Clark Little strolled in to LAX from Haleiwa Town this morning.  Clark gave me the honor of picking him up from LAX at 5:03am, me coming from San Diego.  Fun.  Of course fresh off the boat..I mean plane, Clark had to have his donuts.  Donuts in Hawaii aren’t as good as donuts in Cali, so says Clark.  (At least something in Cali is better…and warmer)  It’s been three months since he’s had a donut.  Clark is here to find a nice space to place a Clark Little Photography gallery.  Maybe in Laguna, possibly in Encinitas, Cardiff….we’ll see.  If you didn’t know, Clark shot the image of the “Flying Honu” that is now on the cover of the new Musubi Map, hot off the press and in circulation now.  I’m gonna try to document Clark’s two day stay…..but for now I’m going to sleep.  6:09am.

Mehe’ula Music Productions put on a very nice and intimate show last night.  With about 100 people attending, it was such a nice time with no bad seat in the house.  Uncle Willie shared about how he grew up with his dad playing music on the front porch of their home in Hawaii, and that’s exactly what the show felt like.  I felt like I was in my living room and Uncle Willie was visiting and just jammed all night talking story, cracking jokes and playing whatever he felt like playing with no pre-made set list or anything.  He literally played everything from Hawaiian, Jawaiian, Country, Pop, Rock, Opera, Reggae, Spanish kine…..ANY KINE!

The venue was also super cool.  It was my first time at Hukilau.  It’s such a cool knook in Fallbrook.  We all really need not be afraid from places that are off the beaten path.  They’re actually so much more fun!  Here are some photos and links…THANKS TO JIM AND REBA FOR WORKING HARD SO THAT WE CAN ALL HAVE A FUN AND MEMORABLE TIME!

MORE ON MEHE’ULA MUSIC CLICK ON THIS LINK

Jim, Willie K, and Reba

Kelly, Clark and Jack (with hair)

If you haven’t seen Clark Little’s photography, you should check it out immediately after you read this.  Surf photography is nothing new to us folks that live in Cali or HI, but Clark has opened our eyes to see salty water from a different vantage point.  Clark grew up in the shore break.  Not just any shorebreak, but big Hawaiian shore break.  He uses his 30 years of shore break knowledge to stand in the sand and wait for that big liquid cave to just suck up around him.  Sometimes he’ll get the shot and escape without blemish, and other times he’ll end up with the best full body sand exfoliating experience that no spa can offer.  I’m not saying that’s a good thing ; 0

If it’s not enough that we back Clark’s work, would you take the word of Jack Johnson and Kelly Slater?  Well their so stoked on Clark that they wrote the forwards in his book and signed 300 limited edition books.  If you want to purchase one, click here.

Photos by Brooklyn.  Thanks Brooke!

We spent some time with Josh Elsas, owner of Island Tat.  Josh is unique in that he designs and owns a tee shirt line inspired by island style tattoo art, but he is also a licensed tattoo artist.  So go visit Josh in Lemon Grove at his tattoo shop.  If you’re too scared or too broke to get a tattoo, buy a tee shirt!  Either way you can represent your love for island traditions.

Island TAT  7936 Lester Ave. #A   Lemon Grove, CA 91945   (619) 469- 1583  www.islandtat.com

We caught up with Jake, Clark and Pat in Oceanside during the CA Surf Festival.

There’s a new coffee shop off the 56 and Penasquitos Drive called Bad Ass Coffee.  They serve up Kona to the fullest and owners Andre and Ines welcome you to stop by and grab a cup of Kimo….uh I mean “Joe”.  (If you need “Joe on the go”, they have a drive thru!)  They only opened their doors a few days ago but I easily foresee this being the neighborhood hangout for Kona coffee nerds and wifi junkies like me.  I sampled their ice blended and I love it.  Not to sweet, and not to rancid…..  it’s jusssssssss right!  Drop by and let them know the Musubi crew sent you!  (THEY ARE PLANNING A GRAND OPENING FOR MARCH SO BE ON THE LOOK OUT!)

Bad Ass Coffee 9878 Carmel Mountain Road San Diego, CA 92129 (858) 240-7077  or badasscoffee.com

The crew in training, getting to know their new business.

Bad Ass uses "coffee ice cubes" in their ice coffee so that you don't get a watered down drink. Smart yeah?

