HawaiiMagazine.com readers Dan and Cynthia from Tennessee are the latest of several readers to e-mail us with a similar question about a filmed-in-Hawaii episode of one of Food Network's most-popular programs:

When will Food Network’s "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" Hawaii episode be shown on TV? My wife and I really want to watch it so we can see some of the restaurants we visited while in Hawaii in 2008.

You ask, we answer.

The Food Network's programming staff told us that DD&D’s Hawaii episode will be premiering on Mon. April 5, at 10 p.m. EST.

The Hawaii episode will be an unusual one for DD&D. Host Guy Fieri and the show's producers don't usually put together an entire episode made up of segments from one location.

Which Hawaii restaurants will be featured in the episode? We're still waiting for a definitive answer from the folks at Food Network. But we know a good deal about where and what the DD&D crew filmed while they were dining around Oahu last October.

Make sure to check out our full rundown of Fieri's diverse Oahu dining adventures here.

The minute we find out from Food Network which restaurants made the final cut and whether there are plans for another DD&D episode of Hawaii segments, we'll be sure to update you here on this post.

Stay tuned.

 

Here she is, matey! The Black Pearl.

The only lead star in Walt Disney Pictures’ fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film likely working without a multi-million-dollar paycheck quietly cruised into Hawaii waters last week to await her next big-screen close-up in 2011.

Think she’s looking a bit worse for wear in our photo above? The ship is actually in dry dock at West Oahu’s Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor, where a multi-million-dollar makeover over the next few months will transform her—with some digital effects assistance—into the Black Pearl known by millions of moviegoers around the world (pictured, next page).

Walt Disney Pictures and Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle announced last month that the latest film in the Pirates of the Caribbean adventure-comedy franchise, On Stranger Tides, would film on Kauai and Oahu this summer. Despite a lack of sails, Jolly Roger skull-and-crossbones flag or Johnny Depp in the guise of Captain Jack Sparrow on board, the ship’s presence at Kalaeloa has proven as tempting as buried treasure for excited Pirates fans. Dozens of fans have flocked to the harbor each day since the Black Pearl's Feb. 14 arrival to try to see the ship up close.

This would be all well and good if the Black Pearl were on public display. It’s not. Its location is actually a very private dry dock protected by around-the-clock security personnel who even warned our intrepid photographer David Croxford against getting too close for this photo. He snapped the photo through a chain-link fence.

But how do you hide a 200-ton, 130-foot, tri-mast pirate ship that, when actually docked in Kalaeloa Harbor, is clearly visible from neighboring Ko Olina Resort & Marina—also the site of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts’ under-construction Aulani Resort & Spa? The answer: You don’t. And you can't, really. 

 

The Honolulu Academy of Arts’ popular monthly ARTafterDARK events return this Friday for another season of post-sunset art exploration, noshing, imbibing and entertainment.

Haven’t been to an ARTafterDARK evening at the Academy yet? If you're in Honolulu, you should go. The staff of HAWAII Magazine name checked ARTafterDARK as one of our favorite Hawaii fests in our 2009 Best of Hawaii issue.

Here’s the gist.

On the final Friday of each month—from February through October—the Academy opens the entirety of its interiors, collections and courtyards after hours for an evening of visual and performing arts, mixed with food and drinks for good measure. Each ART after DARK party boasts a theme, often designed with the Academy’s diverse permanent collection or a groovy visiting exhibit in mind.

Some examples? ARTafterDARK'S “Jet Set” night featured an around-the-world-and-back mix of samba dance (Rio), industrial DJing (Berlin), burlesque (Paris), Japanese art tours (Tokyo) and live traditional Hawaiian music (Honolulu). “So Sari” celebrated everything India, complete with street markets, bhangra music, Indian cuisine and tours of the Academy’s stunning Indian art galleries. “Moon Over Honolulu” escorted revelers back in time for an old school romantic evening in the city, replete with hula dancers, Hawaiian tunes, lei making lessons and vintage glimpses of Honolulu in art and photo.

You get the picture.

The theme of this Friday’s ARTafterDARK seventh season opening night is “Mad for Modern.” And surprise! Modern art will be all over the evening’s bill of fare. Among these:

• Zip tours of the Academy’s spring exhibit “From Whistler to Warhol: Modernism on Paper" and self-guided tours of the Academy’s modern art galleries.

• Live video installation, figure sketching and photo portraits—the last of these for a real-life art project by artist Elizabeth Curtis.

• Live and DJed modern tunes in the Academy’s Central Courtyard and Luce Pavilion.

• Food and drink available for purchase from Honolulu restaurants Town and Downtown.

The evening starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.  The Honolulu Academy of Arts is located at 900 South Beretania St. For more information, visit artafterdark.org.

One other tip if you’re going: Arrive early. Hundreds of residents and visitors show up for pretty much every ARTafterDARK event. Arrive late and you’ll likely get in. But you'll probably have to wait in line.

Can’t be in town for this month's “Mad For Modern” shindig? ARTafterDARK’s seventh season of monthly parties will continue through October.

