By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Makakilo hillside structure

Tackling curiosities
big and small

Wat Dats can be gigantic. And they can be tiny. This week's cases in review:

"Just Curious" asks what that large structure is on the mauka side of H-1 between the Ewa and Kapolei exits. It "looks more like a golf clubhouse or meeting hall rather than a residence and does not appear to be occupied," posits Ms. or Mr. Curious.

If there is an architectural vernacular style called "golf clubhouse," it is beyond us, but that's exactly it. Or almost. You're looking at the centerpiece of the Puu Makakilo Golf Course, the development of which cost its hui of Japanese investors about $70 million. But then the Japanese golf bubble burst, and the course and buildings were bought at foreclosure auction by concrete company Grace Pacific for $12.6 million in November 1994. What's happened since then is nothing..

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat

We goofed on the WatDat Gnat item a couple of weeks ago. Here's a picture of the actual Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat, otherwise known as the Sciarid fly. The massive blue line in the background is a rule on notebook paper. This particular insect died while ingesting photographer Ken Ige's coffee.

The sesame-seed-shaped bug we ran was the cigarette beetle, AKA Lasioderma serricorne. "It's not as wide-spread as the gnat, and it's very easy to control," said Department of Health entomologist Norman Sato. "They go for flour and cereal and rice, so check your cupboards, even the spaces between the boxes, and get rid of infestations."