Thursday, June 25, 2009

Chai's Island Bistro

Aloha!
Welcome to Honolulu Harbor at Sunset!
Aloha Tower, courtesy of Chuck Painter (c)



“A tree trunk the size of a man grows from a blade as thin as a hair. A tower nine stories high is built from a small heap of earth.”
Lao Tzu



Women Warriors of WWII. Note the camouflaged Aloha Tower!







Contemporary Clouds;
like Me!






Morning Ladies!

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them,

but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of humanity."

George Bernard Shaw







No, I don't know what these birds are called.
I call them Oahu Woody Woodpeckers ;-)




"Cloudia, I loved your little book (Aloha Where You Like Go?);
I laughed, I cried, I got 'chicken skin.'" (Goose bumps)
Robert Cazimero










Tomorrow evening there will be a White House first: a Hawaiian Luau on da lawn!






My sincere admiration to Cha Thompson of Tihati productions for keeping secret this engagement of her dancers and fire knife masters until the official announcement. She looked like she won't need a plane to fly to DC.






The "Coconut wireless" has it that planners wanted to use East Coast hula dancers, but that a Local Guy (In Chief) nixed that idea in favor of bringing in the real, local performers. He can handle 16 crises AND chew gum at the same time. Our President well exemplifies the local Hawaii saying: "Cool head main thing." Yay Barack!






My luau was last night,
as Favourite Husband and those California Cattermoles took me to Chai's Island Bistro at the Aloha Tower Marketplace for a belated birthday dinner.
The Aloha Tower, a local icon, was the tallest thing in Honolulu till after WWII. Once upon a time, she greeted the Matson Liners on "Boat Day" while bands played, lei sellers displayed their fragrant wares, and kids (some of whom I met as senior citizens) dove for coins tossed into Honolulu Harbor.
The tower, though still Harbor Control Headquarters, and the docking site for the QEII and her sister cruise ships, is now home to a mixed-use "festival marketplace" like San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.






Chai is a nice Thai guy who brought his palate to Honolulu some years ago and launched a successful restaurant career. His eponymous bistro is known for great food and as a place to hear world-class local talent.






Wednesdays feature the famous Cazimero Brothers, holding court and playing Hawaiian Classics as they do at their periodic Carnegie Hall concerts. But on Tuesdays the room belongs to Robert Cazimero: songwriter, vocalist, and respected Kumu Hula (hula master) who transfixes the room with his brilliant contemporary interpretations of the great Hawaii Songbook.






Alone at the piano, he effortlessly conjures a magic atmosphere. Deftly his melodious voice moves from one unique vocal interpretation to the next. "My Hawaiian Souvenirs" once recorded by beloved auntie Genoa Keawe on the old 49th State record label, is one such almost-forgotten Hapa Haole masterpiece that Robert breathes charming, fresh life into.
A single Hula dancer joins him from time to time, her expressive hands, feet, face, & body as supple and salutary as Robert's voice. During breaks, the sound system plays Hawaiian classics - including the evening's featured performer.






Can you tell I had a good time?
The food? Oh yes! I had a Pu Pu (appetizer) platter to myself (greedy girl) consisting of seared, crusted ahi (red tuna) sashimi, a diminutive crab cake (very different from the working class, Philly crab cakes of my youth) and two towering prawns wearing Summer-weight robes of spun tempura batter.






"These prawns are almost Hifumi sized!" I thought, comparing them to my favorite budget Japanese Restaurant, located (only-in-Hawaii style) at the Chinese Cultural Center. They are famous for giant shrimp tempura (and honorably stand up to the fleet of excellent Chinese eateries surrounding them).






At the end of the evening, Robert sang "Happy Birthday" to me from behind the keys. An artist I admire so much!






You know, Robert's exemplary Aloha is very much at home everywhere, at classy Chai's or blue collar Hifumi. His graciousness to the upscale patrons last night was EXACTLY the same as I've seen him lavish on near destitute patrons at a favorite Hotel Street dive around the corner from the Hawaii Theatre. The governor, an ancient, homeless drunk, or me: Robert shares his simple, profound kindness with each one.






THAT is the definition of Aloha.






He permits each one of us to be Ali`i (chiefly) for a charmed hour. The world-recognized artist treats each like a peer, spreading his kingly feathered cloak over our shoulders too. . .






Last evening will always remain one of my cherished Hawaiian Souvenirs.

