Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sunset On The Beach - Hawaii Five-0 Season 2 Premiere 9-10-11

 
The sun begins to set on Waikiki and the red carpet has been rolled out. Lights, camera, action! The festivities began with some live music from Hapa. Then we were treated to some awesome fire dancers. Along for the ride was a local DJ tossing some Hawaii Five-0 visors to the crowd. The media lined up along the red carpet setting up their areas for their interviews with the stars. One by one, the crew members arrived and made their way to their seats as we awaited the arrival of the cast. Amongst the media, some of our own Five-0 twitter pals, Wendie Staszkow Burbridge (@WendieJoy), Mike Gordon (@CrankyDad), and Mel (@Melapaloosa).



In the distance, we could hear the fans screaming behind the massive viewing screen. Making their way through the media blitz, the Hawaii Five-0 cast. First cast member down the carpet, Masi Oka (Dr. Max Bergman)  He was so nice to everybody. Signed many autographs and greeted all of the five-0 fans graciously.

Second in line, the five-0 Executive Producers, Peter Lenkov and Roberto Orci. They were both so overwhelmed to see the massive turn out for the show. People as far away as Germany, Hungary and Alex's native Australia were among the crowd. Many of us were locals or from the mainland. We were all there to cheer on our favorite cast and crew and to celebrate season 2.

Little by little the screaming would crescendo. We knew the Five-0 team was here.  Daniel Dae Kim arrived looking handsome as ever. He was also very gracious, stopping for pictures and signing
 autographs for the fans that waited all day in the hot sun for him to arrive.

Following Daniel were the beautiful ladies of Five-0 this season, Grace Park, Lauren German and Daniela Ruah. Daniela was in town to film her cross-over episode from her series NCIS:LA. Grace walked down the carpet so fast, I didn't get one shot of her. Thank goodness one of us did. We hear she looked stunning all dolled up for this exciting occassion.  Daniela and Lauren looked beautiful too. Both wearing white and cream colored dresses and very high heels.  Wearing them proved to be a risky venture when they stepped off the red carpet and onto the beach to greet the fans. Sinking fast into the sand and making their way to the fans behind the barricades calling to them for a picture or an autograph.



The crowds screams were hitting a higher decibel level now. Scott Caan, Terry O'Quinn, Marc Dacascos and the Big Kahuna himself, Alex O'Loughlin finally arrived. As they made their way down the red carpet, screams of Scott, Terry, Mark and ALEX danced upon the night air. Flashes were going off like fireflies dancing in the night. You just didn't know where to turn next.  Each of them came off the red carpet, greeted their adoring fans, stopped to take pictures and signed a lot of autographs. All we could do was watch and take pictures as each handsome man went by us. Scott was kind enough to stop and strike a pose with another one of our twitter peeps, Andy. (@Andyisjiajia) We think Andy had an outer body experience when Scott came up to him, signed his photography book and took this  picture. 

       
 Marc (WoFat) Dacascos was kind enough to stop and take a beautiful picture with me. Thanks to my twitter pal @ltaelor (Letty) for getting such this great shot!


Sneaking his way quietly down to the end of the red carpet with his kids in tow, Taylor Wily (Kamekona) stopped to say hello too.



Then it was finally time to see Alex. As he came off the carpet and greeted his screaming fans, we just stood by and watched his every move amongst the crowd.  Each of us took as many pictures of him as we could. We had to remind ourselves to just breathe. He was so much more handsome in person than we could have ever imagined. His rugged good looks and stunning greenish-blue eyes with those long eyelashes just left us speechless.  He passed me by and walked over to the other barricade area to my right. He continued to sign many autographs, pose for pictures and give hugs when he could. As he tuned back around, he was greeted by my buddies, Ellen, Stacey and Deb. Each of them said hello, gave him a lei or just got an autograph. As many of you know from our initial story, the four of us made a special quilt for Alex. At this point in he night, he finally got to see it hanging on the barricade in front of us. Ellen explained that one side of the quilt was traditional Hawaiian fabric. The other side was a dedication to him from us and a few other fans. Each square represented some movie, tv show or part of his life. He was thrilled and amazed by it. He thanked us and told us to please drop it off to the H50 production offices making sure he'd get it. So on Wednesday afternoon, we did just that. Thanks to our twitter pal @LisaLisa98 for getting it all on video.






