Eat the Street: Local Kine Grinds

Star-apple

Rubén el Maravilloso

Live art

Haupia ice cream

Abbey, me & Rubén

Xtreme Tacos

Conjugation nation...

My Spanish 101 Class

Look at them they think they're all fly and free because it's the last day of school. We still got the final exam coming up guys! Let's strive for that A!

Later that afternoon a bunch of the UH Manoa Spanish crew came to support Univision in Hawaii. Here is Nancy Ortiz getting the crowd pumped up about Latin pride in the islands.!

Daniel Lum & Michelle Wenger had fun learning how to salsa and tango.

Then we had presidenta Chambi's student/KTUH DJ Melody get up and speak on behalf of UH Spanish students. She was great!

Then this beautiful and feisty Colombiana graced the State Capitol grounds with her colorful performance. 

Brazilian Yellow Party - Labor Day Weekend

Yotteko-Ya, Kyoto Ramen

My hat goes off to my Twitter bestie, Yoo Ok-Ran (Twitter name: thesoyface) for recommending this place a million years ago. Only until today have I had the chance to experience a truly fulfilling ramen combo. 

This cute ramen joint is located on the second floor of McCully Shopping Center. This is actually the 4th time I've been here, last three attempts failed because this restaurant is only open on certain days at certain times.

It took us about 25 minutes to get a table, which was fine. My friend and I used the time to check out the reviews on Yelp.com. Everyone seemed to rave about the paitan ramen. I have never heard of it so I decided to try it with the C Set (which comes with fried rice and gyoza). 

The fried rice came first and was very tasty! It had sweet charsiu, tomatoes and onions. 

Then came the ramen and gyoza. Whoo hoo! The gyoza was panfried to perfection, and thanks to Yoo Ok-Ran's recommendation, I was a bit full before starting on my ramen. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the ramen, but it had one of the BEST ramen broths that I've ever slurped. It was sort of like miso but with a chicken, butter flavor. I recommend ordering this with the Japanese style noodles, they're firm and chewy. I wish I had a little more appetite to finish my meal. 

Lastly, I'd like to thank the wonderful staff at Yotteko-Ya, they're service was great and they politely laughed at my sad japanese accent when I thanked them.

Yotteko-Ya Kyoto Ramen
1960 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 214
Honolulu, HI 96826
808.946.2900

If These Walls Could Talk

Here's a peek at what to look forward to next week: IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK. My professor, Aranzazu "Arantxa" Ascunce organized a weekful of art events: an art tour, lecture, bilingual dialogue, workshop and a mural unveiling event at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Ascunce, along with the help of the UH Manoa Spanish Department and Spanish undergraduate students, worked hard to bring these artists to the islands and organize events for the entire UH and Honolulu community to not only enjoy but learn about how two different art styles can fuse into one. 

These events feature muralist Dr. Josep Minguell from Barcelona and urban graffiti artist Refa One from Oakland, California. These educational events will conclude with a mural in which both artists combine classical and revolutionary artistic styles.

If you haven't spotted it yet...(FLIER ART: LATINRAMEN.COM)...Ms. LATINRAMEN designed the flier so it's guaranteed to be LATIN and fun! I'll definitely be covering the events so lots of posts coming up!

For more information, contact Aranzazu "Arantxa" Ascunce at aranzazu@hawaii.edu.

Ozomatli @ Pipeline Cafe this Friday

[Photo credit: Ozomatli Myspace]

The first time I heard this L.A. based reggae/ska/rock group was when I watched the clubbing scene in the film Never Been Kissed (you know when Drew Barrymore eats brownies and dances on the stage). Their music is catchy and infectious - don't miss out on this!

[Photo credit: Ozomatli MySpace]

Tomorrow night (Friday, February 19th) is your chance to see them live at Pipeline Cafe starting at 9 p.m. Tickets at the door are about $30 and VIP costs $50. Tickets also available on Ticketmaster.com.

Spanish Guitar: Domingo DeGrazia

ATENCIÓN!

Tienen DOS oportunidades de escuchar a un guitarrista muy estimado. Su nombre es Domingo DeGrazia, un músico profesional de Arizona. Él toca la guitarra en el estilo que mezcla elementos flamencos con los latinoamericanos.

[Photo credit: DegraziaMusic.com]

DeGrazia va a tocar su música en Arts at Marks y Centerstage en Ala Moana.

Presentado por Tim Bostock Productions, hay una concierto el jueves, 10 de diciembre a las siete de la noche. Las entradas generales cuestan $15-25. Si compren las entradas de $25, un plato de paella, pollo y ensalada está incluido. ¡Habrá varios vinos españoles también! Para obtener más información, llaman 808.521.9699.

DeGrazia tiene otro concierto también en CenterStage en Ala Moana Shopping Center en el viernes, el 11 de diciembre, a las seis de la tarde. Según el sitio de DeGrazia, dice será un concierto con una banda completa.

Domingo DeGrazia

12/10 Thursday at Arts at Marks 7 p.m.

$15 General Tickets
$25 Tickets with full paella meal 

12/11 Centerstage at Ala Moana 6 p.m.

Free outdoor full band concert. 

Chicharrones Choke Chicana Child to Death (in Chino)

She's poet, writer, social commentator and a former producer for the George Lopez show, her name is Michele Serros, a blunt Chicana (falsa) from Oxnard, California. As part of Hispanic Heritage Week, one of my classmates Marsha Cordes, arranged for Serros to speak and share her writing with students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Serros read her obras, or poetry and short stories, with a raspy Chicana accent gently poking fun at her own culture through flashbacks of her choking on chicharrones and analyzing frozen veggies at the grocery store. Memories all tracing back to her vivid childhood made us laugh and sometimes snicker at how strangely familiar they were to our own childhood. The way she delivered her experiences of naiveté and fitting in sparked a little mini-Serros in all of us.

"I was told my work was not universal enough," Serros said, explaining how difficult it was to find a voice that suited mainstream society. It was a good thing she didn't change her voice, although influenced by Judy Blume novels, Serros' has such a tight grasp on capturing an audience and delivering her works with an original yet somewhat familiar style.

This is the real Michele Serros, who made her way down to Honolulu to share what some may not have known about being "Chicana."