I hope YOUR visits here make you feel a little of that tropical

magic too!

A L O H A! Cloudia







28 comments:

Anonymous said...

love them too!

icloudia said...

Gotts check it out, thanks

gigi-hawaii said...

CC, I am so glad you enjoyed the Chai experience. Time for David and me to pay it a return visit.

Akelamalu said...

It all sounds so lovely. That's a great shot of the birds and I love the first pic of the skyline.

Dina said...

Happy birthday to you dear Cloudia, teacher of tropical magic and aloha spirit.
Le-CHAI-im, to life in your new year of life!
Ahava (love) + shalom

(I can't believe they camouflaged a tower.)

Anonymous said...

I feel like I was there. Excellent!

Cloudia said...

Gigi: Aloha neighbor!

Ake: You are a dear.

Dina: Much appreciated my Sistah

Maria Verivaki said...

i love your sky there, beautiful colours

also love teh dresses - so me!

Teresa said...

I love this post, Cloudia. And happy birthday to you. It sounds like you had such a great time. The song clip at the end of your post was terrific!!!

Daryl said...

Oh I love the camouflage tower ... and your clouds .. and I got goosebumps reading about Robert and how he treats people .. lesson for everyone to learn from!

Aloha!

Anonymous said...

Coconut oil? I will have to try some, never heard of it. ;) Can you help me? Aloha.

Anonymous said...

I'm booking a flight!

Cloudia said...

Thanks for stopping by!

Teee Heeee

SandyCarlson said...

I am glad he is flying in the right people for the job!

That cammy tower is too much. Those were the days.

God bless, Cloudia.

Sandee said...

How fun. I need to go back to the islands and just relax for a bit. Okay, I'll have to be on a boat too.

Have a terrific day. :)

Anonymous said...

Cloudia, thank you so much for such a wonderful post. I always leave here feeling good. I love the "Cool head main thing" quote. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed yourself. Aloha.

Jenn Jilks said...

Aloha, Cloudia! Did you see the billboards for FrozenBeneath.ca?

What a way to market a books. There must have been 5 or 6 of them along the long stretches of highway. The author was born in The Soo, and lived in Blind River, and placed the story there, too!

What do you think of that marketing strategy??!!

JLee said...

Just coming by to say "aloha" and I guess it was a good day. Happy Birthday!!

magiceye said...

thank you for sharing the wonderful evening with us! enjoyed it!!

namaste /\
aloha!!

Kay said...

Happy Birthday, Cloudia! I think my favorite Cazimero Brothers song is The Rainbow Connection. I'm so glad you had such a lovely birthday celebration!

Charles Gramlich said...

Such cool birds. They definitely look like woodpeckers.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Cloudia! These guys look like Maoris. I think that the people of Hawaii are related to the Maoris. Please correct me when I am wrong.
You must have had a great time at your belated birthday dinner.Happy belated birthday!

the walking man said...

"...was EXACTLY the same as I've seen him lavish on near destitute patrons at a favorite Hotel Street dive around the corner from the Hawaii Theatre."

And this is how both the great and the small should be and will always be remembered. How life is conducted, not by how it was performed.

glad you had a good belated one kiddo.

EG CameraGirl said...

That's quite the contrast between the tower today and 60 or 70 years ago!

Loves those woodpeckers. ;-)

Deborah Godin said...

Sounds like it was all very magical - not to mention yummy! And those birds are amazing. I gotta find out what they are - what do you think of a Google search for "nifty Hawaiian red-headed birds"?

Cloudia said...

Sandy: ;-)

Sandee: Yeah.

Tricia: Aloha friend.

Jen: Gotta try it!

JLee: Welcome!!!

MagicEye: Honored. Namaste.

Kay: Aloha.

Charles: ;-)

Wil: Yes all Pacific people acknowledge kinship. Much migration!

WalkingMan: We accord!

EG: And I love your cute muzzle, kitty!

Deborah: I like your idea but I'd probably doo a google image search: "Hawaii Birds"

Thank you EVERYONE!!!!
You made my day...Aloha-

Feisty Crone said...

I love that picture of Honolulu Harbor. It looks like paradise.

Barbara Martin said...

The red-headed birds in your photo, Cloudia, are Red-crested Cardinals, which are not local birds of Hawaii but were introduced. They originate in South Ameria, more particularly, northern Argentina, Boliva, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Love their plummage.