Month: August 2024

I love to nibble on little snacks before dinner each night.

I don’t sip wine anymore, but I still enjoy a simple store-bought snack, to accompany my Coke Zero or plain ice water. Over the past six or eight months, I’ve discovered stuff I really like.

So, let’s see what’s in the snack shack:

A refrigerated Costo pack

I love Sargento’s cheese and crackers snack, marketed under a Balanced Breaks product, and there are 12 mini-trays  in a bundle sold in the freezers of Costo. Six packs of Wheat Thins come with Monterey Jack and mild cheddar cheese  that you assemble like mini-pupu, one sliver on each teeny Wheat Thins.

The other half of the pack repeats the concept: miniature Ritz Crackers come with slivers of Pepper Jack and Colby Jack cheese.

I prefer the Wheat Thins combo over the Ritz Crackers, for no particulary reason except I like Wheat Thins better than Ritz Crackers.  But the variety is part of the joy…

A yummy party mix at Costo

Okay, here’s one that I’d expect to find at Marukai or Don Quijote.

This“Japanese Party Mix,” with rice crackers and familiar cereal variations, is clearly Japan-oriented. Its flavors include furikake,  and the mix includes rice and wheat Chex and corn Chex, but dubbed Squares, alongside pretzels, bugles, almonds, mochi and what obviously must be Honeycomb cereal, sweet and delightful, but not described. Arare, especially sakura-shaped rice crackers, is not among the ingredients but should have been…

A Japan treat at Trader Joe’s

Then there’s a Trader Joe’s snack called “Sweet and Salty Umami Crunchies,” a rice cracker package that’s savory and satisfying. A friend gave us a bag earlier this year, and I looked for it at the TJ in New York, but it was available. But another friend found ‘em at TJ in California, so I can’t wait to reunite with this one.

Tastes like and looks like a Japan item, but I’ll have to examine the package closely when I get one.

Happy munching!

Jason Tam,  one of Broadway’s popular singer-actors with roots in Hawaii, continues to develop his catalogue of credits.

You might remember him as the apostle Peter when NBC Live staged “Jesus Christ Superstar” on TV or as Paul San Marcos in the last revival of “A Chorus Line,” which earned him accolades.

Tam will portray John McCain, the late Republican senator from Arizona, in the world premiere of an upcoming off-Broadway musical satire, “Ghost of John McCain,” opening Sept. 24 at the SoHo Playhouse after a series of previews beginning Sept. 3.

Featuring a book by Scott Elmegreen and a score by Drew Fornarola, “Ghost of John McCain” is described as “an uproarious exploration of power, rivalry, and the human condition” and “the ticket we need during the election cycle from hell.”

The plot envisions McCain –the former U.S. senator from Arizona, who served as a Naval officer before turning to politics – amid an unusual heavenly environment.

With its political spin, with an election forthcoming, the show is timely with other lead players including Luke Kolbe Mannikus as Donald Trump and Zonya Love as Kamala Harris.

When McCain awakens in the afterlife, he finds himself trapped inside the mind of former president Trump, alongside a quasi-Greek Chorus of other public figures: Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, Eva Perón, Teddy Roosevelt, Robert Jordan, and Lindsey Graham. In order to escape, the motley crew is forced to engage in a high-stakes debate over life, legacy, and American values.

Catie Davis will direct…

Martin Nievera to mark 42^nd anniversary

Martin Nievera, known as the Concert King of the Philippines, will celebrate his 42^nd anniversary as a show biz veteran, with a performance at 8 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The venue, also known as The Big Dome, is located in Araneta City in the Cubao are of Quezon City, in the Philippines.

Nievera has performed numerous times in Hawaii and watched the Society of Seven shows regularly at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel, because his dad, Roberto Nievera, was the resident romantic singer.

He attended Kaiser High School and graduated from a Concord, Calif. school. It was his exposure to the SOS performances that piqued his interest in becoming a crooner himself.

In the Philippines, he became a recording artist, a concert performer, a TV star and movie leading man, creating a brand crossing all facets of entertainment. The concert focus has become his signature…

‘Wicked’ tops ‘Lion’ in Broadway grosses

Something “Wicked” this way comes

Last week brought an interesting mix at the pinnacle of Broadway shows. Could all those filmic pitches, about the Thanksgiving arrival of “Wicked,” the movie, fuel the New York musical production to leap to No 1, dethroning “The Lion King”?

And what’s with “The Wiz”? It jumped up on the Yellow Brick Road to No. 4 this week. Further, “Hell’s Kitchen” dropped from No. 4 to No. 6.

The Top 10:

1—”Wicked,” $2.226 million

 2—”The Lion King,” $2.136 million.

3—”Hamilton,” $1.947 million.

 4—”The Wiz,” $1.683 million.

 5—”Aladdin,” $1.594 million.

6—”Hell’s Kitchen,” $1.544 million,

 7—”Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1.504 million.

8—”The Outsiders,” $1.486 million.

 9—”MJ the Musical,” $1.324 million.

10—”Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” $1.317 million.

The entire list, courtesy the Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz…

It’s time to focus again on the blatant, ongoing mispronunciation of three common Japanese words/names.

Broadcasters – on radio, TV, you name it – don’t properly  pronounce three common Japanese terms or names:

1. Honda, the car.
2. Tokyo, the city.
3. Panko, the breadcrumbs favored by chefs.

I have friends named Honda; it’s a valid surname here and in Japan. They say it this way: “Hohn-da.” Yep, there is the Honda car brand. Media announcers unknowingly utter it as “Hahn-da.”  “Hohn” and “Hahn” are not one and the same. FHI , one of the original founders of the Honda vehicle is Soichiro Honda, whose  business was Honda Motor Company. No ifs, ands or buts. To reiterate, it’s “Hohn-da.”

Then there’s the city of Tokyo. It’s a two-syllable name, “Toh-kyo,”  if pronounced properly. However, you unilaterally hear it as a three-syllable name, “Toh-kee-yo.” Uh, uh, it’s “Toh-kyo.” If it were a three syllable name, it would have to be spelled “To-ki-yo.”

Then there’s that product now universally utilized by chefs and home cooks. In Hawaii, locals know “Panko” well,  an integral ingredient for tonkatsu or tempura. It’s properly pronounced “Pahn-ko,” but elsewhere, folks say it as “Pann-ko,” like in “frying pan.”

In 2021, I discussed this dilemma, but it still persists.

Then there’s yet other badly, frequently mispronounced word. It’s karaoke. Perhaps fodder for another time…

‘Twas one of those days yesterday, when breakfast for dinner mattered. Been months since I’ve ordered a morning meal for dinner: Specifically, Liliha Bakery’s two-eggs-with-meat choice.

Chose a hamburger with two over-easy eggs. Came with a scoop of rice and a teeny green salad. The usual biscuits with jelly completed the dinner.

If you go this route, ask for (no extra charge) a side of brown gravy, for dipping. And don’t forget the coffee.

McDonald’s has been issuing kid-friendly toys with their Happy Meals for decades. These trinkets have been popular and fun.

Beginning tomorrow (Aug. 13), McD will introduce six new drinking cup designs, with nostalgic adults in mind, with meal purchases at breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The collector’s plastic cups will be a stroll down memory lane, with flashback motifs like Barbie, Beanie Babies, Hello Kitty, Shrek and more – like a nostalgic Coca-Cola choice with the classic white polar bear.

Might be worth exploring. The kids may take over the cups, but parents who remember past McD promotions might have some ’plaining to do.