The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

To be honest, I can't remember when I saw this movie. I think it was sometime in the middle of May. Did I like it? Yes, I liked it well enough, but I think I liked the first movie (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) better. You could probably see Prince Caspian without having seen the first movie, but the first movie lends perspective.

Prince Caspian takes place several hundred years after the first movie, but with the same kids who've only aged the few years between the movies. I was sad to see that the beavers weren't in the movie. I'm not sure why they weren't in the movie when some other characters miraculously lived another few hundred years. Anyhoo, the kids are on a quest to first find Prince Caspian, heir to the throne of Narnia, and to overthrow the evil ruler. In addition to their endeavor to restore power to the rightful heir, there is also some debate and a sort-of search for Aslan (the lion).

I enjoyed the cinematography and some of the locale of the movie. There were also a number of moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, and a great battle scene. It was a good movie, clean and good for older kids, but it may be too violent for younger kids. It was worth seeing in the theater once, but if you didn't get the chance, I don't think you would be missing much if you only get to see it on DVD. Of the four movies I've seen so far this summer, I would rank this as my least favorite. Not because this is a bad or boring movie, it's just that the other movies, especially Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda, were more entertaining and are the movies I'd be likely to go back to the theater to see again, if I had the time.

Prelude to Movie Reviews

Okay, so one of my nine loyal readers reminded me what a slacker I am and that I owe you a few movie reviews. Way back when, I mentioned two movies. I think I'm up to four now:
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Iron Man
Kung Fu Panda
Get Smart

I have to forewarn you that I suck at remembering details. And cold, dark places, like movie theaters, make me fall asleep. I was just telling a friend, one who I'll be traveling to Disney World with, about all the good napping places in the parks such as the Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Great Movie Ride, Spaceship Earth, and the Universe of Energy. You know why they're good napping places? You guessed it...because they're cold and dark.

And you know why I'm writing this post that simply lists the movie reviews I owe you? Because I'm a slacker. And I'm gonna forget. You'll be lucky if I get anything right on the Prince Caspian review, so I would definitely check with at least two other sources before following my advice on any of these movies.

Okay, okay, I'll stop babbling now and start posting those reviews.

Cafe Kaila

Since I had the day off, I thought I'd treat myself to breakfast. I'd heard from a coworker about Cafe Kaila, in Market City Shopping Center, so I decided to give it a shot. It looks like it's only open for breakfast and lunch, but the only time I go to Market City is for dinner. From what I gather, it looks like Cafe Kaila's been open a little over a year.


I walked in at about 8:30 a.m., and there was only one other table occupied by a couple. At first I thought, "oh no, this place isn't going to last long!" How can a place stay open from breakfast through lunch with only one occupied table?? This thought was fleeting. By the time I had finished my meal, the place was pretty full. Granted, it's not a huge place, but I was impressed with the number of people who came in after me, as well as the number of people who came in to order coffee or take out.

My first impression as I walked in was that it's a very comfortable, friendly, and clean environment. Everything looked like it was in place, and it had a very inviting feeling about it. Nice and pleasant, but not too stuffy. As I walked in, there was a sign that said to grab a menu and find a table, which I did. Someone immediately came to greet me and left me a glass of water. I perused the breakfast menu. There was also a lunch menu, which I glanced at briefly, but I mostly focused on what I wanted to eat in the immediate future. The bulk of the breakfast menu looked like it consisted of pancakes and egg dishes. I decided that an omelet sounded good. There was a place in Downtown, Hanalei's Bread and Breakfast, that had the most awesome omelets, and I'd never found one as good. (We heard that Hanalei's had moved near Aala Park, but I'm not sure if it's still there.)

There were a number of omelets on the menu, but there was a "create your own" offering a choice of 2 veggies, 1 meat, and 1 cheese, which was perfect for my taste in omelets. My favorite omelet ingredients are spinach, mushrooms, and bacon, with cheese of course. There were quite a number of cheeses to choose from, and I selected the Monterey Jack. And they use THREE eggs in their omelets! There was a choice of rice or potatoes, and I decided on the potatoes, a choice commended by the waiter. He commented that the potatoes are red potatoes with rosemary, which sounded delicious, and unexpected for breakfast! I also had a choice of toast, and I selected the wheat. I also had a cup of coffee, which came in a clear glass cup.

