Welcome to “Down Memory Lane,” a window of reflection. We’ll occasionally look back and remember people, places and things that made Hawaii special. We’ll welcome you to jump in periodically, too, to recall and relive another time when folks and destinations live mostly in memories.
If you’re of a certain vintage, you clearly will remember a saimin stand in your neighborhood, where you could get a bowl of noodles and broth and chit-chat, likely at picnic tables and benches, and slurp to your heart’s content.
Look around now; the mom-and-pop saimin stand is practically history. Boulevard Saimin shuttered a few months back, and while Zippy’s and Shiro’s and even Rainbow Drive In can whip out a house specialty, the joints of the 1950s and ‘60s were pure gems.
When I was a kid, perhaps 10 or 12, living with my parents in Liliha, we were five or six blocks away from Hall Street, off Kukui Street (don’t look, long gone), where a saimin stand flourished.
I remember eating in once, but our ritual was to do takeout. We had to bring our own stove top pot, order, then walk home with the hot pot.
There would be enough portions to serve four, with kamaboko and slivers of char siu, swimming in the broth and noodles. Chopped green onions provided a burst of green cheer. On special occasions, we might order wun ton min. I don’t recall the cost, but I remember that sticks of barbecue meat, grilled at the stand, were 5 cents apiece and we took four home as a side dish.
A few years later, a smaller saimin stand opened on Liliha at Vineyard Streets, which was closer than the trek to Hall Street. I think they had paper take-home containers; we didn’t need to bring our own pot.
Today, Hamura’s Saimin on Kauai is possibly the iconic model of the classic stand. Few seats, traditional menu, long lines before the pandemic.
Curiously, two stands have survived in Honolulu – Palace Saimin in Kalihi and Old Saimin Stand in Kapalama. Tanaka’s Saimin, or the chain of Ramen-Ya outlets, are newer
models of the old-fashioned stands … and don’t fit the template.
Do you recall a special saimin stand in your neighborhood? Or perhaps your family operated one? Or the pot take-outs?
“I was surprised you didn’t own WayneHarada.com. I’m also surprised it’s still available! Let me know if you want to pick it up, I can set it up for you, free. It never hurts to have a space you own on the web to post or at least archive your independent writing.
Either way, keep doing what you love, we love you for it!”
Ryan Kawailani Ozawa at Rainbow Falls
The dude asking me about my establishing my own website was Ryan Kawailani Ozawa, a technologist who was the last of three who–over the past decade or so– suggested I should launch my own site. I’ve declined mostly because I was retired as a life-long journalist and turned to Facebook to post reviews, share entertainment and other chatter, and communicate with former friends and new followers as I began enjoying retirement and the uncertainty of unemployment.
When I exited the Honolulu Advertiser in 2008, I was invited to continue to write my “Show Biz” column for nearly a dozen more years. It was an easy commitment at a livable pace — a column every Sunday – posted from anywhere, home or a trip abroad. Tuesday was the deadline day.
In March 2019, however, the paper terminated the column under crude and deceptive means, abandoning me in what they claimed was part of the pandemic cutbacks of freelancers… which was untrue since freelancers still populate the paper; I was one of only two terminations, but I appreciated the freedom but was not yet convinced my own website was a destination.
Facebook and beyond
Facebook has served me well. I post, followers respond. Many are ex-colleagues and longtime friends; but strangers have become “friends,” all virtual.
Ozawa was genuine in his email, and if WayneHarada.com was up for grabs and he did the snagging, I figured why not?
If he had faith in me, I thought I should reciprocate.
The timing was not ideal, however, since I was recuperating from minor back surgery to address an alternative to pain management for a sustaining lower back issue.
Clearly, I am not a techie, doing things as simply as possible, so I had to go on a fast track of learning.
With Ozawa as a mentor, I made the leap. He set up the initial perimeters and I had to learn the ropes without a manual, so this has been an educational journey, too.
I informed him that a May 10 launch would be ideal, since I was doing “test” posts, some winding up on Facebook, too, but others confined to wayneharada.com.
The kick-off date became moot, since Ozawa turned on the switch much earlier in May.
As he suggested, the Show Biz column now exclusively runs at my site.