Themes already announced for 2010 include “Noruz”—a celebration of the Iranian New Year and festival of spring—on Mar. 26, and “Camelot”—a tribute in art, food and revelry to the years of the Kennedy presidency, not King Arthur's court—on April 30.

 

In HAWAII Magazine's January/February 2010 issue feature article “Untouched Hawaii,” we took readers to four stunning little-known and rarely visited Hawaii landscapes that will remain forever as they have for eons: preserved and unspoiled. We share the story here with our online ohana.

Much of Hawaii has been adapted for human habitation—towns, roads, farms, cities, buildings. That’s good, because people can live in and visit one of the most benign and beautiful natural environments on Earth.

The flip side, of course, is that land development and a host of other factors such as invasive species and global climate change, now threaten much of that environment.

Here are four largely untouched places that have been saved. They include a remote Kauai valley, a Big Island black-sand beach, a sand-dune system on Molokai and a lush forest preserve on Maui.

Each has been placed into preservation status by the Hawaii Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The organization, a national conservation nonprofit, purchases tracts of land to make sure they are left alone, untouched, in their natural state for future generations.

The Hawaii chapter of the Conservancy has bought and protected more than 236,000 acres of land statewide, sheltering hundreds of native Hawaiian species in the process.

Maintaining these sites requires manpower, funding and time—resources hard to come by. If you want to help, call (808) 537-4508, or visit www.nature.org.

“Our work is ongoing,” says Grady Timmons, the Hawaii Conservancy’s communications director. “It’s never really done.”

Still, the group has preserved some stunning untouched landscapes, as you will see on the following pages: 4 little-known natural wonders of Hawaii preserved forever.

 

Here’s a side of Oahu most visitors never see.  We recently accompanied superchef Nobu Matsuhisa on a visit to Ma‘o Farm (Motto: No panic, go organic) in the Lualualei Valley, nestled amid the Waianae Mountains.

Famous for his fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cooking, not to mention his sushi, Nobu has 25 restaurants worldwide, from Moscow to Melbourne to Mykonos, including one in Waikiki’s Parc Hotel. 

Nobu Waikiki gets much of its fresh organic produce from Ma‘o Farms, itself an interesting story.  It’s not just a farm.  Instead, it's a social action organization that aims not only to bring sustainable agriculture back to the Islands, but also to sustain Hawaiian culture.  Students in the area do not traditionally go to college.  The farm puts its interns through college, with no obligation on their part to become farmers.  (That's an intern in the fields in the photo, with an armful of Hakurei turnips bound for Nobu Waikiki.)

The video starts with Ma‘o’s executive director, Kukui Maunakea-Forth, briefly outlining the farm’s philosophy.  You’ll also hear in the background the student interns chanting welcome, and walk with Nobu through the fields in this remote but beautiful valley.
 
 

In the just out March/April 2010 issue of HAWAII Magazine, we take you to the seldom-visited island of Moloka‘i. We had a great guide, none other than Molokai-raised Hawaiian singer, Raiatea Helm, who at age 25 is already an established international star.

She’s also still a Molokai girl. When she is not touring Japan, China, Tahiti or the Mainland U.S., she returns to visit family and friends on Molokai, and simply be herself again.

It was not so long ago that she was a self-described Molokai tomboy, running with her cousins.  But at age 16, she was watching television when venerable Hawaii Calls soprano Nina Keali‘iwahamana sang during the annual Kamehameha Schools Song Contest. Then and there, Helm decided she had to sing Hawaiian music.

She had both a musical family—her father still plays in his band at the Hotel Molokai—and remarkable talent. It was only two years later that she won the Na Hoku Hanohano Female Vocalist of the Year award for her debut 2002 album, Far Away Heaven. Her sophomore album, 2004's Sweet and Lovely, took the same award, then topped it: She became the first solo female vocalist nominated for the Best Hawaiian Music Album Grammy Award.

Her latest album, 2007's Hawaiian Blossom, brought Helm her second Grammy nod. Last fall, she celebrated her 25th birthday with a concert at the Honolulu's historic Hawaii Theatre, now available on DVD as Raiatea Live!

For those who don’t know Ms. Helm, as promised we bring a glimpse of her singing what has become one of her signature songs, “Alika,” originally made famous by Helm’s mentor and inspiration, Aunty Genoa Keawe. The style of singing is called leo kiekie, with long, held falsetto notes.

A quick note on the song, "Alika":  It is ostensibly about the sailing ship Arctic, which docked in Kauai in the late 18th century. But like much of Hawaiian music, the lyrics have kaona, often risque double meanings.
 
 
 

It’s official, apparently. 

We’re the happiest state in the nation. Anyway, the 2009 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which does its best to measure these things, says Hawaii has edged Utah for the No. 1 slot as happiest state in America.

Hawaii scored a 70.2 average well-being score, out of a possible 100 points. Utah—2008's happiest state—tied with Montana for No. 2, with an average 68.3 score.

