So this review of the legendary Sam Sato’s on Maui is more than a few years delayed. My bad. I guess it’s shmall kine hahd for this Oahu boy to get around these days, especially with the little one around. But trust… It’s worth the wait! 🙂
Sam Sato’s is a pseudo hole-in-the-wall type eatery, located in Wailuku Maui, in the same “historical” lineage of the Hamura’s Saimins (Kauai), Nori’s Saimin & Snacks (Big Island) and Shiro’s Saimin Havens (Oahu) of the world.
Sam Sato’s sign
On any given day, there will usually always be a wait to get in. Be prepared.
The wait outside Sam Sato’s
Don’t forget to sign in on their cute, self-waitlist system: a pen and a pad.
The waiting list system at Sam Sato’s
Once you hit the lottery and your name gets called, you are seated inside, which has all the charm and nostalgia of yesteryear including palaka style window trimmings, old school paintings, and black & white photos from back in the day.
Inside Sam Sato’s
You’ll even find posters/photos signed by local celebrities like Na Leo, Frank DeLima, & Maui natives Ekolu, as well as our two Hawaii-born living legends BJ Penn & Shane Victorino (also a Maui boy).
Signed photos from Shane Victorino and BJ Penn
Sam Sato’s has a variety of popular noodle dishes like their Saimins, Won Ton Meins and Chow Funs, but none are as popular as their Dry Noodles, endearingly referred to as Dry Mein, due to their lack of a traditional soup base.
Sam Sato’s Dry Noodles, aka Dry Mein
The noodles aren’t exactly dry-dry. In fact, the consistency and flavor almost reminds you of a fried saimin/noodle type dish. The kicker here is that the dish comes with a small bowl of a chicken based stock/broth, which you are supposed to drizzle on before every bite.
Sam Sato’s Dry Mein order with broth (S – $4.95, L – $5.75, Double – $7.25)
Like many of the other old school saimin shops, Sam Sato’s is also known for their BBQ sticks. My buddy Joel, a Maui native, ordered a couple BBQ Beef Sticks for good measure.
BBQ Beef Sticks from Sam Sato’s ($1.25 each)
Since he’s been here many times, Joel decided to forego the Dry Mein and feed his craving for Hamburger Steak, which he claims was also “Bomb.” Here’s a shot of our food.
BBQ Beef Sticks, Dry Mein and Hamburger Steak ($7) from Sam Sato’s
As if that weren’t enough, these buggahs also make some of the most ono kine manjus & turnovers evaaaar!
Partial Manju display at Sam Sato’s
Pictured here is the Azuki Bean Manju, with the Coconut, Peach and Apple Turnovers. They also had a Lima Bean Manju along with the Pineapple-Coconut, Pineapple-Peach, and Blueberry Turnovers. I’m not really a sweets person, but bruddah ova hea went to town! For omiyage of course! 😉
Manju and Turnovers from Sam Sato’s
My favorite part was the “key” they stamped on every take out box so you knew exactly which turnover was what.
Turnover “key” stamped on take out box
Sam Sato’s is one of those “must-visits” whenever you are in Maui. Personally, I’m already trying to figure out when my next visit there will be. Likely not soon enough.
Sam Sato’s 1750 Wili Pa Loop Wailuku, HI 96793 (map) (808) 244-7124 Mon-Sat: 7am-2pm (meals), 7am-4pm (manju pick-up)
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With winter in full swing and Hawaii’s “chilly” weather freezing everyone to the core 😛 , there’s no better comfort food than a nice, hot, steamy bowl of ramen. And while eating at some of my go-to ramen picks (i.e. Yotteko-Ya, Tenkaippin, etc.) would be ideal, sometimes, patronizing your friendly, neighborhood ramen spots is the way to go to help warm the soul.
This next batch of spots in our Hawaii Ramen Quest consists of some of the more non-traditional, localized interpretations of ramen. Stemming from what appears to be of local Chinese influence (with the use of cabbage, bean sprouts, corn, mapo tofu, etc.), these ramen joints often have multiple locations in very convenient areas around town, and I would venture to guess that they are conceivably some of the most popular amongst the locals. Although I don’t associate any of these with the “straight from tha muthaland” flavor and style of ramen I’m accustomed to, there’s no doubt that I still frequent many of these for my noodle fix on the regular.
First up is Daiichi Ramen & Curry in Aiea.
I don’t usually venture out around lower Aiea too often except when I take a wrong turn from Aiea Bowl or Ice Garden, so when I actually did one day, I noticed a sign with big red letters calling me. It said Daiichi Ramen & Curry and I immediately thought to myself, “Oh, thaaaaat’s where it is!” Now you gotta understand, with a name like that (which means “#1” in Japanese), I will place very high expectations on the ramen coming out of the pots there. But then again, with a name like that (gotta love the confidence BTW!) it has to be good right? I’ve heard a lot about this place before but it wasn’t until a recent check-in by @abaggy earlier this month that my curiosity got the best of me. I dragged co-workers and friends Maribel and Trina to come along for the ride.
Maribel & Trina pose outside Daiichi Ramen & Curry in Aiea Shopping Plaza
The first thing you notice is that it is very clean (perhaps even remodeled). Surprising, as they been around for quite some time. The next thing you notice is the two giant posters hanging on the wall advertising their “new” Tonkotsu and Tan Tan Ramens. Smart choice as those have been the popular styles of ramen here in Hawaii as of late.
Trina and I got one of each, while Maribel got the “Special Combo” with Mini Ramen & Curry choices.
Tan Tan Ramen – Healthy soup cooked for over 12 hours with chicken bones, pork rib bones and fresh ground sesame seeds, made fresh daily. – $7.75
Tonkotsu Ramen – Healthy soup cooked for over 12 hours with soft rib bones made fresh daily. – $7.75
Ramen from the Special Combo, Two choice – $8.75
Mini Curry Rice from the Special Combo, 2 Choice – $8.75
Maribel and Trina posing with our ramens
The flavor wasn’t quite there for the Tonkotsu ramen, but the Ton Ton definitely had a lot of kick. It made all of us cry just a bit. LOL!