This meal did not disappoint. While I loved the Hanalei omelets, they were "greasy spoon" omelets laden with butter and fat. Not that I'm complaining about the Hanalei omelets, because they were darned good! But the Cafe Kaila omelet was the omelet of royalty. Like the atmosphere of the restaurant, the food was pretty, clean, and fresh. The eggs were nice and fluffy, and all of the ingredients were very fresh. Fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms, fresh (and very crisp and tasty!) bacon. The cheese was excellent as well. The omelet was a nice size, and its contents were nicely balanced. The ingredients complemented each other, everything with its own individual taste, yet nothing overpowering another. The potatoes were also very good and tasty. Some pieces may have been a tad undercooked, but nothing to complain about. The toast was made from "good" bread, not the small cheapy type of bread.

In addition to the food being good, I found the service to be very good as well. There appeared to be a team of three people there, each having their own duties, but all helping each other out without the "that's not my job" attitude that is often found in restaurants. Another thing I noticed was that some of the people who came in after me appeared to be regulars, based on the greeting received by the waiter and their immediate knowledge of the menu. What I appreciated is while the waiter acknowledged them as returnees, I felt that he was just as pleasant to me as he was to the regulars. Why do I mention this? I've been to a few places with a regular following where I felt the waithelp were almost snobby to non-regulars like myself, and super-nice to the regulars. I can understand being a little extra-friendly with regulars (and we've been known to receive such treatment), but servers should at least have a baseline level of friendliness with non-regulars. *Stepping off the soapbox now* So, what I'm trying to say is that Cafe Kaila succeeded in making the regulars feel special, as well as making a newcomer like myself feel welcome and willing to return.

So, if you're ever looking for someplace to have a nice breakfast, try Cafe Kaila in Market City Shopping Center. Someday I'll try lunch there and will share my review with you.

2008 Travels and Other Musings

So guess where I'm going this year? I'm going to DISNEY WORLD! Woo hoo! I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel for work seminars, and this year I am attending a conference in Tampa in October. How could I go to Tampa and not take the 1 1/2 hour trip to Orlando to visit Mickey and friends??? I am also fortunate that I actually LIKE my coworkers...after all, we spend more time with each other then our loved ones at times! So the coworkers attending the conference will also be going to Disney World, some for the first time.

The unfortunate side of things is that this may be my one and only trip for the year. My significant other is being activated by the reserves and will be heading to training and then on to the Persian Gulf for a year. Yeah, it sucks. But there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm trying to maintain a positive outlook by thinking of all of the projects I have no excuses for not completing, including getting myself on a regular exercise routine, organizing all of my junks, and finally completing scrapbooks from nine years ago!

I don't mind traveling alone, and actually enjoy it sometimes since it allows me to do things at my own pace without having to consult anyone or field complaints about the choices I've made. I have contemplated going on other trips, such as going to Vegas to help with the Super Run car show, but airfares are so expensive! Try $700 - $800, for ONE person! I've also contemplated a trip to Sedona, Arizona, or Maine, which I totally fell in love with in 2003 (again, a conference trip). I want to use miles that I've earned before the airline industry totally goes down the toilet. But even if the flight is free, I would still have to pay for hotels, a rental car, food, and shopping. I decided that maybe I'll forego the additional travel this year and just focus on Disney World. After all, I only make it there every 3-4 years, so I might as well splurge! I know, I know, some of you are saying, "ONLY every 3 or 4 years? I haven't even been there once!!!" But when you are a Disney addict like me, you suffer from withdrawals. And I haven't even been to Disneyland, California, in about 3 years!

So what am I going to do in Disney World? Well, part of it depends on my coworkers. Since I have already been there, my list of "must dos" is relatively short. And I'll have a couple of days on my own, so I can use those days to do things that they might not be interested in or may not be a priority to them. For instance, the spa. In 2002, I went to Disney World with another coworker, and we booked facials at the Grand Floridian Spa. Boy, was it wonderful! I'm thinking of booking a massage or some kind of treatment there again. And I'm also considering booking Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridan, perhaps after my spa treatment. So many things to do!

