I’m definitely one of those people who has a hard time leaving the island. Whenever I’m on the plane out of here it makes me sad. The entire time I’m away all I do is talk about Hawaii, and most times I can’t wait to get back. Since the most fun things I did last week were more or less illegal (or at least not able to be printed in the paper) I decided to make a list instead. My Top 5 Things Other Cities Do Regularly That I Wish Happened Here. This is more of an exercise for me since I’m about to get on a plane to China in a few hours. I want to be able to enjoy my time away, not sulk and wish I was home.

So here we go, MT5TOCDRTIWHH–beginning with #5: Brunch. BRUNCH people. I just don’t get it. This is something ESKAE and I discuss often, a little more so after his trips to New York City, where you can throw a baseball on the weekends and nine times out of 10 hit a killer brunch spot. Granted, there are a few tasty spots that have chosen to serve pancakes all day which is nice, but how about mimosas and a DJ? A bloody mary buffet and a pool? Big City Diner is getting it, but I’m thinking more places, especially hole-in-the-wall spots and/or places with a nice pool should start offering up this feast for partiers. There are more of us than you think, and there’s nothing better after a crazy night out than the recap over brunch the next day. Make it go all the way until 6pm, please. Number 4 on the list is Live Rock Band Karaoke. When I was back in Seattle for a friend’s wedding this was all the rage. You get to sing on stage with a real band that pretty much knows every song in the universe. You are instantly a star. It makes people cheer. It’s the best thing ever. I realize it’s pretty important to be able to put the right band together, and I won’t say who, but someone has mentioned to me they are thinking about getting this going. All I can say is, if you build it, we will come. So hurry up. Number 3 on this list is pierogies. Those delicious little half-moon boiled or baked dumplings made from unleavened dough. I like to eat mine stuffed with cheese and mashed potatoes, spread heavily with butter and salt. These were first introduced in my life when I lived in England from a boyfriend that was from Indiana. They were all over the place in every city I went to after that day, and I gobbled them up wherever I saw them. If we can’t have pierogies I’ll take more of those super-late-night hot dog stands, but a pierogie stand in a few spots around here would probably make someone a millionaire. Number 2 is actually also number 1, since I only get like 500 words here. Number 1 is a good delivery service. In Los Angeles the service is Pink Dot. With Pink Dot you can make an order for a delivery of pretty much anything you want, all the way until 3am. Need deodorant? Groceries? Cigarettes? Wine? A six-pack? Guess what, you got it right there at your doorstep within about 30-40 minutes. Someone please do that here. I’ll pay you extra, as would most people, which is why this is so successful in other cities. Anyway, it’s time for me to go. I’ll miss you when I’m gone, hopefully some of these things are happening in Hong Kong so I can study their business models and help people recreate them here. Once we have these things we’ll have it all.

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