CHEF ALFRED VOLLENWEIDER is back home on Maui after a trip to Nepal where he climbed several mountains in two weeks, including a 17,594-foot trek to his goal, the Mount Everest Base Camp. Trying to reach the 29,029-foot Everest summit was not in his plan, or shall we say, dreams. However, getting to the Everest Base Camp was no walk in the park. To arrive there, Alfred’s party had to travel through the Ngozuma and Cho-la glacier passes en route to Dzongla and Lobuche, 16,207 feet; and then to Gorak Shep at 16,961 feet. Alfred’s party recorded its highest climb, 18,192 feet, on Kala Patthar. Alfred said the views of the Himalayan panorama from Kala Patthar were the most magnificent … Alfred stopped in Manila en route to Nepal and visited with a former employee of his, chef-restaurateur Markus Gfeller and his wife, artist Sandra Fabie-Gfeller. Markus opened CAV, a wine shop and fine-dining restaurant, with two partners in Manila …

CARTOONS by two of the rotating Star-Advertiser Sunday cartoonists — David Thorne and Jon J. Murakami — have made it big, really big. Their cartoons appear in a large mural, “The Sky’s the Limit,” at San Diego Airport. It’s on the Sky Bridge at Terminal 1. Cartoonists from San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Colorado also worked on the mural … Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins dined at Sabrina’s Restaurant with five guests June 10 …

WOLFGANG’S Steakhouse at Royal Hawaiian Center is kicking off last-Saturday-of-the-month fashion shows on Saturday. They say Cindy King will unveil her “edgy summer fashions for Acid Dolls.” Wow! I wonder what an Acid Doll looks like. Check-in starts at 11 followed by brunch at 11:30 and the show at 12:30. Cost is $35. Call 922-3600 or email www.opentable.com …

JIMMY BORGES, whom I discovered in 1968 for Honolulu audiences when he was singing in California and was to appear on the Jonathan Winters Show (his family moved to Oakland when he was a boy), is truly loved. After revealing his liver cancer in last week’s column, I received tremendous response, more than I received for anything I have written. I was stopped at Ala Moana Center, in my apartment elevator, and received numerous calls and emails from people wanting to offer him support and prayers. A woman, a registered organ donor, is willing to give him part of her liver. That is really something. A healer is among those who want to help. Jimmy, 76, said he’s too old for a transplant but told me, “I’m so very touched by the response you are getting. I’m in tears. Sometimes, you never know how much of an impact your presence in this world makes until a crisis happens. I am humbled by all of this! God has been good to me, having so much love and aloha to share. Tell those with prayers and good wishes that they will carry me through when my tumor shrinks and they finally operate! Thank you, my dear friend, so much aloha. …”  

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Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things.

Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.