Anyway, I will keep you posted as my Disney World plans firm up. All I know for now is that I'm booked for 8 nights at the Pop Century Resort, a "value" Disney resort. I also know that the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival will be going on at that time and that I will definitely be partaking in some of the food and wine offerings!

Nordstrom's Marketplace Cafe

My new favorite place to eat is the Marketplace Cafe in Nordstrom at Ala Moana. I heard and read a lot about it when it first opened, but Catherine Toth's review of it in her "Daily Dish" blog is what really pushed me to go there. Read Cat's review here.

I first went there about a month ago, and upon entering, it was a little overwhelming. There was a sign saying to grab a tray, which we did, then we just stood there in awe. Fortunately, the staff is prepared to handle people standing there with their mouths open and suffering from temporary paralysis. She explained that we could look around, then order through the staff.

There are several different sections or stations. The first is primarily sandwiches and soups, and some entrees. I ordered a cup of tomato basil soup, per Cat's review, from this station. The next station consisted of pizza, pasta, and salads. Again, per Cat's review, I ordered the bleu cheese and pear salad, while my dining partner ordered the mushroom and pepperoni pizza. Then, a golden ray of light led us to spot some of the freshest fish we'd ever seen sitting on the counter behind the salads. We noticed that one of the dishes displayed with the salads was poke. We HAD to order it. The last station was a dessert counter. The desserts looked awesome, but we were too preoccupied with the other food and skipped it. Finally, we approached the cashier who will also provide glasses for drinks.

Let me step back a moment...one of the great things about the Nordstrom Cafe is they use REAL food displays, so you'll see almost exactly what you'll be getting. The other thing you should know is that they'll make what they can for you as soon as you order it, like soups and salads (including the poke). For other items that require more preparation time, they will provide you with a "ticket," which will be rung up at the register. The third thing is that the standard beverages are actually pretty cheap here! At about $1.95, it's cheaper than most other places we frequent, including Chili's. And yes, refills are included.

After you pay, you head into the dining room and find a seat. I've been there four times so far, and we've never had a problem finding a seat right away. You can eat outside too, but at Ala Moana, that doesn't appeal to me. I just picture myself choking on the bus exhaust fumes while trying to enjoy my dinner. If all goes well, a server should show up shortly after you seat yourself, and they will take the ticket from you and place the order for anything that you weren't immediately given.

As for the food, everything I've tried has been awesome! I am totally in love with the tomato basil soup and the artery-clogging crostini that comes with it! The blue cheese and pear salad also proved very worthy, as did the pepperoni and mushroom pizza (which is a pretty nice size for a one-person meal). But the poke...I heard angels sing as I bit into the poke and the unusual chips that came with it. The poke is tossed with a shoyu-based sauce and spread on a bed of an Asian slaw that is also tossed in a light dressing. But the best part of this dish is the won ton chips served with it. These are no ordinary won ton chips. They have furikake and who knows what other addictive substance sprinkled all over them. We figured out that this dish was probably meant to be eaten together by putting a little bit of the slaw and the poke on the chip. Heavenly!

It's been hard for me to stray from the above dishes, which I've eaten more than once. I have also tried the mushroom ravioli, which was excellent, and a special French dip sandwich served with seasoned fries. The French dip was good, but our service experience on that visit slightly marred the taste for me. Without going into all of the gory details, there were three of us and our food came out at drastically different times, leaving me waiting a good 20 minutes or so for my sandwich. By the time it came, my two friends had just about finished their food. However, I must say that our waiter handled the situation well and even offered me a soup while I waited.

This restaurant is a cross between cafeteria-style and table-service. It's nice that the servers refill your drinks for you (or they should) and come and check on you periodically to see if you need anything. On our first visit, we weren't sure how to handle the tipping. Surprisingly, a number of people left without leaving a tip! We don't leave as much as we would at a table-service restaurant, but we do leave something since they do bring out food, provide refills, bring you take-out containers if you need them, and periodically check to see how you're doing. On my last two visits, we noticed that they started leaving bill trays, except that since the food is already paid for, the trays have a card with the servers name and chocolate mints (which are REALLY good -- do not leave those behind!), presumably to encourage tips.

