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Aku Eats on KGMB News and Lei Chic!
Aloha!
7/12/09 - Sorry to bore you all with repeated mentions of the show, as it shoulda been one-mention-only, then out, but there were so many unexpected turns that noone knew what was going on as it unfolded over the last few weeks! The first taping fell prey to technical difficulties, so they had both Lesa Griffith and I in this past Thursday morning to air a segment live, instead. It was only real short, and I wish I could have spent more time talking about Zenshu, seeing that Chef Ryuji-san, Chef Wilson, and John Tsuda (seen below) spent so much time and effort with the initial taping, which unfortunately, noone will ever see. Bummers.
If you all don't know what I'm talking about, below is the entire sequence of events as it happened. Strange thing is, I'm actually looking forward to going on television again, because if I can only get over my nerves, there's sooo many good restaurants out there, and I do wanna play my part to introduce them to as many people as possible, as the good ones, like Zenshu, sure deserve a lot of attention!
Anyhow, it's forever buried now, and time to move to the future!
Easy,
Aku
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6/17/09 - Wow. What an experience! Just finished taping the show set for the morning of Thursday, the 25th of this month (next week), on KGMB news with Grace Lee. Can't say it's something I'd expected, nor ever done before, that's for sure! I guess the morning news features a segment co-hosted by anchorwoman Miss Grace and Lei Chic founder, Alyson Helwagen, both super-cool gals and both as beautiful and talented as they get! I'm sure you can tell who's who. You know... Lee, Helwagen... Lee, Helwagen... Forget it...
And don't worry, I'll introduce the rest of the gang after you scroll down a bit.
How the heck I was lucky enough to be surrounded by so much talent, I have no idea, but the only reason I'm on is because Pomai over at the Tasty Island declined the offer! Yeah, he's been going for a lot longer than I have, has an awesome Hawaii foodie site, and also has a much larger following than I do (his link is also on my home and closer look page's). No disrespect meant by the guy, though, it's just that he's having a particularly busy time at work right now and's just a little nerjuss' about going on camera, something I can understand as fully as an eskimo knows his ice. Not the camera part, that is, but the nerjuss' part!!!
In fact, I felt like a complete and total dufus on film, having gone over the lines of possible questions in my head earlier, but failing to find them when the time came! I don't know what it is, but as soon as the camera starts rolling, it's like jumping into a quantum world of anything goes, almost as if I snuck-in a qualude (I'm sooo 80's!) while everyone else was sober. I e-mailed Pomai at the Tasty Island, hoping for some sympathy, and how does he reply, but by saying he's gonna paste the video aaall over his site, so everyone can see it playing over and over and over and over again...!!! Thanks Pomai. Wait till you get your turn.....
Anyhow, just wanted to give everyone the head's-up, at the expense of my own personal pride and dignity. In fact, it was so terrible that I, with complete resolve and resolution, have pledged to redeem myself by purchasing a video camera and doing some further recorded action on the site in the days to come. Hey, if that video on KGMB news is gonna be the only on-line video representation of me, that'd be a horrendous thought, lemme tell ya! I almost asked for a second take!
But anyhow, the other three you see on the right, from left, is part-owner John Tsuda, Sushi Chef Ryuji Murayama, and Chef Wilson Chan, all part-owners, in fact. The guy on the right of Chef Wilson looks kinda bossy and a bit too overly sensitive about something or other... See 'm...? Forget it...
They've put-together a fine spread here at Zenshu, which I already did a closer look page on earlier. Check out the Zenshu page if you haven't already, because it's filled with all kinds of serious grinds, and wifey and I were beyond happy with everything there. In fact, we were happy enough that when Alyson asked about what kinds of places I like to cover, Zenshu was one of several I suggested. And so here we stood on this particularly beautiful day in Paradise, in the skilled hands of a few good men.
And these blurry hands you see in front are pretty skilled in themselves, as I placed the camera on a ten-second setting, only to realize I had also placed it on a ten-continous-shot setting, as well! More laughter and amusement at my expense, I guess...
Thanks Grace! Thanks Alyson! And thanks to the crew at Zenshu for having us over - you'll see the unbelievable spread the Chefs whipped-up for us on Thursday morning, KGMB News! Don't freak-out when they announce my real name, kay? Aku's my high school nickname, is all!
And with that - see ya again soon! Wifey and I just went to Z Pizza the other night and Sabrina's Italian restaurant the night after, and you'll see how both places fared for us over the next few days! And BTW, neither of these places, nor the news on Thursday morning constitute the surprise I've talked about that's coming in just a couple of months, tentatively speaking...
So take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
6/25/09 - Sorry!!!
Hey, I have no idea what happened!!! I guess KGMB decided to pull the story! I do wish that someone would've informed me about the decision, but I guess that's the way they roll in the television industry. It's a good thing I took a picture of the filming, or you may think it was all just a bunch of hot air!
Anywayz, it was still all a memorable experience, and definitely something I've learned from. It was just what I needed to force me to get a camcorder, which I'll use to post some clips when the time is right. Pic's share a lot that text cannot, and video's, I'm sure, will share a lot that pic's cannot, so it's aaaalll good, anyway you look at it, right?
But I do apologize if you got up special this morning to see the show. I'll try to find out what happened.
Easy,
Aku
7/7/09 - Aku Eats on KGMB News???
7/7/09 - Well, well, whaddaya know...??? Just got a call from Alyson Helwagen of LeiChic.com, and it looks like I will be on the morning show, after all, this time - live!!! Talk about nerjuss!!!
She apologized for the mix-up, but apparantly there were some technical difficulties with the last taping, and so KGMB and LeiChic are gonna bring me into the studio this-coming Thursday morning, at roughly 6:40am, along with professional writer Lesa Griffith's Eatizen Jane blog/site, at http://hieats.wordpress.com/, to do a live segment on the both of us!
To tell you the truth, I'm kinda glad for the mix-up. Now I'll have a chance to do a better job this time! I do feel bad for the folks over at Zenshu, though, who prepared a lavish meal of lightly-grilled o-toro sashimi, squid ink sushi, special kal-bi ribs, agedashi tofu, and more awesome stuff! I'll definitely mention them this Thursday, and also pass along a pic of one of their dishes for KGMB to display on the show. Meanwhile, I'll stop by the restaurant myself to apologize to Chef's Ryuji-san and Chef Wilson Chan, along with co-owner John Tsuda, for the delay and change of plans. I'm sure it'll still work out in the end for everyone!
Just wanted to let y'all know...
Easy,
Aku
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