Meet American Girl of the Year

American Girl photos

Meet Kanani Akina.

The word is out tha American Girl’s 2011 Girl of the Year is from Kauai, the first in the popular series of dolls to come from the 50th state.

Kanani Akina stands 18-inches tall, with tawny skin, dark hair and hazel eyes, and will meet her public in a blue, floral-print cotton summer dress and beaded necklace.

Like her predeccesors, Kanani will be available for one year, and other clothing options include a swimsuit, board shorts, “Aloha” T-shirt, denim capris and a luau hula ensemble, complete with lei.
Other accessories include a paddleboard set, shave ice stand and plush monk seal to reflect Kanani’s love of Hawaii’s ocean creatures. American Girl will donate $1 (up to $100,000) for each Kanani plush monk seal sold in 2011 to the National Wildlife Federation to help raise awareness about endangered animals.

Prices range from $100 for the doll and book, about $28 for extra outfits, and $29 to $50 for girls’ outfits to match the doll’s.

A touch of realism, Kanani at her shave ice stand.

Halekulani picks up two top magazine rankings

Halekulani photos

A peek into the Halekulani Orchid Suite.

Halekulani has received top ratings from two major travel magazines for 2011. Travel + Leisure’s “2011 T+L 500 World’s Best Hotels” rankings are now posted on the Travel + Leisure Web site, where Halekulani is listed as No. 2 in Hawaii in “Best Hotels by Region,” and ranked No. 1 in Honolulu.

In the writeup, The Orchid Suite is featured as the newest of The Premier Suites, and breakfast at Orchids is highlighted for its inclusion of such Hawaiian specialties as pipi kaula (beef jerky), marinated ahi poke, lomilomi cured salmon, Waimanalo roast suckling pig, and Big Island goat cheese, plus what editors are calling “the Pacific’s best popovers.”

The site erred, however, in mentioning two Vera Wang-designed suites, when there is only one. Maybe the designer will just have to come back to make the story true!

Halekulani is also in the January 2011 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. In the annual Gold List roundsup of “The World’s best 504 hotels, resorts, and cruise lines” selected by the magazine’s readers, Halekulani received an overall score of 90.3 out of 100, the highest ranking Oahu hotel.

The Halekulani Courtyard.

Atlantis adds whale watch cruise

Atlantis photo

A 15-foot baby humpback was equally curious about guests off Waikiki.

Atlantis Navatek Cruises is adding a Whale Watch Breakfast Cruise to its daily schedule during “whale watching season” to give guests more opportunities to enjoy the sight of humpback whales swimming and playing along Oahu’s south shoreline.

Atlantis’s new breakfast cruise is in addition to its popular Whale Watch Lunch Cruise, which runs through April 10, 2011. The new Whale Watch Breakfast Cruise starts Jan. 14, and will continue through March 31, 2011.

Each winter up to 10,000 humpback whales migrate from the chilly North Pacific to the warm waters of the Hawaiian Islands to breed and nurse their young. The fifth-largest whale, humpbacks reach 50 feet in length and weigh 40 tons, and can be seen breaching, spouting, and slapping their tails.

With its unique, double-hulled design, Navatek I allows Atlantis to carry guests closer to the prime viewing locations for humpback whales in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary off East Oahu.

Whale Watch Breakfast Cruise: Navatek I departs at 8:30 a.m. from Pier 6 at Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu Harbor and returns to port at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $49 for adults and $25 for children (ages 2-12) and includes a continental breakfast buffet featuring pastries, muffins, bagels, yogurt, cold cereal, juice, tea, and coffee. Complimentary roundtrip ground transportation from Waikiki is provided.

Whale Watch Lunch Cruise: Departs at noon from Pier 6 at Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu Harbor and returns to port at 2:30 p.m. Cost is $69 for adults and $35 for children (ages 2-12) and includes the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet featuring teriyaki chicken, fresh catch of the day, dessert, and soft drinks. Complimentary roundtrip ground transportation from Waikiki is provided.

The humpbacks are best seen from the observation decks. Dress comfortably for breezy conditions, with secure hats and belongings, and wear sunscreen.
Bookings made online receive a 10 percent discount. Prices do not include the harbor fee and general excise tax. For more information or to book a tour, call (800) 548-6262 or visit www.atlantissubmarines.com.