While some people think it's ridiculous to pay $10 for a sandwich, this is not your everyday sandwich place. And overall, the prices are very reasonable, with most items being in the $10-$12 range and having fairly generous portions. We have eaten meals here for less than some meals at Chili's. And even Zippy's prices are creeping up there. Besides, the quality of food here is excellent. Dishes are prepared to order, and for the most part, they are quite efficient and it's speedier than eating at a table-service restaurant. We feel the food and service are worth it, and it is definitely someplace I will frequent. Give it a try!

Cafe Imperial (or Kaffe Imperial??)

I have quite a bit of catching up to do with my reviews. I have two restaurants and two movies to share with you. I'm going to begin from the oldest to newest.

Last week, I was once again in the mood to try something "new." I'd been wanting to go to Cafe Imperial on Kapiolani. We tried going there once before on a holiday, but they were closed. This time they were open. Here's an Ono Kine Grindz review: click here. Cafe Imperial is known for their katsu.

The restaurant is located in a tall building at 725 Kapiolani Blvd., which is diagonally across from the Lexus dealership. You can enter the parking garage from Kawaihao Street, and you'll need to take a ticket and get it validated. The restaurant is fairly small, but was not very crowded when we arrived for dinner. I would imagine it would be crowded during lunch since it's an office building. There appeared to be just one waitress who couldn't decide where to seat us, or maybe she expected us to choose our own table. She ended up leading us to a table that was a bit awkward with a big pillar next to it and a fairly large party sitting right behind us. Normally I wouldn't think much of this, except that there was only one other occupied table, and there were other options available. Oh well, not a huge deal.

Upon receiving the menu, there are many appealing options ranging from a variety of different katsu, to udon and other noodle-brothy things. A great majority of the items were under $10, and I don't think anything was over $15. There were also some side dishes that sounded good. I decided to try their tonkatsu, which is what they're known for. At $8.95, this was a bargain. My dining partner had a combination katsu, which was somewhere around $12.95. I love trying gyoza from different places, and I decided to order it since it was on the menu. 8 pieces seemed like a good deal.

While we were waiting for our entrees, we were served some soybeans and miso soup. The miso soup was rather boring and unflavorful, but not horrible. Just there. Then the gyoza showed up. Sure, there were 8 pieces, but just looking at it I could tell it was not going to be nearly as stellar as the gyoza I love at Gomaichi. Not even halfway stellar. The gyoza looked rather soggy and was not fried crispy on one side as most gyoza are. I picked one up and noticed that the skin was torn on quite a few of them. I dipped it in the sauce and took a bite. The sauce was quite good (but they didn't give enough for 8 pieces), but the gyoza was pretty lukewarm and no where near the quality of gyoza I've had at Gomaichi, Hokkaido, or just about anywhere. Pretty disappointing, especially for a place specializing in Japanese food. After telling a friend my experience, she suggested that perhaps the gyoza were frozen. I think she was right. And they were just boiled, not steamed and fried on one side like most are. In other words, don't get the gyoza. You won't really need any other appetizers anyway.

When our entrees arrived, my spirits lifted after seeing the huge portion and all the stuff on the plate. The plates came with rice, a couple types of tsukemono (pickled vegetables), a Japanese-style potato salad, two slices of cucumber, and a wad of shredded cabbage. Yes, you heard me, a wad. There was a pretty generous portion of tonkatsu, nice and hot, and just the right thickness. The combination included chicken, pork, shrimp, and scallop, all cooked katsu-style. There was a lot of chicken and pork, but the shrimp and scallop were pretty scarce -- I can't remember which was which, but there was only one piece of one and two pieces of the other. My partner said the scallop was very moist, but the shrimp was just okay. You can put as much sauce as you want on your katsu since the sauce is a condiment on each table. I started off with just a bit, but ended up using a lot. The sauce was a Japanese-style sauce that you could probably get at Marukai or Don Quijote, but it was still good. Especially because I don't eat tonkatsu all that often. The entrees made up for the weird seating, the bland miso soup, and the junk gyoza.

We ended up having a lot of leftovers, so I asked for a box. I should have specified what size box I wanted. She just gave me a small box, and I couldn't fit everything I wanted to in the box. I should have asked for a larger box or a second smaller box, but at that point, I didn't really care, as long as I could take the yummy leftover katsu home.

