able too to take advantage of this great location. It is really near Fisher for those that use that as a location reference, and street parking is almost always a must. Check in was wonderful getting a chance to say hi to Kimee who puts on the the events like 'The Scratch Paper Sketch Comedy Show' and other Improve events here in HI. Basically the show was organized as a cross between Saturday Night Live and the tv show based off it called 'Studio 65' where actors read the scripts instead of totally acting out the full dress performance. There were more than the 2 musical numbers included on SNL at the event here- which added depth to the event that people may not feel when watching SNL on a small screen tv. Live guitar in this setting pleased too the crowd. So well done. There were performances of the live 1st years HI Sketch Comedy Event filmed at the Dorris Duke theater. Those shorts were my favorite comedy bits. The event was a teaser and to draw interest from others in HI that love comedy and hopefully will garner more interest. Mahalo Nui Loa Yelp Hawaii - you da bes'! Mahalo Nui Loa Kimee + Improv Hi for a night of music and laughter. Awesome work by dedicated lovers of performance arts made for tonight's "The Scratch Paper Sketch Comedy Show" not just possible but a huge success.

If you love Mangoes, this event is for you! I attended the evening event titled Mangolicious Sunset…read moreReception which featured 10 chefs & 3 mixologists. All of the dishes were very tasty but my favorite was the mango fried chicken from chef Leanne Wong. For me, it had the perfect balance of texture (crispy fried chicken vs. mango bits) and flavor (savory & sweet). My bf voted for the pipikaula from chef Jason Schoonover of 12th Ave. Grill. He said that the mango chili pepper water won him over. We tried all of the mango cocktails & my favorite was the sassy lassi (Kula Dark Rum, mango puree, honey, coconut water, lime, spices) from mixologist Jesse Suderman. My bf's favorite was the mango-cillin (whiskey, scotch, mango purée, lemon juice, ginger syrup) from mixologist Micah Suderman. There were silent auction items for bid where proceeds benefitted the KCC culinary program. Free parking with validation at Princess Kaiulani hotel across the street.

Eh? You like mango? Go buy den! Buwahahahaha! Nah, I just kidding…read more....... Well, I really do like mango.........and yes, I bought mango today! Well sorta........more like bought food that incorporated mango in the various dishes. This wonderful fruit (mango) was utilized in desserts, drinks, & of course the main entree! Various well know island chef demonstrated their culinary skills on using the mango to make their wonderful dishes! A few of the well known celebrity chefs that were here today were - 1. Lee Anne Wong - Koko Head Cafe 2. Ronnie Nasuti - Tiki's Bar & Grill 3. Carolyn Portuondo - Royal Hawaiian Hotel 4. Michelle Karr-Ueoka - MW Restaurant 5. Hiroyuki Mimura - Taormina 6. Ed Kenney/Maggie King - Town 7. Andy Reagan - Morimoto Waikiki 8. Mark Noguchi - Pili Group/Mission House If I'm correct, this was the 8th annual mango festival at the Moana Hotel in Waikiki. I read my Yelp buddy - Lyla D's review last year, as she went here back in 2015, and when I saw this event again........I knew it was my time to check this festival out! The event was held at the beautiful Moana Surfrider Hotel, and as you go there you will see three large banners featuring this Mango Festival Event. At the event, they had vendors who sold various types of mangoes at the Mango Farmer's Market, as well as other vendors who sold items related to this event. At the event, there was also a silent auction where you can bid for various items, like dining at a fine dining restaurant, or a hotel stay at a luxury hotel, and also bidding on some expensive booze. I believe the Mango Festival event is free to look at, but if you wanna sample da grindz...........you gotta pay by buying some food tickets. There were two ways that you can buy the food tickets............you can buy your food tickets at the door for $6.00 smackaz a piece, or you can be akamai (smart) like me, where I purchased the tickets on-line (go to - HonoluluBoxOffice.com to buy the tickets)..........If you buy on-line, you get 10 tickets for $48.00 smackaz (which comes out to $4.80 per ticket), but you gotta buy 10 tickets in increment. All proceeds will benefit the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College, so it's for a good cause. Parking - Free Parking if you park at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel. All you have to do is take your parking ticket with you, and as you get to the Mango Festival event, just get a validation at the registration table when you pick up your food tickets. The event ran from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturday July 15, 2016, and I must say.............. it was the perfect day to have this event, as we were blessed with wonderful weather today! Nothing like a beautiful day in Hawaii nei............and to top it off, you get to pig out on mango!!!! Oink, oink, oink!!! Lol!

Once upon a time, Hawaii had no comic conventions. Back before cellphones, tablets and Apple…read morewatches the closest comic book fans came to an organized get together was at the "Hawaii State Comic Collector's Club". Meetings were held at the Moiliili Public Library on a semi-regular basis. Fans of comics, horror and syfy movies had a place to gather, share and compare thoughts and experiences of the latest news in the world of fantasy. Mind you that this was a time when back and forth instantaneous communication was only in the form of telephone, telegraph and shouting over your neighbor's fence. This was the 1970s. Fast forward to 2019. Hawaii has now hosted many entertainment conventions, one of which is the Comic Con Honolulu, a home grown produced annual event which gives fans a chance to match up with like fans and meet people involved in this segment of the entertainment industry. Some thoughts regarding this Con: Smaller than the Amazing Comic Con, they feature a large area devoted gaming in the main hall. They take elements of both the Amazing and Kawaii Kon (celebrity photo ops, artist alley, cosplay contests, panel discussions, etc.) They have the usual assortment of dealers selling related merchandise but seemingly, not as many as the other Cons. Just sort of less of everything but still pretty enjoyable. There were some vendors that seemed out of place for this con: T-mobile, ATT and vacation time shares, really!? Enjoyed seeing the King of Tokyo, Godzilla game play. A fan made oversized game which looked like fun. It's always fun to see the cosplay and this Con was no exception. The time and creativity put in by the cosplayers is something to behold. Less cosplayers than Kawaii Kon but still enjoyable. The con even had cars detailed with anime themes. Servco even had new Toyota corollas on display detailed with their newly created super hero theme- a fun campaign to market their latest offering. Definitely a smaller crowd but it, in some ways has a more local "feel". Was sort of a spin-off of the Kawaii Kon which focuses more on anime. 3.5 stars for this con, enjoyable without a wow factor. Will say that this con gave me more of a reminiscing type feeling like when friends would get together back in the day at the comic collector's club. Mahalos to Emi and Yelp for the free pass to attend the Saturday event. A nice way to spend a warm and muggy summer day.

First time visiting Comic Con Honolulu. We came fairly early to check it out. Plenty on…read moreoffer--artist alley had vendors, artists, and celebrity autograph and photo ops. We spent most of our time here, just hanging around the booths and talking story with the artists. I wish there had been more local comic vendors, but it was great to pick up some original work from local comic artists. In terms of the panels, a good assortment, although more anime and video game oriented. I wish there had been more TV, but Hawaii is more oriented toward the anime set. Cool cosplayers and plenty of fun to be had. However, the prices are certainly high, especially considering the parking cost and the cost for autographs and photographs. At least make the parking free.