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Fashion, furniture There was no shortage of sofas, love seats or tables for guests as the C.S. Wo family hosted one of Honolulu's biggest "house" parties.
and family
3 generations in the C.S. Wo family
throw a New Year's bashBy Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.comEight hundred friends, family members and community leaders were invited to the family's flagship store on Beretania Street Saturday night to celebrate the Year of the Horse with three generations of Wos.
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Arrivals were checked off a pages-long guest list by Bradley Wo, son of Robert "Bub" Wo Jr., son of Robert Wo, son of Ching Sing Wo, who founded the family business in 1909 as a hardware store."What's your last name?" 6-year-old Bradley asked of the usually un-anonymous Emme Tomimbang as she approached with hubby Jim Burns.
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Julie Kam gave her last name, only to be greeted with an overwhelmed, partially exasperated, "Which one?" No doubt it was the same response that greeted every Ching, Chang and Young.Speaking of the latter, the store got a boost as KITV's Gary Sprinkle and Pamela Young settled into one of the sofas, Young looking quite comfortable and feigning sleep due to its plushness. Sleepland U.S.A. spokeswoman Tania deJesus resisted testing the furniture.
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One of the first sights viewed by guests was a table decked in Blossom Tyau's arrangement of auspicious symbols of the new year -- among them candied fruit, gau, oranges, peaches, bamboo and li see.
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Though guests were treated to pupus that included tempura shrimp with pork hash on mochi rice, sushi, roast suckling pig on bun, desserts, wine and champagne, one guest tempted by the display asked Tyau for permission to nosh on a piece of candied lotus root.Lines were long to get to the fortunetellers, palm readers and calligraphers from the Tai Hsuan Foundation.
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Feeling the need for all the luck they can get, many were not content with the usual one-blessing calligraphy. They got them all, cramming "double happiness," "long life," "good luck" and "prosperity" on one sheet of lucky red paper.Horse images were abundant in the work of Kelly Sueda, one of the evening's guests of honor. The other was designer Anne Namba, whose work was presented in a fashion show on the store's staircase.
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Guests scrambled up or down the staircase just before the show started to find the best vantage. One soul didn't make it. As Namba introduced a design inspired by China's Tang dynasty, one of Kelvin Ro's students from Kapiolani Community College's culinary program, helping to cater the event, came running down the stairs in kitchen whites, carrying a tray of empty glasses.Guests laughed, but good-natured Ro was not as amused, saying, "I don't know who that was, but they going get scolding!"
Once the show started, guests were treated to colorful visions in flowing bias-cut dresses, trimmed in contrasting colors for drama and topped by coats worthy of an empress. Models seemed to float on air, like Zhang Ziyi in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
But admiration was not restricted to the models. As Namba read from her notes, one spectator said: "The designer is so cool. She's so pretty."
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A second open house was held yesterday as the company's way of expressing appreciation to the community for its support. By today all the tabletops have been cleared of glasses and paper plates, each carpet shampooed to make way for blessings from the New Year gods.Betty Wo, whose five sons -- Robert, Wendell, Michael, Bennett and Scott -- now run the business, said her sons host the event as a way of passing on to the community the traditions and values they were taught as children. Although she doesn't get too involved with the business, she said, "Every time they open a new store, they still call me and ask for a good day."
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