Daiichi Ramen & Curry Aiea Shopping Plaza 99-080 Kauhale Road, Bldg A Aiea, HI 96701 (Street View) (808) 486-7432 Daily: 10:30am-9:30pm
Note: A new location also just opened up at 1029 Makolu Street in Pearl City (808-455-9898), which is the strip mall with Starbucks, Kozo Sushi and Panda Express FYI.
Next up is Sumo Ramen & Curry. They’ve got 6 or so locations sprinkled across Oahu now, but the one we visited for this review was the tiny one in the Moanalua 99 food court area.
Sumo Ramen & Curry at Moanalua 99
We had the little one with us so everything had to be ordered in “to go” packaging (… You know, just in case. LOL!), but everything was pretty tasty nonetheless. They have quite an extensive menu with offerings in the curry, fried noodle, udon, fried rice, cold soba and ramen categories, in addition to various appetizers you don’t usually see at a place like this.
Spicy Chicken Wings Appetizer – $3.75
Wifey ordered the Mochiko Chicken Curry Combo, while I got, what else?, the Tonkotsu Ramen. At least I’m consistent right? 🙂
Sumo Ramen & Curry Moanalua 99 Food Court 1151 Mapunapuna Street, Suite W-9 Honolulu, HI 96819 (Street View) (808) 833-3139
IchiBen in Pearl City’s Times Square Shopping Center is a somewhat newer addition to the ramen scene, but has quickly gained popularity amongst the locals in the area. They specialize in fried rice, curries Korean style BBQ, and their ramens. The attention to detail with their ramen broth is evident by the meticulous description on their menu:
Our special cooked-from-scratch broth is low-simmered for 8-10 hours, resulting in a clear stock with layers of intense flavor. The ingredients include pork shank bones, chicken, shiitake mushrooms, kombu, dried shrimps and scallops, onions, garlic, ginger and leek. You can choose from Shoyu or Miso flavor. The third choice, Paitan, is kanchi for white soup. This signature pork and chicken soup is slow-boiled for 10 or more hours until the stock turns a milky white color. It is rich in collagen and flavor, also known as tonkotsu, and it’s a regional style from Southern Japan. Ours is delightfully light and smooth, without the greasy taste because of our constant skimming all day. We do not use MSG in our cooking, including the soup stock.
Here’s a shot of the Seafood Ramen with Paitan style broth.
Seafood Ramen with Paitan broth – $8.45
Wifey seemed to be happy with her order of the Shoyu version.
Seafood Ramen with Shoyu broth – $7.95
On a return visit, I wasn’t really in the mood for ramen (it was hot out), so I read the menu’s description of their “Flaming Grill” options and was sold. I swear, the guy who wrote these should win some kind of award for always making me so hungry! 😛
Our BBQ chicken and Kalbi are marinated in Korean-style sauce with shoyu, sugar, ginger, garlic, black pepper and sesame oil for at least 12 hours to bring out the full flavor. Grilled to perfection and served with steamed rice, macaroni salad and tsukemono.
IchiGrill – 1 fillet of chicken and 2 slices of kalbi short ribs – $9.95
I actually liked the Korean BBQ items more than the ramen here. Very flavorful and tasty!
IchiBen Times Square Shopping Center 98-1254 Kaahumanu Street, Suite B-06 Pearl City, HI 96782 (Street View) (808) 488-4200 Sun-Thu: 11am-9pm Fri-Sat: 11am-10pm
Mililani natives would know all about our next stop: Genki Ramen, which has a location on each side of the H2 (Mililani Mauka and Mililani town). Working out here in the often chilly-willy Central Oahu locale, it’s easy to make a quick lunch run to either location. Here are co-workers and friends Wendy and Maribel during a recent visit to the Mauka location.
Wendy and Maribel pose with our spread from Genki Ramen
Wendy ordered the Pork Vegetable Fried Noodles, which, ironically (at a ramen shop), is one of my favorite dishes here.
Pork Vegetable Fried Noodle – $7.50
I usually order the Seafood Fried Noodles sans the radioactive looking ginger or the Mabo Tofu Ramen, but since this is a Ramen Quest, I took one for the team and ordered the marquee item on the menu: The New Genki Ramen (Big Bowl)!
New Genki Ramen (Big Bowl) – $9.75
Although da buggah is HUGE, it’s rather deceiving because, like many of the other ramens on their menu, the noodles seem to always be lacking. To me, they overstuff the bowl with cabbage and bean sprouts and never have enough noodles at the bottom for me to slurp on.
Maribel got the Combo A Set which included a Mini Shoyu Ramen, Fried Rice and 4 pieces of Gyoza.
Combo A Set – Mini Shoyu Ramen, Fried Rice and 4 pieces of Gyoza – $7.75
Genki Ramen II (Mililani Mauka) 95-1840 Meheula Parkway Mililani, HI 96789 (Street View) (808) 626-7829
Rumor has it that there was some kind of rift (ala Gomaichi and Goma Tei) that caused one owner to leave Genki Ramen to start this next ramen restaurant chain: Ramen Ya. Although there is one in Kahului (Queen Kaahumanu Shopping Center on Maui), and one to open soon in Hawaii Kai, this review is for the somewhat new location in the Pearl Highlands area.
The menu is remarkably identical to Genki Ramen’s one so I went with what I knew best and ordered the Mapo Tofu Ramen. Yep, it’s spelled “Mapo” here.
Mapo Tofu Ramen – $7.25
Co-workers and friends Erin and Diane went curry and ordered the Deep Fried Gyoza Curry Rice and the Curry Ramen respectively.
Deep Fried Gyoza Curry Rice – $7.75
Curry Ramen – $7.25
Erin and Diane with our food at Ramen-Ya
If you like Genki Ramen, you’ll like it here as well (and vice versa).