As Alex made his was back down towards the red carpet. Madaline could barely get up the nerve to say his name loud enough for him to turn towards her. As he did, all she could do was present him with an orchid lei. He lowered his head, she placed the lei around his neck, and he graciously bowed and acknowledge her with a kind thank you. She definetly died and went to heaven. Thank goodness
 our twitter friends Letty and Lisa had her back. Pictures and video were taken of that very moment. 


                                           

After the cast made their way back up the red carpet they found their seats among the crew, family members and friends seated in front of the viewing screen and stage. The mayor of Hawaii got up on stage to declare Sept. 10th Hawaii Five-0 day. The crowd went nuts!  After the President of CBS, Peter Lenkov and Bob Orci said their peace, they began to call up the Five-0 cast members on stage.
Each was presented a beautiful lei and lined up on stage for all of us to cheer. Alex said a few words of thanks to the fans and his fellow cast members. When they were all done they departed he stage. It was finally time for the big premiere. The lights were dimmed and the crowd grew quiet. Opening scene played and season 2 had begun. Then a familiar sound came through the speakers...the Hawaii Five-0 theme song. Everybody cheered with excitement. During the premiere the were many ooo's and aah's going on. Pleasant sighs every time Alex was on screen. Gasps and screams were heard during some scenes too. We won't give anything away as so many of you have not seen this episode yet. Just know this...you're going to love it!


A fun time was had by all on this very long day. Getting up and onto the beach at 3:00 a.m. was worth the lack of sleep. Mahalo to Peter Lenkov, cast and crew on a job well done. Season 2 is going to be a
very exciting time. Many new twists and turns are in store for all of us...and that's just the way we like it.


Sunday, September 18, 2011

SOTB Brunch and a surprise! 9-10-11

We watched from our prime seats as the big screen went up along with the concession stands of food and shave ice. The time had come for our lunch down at the other end of the beach. We ventured back again to the Queens Surf Cafe for a delicious brunch spread. We went in groups so we didn't loose our prime seating on the beach.

As we entered the cafe, the smells of eggs benedict, bacon, french toast, chirizo, spam fried rice and fresh fruit filled the air. It was quite a spread laid out for us to enjoy.





To our surprise, we found out that a cast member of Hawaii Five-0 was going to join us for brunch. No, not Alex as we all hoped. We were fortunate to have Brian Yang grace us with his presence. Brian plays Charlie Fong. He's works in the lab at 5-0.  He was most gracious to all of us. He posed for pictures and signed many autographs. We thank him for being such a great sport sharing such a busy day with us.  Mahalo Brian.

In addition to Brian visiting our brunch, we received yet another surprise from 2 other special guests. Twitter friends @LisaLisa98 and @KeithSato joined us. They surprised us by bringing in a very yummy and special dessert. Our very own Sunset On The Beach cake they made especially for us. How cool is that! The adorable cast figures, complete with a fallen shave ice muppet and the Camaro with it's flashing lights and siren were delicious! We hated to cut into it and eat it. Yumminess for all!








We continued to go back and forth to our group on the beach until we were all fed at the brunch. With full bellies, we sat in the hot afternoon sun. Anxiously, we awaited the arrival of the H50 cast on the red carpet. Before we knew it, the time was upon us!






The Stakeout on the beach...3:00am 9-10-11

After a night of partying at our luau, we settled in for a quick nightime nap. 2 hours to be exact. Stacey and I set our alarm for 2:30am to get up and settle in on the beach for our prime red carpet spots. We get down to the beach wondering if we'll be the only ones there. Low and behold, we run into fellow 5-0 fans Monica (@monimoob) and Andy (Andyisjiajia) who've been there since 2:00am. We settle down right at the end of the red carpet behind the barricades. Prime location for all.

