I am Hawaii's only full-time game show host. Ask me anything!

[deleted]

Aside from posing as a Nigerian prince, I tend to enjoy spam with eggs and rice. It's sometimes considered a generic Hawaiian breakfast, but simple is occasionally best.

The parents of my childhood friend came to the US from China, and his mom always made fried rice with Spam.

I am forever a convert, it's the only way I make fried rice at home. I cut up the spam into little pieces, fry it up in butter until it browns a bit, then toss it in with everything else. Soooooooo good!

Can't argue that. I practically avoid fried rice here UNLESS there's spam involved.

[deleted]

I have no sense of smell, so I'll take your word for it.

You as well!

Hi, Hawaii you ?

I live in Hawaii, yes!

Oh, I was trying to make a pun. (How are you)

nevermind lol

Eek. I was wondering why that comment was so grammatically different from your regular ones.

Haw! Ai is good. :)

What's your favorite random fact about Hawaii?

Also, what's your most INTERESTING fact about Hawaii?

I haven't read the actual law for it, myself, but supposedly it's illegal in Hawaii to put a coin in your ear. According to the Internet, doing so suggested that you're a drug dealer.

As for my most interesting fact? Well, we get false ballistic missile alerts on occasion. That's something.

That's hilarious, l know what I'm going to do in a police station if I ever visit. So were you there when that happened?? What were you thinking, and what did you do before everyone found out it was a false alarm?

I was idly Internet-ing at home when it happened. In chronological order: I accepted death, I texted my girlfriend, answered a call from my mother, put on clothes (nudists aside, who wants to be naked when the bomb hits?), then refreshed our local news sites until Twitter (of all things) gave the false alarm announcements.

Did you contribute to pornhubs massive usage drop when the ballistic alert was sent out, or were you one of the savages who decided to go out on your own terms...

Amazingly, PornHub isn't my favorite source, so…

What’s your favorite random fun fact about Hawai’i? Favorite and least favorite thing about living there?

We have the highest life expectancy in the U.S., though given my eating habits that may change.

Oahu (the "main" island, where I live) has an amazing public transportation system. Coupled with a recent bikeshare installation in Honolulu, getting to/from work is stress-free. For me, at least.

The least favorite thing? Everything is expensive, often times prohibitively so.

When I moved the rail system was juuussssttt crossing over my exit fort weaver.... how far has it gone..?

You know, I'm not even sure. All I've heard about the rail in the past, well, always is that it's not done yet and it'll cost more money than expected.

Good to know! I went there about 2 years ago and used the bus to get everywhere; it was super convenient! That’s awesome that they have a bikeshare too! I’d love to live in a place someday where I don’t have to drive [as much].

To be fair, the farther away from Honolulu you go, the less convenient the bus system winds up being, but luckily for me most of my work is within an hour's bus ride of where I live.

Thanks! That’s definitely good to know! I’m eventually planning on moving back to the SF Bay Area but part of me would love to move out to Hawai’i, hence the questions. 😅 General consensus for everyone I’ve asked definitely seems to be that they love it there but that everything’s super expensive.

In a couple of years, that'll probably become our state motto.

Noooo, I’m holding onto a glimmer of hope that I could survive because I’m super frugal and have been hearing that there’s a shortage of primary care doctors out there! 😭

I'm pretty sure we still need doctors. Also, if you're a doctor you could definitely afford living here. … right?

That’d be the hope! I’m in residency right now and my student loans are just a tad depressing to look at.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

What are some examples of things that are overly expensive? I am planning my first Hawaii trip later this year. Any tips on things to do?

When I lived there I only bought what I called “large fluffy items” on sale. Bread, chips, and cereals were notorious offenders since they require a certain amount of space while shipping on containers to the islands, or else they would be crushed or ruined. For example, most of the time I’d wait for a box of cereal to go on sale from $8 to $4.