Generous, gentle guru
Ozawa has been a generous and gentle guru, providing kokua and tips on how to manage a site.
In repeated email exchanges, I pose questions, he provides solutions.
I’ve not met him face-to-face for Q&As; he prefers email.
I provided my cell number; he still prefers email. I still don’t have his number, so I email. Constantly. My Qs might seem dumb to him, but the mentor has been patient and persistent, sharing support with a cool demeanor.
Sample exchange: Since I’ve been cross promoting my site on Facebook, Ozawa provided this advice:
“What you want to be sure to do is, every time you mention WayneHarada.com, is include a full link to the site: https://www.wayneharada.com — with the “https://www.” part — so that people have something to click to go directly to your site.”
Logical, of course, but how would I know that – without the tip he provides. I never quite understood why the https://www precede was vital. A journalistic background
Yes, I’m flattered that he’s put up with me, and continues to do so, but it feels somewhat like a phantom relationship. He’s there, but not there, if you get my drift.
And he won’t allow me to reimburse him for paying for the website.
Ozawa also has become a contributor of tidbits for my column. So his savvy and voluntary “service” has been invaluable. He’s also approached and helped others, to some degree.
Then there was a confession:
“Yes, I have a habit of helping writers I admire start publishing independently online. Not all are as lucky as you to have their website domain name available, which is why I was a little more excited to contact you! I have a journalism degree but never had the guts to work in media, but I give lots of credit to those who do… and given the tumult in the industry, it’s important to me that great storytellers can still have their voices heard.”
So that’s the saga on how a retired journalist was thrust into launching his own website.
Yikes, hate to admit it, but I slipped and fell in the bathtub the other day.
I landed on my spine precisely where some wires were inserted a few weeks back (yes, on my spine, just under the skin) as part of a neurostimulation therapy to ease my, um, back pain.
Stats show that bathrooms are slippery and cause spills and falls, so caution is mandatory.
The spill was avoidable; I was trying to get window curtains removed (for window-cleaning) when a stepstool glided in the tub (I wasn’t bathing) and whammo, I fell and hit my back.
Yes, it hurt – for about two days. My wife was there, watching helplessly, and furious that I wasn’t cautious.
No, I didn’t bleed nor bruise. Luckily, the fall wasn’t damaging (I hope) to the wires inside me.
But my ego was hurt. I plead recklessness. I felt stupid.
Both my bathrooms have grab bar handles for ease in and out of the tub or shower stall. But bathroom surfaces are slippery, and risks of slipping are high.
Not surprisingly, statistics from NewsUSA – based on findings from the National Institute of Aging – cite that slippery surfaces are the common culprit and that a third of senior citizens over age 65 slip annually, with 80 per cent of mishaps occurring in the bathroom.
Of visits to the ER, more than 60 per cent of injuries are linked to the bathroom, and 50 percent of deaths are caused from bathroom falls.
So the stats say it all. Bathrooms. Are. Dangerous.
No one falls intentionally, and yes, most spills are accidental. Like mine.
I haven’t yet told my pain management doctor yet, but will, when I return in June for a follow-up visit.
Fairy tales do come true. Just ask Kevin I, the former Honolulu entertainer formally known as Kevin Iwamoto in the business community.
As a young performer eager to make his mark in the 1980s entertainment scene in Hawaii, he recorded a tune called “Fairy Tale,” a simple but powerful ballad that put him on the map, certifying his professional singing career.
That was then.
But now, in 2021, in the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, Kevin – as Kevin I, because that was his abbreviated show biz handle because he worried that some might not be able to properly pronounce his surname – has created unprecedented buzz in the second coming of his singing profile.
His “Fairy Tale” tune, part of a reissue of a virtual album released in December, 2020 and containing his smooth vocals, has become a belated phenom, surpassing 10,000 streams via the Vinyl Frontier Plus music channel on You Tube. And because this has been an online internet release, Kevin has reached an unimagined global audience that keeps growing.
Kevin I — aka Kevin Iwamoto — today.
“The songs are 30 years old,” he says. And yes, he cannot believe the delayed response to his past vocalizing. But back in the day, there was no internet. Regional troupers like Kevin depended on his domestic (Hawaii) audience for support. And radio airplay.
