5 Things We Love

1 and 2. I love shopping in resort areas because you can find styles and brands not offered elsewhere. That was the case during my New Year’s Day walkabout in Waikiki when I stopped by Banana Bay in the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort.

The locally owned boutique is packed with stylish swim and casual wear and accessories, including plus sizes, and has an array of rash guards, leggings and other SPF/UPF clothing for those wishing to reduce their sun exposure — and I’m all about that. I especially love the print on this lined, nylon, long-sleeved swimsuit by Sperry ($118); solid and print styles by Coolibar ($92) have sewn-in padded cups for extra support.Shopkeeper Maureen Kilcoyne offers kamaaina a 15 percent discount too.

Banana Bay is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; call 923-1366.

Continuing the theme, I picked up two Wallaroo hats at the Waikiki Macy’s: the Tahiti raffia fedora ($64) and wider-brimmed Victoria ($44), which is super lightweight, packable and washable.

Wallaroos have internal drawstrings for achieving the perfect fit, and with sale prices and my Macy’s coupons, I got both for about half off. Who wouldn’t love that!

The Waikiki department store is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily; call 926-5217. — Christie Wilson, Star-Advertiser

3. When I married Don, we were given his late grandmother’s engagement ring.

“It shines on your hand just the way it did on Bertha’s,” his grandfather said. Decades later, the sparkle had dulled, the diamond loosened and the band split. One jeweler quoted me $2,500 to repair it, saying the jewel’s edges were chipped and it would crack without laser surgery.

Next I tried Jerry Cheng, owner of Jerry’s Jade & Fine Jewelry in Chinatown for 35 years, who laughed and said the diamond was not at risk of breaking.

“We’ll clean it, cover the chipped parts with the prongs and make a new, 14-karat gold band,” said the Hong Kong native, who repairs, sells, appraises and designs jewelry, specializing in old jade. Now our diamond blazes as bright as new. The cost: $80. (Jerry also repaired my heirloom jade bracelet for $30.)

Find him at 1013 Maunakea St., Room A; call 521-9990. — Mindy Pennybacker

4. From family gatherings to team potlucks, it’s hard to disappoint with freshly made Spam musubi. Take a mound of sticky rice, add a shoyu-marinated slice of Hawaii’s favorite canned meat, then wrap it up with nori and you’ve got a grab-and-go snack loved by generations of isle folks.

Sumo Musubi makes it easier to turn out the classic snack in volume with its lineup of plastic musubi molds that accommodate up to six, nine or 27 musubi at a time. Complete setups include a sheet pan, frame, musubi divider and presser, plus a bowl scraper to assist with cleanup.

Prices range from $20 for a six-musubi set to $65 for the 27-musubi version at sumomusubi.com, where you can buy individual pieces and a Spam-cutting tool and spatula. Sumo Musubi products at are also available Tanioka’s Seafood & Catering in Waipahu, Don Quijote and Marukai.

— Jason Genegabus, Star-Advertiser

5. Vinyl records are back as the platform of choice for audiophile reissues of historic recordings. “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (Stax; $22.99), the soundtrack album of Melvin Van Peebles’ breakout film, is one of a series of vinyl reissues released on 180-gram vinyl to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Stax Records.

Stax was one of the major soul music labels of the late 1960s and early ’70s. The movie — which Van Peebles wrote, produced, scored, edited, directed and starred in — was the most militant, controversial and experimental predecessor to the “blaxploitation” films of the 1970s. Van Peebles’ score was played by Earth Wind & Fire several years before the group had its first Top 40 hit.

The reissue is a classic for both reasons. Newly written liner notes by Van Peebles’ son, actor/director Mario Van Peebles, complete this musical time capsule.

— John Berger, Star-Advertiser