As the morning progressed and the sun began to rise, our fellow H50 groupies showed up to relieve us of our posts. We had several groups set up to do so throughout the day. Long about 5:00am, we decided to begin our tweeting process. First up, a note to the executive producer of Hawaii Five-0, Peter Lenkov from Candy (@Promogirl2) and myself.

We wish you were here at the SOTB site. Got here at 3am and we're waiting for you. Send coco puffs for Leiliha Bakery.

 Candy Abrams

Waiting on the beach! Been here steak-ing out our red carpet spot since 3am sir! Bring food please! Malasadas will do!


Peter Lenkov

After those tweets were sent, Peter did see us in a round about way...He sent @HarryCovair to us with some CoCo Puffs from Leliha's Bakery.  This was my reply to Peter.
Madaline Rico

Mahalo for the breakfast yumminess. We love you Peter! See you later.
After sharing breakfast with our H50 groupies, we settled in for a very long day in the hot, Hawaiian sun. Umbrellas were in order along with a sunblock bath. The hours drew closer and closer for the premiere to begin. Red carpets were being laid and palm trees from hell were going up blocking our spectacular view of the red carpet. A phone call to some H50 insiders got at least one of the palms removed so we could get part of our view back. This is our view from the prime seats up front.
All in all, our steakout was a huge success. Now onto the big night's premiere of season 2 for Hawaii
Five-0.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

SOTB H50 Luau 9-9-2011

It's Friday night and you know what that means....LUAU!  We were greeted with shell leis to start off the festivities at Queens Surf Cafe & Lanai. It overlooked Queens beach and gave us the best views for the impending sunset that evening. Many pictures were taken and warm hugs were exchanged by all.

We received a blessing for the evening festivities. Several blasts from a conch shell sounded the arrival of dinner. Then, there is was. A full pig, butterflied open lying on an extremely large platter passing us by. The presentation was amazing and made us all drool. The menu consisted of Kalua Pig, lau lau, chicken teriyaki, white rice and of course, poi. Every bite was an explosion of flavor in your mouth. The food served at Queens Surf was just delicious. We loved it so much we went back for lunch several times. We highly recommend going there for any meal. The food presentation alone should merit an award.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Queens-Surf-Cafe-Lanai/256148937746091

Bruce put together a wonderful show for us too. We had traditional Tahitian, Maui, New Zealand and Polynesian dancers. Live music mixed with some on CD put us in the luau mood. Some of us were invited up to learn the Hoki Lau dance and show our stuff as dancers.
The night would not have been complete without the fire dancers as seen in this link by Ernest Sanada. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3yqoqZOvU6g&h=hAQBvPEE9AQD-XGyKB4xRiYjRFsj5WNVt6Fh-wtZmkzqH6g

To cap it all off, we were treated to fireworks from the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the distance. A spectaular show the whole night. Mahalo to Bruce & Yaling Fisher for giving us a night to remember.
Luau pictures     Hawaii-Aloha Travel

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Tiki's SOTB Tweet Up

Hello followers,

Tonight we got to meet our fellow Twitter Ohana at Tiki's Grill & Bar in O'ahu.  Had a great time meeting everyone. So nice to put the faces with the names. Here are some pictures with some familiar Twitter Ohana faces! How many do you know?  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2362868512136.294828.1263050188&l=290ddad29b&type=1

Friday, September 9, 2011

So it begins.... 9-9-2011

4 Women, Twitter and Hawaii Five-0.  How does this all fit together?

It all began back on September 20, 2010 with a remake of Hawaii Five-0 and it's premiere. The Pilot episode exploded onto my t.v. set with such a force, I was blown away and I wanted more, much more.  The cast: Alex O'Loughlin as Steve McGarrett, Scott Caan as Det. Danny Williams, Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua played off each other so well, I was hooked.