Ramen-Ya 1170 Kuala Street, Suite 308 Pearl City, HI 96782 (Street View) (808) 456-8868 Daily: 10:30am-9pm
I never even knew this next place existed until I did a site visit in the area for work. Since it was lunch time and we were mad hungry, Maribel (yes again) and I decided to scope things out at Ton Ton Ramen.
The menu is fairly extensive with noodle, udon & rice dishes, combos, side orders and a variety of special ramens including the Black Sesame Tan Tan Ramen, Ippin Ramen, Oxtail Ramen, and the one I got, which was the very popular Soft Rib Ramen.
Soft Rib Ramen – Ribs are slowly cooked over 8 hours until tender & juicy. Ramen is served in a garlic shoyu base with traditional half cooked egg. Original Japanese style. – $8
The soft boiled egg was a nice touch, though it wasn’t quite as soft-boiled as I would’ve liked it. The nori was also a good attempt at being authentic. The soup needed more flavor but the soft rib was definitely soft and tasty.
Surprise surprise. Maribel got a combo yet again. LOL! This time around, she got the Mochiko Chicken Combo, which included the Mochiko Chicken, a mini ramen, and gyoza.
A happy looking Maribel with her Mochiko Chicken Combo – $9.45
Ton Ton Ramen 94-050 Farrington Highway Waipahu, HI 96797 (Street View) (808) 677-5388
Back in the day, when we used to go clubbing (yes, THAT long ago), this next stop was one of our staples: Taiyo Ramen, thanks to its late night hours of operation. Located in between the now two defunct Blockbuster and I Love Country Café locations off Piikoi, this ramen joint has stood the test of time and endured the ups and downs of the market.
I don’t have any current prices or photos, but here are a few dishes from way back in 2006.
Gomoku Ramen
Seafood Udon
Soba from Taiyo Ramen
Makes me want to get drunk and go there again for old time’s sake. 8)
Taiyo Ramen 451 Piikoi Street, Suite 105 Honolulu, HI 96814 (Street View) (808) 589-2123 Mon-Thu 10am-1am Fri-Sat 10am-3am Sun 10am-9pm
And speaking of late night eats, here’s a quickie shot of my Oxtail Ramen from none other than Sanoya’s. Ahhh, the memories…
Oxtail Ramen from Sanoya’s
Not exactly gourmet eating, but good enough for those late night cravings.
Sanoya Rahmen 1785 S King Street, Suite 4 Honolulu, HI 96826 (Street View) (808) 947-6065
And finally, here’s a “fast kine” location we recently hit up at the Manoa Marketplace: Nishi Mon Cho Ramen. As you’ll see in the photos, we again ordered everything in take out containers because we had baby with us. Our parents were pretty hungry, but wifey and I weren’t so we decided to share something small. I got the daily (Friday) special, the Curry Beef Rice & 4 pcs Gyoza combo, while wifey got a mini shoyu ramen.
Nishi Mon Cho Friday Special – Curry Beef Rice & 4 pcs Gyoza – $6.99 (with wifey’s mini shoyu ramen on the side). Yes, I’m not a fan of cooked carrots. 😛
Some of the other daily specials at Nishi Mon Cho Ramen
The warm, fuzzy story behind this visit was that the worker (who appeared to be the owner) was very friendly and accommodating with us, noticing our obvious apprehension (whether to eat in or take out) due to our situation with the little one. She shared information about her own kids and made everyone feel very comfortable.
Nishi Mon Cho Ramen Manoa Marketplace 2851 E Manoa Road #1-104 Honolulu, HI 96822 (Street View) (808) 988-9928 Daily: 10:30am-9pm
And that’s it! Whew! That was a packed one! If I don’t see or talk to you guys soon, have a safe and happy holiday season. See y’all next month/year! 🙂
Had to fly over to Kahului today to train our Maui installers on Mobile. Following the training, I had a little time before lunch so I was fortunate enough to be able to squeeze in a quick coffee sesh at Maui Coffee Roasters (@CoffeeOnMaui) with two of Maui’s biggest social media influencers: Peter Liu (@peterliu47) and Liza Pierce (@AMauiBlog). Here are a couple of the shots they took:
First thing’s first. As an MMA fan, I would be remiss if I did not mention tomorrow’s big UFC card that will showcase two of our very own, local, Hawaii boys: Hilo’s BJ Penn and Maui’s Kendall Grove.
Local Boys: Lightweight Champ BJ Penn (left) and Middleweight Contender Kendall Grove (right)
Lightweight champ BJ Penn (remember him?) will be defending his belt against top contender Frankie Edgar, while middleweight standout Kendall Grove will take on wrestler Mark Munoz. See bottom for all the details.
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A-ight with that outta the way, let’s get today’s Fave Friday show on the road. Now I know the title says “Sports”, but for those of you who aren’t big fans of the stick and ball kine games, feel free to list “Activities” like hiking or swimming, etc. Here’s my list:
Fave Sports to Watch:
* Baseball – Sooooo happy the 2010 season is under way again! Go “pills” right uncle jimmy? 😛 Don’t know what it is, but I could just sit there and watch a whole game without getting bored at all. * MMA – I used to be all crazy widit and watch every second of every event, but now, with limited watching hours in my day, I pretty much just focus on the UFC, WEC and some Strikeforce events with spot watching of the other ones like Bellator. Even then, I fast forward through the boring fights. I really do miss HDNet and their MMA coverage, especially with Dream. BTW, while we’re on the topic of MMA and local boys, don’t forget to support Brad Tavares who is reppin’ Hawaii on this season’s cast of the Ultimate Fighter, Wednesday nights at 7PM on Spike TV (Oceanic Cable 559 or HD 1559). * Basketball – Orlando’s my team, but I’ll watch good matchups sometimes. UH is fun watching live, but it’s been really depressing the last few years. 😦 * Football (I guess) – only to follow my fantasy players. LOL! Live games at UH are fun too, but I like the tailgating more! 😛 * Boxing – used to watch a lot, until MMA came along and killed it! RIP. 😉
Fave Sports/Activities to Do:
* Snowboarding – snowboarding is life. Period. * Jiu Jitsu – don’t get to roll as much as in the past, but the cognitive part of it is soooo interesting to me. * Baseball/Softball – my first sport ever = my first love. * Basketball – played a lot of hoops in high school and college, but kinda slowed down later in life. I should get back into it again. * Swimming – ever since training for the Tinman, I’ve been itching to get back in the water on the regular. Not only is it a good workout, but you get a mean tan to boot.
