I’m in Hawaii for the“So Much More Hawaii”, tour, sponsired by the Hawaii Tourism folks and Cilantro Media. These a few quick videos shot on my handheld camera. More to come later in full CMN fashion! This first video is from our arrival and the reception held at the Sheraton Waikiki’s Rum Fire outdoor terrace. See THIS POST by my new friend Melissa Chang, host of the Urban Mix Plate blog, for photos and description of the reception. Melissa is one of the local Hawaii bloggers who will be showing me the local food scene and introducing me to many of her chef friends. I include a short musical clip from MAKANA, a specialist in the unique Hawaiian “Slack Key” guitar style, who performed for us. There’s also a short bit from our first morning in Kauai, where I visit the herb garden of the Grand Hyatt Kauai. More to come as our trip progresses!

And here’s video of our Catamaran/snorkeling adventure with Captain Rick & the crew of “The Lucky Lady” of Kauai Sea Tours.

We were treated to a tour of what the locals eat here on Kauai by Jenny Fujita, and sampled a WHOLE bunch of great dishes, from Spam Musubi at the Lawa’i Store (like a maki roll with fried spam in the middle, and what I would dream about eating for breakfast every morning!), to 10 different kinds of poke at the Ishihara Market, and JoJo’s famous Shave Ice!

WATCH THIS SPACE for more videos soon!