This is my life. I refuse to buy any cereal over 30¢/ounce.

Food, drink, rent - you name it. There probably isn't anything cheaper here than on the contiguous U.S.

If you're looking to shop, definitely visit Oahu (where Honolulu and, more specifically, Waikiki is) and fall in love with Ala Moana, the International Marketplace, and so on. Oahu has its share of scenic places, but the neighbor islands are much better suited for photography.

Are pineapples cheaper? What about fish?

I had a friend go on TDY to Hawaii for a year, he and his wife and his dog moved from the East Coast to work with PACOM. He is very disappointed in the quality of pineapple back on the mainland now that he's living here again.

Honestly, I’m not too sure. I haven’t been on the mainland long-term in some time. I’m inclined to say yes on both, though.

Pineapples aren't cheaper. I don't know the "going" rate in the states anymore (moved to Japan almodt 5 years ago) but when I went to Hawaii this past summer the pineapples we're $5-7 each. I used to buy them in the SF Bay area for 2-4 bucks each. I went as a tourist though so maybe I didn't know the places to shop.

Thanks for the info! :D

Just moved from Hawaii after being there for a couple years. Super expensive. Now im in Oregon where I could rent a 2 bedroom house for as much I was paying for a studio. And now I dont have sales tax except for my pot.

That's insane. Same line of work as when you were here?

What percentage of teams do you think cheat with their phones?

Favorite team name of all time?

In my 5+ years of hosting, I've only seen or suspected maybe three or four instances of cheating. We're lucky to have a community of genuinely talented teams. That, or I'm far too trusting. :)

"Balsamic Missile Warning" is a recent favorite.

Since my comment was removed I'll try again, have you ever thought about expanding to the big island? Because if you do I'd make a damn good host. I have no game show experience but give me an interview and I'll show you. I need meaning in my boring life

We'd definitely like to expand to the neighbor islands! If you can recruit a new venue for a weekly trivia night, I'd love to have you on board! Message us on our Facebook!

I don't have a Facebook but I'll DM you my email.

Works for me!

What's a typical day look like for you? Where do you get information to make questions?

I asked the second question because I'm the president of my school's Quiz Bowl team, and we're forced to reuse questions from previous years to practice (which sucks because people remember answers). I've been planning on making my own questions instead.

I wake up, run logistics for our league, eat lunch, go online, spend 2-3 hours writing questions and making the visual elements for the day’s shows, go to host trivia, then come home and sleep.

I usually use Google and Wikipedia, but I’ll try to double-check with other sources (official web sites, iMDb, etc.) when possible. If you want more detail about the question-writing process, let me know!

reddit never sent me a message saying you responded, so I didn't see this until now. Thanks for the answer!

My pleasure!

Fellow Redditor from Hawaii here! Any new themed trivia nights that you have planned for the future?

Btw, when is anime trivia coming back? I wanted to go to that one, but life happened :(

Our upcoming theme nights this month include Mardi Gras, U.S. Presidents, and The Hunger Games!

We'll hopefully have another anime trivia night coming up this season! If you can't wait that long, I'll be running a small trivia game at tomorrow's Taku Taku Matsuri event at Aiea Public Library, and a certain "Feud" panel may be making its reappearance next month at Kawaii Kon! :)

Do you like pineapple on pizza?.

I don’t like pineapples in general.

I didn't either growing up, but try it with lihing mui. That's my preferred way of eating pineapple.

Challenge accepted.

What is it like living in Hawaii, with all the scenery and stuff?

It's pretty fantastic, though Honolulu is almost too urban these days. It's easy to fall in love with the beaches, mountains, and everything else here, though even Hawaii falls victim to "grass is greener" thoughts on occasion. I still wonder why I didn't visit the Grand Canyon when I went to Vegas last year.

I've actually met you before as I too live in Hawaii.

Can you tell about your favorite memory when hosting a game?

Ooh! Nice to re-meet you!