So what sports or activities do you like to watch/play? Holla!
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In other sports-related news, what do you think of Nike’s new commercial with Tiger Woods, using his dad’s voice as the narrative?
Tiger Woods’ Nike Commercial
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UPDATE:
Just got shown the new 3-D Channel on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channel 1217 and, lemme tell ya, it looks pretty mean! If you have a new HD 3-D television set, pop on your 3-D specs, turn them on, and tune to channel 1217 to watch some cool, On Demand content – including coverage of the Masters – in crystal clear 3-D. I sound like an infomercial don’t I? 😛
Masters Content in 3-D from Oceanic Time Warner Cable
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UFC 112 Details
UFC 112: Invincible is being held on Yas Island all the way in Abu Dhabi so it will actually air live at a strange 7AM hour for us here in Hawaii, on Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s channel 701 or HD 1701. Hurr’s the official poster:
UFC 112 Poster
… and here’s sistah Bel showing some love for our local boy BJ Penn:
Bel Kissing the UFC 112 Poster
If you’re not a fan of waking up early on Saturdays, Oceanic will be re-airing the fight card at 10AM, with an afternoon airing at 4PM (re-aired at 7PM). Just select the time that works best for you. Click here for streaming UFC 112 content or here for ordering information.
K, pau! Sorry. Commercial ova. Have one awesome Friday and weekend gang, and I’ll see you on Monday K!? Shooooots!
Sorry rayboyjr. We be back to a non-“eye candy” pic this week, but last week was fun for ALL nonetheless… no? 8) Bruddah Takeshi got another WIH victory under his belt by correctly guessing Waianapanapa State Park in the mysterious beach shot where few noticed the black sand. 😆
This week, I think/hope we’ve got a toughy. It could be just about any breakfast/lunch/dinner spot in the world state. Let’s see how skilled y’all are wit’ dis one.
Hurrrrr we goooooo!
Where In Hawaii is Edward Sugimoto? – September 16, 2009
P.S. Adding this footnote to all future WIH posts… If any of y’all have pics you’d like to contribute to the “Where In Hawaii” game, feel free to email them to me and I’ll post um up in future blogs! And yes, you aren’t allowed to guess on those days! LOL! 😛
Happy Hump DayWhere In Hawaii Wednesday y’all. 🙂 Shooooots!
It’s no coincidence that the word Victory is in Shane Victorino’s name. Losing is not even in his vocabulary. As a gifted athlete growing up, he’s always been on the winning end in sports. As a 28 year old young adult, it’s no different. He was an integral member of the world champion Philadelphia Phillies last season, has won the Gold Glove award, and was recently named to the Major League All Star Game, the first positional player from Hawaii to be bestowed the honor. And to think… this is just the beginning!
Victorino actually started his athletic career almost out of necessity. As an extremely active child with ADHD, his parents enrolled him in sports to feed his energy and keep him engaged. The decision proved to be a good one as Shane went on to star at Maui’s St. Anthony High in 4 sports: football, soccer, track and baseball. And, although he was offered a full ride scholarship to the University of Hawaii for football and baseball, Shane got the blessing of his family and chose to pursue a career in baseball when the Los Angeles Dodgers came a callin’ in 1999.
After years of minor league ball, the San Diego Padres claimed him from the Dodgers in 2002 via the Rule 5 draft (“Major league teams must protect players on their 40-man rosters within three or four years of their original signing. Those left unprotected are available to other teams as Rule 5 picks.” – http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askbarule5.html), where he actually saw some time in the bigs (36 games). Eventually, he was returned to the Padres (as part of Rule 5 stipulations), before being drafted again, via Rule 5, by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004.
The losses of starters Bobby Abreu (trade) and Aaron Rowand (free agency) made room for Shane to display his skills in the outfield and ultimately earn a starting spot in 2007.
Info about Victorino from a Phillies display at Philadelphia Airport
During a recent home series against the Florida Marlins, I was able to catch up with our All Star from the islands about his personal life, his career and everything else in between. Enjoy!
Personal Life:
Edward Sugimoto) We’ll start off with an easy one: What’s a typical day in the life of Shane Victorino in Maui?
Shane Victorino) In Maui? Typical day in the life of Shane Victorino in Maui? Woo. You know what? That probably would’ve been just getting up in the morning, getting up to the beautiful weather, of course there in Hawaii, our beautiful island of Maui, and just spending time with the family. That would be now, but back when I was a kid, it was probably, get up, go to school. After school’s done, go to sports – whatever practice it may be – soccer, football, whatever was going on at the time, baseball, track, and after that’s done, go home and spend time with the family.
The author and Shane Victorino
Edward Sugimoto) A couple years ago (March 30, 2007), you became a father (daughter Kali`a Makenna Victorino). How does that feel?
Shane Victorino) Oh I love it! I love being a dad. My little girl Kalia, she’s a little rascal. My mom guys always told me, sometimes it comes full circle. My mom and dad did a wonderful job with me as a kid, and now I get to see what I was probably like, and see my genes go to work on my daughter. She’s a handful so I can only imagine what I was like for my mom and dad.
Edward Sugimoto) Speaking of your dad, he’s a Council Member back in Maui. Did he give you any kind of words of wisdom or leadership advice?