These days, YouTube music channel Vinyl Frontier Plus has 35K subscribers. The site also streams three other titles from his album, generating between 6.5K and 7.5K streams each, but the song that I initially doubted people would like has once again prevailed.
Yep, “Fairy Tale.” Minus the customary princess and prince template. Nor the usual show tour to support the product. The fans and the fuss are virtual.
Kevin I’s digital album, 30 years old, has reached an unprecedented new global audience.
Old is new again
Something old is new again. As a long-time friend and follower of his performing pursuits, I called this phase Kevin I 2.0. The second coming, yes, but curiously, much of the to-do has come from afar.
“Spotify numbers are over 1,000 listeners worldwide,” says Kevin. “Looking at my Spotify and Jango radio streaming data, such interesting cities where listeners streamed my music validates that music is truly universal. So far, I’ve seen Mongolia, Kuwait, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Arab Emirates, S. Africa, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Montserrat, Malta, Curacao, Albania, Tanzania, Mozambique, Libya, Kenya, Montenegro, Bahrain, Belarus, Serbia, Tonga, Oman, and other exotic and faraway places.
“It’s kind of cool to think my old music is being streamed all over the world,” he says. All this without an olden-day distributor, thanks to the ease and swiftness of the internet.
The French connection
Andre Silva, a deejay in France, tracked down Kevin via Facebook and ordered up two copies of his last vinyl LP, “New Dimensions,” for himself and his cousin, who also happened to be a deejay, too. “They heard the music on YouTube and wanted to mix it for the French and Euro dance crowds,” says Kevin. Even belatedly, the Parisian power is formidable.
With exposure in France, Kevin says a guy named Guillaume and his brother also requested to purchase the same LP.
Since his sound was making the rounds, Facebook has licensed two tracks from “The Best of Kevin I. 1980-1985,” tapping “Let’s Give Love” and “Fairy Tale” for what is described as Promo Music Overlays.
Last February, Pandora released his album, resulting in more than 11,000 music streams from all over the country with a surprising other reaction: “Interest from Hawaii (is) surprisingly lower than the rest of the U.S.”
A feel-good love story
Then there’s a feel-good story from his Facebook feed, demonstrating the marvelous matchmaking momentum of his songs.
“Such an amazing thing happened,” he says. “I was contacted via social media by a young man who just proposed to his girlfriend who thanked me for my music which he used when he proposed.”
Kevin explains further: “Here’s how it went down, he cooked dinner for her then after dinner he played my song ‘Somewhere In My Lifetime’ and asked her to dance. He sang the lyrics of the song in her ear and when it was over, he played my song ‘True Love.’ When it was about to end, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him and she said yes; they were both crying. His story frankly made me tear up.”
Surely, he says, “the power of love and music combined is such a perfect gift from God. The groom-to-be said when he first heard both songs, he was inspired to use them to propose because the lyrics, music and singing were a perfect reflection of their love and relationship.
He said that they’re also going to use ‘True Love’ as their first dance at their wedding reception next summer.”
The power of branding–and philanthropy
The whole incidence has touched him dearly. “(It’s) such an honor and (I’m) so touched that my songs from 30+ years ago moved a lovely young Midwest couple enough to be part of their engagement and nuptials next year. Music + love is such a wonderful blessing.”
Further, the good fortunes will result in good deeds. “Revenues generated by the digital album and streaming proceeds are going to be donated to designated charities via a charitable foundation I’m in the process of setting up which also includes my Kevin Iwamoto Scholarship Endowment set up under the UH School of Travel Industry Management,” says Kevin. As Chief Strategy Officer of BIZLY, Inc., he remains active and supportive of his training roots in the islands and the business community he continues to serve.
“My business career has afforded me the opportunity to live comfortably and dabble in charitable acts and philanthropy,” he adds. And the inspiration comes from a show biz buddy in Hawai’i and, a committed career fund-raiser. “I guess those years with Carole (Kai) rubbed off on me, LOL!”
Kevin also has learned a simple yet astonishing lesson in assessing his good fortune. “Trust your instincts and stand by your convictions and be who you have always been, authentic and honest. I teach and preach the power of personal branding.”…