Given what this winter has been like on most of the Mainland, we’re not surprised that the national press attributes our happiness to our weather (which recently has been quite chilly, with overnight lows in the high 60s).

A Vermont newspaper even noted, ironically, that Hawaii couldn’t be that happy, because we “don’t even have ski resorts or snow days off from school. Paradise has to be overrated.”

However, the Gallup-Healthways poll does not even measure weather, at least not directly. It measures physical and emotional health and people’s evaluations of their lives and work. We’re sunny in a lot of ways.

What’s there to love about Hawaii besides the weather?

Take a look at HAWAII Magazine's just out March/April 2010 issue and its cover feature “20 Things to Love about Hawaii—Right Now!” You'll find it in bookstores and on newsstands nationwide now. You can also subscribe to HAWAII Magazine's print edition by clicking here, or digital edition by clicking here.

 

Never been ziplining? Your next Maui vacation might be a good place to start.

Imagine being strapped into a harness, clipped to a pulley and sent down a steel cable—at speeds up to 50 mph—above and/or through the island’s visually-stunning forests and valleys. That was my reality over four days on Maui as I took a turn on every line of the island’s five zipline tour companies: Skyline Eco-Adventures: Haleakala, Skyline Eco-Adventures: Kaanapali, Piiholo Ranch Zipline, Kapalua Adventures and Flyin’ Hawaiian Zipline.

There’s a zipline course on Maui for just about every kind of zipliner—from first timers to aficionados, from leisure riders to speed, length and height junkies. 

In HAWAII Magazine’s March/April 2010 print edition feature “Maui Zip-Away,” we give you the lowdown on the lines and courses of all five Maui zipline tour operators. Which course has the highest maximum height separating you from the world below? Which course claims the longest zipline in Hawaii and third-longest in the world? What kind of scenery can you expect to see while zooming down the ziplines of each course? What’s the best zipline on each course?

We reveal all you need to know before you go.

Pick up a copy of the current issue in bookstores and on newsstands nationwide now, or subscribe to HAWAII Magazine’s print edition by clicking here, or digital edition by clicking here.

On this page and on the pages ahead we present a slideshow of our Maui zipline experience, and videos of ziplines from each course.

The ziplines of Maui (click frame for larger photo):
 


Day 1 video: Skyline Eco-Adventures: Haleakala:


 

Is Mardi Gras celebrated in Hawaii?

You bet. Every year for the last 10 years, right in the heart of downtown Honolulu. If you're on Oahu tonight, the annual carnival madness of New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro is yours to enjoy on a slightly smaller if no less entertaining scale.

Honolulu's largest—and free—Fat Tuesday celebration is Mardi Gras Carnaval 2010—a street festival taking over Nuuanu Avenue in the city's downtown Chinatown Arts District. Among the attractions this year: New Orleans-, Caribbean- and Brazilian-inspired food booths, samba parades and floats, live music on multiple street stages and thousands of revelers sporting feathered masks, colorful beads and costumes. More details below.

Last year more than 10,000 people attended downtown Honolulu's Fat Tuesday celebration.

Mardi Gras Carnaval 2010 kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and continues into the wee hours.

Here’s a list of tonight’s Mardi Gras celebrations in Honolulu. Click on the links for more details.:

Downtown Honolulu's Chinatown Arts District
•   Mardi Gras Carnaval 2010 (free street festival on Nuuanu Avenue, till 10:30 p.m.)
•   Mardi Gras Carnaval 2010 after hours  (entry to five clubs and lounges—Bar 35, NextDoor, Thirtyninehotel, Manifest, SoHo—for one $10 cover, till 2 a.m.)

Near Honolulu Harbor
•   Mardi Gras on the Harbor (at Aloha Tower Marketplace)

Waterfront Plaza (formerly Restaurant Row)
•   Mardi Gras Mania (at Oceans 808 nightclub)

Happy Fat Tuesday, Honolulu!

 

Even frequent Hawaii travelers never find their way to Moloka‘i. It has hardly any tourism infrastructure, no movie theatre, no stoplights. It’s the most rural and Hawaiian of the major islands.

But there are people for whom it’s their favorite island—despite, or perhaps because of, its resistance to progress.

In the current March/April 2010 issue of HAWAII Magazine, we take you a journey of discovery on Molokai. Our guide was none other than the most stunning Hawaiian music talent of her generation, 25-year-old Raiatea Helm, who was born and raised on the island and still spends time with family there.

We became family too, and her cousins took us along on deer hunts in the hills and net fishing in the ocean. In the magazine, we’ll show you the real Molokai in words and pictures.

But as always, we had more photos from HAWAII Magazine photographer David Croxford than we could publish in the print edition, so we’ve put together a slideshow tour of this fascinating, but not often seen part of Hawaii, exclusively for HawaiiMagazine.com.

Take a look for yourself, both here and in the HAWAII Magazine print edition's feature "Discovering Molokai."

And if you’re tempted to visit the island after reading, click here for the "HAWAII Magazine Guide to Molokai."

Now, come take a trip with us  to Molokai:

(Click on slideshow frame to enlarge photos.)