Shane Victorino) Um, you know what, dad’s one of those guys where I think, in the position that he’s in, and some of the things that he’s done in the community, you know he always told me work hard, and when you go out there, you work hard, you show people that you can be a leader, not by talking about it, but by going out there and doing things the right way. Giving back to the community and so on and so forth. So to have dad in that position I think it’s nice and you know he loves what he does, he loves always giving back and working for the community, when he got into the Councilman position he was very excited.
The author and Shane Victorino
Edward Sugimoto) You mentioned being in baseball, you were an Eagle Scout, Football (star in Soccer, Basketball and Track too). Is there anything you CAN’T do? 🙂
Shane Victorino) Anything I can’t do. (*laughs*). You know what’s funny, I never did surf. I never did surf growing up. That’s the one thing I think everybody always kinda questions like coming from Hawaii, how it is to surf and yada yada yada, but I always told myself, when my friends went to the beach, I went to the baseball park, I went to the football field, I went to the soccer field, you know I wanted to go get better playing spots, so I think that helped me differentiate myself from some of the things that, you know, if I went and spent a lot of time at the beach and surfed, it would’ve took away from me trying to be a good athlete that I am today.
Edward Sugimoto) Speaking about baseball, we (Hawaii) have Tony Rego, Sid Fernandez, and Benny Agbayani from back in the day. Today we have like the Little Leaguers from Waipio, you, Tyler Yates (Kurt Suzuki). Is this just the beginning of Hawaii talent coming into the league?
Shane Victorino) Yeah. I think Hawaii is definitely going to be a place where scouts are gonna come. Myself, Kurt Suzuki, you said Tyler Yates, Brandon League. I mean I can keep going down the list. More and more kids are in the minor leagues, so it’s definitely one of those things where Hawaii’s gonna become a state where I think a lot of people are gonna look, go there and look for talent, and look for baseball talent. The thing is Hawaii has so many talented kids, it’s just that a lot of them don’t want to go away. A lot of them miss Hawaii, and yada yada, and I always say to myself, if my family’s healthy, eveybody’s doing great, Hawaii’s Hawaii. It’s not gonna change. If you get the opportunity to go away, go to the (eastern) states and do some things, hey take the chance. You know what, your home will always be home. It ain’t gonna go nowhere.
The author and Shane Victorino
Edward Sugimoto) You’re highly involved in the community, both in Philadelphia and in Hawaii. And you have a Celebrity Golf Classic (to raise funds and awareness for Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation) coming up in November I believe (November 21st at the Maui Prince Makena Resort)? What makes you care so much about your community?
Shane Victorino) Well, I just think that being in the position that I’m in today, you know, growing up there in Hawaii, I never really saw too much of these kinds of things. Being in the sport that I’m in, I have a lot of teammates who host charity events, and for me, I was always taught that any way you can give back, it’s just one of those things, if you can give back, why not? If you can make an impact on somebody’s life, why not? And I think that when I got into the level that I got last year, I told myself, you know what, it’s time for me to try and make something happen in Hawaii. We’ll raise money for certain causes. Last year it was Alzheimer’s, this year it’s Hawaii’s Children’s Cancer research. So any way I can give back, I think is one of those things where I’ve always uh. You know when you’re in a position, like they say, “well you’re a professional athlete, you should give back.” Well, sometimes I think that we’re in a position that we don’t have to give back, but we’re in a position where we can help to make the community build and I think that’s what we do and that’s why I love doing these charity events.
Shane doing an interview with a reporter at UFC 101
Edward Sugimoto) How’d you like the fight last night (UFC 101 was at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia)? We saw you!
Shane Victorino) I loved it! (*turns to camera*) Right on! Good job BJ! I was definitely excited. He definitely represented Hawaii. I think he worked hard. He was really, really focused on this fight and wanted to make an impression. I think that was what I saw out of him. He had that drive, he had that desire, he had the BJ Penn attitude. I think he really worked hard for this fight. He wanted to prove to people again that hey, you know what he’s still known as one of the best guys.
Edward Sugimoto) You probably have a lot of fans from Hawaii in for the fight and probably here for the game today. Are you pretty amped up about that?
Shane Victorino) Yeah, no I’m excited. I saw a few Hawaiian flags flying in the stands the last couple nights, so, it’s definitely nice to have the support and love from the Hawaii people.
Baseball Life:
Edward Sugimoto) You had a full ride scholarship to UH for Football. How difficult of a decision was it to turn that down and pursue a career in baseball?
Shane Victorino) It was very tough. It was one of those things, uh, you know my mom definitely wanted me to get a good education, and she definitely pushed that. She sent me to a private high school (St. Anthony in Maui) for a reason and that was to get a good education and to hopefully do well in sports and so on and so forth. But when that day came, it was definitely tough. But I told my mom, I said, “Mom, college will always be there. I may never have another chance to go pro.” So it was definitely a tough decision, but when I made a decision, I told myself I’m gonna go ’til I can’t stop. I wanted to go there and I wanted to work hard. As they always say, until they take the jersey off your back, I don’t want to quit. There were times yeah definitely through the minor leagues, there were struggles, and there were times I wanted to come home, but my dad said, “Hey just remember, you coming back home, you’re never going back.” That was words of advice that I’ll always remember. If I gave up when I wanted to, I may never get another chance to play pro ball, so I stuck with it, worked hard. But going back to the question, it was definitely a tough decision, but like I said, I told my mom, “Mom, education was gonna be there, college ain’t going nowhere.” You know, I can go to college when I’m 35, 40 years old. Hopefully I had a good career. I can go back to college when I’m done. So it was definitely tough, but I talked mom out of it, and I was able to go and turn pro, and hey, I’m having a wonderful time so far.
Victorino info on the billboard
Edward Sugimoto) The Phillies. You guys are all pretty aggressive, work hard. Is that something Coach (Charlie) Manuel stresses?
Shane Victorino) Yeah, um, you know what, Charlie is one of those guys where he lets you play. He’s the kind of manager that you want to play for. A guy that’s gonna let you go out there and gonna let you play the game that you play. Not gonna put too much stress on you, he’s not gonna bash you in the media. He’s gonna come and call you in his office if he wants to talk to you about things. So, when you come to the field every day, you know what you have out of your manager, and that’s the kind of guy you want. A guy who’s gonna be in your corner, not a guy that’s gonna yell at you, stress you out even more than what this game already does. He’s the kind of manager that we call a player’s manager. He takes care of his players. He goes out there, he wants his players to do their best. He’s got two rules: it’s to be on time and play hard (and hustle). You can’t ask much more out of a manager than that.
Phillies logo in the Phillies dugout
Edward Sugimoto) You wear a rarely fashioned double eared helmet. Is this because that’s how we used to play back in the day or just ’cause you’re a switch hitter? 🙂
Shane Victorino) Well, yeah, no, I did that in the minor leagues, and when I got to the big leagues, I put the one flap on for a while and it was kinda like I felt uncomfortable. So I told myself, why change? I did it in the minor leagues, I did it in Little League, why not keep it up? Plus, being a switch hitter, I don’t want to carry two different helmets, so some of those things factor in.
Shane Victorino sporting the double-eared helmet
Edward Sugimoto) Do you have a preference (right handed or left handed batting)?
Shane Victorino) No. There’s times you feel good from the right, there’s time you feel great from the left side. So you just gotta keep playing in this game. You play 162 games for a reason. You’re gonna go through your ups and downs, you’re gonna have your slumps, you’re gonna have your struggles, but you just go out there and keep working.
Edward Sugimoto) #8. Is there a reason why you chose that number?
Shane Victorino) Um, you know what, my brother was #8 in high school, my mom’s born on January 8, so 8 has some significance. I was 8 in high school. When I first got here, they gave me #8 so I was lucky enough, and I really didn’t have to ask for #8, but I was given #8 my first year here. It’s definitely a number that has ties to me.
Edward Sugimoto) Congratulations on winning the Gold Glove last season. Do you take pride in your defensive skills as much or more than your batting skills?
Shane Victorino) I definitely take pride in my offense a little more I think. But I mean I take pride in my defense too. I think defense is such a great factor in a ball game. You can never struggle. You should never slump on defense. You’re gonna go through struggles at the plate. You’re gonna go through 0 for 30s, you’re gonna go for 2 for 50s, but on defense you should never struggle because that’s not something where you gotta worry about hitting, you gotta worry about seeing the ball. You just gotta worry about staying focused, making good plays, and going out there and playing hard.
Shane manning the outfield (I know… kinda blurry!)
Edward Sugimoto) What’s the biggest rush. Homerun? Stolen base? Diving catch?
Shane Victorino) You know what, they all have their different life. Of course if you hit a walk-off homerun, that’s more exciting. When you make a diving catch in the game, that’s exciting. You steal a base in a big big situation, so you know, every one has its own weight I think. But for me, I would say, hitting a home run in a crucial situation, I think to me would be the most exciting thing.
Edward Sugimoto) You became the first Hawaii-born positional player in the All Star game. You had the support of Philadelphia, Hawaii, and everybody else (Both Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle showed their support, and South Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter even went door to door to solicit votes). You had 15.6 million Internet votes which set a record (previously held by Evan Longoria in 2008 at 9 million). How does that make you feel to have so much support?
Shane Victorino) It made me feel great. That really showed what Philly fans, what Hawaii fans, and what the passion of baseball has. The blessing that I had to be able to be voted in, to get that amount of votes, almost double what the guy the previous year had I think, was such an amazing thing. It really showed how much Philly fans and people around the world really care I guess about how I play the game and how I approach the game, so it was definitely a nice thing.
Edward Sugimoto) You had a hit in the All Star game. Explain your experience, the whole experience.
Shane Victorino) Everything was great. Every bit of it was what I expected. There were a few things, of course getting to meet President Obama again, just listening to the 5 living presidents talk before the game on the big screen about All Stars among us, people who are helping the community. Every moment had its catch, and being introduced as a starter, and then going out there and getting my first hit in my first at bat in my All Star game, or my first All Star game, so, it was some fun times.
Edward Sugimoto) On Friday, the Phillies inducted Harry Kalas into the Phillies Wall of Fame. After a recent homerun, you pointed to the booth where he used to sit. Kalas has a history in Hawaii (with the US Army and as a Hawaii Islanders announcer). What kind of an impact did he have on you?
Shane Victorino) He had that voice that I remember growing up as a little kid watching Inside the NFL at my grandma’s house, thinking to myself, who’s voice is this I’m hearing? And then when I came here in ’05, I remember hearing his voice when I got called up and I’m like, hold on, this is the guy’s voice that I used to hear when I was a little kid when I used to watch Inside the NFL, NFL Films. You know, it was just like, woah, this is the man. This is the guy, Harry Kalas, the guy that I remember growing up watching Inside the, you know NFL Films, and hearing that voice. To actually meet the guy in person, we definitely had a bondage. I remember one of my walk off homeruns, he said Victorino No Ka Oi. That was one thing he would always call me. “Hey! Victorino No Ka Oi!” You know he would always say that. He definitely had his roots to Hawaii. His first wife was from Hawaii, he definitely started with the Islanders, did some broadcasting there, so he definitely had some roots to the islands.
Shane Victorino
Edward Sugimoto) What does the future hold for Shane Victorino?
Shane Victorino) What does the future hold huh? Just try to be the best player I can be. To go out there and try to keep succeeding, try to keep getting better. In this game, there’s always room for improvement, and I think you go out there and work hard every day, that’s all I can say. I try to go out there and work as hard as I can, and try to play as hard as I can because you never know what could happen. Tomorrow may be my last day, today might be my last day. I might get hurt and never play again. But as long as I’m giving 100%, that’s all I can ask about myself.