I had to learn more about this cast and the show.  I decided to join the 21st century and set up a Twitter account around March 2011. I began to follow some H50 fans little by little each week. We'd talk about that week's episode, the cast, and what we'd like to see happen with the storyline. We'd watch faithfully each week. Passing around behind the scenes pictures from our insiders on the island of O'ahu (@LisaLisa98) where this was filmed.  As my followers grew, I found that many of us had a growing love for the main character Steve. Actually, more realistically, the actor who portrays him, Alex O'Loughlin. I'd get a daily picture from my friend @Terrysagirl and began to save them. Now my computer has more than 1000 pictures of the actor archived on it.   

As the months progressed, I found myself conversing only with specific individuals. New friendships grew from these conversations. This is how I met Stacey, Ellen and Deb. Ellen is from California, Stacey is from Washington state and Deb is from Illinois. I am from New Jersey. We'd talk and exchange pictures daily of our favorite 5-0 Alex,  and from that our friendship grew. You'd never know that we never met each other in person or have not known each other prior to meeting on Twitter. Today, we're thick as thieves and best buds. A day doesn't go by that we don't tweet or Facebook each other. Occasionally, we'd even video chat.

With the season of Hawaii Five-0 coming to a close, we were wondering how we'd make it through the summer not seeing our man Alex. Yes, there would be repeats but no new pictures or stories to tell. This is when we found Executive Producer, Peter Lenkov on Twitter. He began to tweet us updates from the H50 set and tease us with behind the scenes pictures. With each tweet, he intrigued us and made us really wanted to be there with him.  He had built up the finale so much, we didn't know how much more we could take. We began to hear a lot more about SOTB or Sunset on the Beach. This was how they premiered the pilot episode last year to the people of Hawaii.  We knew we just had to be there for the premiere this year after watching the season finale. This is when the trip to meet came about.

The cast and crew left the island for hiatus until filming would begin for season 2 in August 2011. During the early months of the summer, we found out where our favorite actor(s) would be. Scott Caan was heading back to L.A. to do some acting on Entourage and other projects. Alex O'Loughlin was also heading to L.A. for a friends gallery opening party he was hosting called "Convergence". When we all found out, we wanted to go. It was too far for some of us, but right in Ellen's backyard. She decided she was going to go.

Ellen was the first of us to have her "Alex experience" in L.A.  Alex was hosting the party for his artist friend, Kent Williams. She got her name added to the "private party" list and off she went. We cheered her on and lived vicariously through her the whole trip. When she began to tweet pictures of her with Alex, we just about died and went to heaven. She said he was the nicest person and felt so at ease when she was next to him. We think we would have passed out right then and there.  That Aussie accent alone would have put us over the edge!
Her pictures were a welcoming breath of fresh air. We craved anything new that would let us see our H50 or its actors.

I began to ask the other ladies if they could get the time off to go since they all worked. Little by little we discussed the idea of meeting up in Hawaii in September for SOTB2. At the time we found out about it, I was unemployed and didn't care that I had no money,  I really had a good feeling about wanting to be there for season 2. The dream somehow became a reality for all of us. We worked ourselves up into a frenzy about how to get the trip planned and how to save for it. With that, amongst our twitter Ohana, we found @AlohaBruce,  a travel agent for 30 years in Hawaii. He saw us speaking to each other about the trip and said he'd put something together for us. That whole trip idea was blown up times 1000 and SOTB2 became the place to be. Bruce got so many of us excited for this trip. He began by finding us a host hotel for us to stay in. In addition, he planned many fun events around the H50 premiere happening on September 10th.

Somehow, scrimping and saving and selling items on eBay and Amazon, we all had our dream come true. Trips are paid for, bags are packed and the screaming has begun. We will finally met each other for the first time at the Park Shore Hotel in Waikiki, Thursday afternoon (9-8-11)  Screaming and hugging abounded. We we all pinching ourselves wondering if this trip had finally come to fruition.

Mahalo to everybody who helped us get here.  Aloha for now.

P.S.  We were interviewed by Mike Gordon of  The Star Advetiser. Our story was in today's paper on the front page of the Today section. Mahalo to Mike for sharing our story with Hawaii. Thanks to Jools of The Five O's for posting it on her blog page.  Star Advetiser post

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Beginning

Look for our posts to begin on Sept 10th as we celebrate season 2 with the cast and crew of Hawaii Five-0.