More information: Hawaii's winter whales

Times Square’s got competition

Guests of the Kahala Hotel are in for a sweet treat on New Year’s Eve, with a Hawaii first. Not to be outdone by New York’s Times Square or the Sydney Opera House, Hawaii will now have its own glittering LED-lighted papier-mache pineapple, which will drop 10 stories from the hotel’s rooftop to usher in 2011.

Constructed by staffers, using chicken wire, newspaper and wallpaper paste, the hand-built pineapple, with lighted eyes, will be more than 8-feet tall and weigh in at more than 200 pounds. The pineapple pays homage to one of Hawaii’s most popular pineapple varieties, the Smooth Cayenne.
It will be hoisted by crane, wires and pulleys, and descend at the stroke of midnight, ringing in the New Year in grand Hawaiian style.

Admission to the New Year’s Eve Party and Pineapple Drop, from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., is $50 for adults.

A bit of history: The pineapple has long been synonymous with Hawaiian hospitality. While the exact date of the pineapple’s arrival in Hawaii is the subject of debate, most historians agree that it arrived on Spanish ships as early as 1527.

Spanish horticulturalist Francisco de Paula Marin arrived in Hawaii in 1794 and began experimenting with raising pineapples in the early 1800s. As a friend and advisor to King Kamehameha I, Marin might have encouraged the king to support an industry that had impact well into the late 20th century.

Maui Divers Flagship opens

Maui Divers photo

Chocolate pearls at Maui Divers.

    Maui Divers Jewelry has opened a new flagship store within the DFS Galleria Waikiki. The new store will feature the company’s signature Tahitian black pearls, South Sea white and golden pearls, Tahitian Mother of Pearl, freshwater pearls, Australian opals, diamonds and other gemstone jewelrt.
    Hawaiian gold charms and pendants featuring Hawaiian flowers and Pacific Ocean theme marine life and heirloom jewelry of 14-karat gold and black enamel are also featured. Prices start at $50 for sterling silver jewelry to $20,000 for strands of Tahitian black pearls.
    In addition, renovations on the Maui Divers Jewelry Design Center have been completed to include new video detailing the company’s history, timelinel display, and new jewelry production equipment.
    The 1520 Liona St. site is open for daily tours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and complimentary shuttle service in air-conditioned buses, providing comfortable pick-up and return transportation to Waikiki.

Restaurant deals

Celebrate at Alan Wong's

Posted: 12.15.2010

    

    Alan Wong’s is hosting “Hauoli Lanui!” a holiday dining celebration Dec. 24 and 25, 2010, at $85 per person between 4:30 and 10 p.m.
    The meal will start with a tasting of four small appetizers: Kuahiwi Ranch beef tartare; chili-lemongrass dressing chicken and shrimp dumplings; XOX sauce Stellar Bay oysters with ponzu gelee; baby turnip ahi and ono sashimi cubes, crispy Christmas slaw and wasabi soy vinaigrette.
    This will be followed with a choice of pan-roasted Kona lobster, Thai curry lobster ragout or steamed opakapaka with Hamakua eryngi mushrooms and truffle nage.
    And another one of four choices of: ginger-crusted onaga, organically grown mushrooms and corn, with ginger sesame vinaigrette; or kalua pig, foie gras-stuffed pork tenderloin roulade with orange-cranberry jus and kabocha flan; or Big Island red veal loin with truffle parsnip custard tart, truffle sauce and glazed Ma‘o Farms baby carrots; or pan-roasted day boat scallops with green onion pesto sauce, red jalapeno coulis, kai choy, Hamakua Heritage Farms pepeiau.
     And finally, dessert choices of grandma’s apple pie, served with Hawaiian vanilla and Ka‘u orange cranberry chutney and macadamia nut praline ice cream; or molten Waialua chocolate mousse cake with chocolate soup and chocolate air.
     Call 949-2526 to reserve.

Poor Rudolph!
Posted: 12.14.2010

     For a second year, Hank’s Haute Dogs is offering a reindeer sausage dog through the holiday season, while they last.
     The new dog features reindeer meat blended with beef for a lean, full-flavored Polish-style sausage weighing nearly a quarter pound. The dog is grilled to order and topped with Christmasy colored condiments of mustard, ketchup, mayo, onion and green relish. The dogs are $6.50. Pair it with hibiscus lemonade the color of pointsettia.