Edward Sugimoto) You have any words of advice for your young fans out there?
Shane Victorino) Yeah. I think the kids in Hawaii, like I said earlier, I think a lot of Hawaii kids don’t understand, and they struggle with the fact of leaving home. To me, my advice to them is hey, if you get the opportunity, leave. Take the chance, see what’s out there. Work hard as a little kid and work hard now because when you work hard now, it’ll help you in the end. I was one of those kids where I was blessed by God. I had a lot of natural abilities. I didn’t work as hard as some of my friends, and I always say to myself if I did, how much better a player would I have been when I first got to the big leagues? But you know, I think with hard work and dedication, a lot of things can happen.
Edward Sugimoto) And how about your general fans? Message to them?
Shane Victorino) General fans? Thank you guys for everything. Thank you for voting me to the All Star game. Just enjoy. I think when you come to watch our team, that’s what we do. We go out there, we have fun, we try the best we can, and we play the game hard, and we just try to go out and win every night.
…
Right back atcha Bruddah Shane. Mahaloz for making all of us in Hawaii so very proud. Keep on playing the game with that intensity and heart and only good things will come. But I’m sure you already know this, as failure has never been in your vocabulary. V is for Victorino. Victorino No Ka Oi!
Me and Bruddah Shane
…
Ed’s Notes:
Shortly after this interview, Victorino strangely got ejected from the game (in centerfield!) by home plate umpire Ed Rapuano for throwing his arms up in the air (following a bad call). The Phillies lost the game and was ultimately swept by the Marlins, further diminishing their lead in the NL East.
Yikes.
A couple games later, in a matchup against the Chicago Cubs, he was doused with beer by a rabid Cubs fan – while trying to make a routine catch.
Eek.
Could it be? Could my interview with Bruddah Shane, in some strange way, possibly have put some kind of curse on the Phils? No. Can’t be! Riiight?
Thankfully, the Phils broke out in a big way, going 14-5 since then and is now sitting atop the NL East with a handsome 7 and a half game lead (as of 08/31). So you can actually say that this interview gave them good luck going into the post-season! You’re welcome fellow Philly fans! 😉
A big Mahaloz to: Ted Nakamura, Leonard Nakahashi, Shane’s mom, Josh Goldberg of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Greg Casterioto and Deanna Sabec of the Phillies organization, Bari Carroll, and of course Bruddah Shane Victorino.
Alright alright! It’s another exciting day up in hurr. Can you feel it? 🙂
I’d like to first start off by welcoming you new readers who found your way here via my floating head on the cover of today’s paper. Hope you like what you see and decide to check back often! 8) I would also like to send mad love to all y’all regular (dare I say daily?) readers! Majahloz for being a loyal member of our little WWE `ohana we got goin’ on ova hea!
Earlier this month, I asked you to post your questions for Mr. Shane Victorino to my blog. You see, your boy had the unique opportunity to meet and interview our beloved All Star and I wanted to take some of your questions with me, as we did with Bruddah BJ Penn. Well, I finally had the chance to edit, transcribe, and Youtube the puppy, and, below, is the fruit of our loins, er labor. 😛 Enjoy!
[bB ]: Did you have any baseball heroes and did you collect baseball cards of them?
I collected baseball cards, but I didn’t have really no baseball heroes growing up. I was very big into every sport I think. I never really focused on baseball, but I watched it definitely as a kid, but you know I never really was like “baseball’s gonna be my passion,” you know growing up as a kid. And of course now it is my passion, it is my job, it is my career, yeah I never really had any baseball heroes.
(Ed’s notes: Sorry beeBz, I got rayboyjr‘s question mixed up with yours! *blush*)
[hemajang]: Does Shane have any thoughts about life after baseball.
Life after baseball. Right now, you know what, I’m trying to line myself up with some things. You know things that you brainstorm. Hopefully I’ll have a long enough career, and hopefully I’ll save enough money that I make during my career and hopefully get to retire and sit back on the beach, but no, I definitely want to uh, you know anytime in this business I think you meet so many people you know, you just, you try to keep getting better and you try to keep learning and you always listen to people’s advice and try to get the best advice you can.
[Matt ]: what’s it like when he runs into other Hawaii boys in the league?
What’s it like? I mean it’s just like you know it’s one of those things where it happens everywhere. You know how Hawaii is. We’re very family oriented, we always stick together. Like last night for instance, going over to support BJ (at UFC 101), going around the league and facing guys like Tyler Yates, and Brandon League, and playing against Kurt Suzuki. You feel good because you see a fellow “Hawaiian,” a guy that you know, hey, there’s not many of us out there that get the opportunity to do what we’re doing. You know you feel good for the guys that get the opportunity to go out there and do that.
[kuya.d ]: What do his teammates ask him to bring back for them from Hawaii?
Um, you know what, a lot of them always ask about the pineapples. Hawaii’s got great pineapples. We got a lot of guys on our team that love pineapples. You know I brought President Obama… I gave him macadamia nuts and chocolates during the All Star game, so, you know stuff like that, little things like that that you bring home from Hawaii.
[NeedaHobby ]: did he know Kurt Suzuki growing up and does he keep in contact with him?
Yeah, no yeah. In fact we just spoke last night during the fights. He text messaged me over the phone and we definitely, I did play against him growing up. He was a couple years behind me. I think he was a sophomore when I was a senior. But I definitely played against Kurt. It’s definitely exciting to see another guy, another fellow Maui boy in fact, do well and with guys like Tyler, with Brandon, you know just seeing the state of Hawaii do well in baseball.
[rayboyjr]: Which current Major League player(s) are you a big fan of? Have you asked for autographs or game-used stuff from them after a game?
