This week we continue our recurring feature in 5 Things We Love spotlighting stuff you have got to do, see, hear, wear, use or eat in Oahu neighborhoods. Today: Pearl City and Aiea. Coming up: Wahiawa, Waipahu, Kaimuki, Kapahulu, Waikiki and more. Send your suggestions to features@staradvertiser.com.
Cupcakes deliver scrumptious sugar rush
With great-tasting frosting and moist cake, Sugarlina Bakeshop in the Pearl Kai Shopping Center has won my heart. The shop sells five standard flavors daily (Choco & Vanilla, Vanilla & Choco, Chocolate, Vanilla and Red Velvet) along with four others from its rotating list of flavors, including Salted Caramel, Lilikoi Mango and my favorite, S’mores.
A bite into the towering S’mores cupcake takes you right back to the campfire. The treat, only available on Saturdays, consists of a chocolate cupcake topped with graham cracker bits and a toasted cap of marshmallow frosting.
Cupcakes are $2.95 each, $17 for a half-dozen and $33 for a dozen. Sugarlina is at 98-199 Kamehameha Highway in Aiea and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Call 312-3173. — Stefanie Nakasone
Find all things anime, manga at tiny shop
Crazy about anime and manga and want a few fan items to hang off a backpack or decorate your room? That’s where MiniQ comes in. The tiny Aiea store packs thousands of items into its space, with merchandise ranging from keychains and collectible figurines to phone cases and dishware. These celebrate popular anime like “Kuroko no Basuke,” “Attack on Titan,” “Naruto” and “One Piece,” and characters such as Hello Kitty and Rirakuma. Among my treasures: a Levi (“Attack on Titan”) phone strap ($9.95). The staff is helpful and kind. MiniQ is in Aiea Town Square, 98 Kauhale St., between the Aiea post office and Aiea Public Library. Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. Call 277-5773. — Coco Maché, Waikele
Cafe turns Sanrio star into edible treats
Cafe Sanrio serves up an array of sweet treats adorned with Hello Kitty chocolates ranging from $2.95 to $4.25. The Oreo Cheesecake ($2.95), which is more like a sweet mousse or pudding, is mixed in the store using buttercream, cheesecake and Oreo cookie crumbs. The coffee cake ($3.95) also has a housemade frosting.
The treats are super cute, but not necessarily the quality you’d find at a gourmet bakery. For Hello Kitty fans, that won’t matter. The cafe is in Pearlridge Center Downtown. — Nancy Arcayna
Stretch your legs on humble harbor path
If you’re looking for a route that’s pristine from beginning to end, this might not be the path for you. From lower Pearl City toward Aiea, the scenery for bicyclists and joggers runs the gamut, sharply switching from housing to industrial and under-the-freeway gritty to shoreline homes, watercress farmland and facets of life in between. But that’s part of its character.
Known as the Pearl Harbor Bike Path, it’s actually a Pearl Harbor-to-Waipahu trail.
Ray Woo, owner of Runner’s HI, a running-gear store in Aiea, seems to accept the path’s quirks as he and his crew conduct informal runs there from his shop at 98-390 Kamehameha Highway. On Tuesdays: the scenic stretch across the Ford Island bridge (Bring your ID for military checkpoints). On Thursdays: to Pearl City and back.
It’s free — just show up at 5:30 p.m. sharp with your running shoes on, or get there early and buy some (great customer service!). There’s no pressure to finish and no judgment, just endorphines, camaraderie and the central Oahu landscape. Call Runner’s HI, 488-6588. — Ruby Mata-Viti
Japan chain brings diverse array to isles
When I have time to kill, I love to visit Sanki at the Pearl City Shopping Center. I can find all manner of Japanese goods, from contemporary fashion to kimono, household items such as futon, blankets and kitchen items, and endless trinkets. The store is the chain’s first outside Japan. On a recent visit, I discovered these great eyeglass cases: a cute soft-case kitty ($7.99) for me and a hard-case floral version ($15.99) for my mom. Go on your own treasure hunt from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Call 456-2821. — Joleen Oshiro
