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Hawaii Diary Michelle Ramos |
Tee time for Hootie & Co.;
clean up on Korean soapsDARIUS Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish got some tee time in while he and his band were here for a private concert on the Big Island last week. The group stayed at The Fairmont Orchid and was spotted a couple of times on the Mauna Lani green. ... Missed any of the Korean soap operas that are sweeping the world? Don't worry, a tiny kiosk at the 99 Ranch mall's ewa end has DVDs for $79.95 ("Loving You") to $105 ("Winter Sonata" and "Summer Set"). Series soundtracks are also available for $14.95. Fell in love with the actors? Purchase photos of Kwon Sang-woo ("Stairway to Heaven"), Hi Woo Choi ("Winter Sonata"), So Ji Seop ("Glass Slipper") and others for $1.50. Photo keychains are also available ($6.96-$9.95). ...
CONGRATULATIONS to R. Field Wine Co. staffers Laura Haff and Ryan Nomura. The pair has significantly increased the pool of knowledge at the Beretania Street store. They just returned from Napa Valley, where they completed the Court of Master Sommeliers certificate course at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. They join fellow staffers Ryan Shiinoki and Brian Tamayori in this accomplishment. Also at R. Field, manager Kevin Toyama is among nine candidates in Hawaii for the master's level, the ultimate in wine savvy. Hawaii currently has just one master sommelier, Chuck Furuya. ... New York eating superstar Eric "Badlands" Booker took first place in the World Maui Onion Eating Championship Sunday by eating 9 ounces of sweet raw Maui onions in a minute. He beat reigning champion Eric "The Onion King" Seigmund of Pukalani, Maui, who finished second with 8 ounces. Seigmund won the annual contest seven times out of nine tries. I'm sure he'll try to regain his title next year. ... Christopher Schmicker, son of Michael and Pat Loui Schmicker, just returned from studying and vacationing in Europe before starting studies at Yale University this fall. The Punahou grad received the Presidential Scholar in Poetry this year and has a poetry book out entitled "Most Days." ... Another scholar to congratulate is Lyan Apilado, an eighth grader at Kamehameha School on the Big Island. She picked up the $1,000 grand prize from this year's Hawaii Pizza Hut and Hawaii State Public Library System Young Adult Summer Reading Shopping Spree Sweepstakes. ... More Hawaii talent can be seen on KFVE/WB tomorrow when a special highlighting Sassy magazine's 2004 Teen Video Awards airs at 8 p.m. Watch what our students can do. This may be their first step to becoming the next Quentin Tarantino or Sofia Coppola. The show repeats 5:30 p.m. Saturday. ...
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Hawaii Diary runs every Tuesday. Send items to mramos@starbulletin.com