While it wasn't a perfect dining experience, it was still a good one. The slight service imperfections can be overlooked -- the waitress, while maybe not the sharpest tool in the shed, was still nice and obviously a hard worker and provided the service that we needed. I could do without the starters and appetizers, but the entree totally made up for any shortcomings of the gyoza (which I would not order again) and miso soup (which was included with the meal anyway).

Yet another food review...Kalapawai Cafe

I decided I should write a review as soon as I can after I have eaten at a restaurant rather than waiting two weeks. So tonight, a friend and I tried Kalapawai Cafe in Kailua. Those of you from or familiar with Kailua might be thinking, "Kalapawai, isn't that the store by the beach?" Kalapawai Cafe is associated with the Kalapawai Market, but it's not the little shop you go to to pick up a soda on the way to the beach. Oh no, this is a very different experience.

I had my eye on the Cafe for quite a while now, but since we are creatures of habit and always go to Fat Boys, Amina Pizzeria, or Round Table Pizza, we didn't have an opportunity to try it. Then recently, I read a review by Wanda Adams in the Honolulu Advertiser. She gave it four out of five forks, which is a pretty high mark coming from her.

This is an interesting place. It's kind of like a deli, where you can go to the counter and order items to heat-and-eat at home, or you can order a sandwich, salad, or pizza. They also serve breakfast. From 5 p.m., it turns into a table service restaurant. We arrived at about 6 p.m. tonight (a Saturday), and while a number of tables were taken, there was no problem getting seated right away. We were immediately provided with water, although we had to wait just a bit for our server to arrive.

We were tempted to order an appetizer, but decided against it since we both wanted a starter. I was going to order a side of fries, until our server informed me that the entree I was thinking of getting already came with fries (the menu items seemed to list only the main part of the entree, not the side dishes, so you should ask about what comes with the dish). Our server was pretty good, but I felt things could have been done a little better. For example, I don't think we were ever asked if we wanted anything other than water to drink, which led me to forget to ask for a flight of wine which I asked for after placing my food order.

A wine flight consists of 3-2 oz. pours of wines you select from a specific list. I chose a rose, a semillon (which I had never heard of before -- it was a delicious white wine), and a pinot noir. The pinot listed on the menu was not available, so they substituted another pinot, which was fine. However, my server never told me what it was replaced with. I didn't really care, but it would've been nice if the information was volunteered.

For starters, my friend ordered the Maui Onion Soup, which my friend greatly enjoyed. I started with a side Caesar salad, which turned out to be quite a big portion for a side order! It was slightly different from a traditional Caesar, with a lighter dressing, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Our server's second mistake was not offering me any fresh ground pepper, which I later saw was available when I spotted another server carrying the pepper mill to another table. However, I have to say that what I enjoyed at this place, which possibly led to the forgetting of offering fresh ground pepper, is the team server approach. Other servers brought our food and took plates away, so we were not completely dependent on our server alone. I actually prefer this kind of team work to the "you take care of your own station" type of place.

Anyway, off my soap box about service...for our entrees, my friend ordered a parmesan-crusted stuffed chicken breast (I think it was stuffed with spinach and riccotta) which was served with vegetables and what looked like homemade pasta. she gave me a piece of the chicken and it was excellent, and both visually and edibly moist. I ordered the steak frites with peppercorn sauce, served with shoestring fries. The cut of steak was a bit different, I think maybe a flank steak. My only minor complaint about this entree was that I ordered the steak medium rare, but it was done a little more toward medium -- in hindsight, I suspect this may have been intentional given the cut of the meat.

We looked at the dessert menu and while there were some tempting options, nothing really grabbed us, so we ended our meal there. I could not finish my meal, so they boxed it up for me. Our check came out to about $59 plus tip. While our server could have done things a little better, overall the service was pretty good and I would definitely recommend it to others. I also want to go back for lunch and try their sandwiches, which are only available during the day. There are a number of other items that looked good in the deli counter and that I saw others eating (brushcetta and pizza come to mind).

So the next time you're in Kailua looking for some grub, go and check out Kalapawai Cafe!