This is incredibly self-serving, but on one Halloween, one of our regular teams all dressed up as me, complete with matching blazers and printed-out face masks. It was simultaneously the most beautiful and most disturbing thing I had seen in some time.

What did you do during the missile crisis?

In chronological order: I accepted death, I texted my girlfriend, answered a call from my mother, put on clothes (nudists aside, who wants to be naked when the bomb hits?), then refreshed our local news sites until Twitter (of all things) gave the all-clear. Once the all-clear was given, I texted my girlfriend and mother, then went about my day as if nothing had happened.

To be fair, I did spend a minute or two somewhere in there just shaking, softly.

What’s the reason you decided to become a game show host? It seems like such a cool job!

I was an English major, and was basically out of options.

Just kidding. About that last part.

I was living in Tokyo for a few years, and when I came back a friend introduced me to, at the time, Honolulu's only regular trivia night. We placed third that week, won the next, and simply kept playing after that. The more we played, the more I realized how god-awful I am at trivia, so I asked the bar manager at the time if I could host once a month. Once a month became twice a month, and after a year and a half I decided to try to make this my life.

It's pretty fun. I get to meet hundreds of ridiculously smart people. I avoid burnout by systematically forgetting all of the questions and answers after each night. That way, every night feels fresh.

What's the correct amount of furikake to put on poke?

Don't you mean "what's the correct amount of poke to put under furikake"?

Do you have a catchphrase?

Our company used to brand our trivia nights as “Eat, Drink, Think,” and occasionally we use “Get your think on” as a slogan of sorts, but nothing official.

As for a personal catchphrase? I tend to say “fair enough” often, but nothing too exciting just yet.

As long as people remember it everything is good.

Fair enough.

Which Mafia game you liked most ? 1 2 or 3 ?

I'm incredibly backlogged when it comes to video games (and everything). I haven't played any of the Mafia games outside of, well, Mafia (as in Werewolf, etc). I've played several Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) games, though, if that helps any.

Are there any famous/good boxers from Hawaii ?

Jesus Salud, Brian Viloria, Bobo Olson, and Breeanna Locquiao, to name a few.

In more recent years, we've become known for our MMA talent, in particular the recently injured Max Holloway.

How did you end up in your job?

I was an English major, and was basically out of options.

Just kidding. About that last part.

I was living in Tokyo for a few years, and when I came back a friend introduced me to, at the time, Honolulu's only regular trivia night. We placed third that week, won the next, and simply kept playing after that. The more we played, the more I realized how god-awful I am at trivia, so I asked the bar manager at the time if I could host once a month. Once a month became twice a month, and after a year and a half I decided to try to make this my life.

It's pretty fun. I get to meet hundreds of ridiculously smart people. I avoid burnout by systematically forgetting all of the questions and answers after each night. That way, every night feels fresh.

What’s your business model? Cover charge for contestants or do the pubs pay you directly?

The pubs pay us directly! We tried a cover charge model years ago, but that didn't quite work.

[removed]

I sent you a direct message! If I should provide even more proof, please let me know! Thanks for your patience!

How long have you been Dog the Bounty Hunter?

About as long as I’ve been Tila Tequila, which thankfully is never.

(Dickish comment removed)

You know, for a second there… yeah. I kinda did.

My comment was very dickish. I apologize.

No worry, beef curry!

Great, now I'm hungry. Apologize for that, if anything. ;_;

I won’t apologize for anything naan-offensive.

You'll roux the day you punned with me. :p

Users, please be wary of proof. You are welcome to ask for more proof if you find it insufficient.

OP, if you need any help, please message the mods here.

Thank you!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Duly noted. Thank you, automated post!

I mean, are you just here for free advertising?

Not really, though I definitely understand why someone would feel that way! I'm very new to Reddit, so if there's any way I can modify this post to make it not seem like I'm just here to market our brand, I'd be happy to do so.