Yeah, no I get autographs from as many guys as I can. I never know how long I’m going to be playing in this game. I think when you go out there every day, playing with guys like Albert (Pujols), playing with guys like Jimmy (Rollins), Chase (Utley), and being friends with guys like (Ryan) Howard, you know being friends with the guys on my team, especially, you know, we got so many guys that are good on our team. I’m definitely a guy that likes to talk to people, and say hi and get to know people, so…
[zzzzzz]: Has he got any of his teammates hooked on Spam Musubi? Is PETA still giving him grief about Spam Musubi being his favorite food?
No PETA’s not giving me a hard time yet this year, but Scott Eyre, one of our relievers, he’s big into SPAM. He bought me some SPAM last week and we actually fried it up and ate it. Yeah we have some fun around here.
[skycastles]: Boxers or briefs?
Boxers or briefs? No answer on that one (*laughs*). No answer to that one. A little too much for me. (*laughs*)
(Ed’s notes: Never again sky! Nevahhhhhhh agaaaaain! 😛 )
[Dave Oi]: What do you miss most about Maui in particular (not necessarily Hawaii)…besides family & friends.
What do I miss most about Maui in particular? I think uh, the beautiful weather, the beautiful beaches. Just paradise. I definitely miss that. The Jersey shore is about an hour from here, and it’s definitely not walking out to the white sandy beaches of Hawaii and uh, you know, it’s definitely different living on the east coast. But like I always said, if everybody’s healthy and my family’s doing well, home will always be home. But when I retire, that’s where I plan to be, I plan to be back home in Hawaii. I make my house right now what we consider the 9th island, and that’s in Las Vegas in the off season. When all is said and done, I definitely want to move home to Hawaii again.
[snow]: Does he feel that, coming out of a small state like Hawaii, he was at a disadvantage trying to break into the major leagues? Or might that have somehow worked in his favor?
Um, I say yes and no. It might’ve worked in my favor, but yet it might not have. I think once you get to where I’m at, when you get drafted, I think that everybody’s on uh, you know there’s guys that are, you know a different level, 1st rounder 2nd rounder, but you know what, to me, when you get drafted, everybody has a shot. If you work hard, you play the game the right way, you try to go out there with the right approach. You know I’ve seen a lot of guys get drafted after me, a lot of guys get drafted before me that didn’t get to the big leagues, so I think it depends on the individual, the character of the individual. Everybody has a chance. It might’ve helped me in a way being from Hawaii, but I think everybody gets a fair shot.Â
[YN]: what’s the weirdest request he has ever gotten from a female fan?
Weirdest request. Boy, you get some weird ones. Some I can’t talk about on camera, but some of the things you get asked to do, especially by female fans, it’s like, I can’t do it. It’s just not realistic. You know being around and having a passion for the game and fans loving you I think is such a nice thing. The most I do is sign balls you know and do little things like that.
[uncle jimmy]: Shane’s arrival and rise to a starting spot pretty much coincided with the re-emergence of the Philly Phranchise. try ask him if Pilly peopo consider him a good luck charm.
*modest laugh* I guess yes and no. I think this team’s a good team, but I think we all work together, we work hard. You know it might’ve been just a coincidence, but you know what, I appreciate the opportunity that I get to play here in this lovely city. And it’s one of those things where you never take it for granted.
…
If it sounded like I was kinda rushing, I really was. I had taken up a good part of his warmup time with my previous two sections and could tell he was getting a bit antsy. As you can hear towards the ending, some peeps started to trickle into the dugout as well! Apologies if I skipped your question but I think I got most of the non-duplicated ones in dea.
Look for the complete video interview and article at AroundHawaii.com on September 1st!
Hope you enjoyed it yo! Lemme know what you thank!
For those who get one holiday tomorrow (Statehood/Admission Day), enjoy! See y’all on Monday k? Shooots! 🙂
As part of my UFC 101 weekend in Philadelphia this weekend, I’ve been in contact with Shane Victorino’s management company (shout out to Josh Goldberg at Beverly Hills Sports Council) to see if I can’t line up an interview with our proud Phillie All Star that very same weekend. Josh says that we’ll make it happen so I’mma keepin’ my fingers crossed!
In anticipation of this interview, let’s collect your questions, much like how we did with your BJ Penn ones: Post any questions you’d like to ask Shane in the comment area below and I’ll take them up with me to ask Shane himself. Then, we’ll do a post-interview blog with your questions (much like how we did with the BJ ones)! Sound good? Comment away! 🙂
A special thank you to Ted Nakamura who connected me to Leonard Nakahashi who connected me to Shane’s mom, who connected me to Josh at BHSC. Mahalo Ted, Leonard, Shane’s mom, Shane, Josh, and BHSC!
snow broke a new world “Where In Hawaii” record by correctly guessing last week’s photo as the very first commenter! WOAH! Talk about being duck soup! I really gotsta make these harder yeah? I’m hoping this week’s one will keep you guys stumped for at least a day or so. Hurrr we goooo!
Where In Hawaii is Edward Sugimoto? – September 17, 2008
Hint: It’s in Kauai… perhaps somewhere with a lot of trees? *grin*
Local boy Kendall Grove looked impressive in his decision win over former UFC Middleweight champion Evan Tanner in Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighter Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest Finale show. Tanner looked old and defeated while the Maui native was active and aggressive. After the fight, Grove announced that he is opening a gym in Maui with friend (and fighter) Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz. Good to see local boys giving back (following in the footsteps of BJ Penn on the Big Island and Egan Inoue on Oahu).
On the same card, Amir Sadollah did the unthinkable and caught favored CB Dollaway again with an armbar, as Dollaway ridiculously denied tapping. I’m so stoked for Amir! He’s such a humble, grounded (and funny) guy. I hope he does well in his MMA career. Click here for the results of the rest of the card.
Talk to me!
* What’s next for Grove?
* Is Tanner’s career over?
* Think Sadollah has a bright future?
* Post your condolences for Bryan Baptiste and/or George Carlin.
World Wide Ed 