Mochas, lattes, ice blended.....what you like?

They get merch.....

plenty merch.

Donkeys!

Happy owners Ines and Andre.

Two guys stoked to have a job!

Location; Penasquitos Dr. and Carmel Mtn Rd. Thanks Donkey! Next to Carls' Jr. and across the street from Stater Bros.

Clark Little has been getting mad exposure.  His photos are amazing and watching him get the shot is almost more amazing.  Check out the videos below of Clark in action and be sure to sign up for the ilovemusubi.com newletter so you can be posted on the tour we’re doing with Clark in April.

Hapa J's Chef Aaron at work in the back.

We are frequenters of Hapa J’s.  Right now they are THE Hawaiian Restaurant in all of San Clemente.  (Hapa J’s is off of one of the first exits heading north in San Clemente.  If you live in North County SD, driving to Hapa J’s can be closer than heading to Downtown SD for fine dining.  Think about that next time you want to go out to eat.  This is no joke, we timed it!)  Anyways, here are photos of some of the offerings Chef Aaron is cookin up at Hapa Jeezees.

CLICK HERE TO CONNECT TO HAPA J’S WEBSITE

Portuguese Sausage sliders. What? Stoked. They also offer Organic Spam and Kalua Pig Sliders. (Okay, the Spam is not organic, but that's what Hapa J's wrote on the menu for fun!)

Kalua Pig Quesadillas. So stinkin "broke da mout" kine good! Order it!

I don't know what the name of this burger is, but it's looks mad delicious.

End it with some sweetness found in Pumpkin Crunch. Presentation is outstanding!

My Lil Bro caught word of a shave ice place in the OC called Guppy House.  Any time we get word of something like this it’s hard to sleep until we go check it out and see what’s going down.  On my last trip up there, I didn’t have time to actually eat at Guppy House, but I did take a quick minute to stop by, meet some of the staff, snap a few shots and see what the fuss was all about.

The Irvine Guppy House is located off of Jamboree and the 405 in a fun little Asian shopping center.  (I got super excited and must come back to check out the other spots).  When I walked in to Guppy House the first thing I noticed was a vacant table with this empty “punch size” bowl and the remnants of what looked like some kind of tasty dessert.  I couldn’t make out what it was because I can’t imagine why they would use such a big bowl,  and all that was left in the bowl were a few strawberries and some milk.

The first thing I asked was what kind of shave ice they had.  You know us, the Musubi Map crew, we’re super snobbish about what kine shave ice we eat.  So they showed me this bowl and explained that they fill the punch size bowl up with shaved ice, saturate it in condensed milk and then top it off with fruit.  Man, I was semi disappointed because I wanted Hawaiian Shave Ice…….but hey it still sounds super YUMMY!  So I’m gonna round up 10 peeps (or call one Shaquille O’neal, that should be equivalent) and come back to try it out, cuz there’s no way I’m gonna be able to finish the “small” size alone.

WWW.MYGUPPYTEAHOUSE.COM

The super friendly and fun staff of Guppy House.

I interrupted a couples quality time together to get this shot. Thank you to the nice couple ; )

Just to put it in perspective, I asked this nice guy to hold the bowl up. Now you know how freakin big the "small" serving is!

This shy staff member wanted to show me the other size option. I hope she's not mad at me for running the photo. Check out that stinkin bowl! If one person eats that, they're gonna go from that bowl to the toilet bowl for sure!

Poke from Kealani's Encinitas

GENERAL INFORMATION:

1st Annual Musubi Map Poke Festival & Competition

Bali Hai Restaurant April 20th, 2010 at 6pm

2230 Shelter Island Drive  San Diego, CA 92106

Food, Music, Art and 30 Restaurants Competing for “Best Poke”

TICKET INFO: General Admission $35/presale, $40/door  VIP Admission $85/presale, $100/door

BUY TICKETS AT: Motu Hawaii (858) 272-6688  Surf Diva (858) 454-8273

Ohana Creations (760) 434-1611  UNIV (760) 942-8648

OFFICIAL JUDGES: Brian Malarkey (Top Chef), Nelson Ishii (Da Kine’s Catering), Aaron Lee (Hapa J’s), Josh Kopelman (Dining Out), Clark Little (photographer), Kealani Keliinoi (Kealani’s)

COMPETITORS: