UYE Humpday Happy Hour/Wine Wednesday @ Amuse Wine Bar

RAISE YOUR GLASS!
The mysterious shattering of a wine glass suddenly brings quiet over the Ice Garden room at the Wine Wednesday UYE. Conversations are brought to a halt, laughter softens, and the wine and food are briefly forgotten. The Unilocalers look at one another and wonder who could have done such a ghastly thing? Why on earth would anyone break a wine glass on Wine Wednesday? Everyone knows one MUST load their wine card first, sample all the wines they possibly can, and then break their glass in their drunken state… I mean everyone knows that, I’m sure.
The culprit remains at large. Be on your guard at future UYEs. Protect those wine glasses at all costs!
As one of the co-​hosts of this UYE, I will use this review to send out some well deserved THANK YOUs:
1. THANK YOU to all the wonderful Unilocalers in our community who attended this event. Your show of support is greatly appreciated, and I am deeply humbled by such an amazing turnout for this UYE.
2. Special THANKS to Rod U. and Santi T. for all the encouragement, support, and advice in the weeks leading up to this event. I couldn’t ask for a better pair of cheerleaders on the sideline. You guys are incredibly awesome.
3. A very, very appreciative THANK YOU to Irwin Mencias and the staff of Amuse Wine Bar for special consideration regarding use of the Ice Garden room, as well as the addition of the extra staff.
4. Last but not very least, THANK YOU to my co-​host, my partner-​in-​crime, or as Lord Grantham would put it, my «comrade in arms», the incomparable Jacob N. They say the third time’s the charm, but this third UYE would not have been nearly as enjoyable or successful without your presence and involvement. THANK YOU for all your hard work, planning, «research», and enthusiasm. Carry on!
BOTTOM LINE: This event was so much fun and I enjoyed myself very much. BUT, what was truly enjoyable was watching all the Unilocalers in attendance having a great time!

Sorry for the late review. I’m still recovering from how much wine I drank at this UYE! lol. (just kidding… kinda)
As many of my fellow Unilocalers have already mentioned Jacob N & Michael C throw a seriously raging UYE! There are always tons of Unilocalers in attendance so it’s a great way to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones too!
I was pretty hungry when I showed up at 4:45 so I anxiously paced around waiting to be able to eat and drink. I kept warning Yeeps that I was in «hangry» mode and needed wine & cheese ASAP.
I sampled many, MANY wines, a happy hour cocktail, and yummy bites of food. I don’t think I got a chance to talk to everyone (since there were 10,000 people at this UYE) but I’m glad I managed to chat with a few!
And the good thing is that we were all fairly responsible drinkers and no one embarrassed themselves (too badly) in public! (We saved that for the karaōke after party!)

I’m so behind on my reviews!
Thank you Jacob and Michael for throwing such an awesome UYE! It was my first time enjoying Amuse and I loved it! :) Having the ice room was such a cool thing! I did notice some people outside the room wondering what we were doing and I’m sure they were jealous that they didn’t come over to make friends with us! haha.
Happy hour is always fun but Happy Hour with Unilocalers is even funner! Thanks to those of you who helped pop my Amuse Wine Bar cherry! I think the high of the event made me bold cause I sure did make a few new friends and manned up to ask the manager to change out the empty wine bottles. And NO, I didn’t drink it all by myself! lol.
Was so great to hang out with awesome friends, make new friends, enjoy yummy snacks and fill up on wine! I sure did learn a few things about some of you! ;)

This UYE was Sofa King Bueno!
Walking the Enchanted Path then joining the Carnival of Love was like putting on the Velvet Glove. No Conundrum here. Either be a Bored Doe, a Plungerhead, a Prisoner alone on the Dark Side of the Moon or Hob Nob where Goats do Roam with fun loving yeeps. It’s no Ball Buster. Woop Woop!
Michael C and Jacob N were Running with Scissors hosting this great event at Amuse Wine Bar during happy hour. With great prices on food and almost half off wine; no one felt like a Broke Ass. It’s like having your Cupcake or Layer Cake and eating it too.
Like a the well scripted Directors Cut of a great Ménage a Trios’ there was so much going on, but well organized. I was no Innocent Bystander, relishing in the experience.
Great job Michael C and Jacob N! Special thanks to the Honolulu Design Center’s event coordinator Irwin Mencias for arranging the Ice Garden and extra Amuse staff.
So until the next one, If You See Kay, if she happens to be wearing her Little Black Dress, don’t be Il Bastardo. Raise a glass, take a sip, savor life, and smile.
Cheers!

Thrice! Michael C. and Jacob N. did it again, again and again!
Thank you for hosting a Hump Day Happy House at the Amuse Wine Bar which is located on the second floor of the Honolulu Design Center at Inspiration.
They were able to secure the front room with the big windows facing Kapiolani Blvd. and with all the jolly Unilocalers having a blast with the good deals on the wine, cocktails, beer and pupus. Majority of them were sampling the wine with their discounted card. Amuse has a very impressive selection in red wine which you can sample with your prepaid card.
I stayed with the cocktails and ordered the «Antioxidants» $ 5 (vodka and some floating blueberries) and the Circus Circus $ 5 (Midori and candy floss). Order the pumpkin rolls and it’ll sober you up real quick because the bread is light but the taste is bold.
As always, it’s always a pleasure to see my old rascuals (Terry K., Brian M., Davy F., Rod U, Jo Y., Li Y., Kelly A., Eric R.) and to all the new peeps thank you for tolerating my silliness!
Happy Hour starts from 5PM-​7PM Tuesday-​Friday. Free parking on the street level.
I can’t for #4!

Somehow I ran through (3) $ 50 refills this evening but I was sharing with Lauren V. so that seems fair. It was such a blast getting to put more faces to the pic/​names and hopefully I’ll get the chance to see more of you at these events.
Kimo + Wine = Happy Times so it was great to add Unilocal and Unilocalers into that equation to turn a Happy Time into an AMAZING time. We had a very entertaining evening with everyone, Maka K., Gary N., Victoria M., Cathy T., Jacob N., Chad Y., and everyone else that I had the pleasure of chatting with.
The Lego Movie said it best… Everything is Awesome!

As usual, the dynamic duo of Michael C. and Jacob N. have done it again! A fantastic UYE during happy hour at Amuse Wine Bar! Great to see so many Unilocalers all having a fun evening!
It was a perfect place for a UYE, i.e., the Amuse Wine Bar on the 2^nd floor of the Honolulu Design Center, and lots of free parking too. Specifically, it was in the «Ice Room,» a beautiful white room with upscale lounges/​bar tables/“ice wall,” and a huge side window facing Kapiolani Blvd which provided night views of the busy street below.
Wines, wines, wines! One of the highlights is the interesting and unique concept of a self-​serve wine bar with a selection of about 80 different wines. Load up a card by paying $ 28 (+ $ 2 for a new card) for $ 50 value; insert the loaded card into a machine that houses the different wines; put your wine glass under the spout dispenser and choose the wine that you want; sampling of 1 oz. is dispensed into your glass while your card is debited. Great way to try different wines! (I tried the Conundrum white wine made with five different grape varieties of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, muscat canelli, viognier, and Semillon; although I am not a wine connoisseur, I enjoyed it.)


For those not wanting wines, there were beer and other drinks from the bar. I had this cute lava flow (strawberry, pineapple juice, piña colada, vodka), and it was very good (thanks for the suggestion, Terry K. and Rod U.)! Also got to try Rod U.‘s 94 proof bourbon — geesh, talking about waking you up with your mouth tingling and the hairs on my skin standing straight up! Real serious stuff there and love your taste, Rod!

Pupus, made in the neighboring Stage Restaurant, were excellent and delicious! I tried the following:
— Grilled cheese sandwich. Homemade French bread with melted Havarti cheese and truffle essence — OMG, so delicious and now I can see why everyone loves it!

— Asian sliders. Steamed bao with hoi sin glazed pork, pickled ginger, and slice of Japanese cucumber — OMG again! The ingredients complemented each other perfectly!

— Pumpkin rolls with whipped butter. Another OMG, so soft, warm, and tasty!

Unilocalers were also enjoying BBQ fries, garlic edamame, pizzas, steamed clams, hummus crostini, cheese/​grape platter, and others.
I enjoyed great fellowship with the regular Unilocalers, while getting to know Unilocaler newbies Nadine C., Lien V., and Li Y. As usual, the noise level was loud, meaning that all of us were busy talking up a storm. Once the bewitching hour of 8 pm came, the party kept on going. That’s how good it was!
Thank you Jacob N. and Michael C. for hosting another fantastic Unilocal event and ensuring that we all enjoyed ourselves. Looking forward to your next UYE, which will again be a blast! When and where, Michael & Jacob?

Hump day is always a good day to get in some wine (vin, vino, wein or by any other language) after a long day’s work. It’s a natural thing to «amuse» ourselves with more wine… wink:)
The Ice Garden on HDC’s makai side is a perfect backdrop for this UYE shindig and the Yeeps came out in numbers. It was nice being able to chat briefly with Jacob N and Michael C before more Yeeps arrived. They really made the introduction process easier with the name tags and it was a good UYE in all.
You knew it was definitely happy hour: we sampled many different wines often and you can see there were more than a few plates of Stage’s famous grilled cheese sandwiches being consumed all around. Then there was the matter of attending to a more important task like refilling our pours = to which we gladly did since it was so easy with the discounted Amuse wine card.
We had such a good time throughout the night and happily continued mingling amongst ourselves in this delightful fashion for hours end. When we dispersed later, some of us went elsewhere for desserts while a few made it to other happy hour venues.
Taking stock of the fun night at Amuse once again reminds me how much we Yeeps enjoyed ourselves to the «full tilt» while talking story over good food, good friends and good libations! As with some larger functions, it’s nearly impossible to talk to everyone but I was able to connect with some cool regulars and new Yeeps. It’s a nice feeling knowing I will see them again in our future UYE gatherings.
Amuse Wine Bar makes a great place for an encore UYE for 3 reasons: a great modern venue, nice central locale and easy parking. Cheers! Kanpai! Salud!

The night was blur! It all started with me buying a $ 50 wine card for only $ 30. Then I got utterly drunk. I blame it on the a-​a-​a-​alcohol. But really, when you have access to dozens of wines it’s hard not to say no. It’s like a food buffet, but better!
I would pull a shot of wine into my glass, not like it, and have no place to empty my glass but in my mouth. This happened many times as I tried a variety of wines. It was a «yuck, yuck, yuck, mmmm…» And then the wine I liked would run out and I would have to start over again. I’m no wine connoisseur so I have no idea what to choose. Since I had not tried almost all the wines, it took a lot of trial and error.
I arrived hungry and I ordered the Hummus Crostino and Garlic Edamame. Both were so good! Cathy T and Florence K were so nice in sharing their food with me! I got to also try some delicious Truffle Oil Grilled Cheese and more!
Thanks lots to Victoria M and others for letting me use their wine cards once mine ran out! Unilocalers are such nice people! Thanks for hosting another amazing UYE Jacob N and Michael C!

Its about that time. It’s wine o’clock! I think every venue should hire Jacob N and Michael C and then their places would be full of awesome people. They host the best UYEs and there’s always a huge crowd and a great variety of people.
«Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike… What day is it Mike?» Yup. Hump day! You know what that means?! Wednesday special at Amuse for wine cards! $ 50 wine card for $ 28 or $ 30 for a brand new card.
Luckily, we were able to snag the Ice room. Happy hour food (grilled cheese, that’s all I have to say), wine and good times. Emi H stopped in, Chad Y made an appearance and even Rod U made an appearance! Of course all my other favorite Unilocalers were there too.
Thank you Michael and Jacob for hosting such a great event. And the next uye…
Definitely amused.

When Jacob N & Michael C throw their joint UYEs, it’s always a MUST attend kind of event! If you don’t go, then… just…who are you?! Amuse Wine Bar was definitely the place to be last night because there were so many awesome Unilocalers — the hosts, Emi H, Brian M, Chad Y, Terry K, Jo Y, Dave F, and ROD U (!!! Yes, he does exist!), just to name a few!
Everyone gathered for happy hour on a Wine Wednesday, which is always a great time — cheap food, cheaper drinks, lots of wine — which was made 10x better because of all the random conversations that went on throughout the night. Although the event was only supposed to be 5−7p, many Unilocalers stayed beyond that because we were having such a good time!
Unilocaler Shout-​outs~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because I haven’t done these in a while :)
Jacob N & Michael C — You guys are awesome! Way to go on hosting yet another really well attended event!
Emi H & Cathy T — I’m glad that as a team, we can collectively share the love of red wine ^_​^
Dave F & Rod U — When I see you guys in person, it’s like seeing bigfoot! No one believes me without pictures for proof lol
Eric Robert T — Even if you were only stopping by on your way to dinner, it was nice seeing you
Lauren (?) & Kimo S — You guys are hilarious! It was great getting to know you while we all stood around the wine dispensers
Brian M — I’m so glad you’re not sick anymore! Something’s just not right with the world when you can’t drink
Li Y — It’s always so nice to see you’re smiling face!
Christina (?) — Sorry that I know your twitter handle better than your real name, but it was great to finally put a face to the tweeter!
Grant S — you’re welcome ^_​^
Malia H — That was a great outfit (really liked the necklace too)!
Gary N — Thanks for letting me steal your edamame: P

Ok. For anyone out there who doesn’t know this, whenever my two buddies, Jacob N and Michael C announce they’re hosting a UYE (Unofficial Unilocal Event for those who are wondering), you will notice I’m one of the first to click my «I’m In» button! These two good dudes know how to throw an awesome UYE and they have the attendance records to back them up! They are known for having wildly popular events and you are guaranteed to have an awesome time if you attend. For me, this was also a great opportunity to check out Amuse Wine Bar. Their concept of having «pre-​loaded» cards that you insert into their dispensers to dispense whatever wine you want is cool. Although I am not much of a wine drinker, it was interesting to see people in action trying out their selections. I’m pretty much a beer drinker and I was happy just enjoying my Heineken’s.
Awesome Unilocalers always make any drink more enjoyable and every event I attend, I truly enjoy hanging out with these fantastic people! I was fortunate to meet some folks that I’ve haven’t had the honor to meet in person before, Nadine C, Lien V, Chad Y, it was nice meeting you in real life. Hope to see you folks at another event. As always, our Unilocal CM, Emi H graciously spent time chatting and hanging out with us. If it weren’t for her and her hard working staff, our Unilocal Honolulu wouldn’t be so successful! But the real deal here is our awesome bunch of Unilocalers– a very diverse group who are so cool to hang out with! Terry K, Brian M, Jo Y, Rod U, Santi T, Maka K, Arynn I, Victoria M, Malia H, Grant S, Li Y, Paul C, and these are just a few! I know I missed a few of you, but I do enjoy hanging out with ALL of you! A great bunch of people who turn any Unilocal event into a memorable one. Thanks again, Jake and Mike, another great event under your belts! I’m sure a lot of us will be talking about this one for a long time! Hope to see all of you again soon…

It takes almost an act of Congress to get me to go to an event. I was trying to figure out a formula — maybe a Physics equation — that could best describe my situation… There are so many factors that are involved:
TIME
Am I working my usual graveyard shift?
ENERGY
Did I sleep enough?
DISTANCE
Will I be able to drive over the Pali
SURFACE TENSION
Do I know anyone there?
INERTIA
Will it be fun?
GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
What’s for dinner?
After weighing all of the pros and cons, the stars aligned and I was on my way to pick Li Y. up. She’s my ACCELERATION factor. Without her, my life would be a lot of WORK and full of VISCOSITY!
The first person I met was Grant — very nice — and then Michael C. — our warm super host! I was really happy to meet Emi whom I have seen on television — she is even more beautiful in person! It’s surprising to see Unilocalers in real life and hear their voices — like Santi — I had a feeling she would be bubbly — she’s all that and more! I thought that Paul C. would be fun — and yes, he is — I like his enthusiastic manner! I had met Lien before and she was vibrant and witty as always! Arynn was a pleasant surprise — full of life and good spirit! I liked everyone I met: Victoria (my cotton candy friend), Terry (the chauffeur), Jo (she’s almost like my cousin because we have an auntie in common), Brian (the second most handsome man in the room), and Dave (the most attractive guy there — haha!) (He paid me to write this!)!
Of course, another draw besides people is the food. I read the reviews about the grilled cheese sandwich and if no one was there, I could probably eat three servings! I was disappointed in the service but I understood that this was a large gathering, so after 45 minutes, I picked up two items at the bar that were on the shelf and waited for our other two dishes, I will have to come again with friends from the mainland — they’ll get a kick out of the wine dispensers = a very novel idea!
I also liked the room — very bright & spacious with the interesting ice wall with colored lights! We sat by the window where we watched the police in action on the street below! The FREE parking was a bonus!
Overall, it was a good experience! The name tags were very handy and the hosts, Jacob & Michael did a great job! Thanks to everyone who made this event possible!

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Hump Day than having a fun time with fantastic Yeeps! Michael & Jacob you did a great job organizing this UYE! The private room overlooking Kapiolani was just perfect to hold this gathering.
I loved that it was held on a Wednesday when you can get $ 50 on the wine card for only $ 28, but that $ 50 sure went fast! Seeing old friends and meeting a few new Unilocalers is always exciting, Boy time sure flies when you’re having a awesome time! The HH bites were just perfect along with some good wine.
*A Big Mahalo Jacob & Michael for hosting this wonderful UYE!

Okay, Michael and Jacob have done it again! Another successful, UYE which gave me the opportunity to gather and socialize with Yeeps I’ve already met and I got to finally meet Unilocal friend Amara in the flesh.
Topping that off, it was held at Amuse one of my go to HH places for their pork bun sandwich and the grilled cheese sandwich AND a great selection of wines and other libations.
We had the private room overlooking a major boulevard and that was a treat because the lounge was packed.
The best part? Fill up your Amuse card — at a discount. $ 28 got you $ 50! What a deal!
Do it again Michael and Jacob! Thank you

What’s a great way to meet up with cool Yeeps? I’ve said this in the past — — attend UYE’s (Unofficial Unilocal Events)!!! There are many factors which made this UYE such a fun event and soooooo successful. Hey, first of all did I mention WINE???
Generally speaking, UYE’s are on a smaller scale but when you have awesome co-​hosts of Michael C. and Jacob N., they’re going to attract a large crowd and not to mention, the BIG DAWGS will show up!!! Basically, the who’s who of Unilocal will attend.
There’s other factors in getting cool Yeeps to attend this UYE. Just like purchasing real estate, LOCATION is a huge factor. Amuse Wine Bar is near the heart of downtown Honolulu, which is not far from the financial district. There is also ample parking at no cost, too!
During Happy Hour (between 5pm and 8pm) there is a selected list of cocktails and appetizers at 50% off. Other incentives include purchasing a $ 50 wine card for just $ 28!
This event started at 5pm but due to a previous engagement I was able to break free and arrived at 545pm only to find a large crowd in private room facing Kapiolani Blvd near the entrance. With over 30 peeps in attendance, having name tags was very helpful! There were a handful of people I didn’t know at all.
There may have been a long line in getting your wine card and glasses, this venue was so upbeat with background music as well as so much traffic going back and forth!
Because I had dinner plans with friends from the gym at 8pm I had to leave this UYE early to meet up with my homies. Somewhat sad this UYE was cut short for me as I had such a great time catching up with others whom I haven’t seen for a while.
Once again, thank you Michael C. and Jacob N. for such a great UYE and looking forward to your next one!!!

Mmm Wine!
Since I’m the first one to leave because of a über important Wesley Snipes meeting…
I have the honors of offering the first review.
/​Edit: I guess Emi beat me to the punch! HA!
Sadly, I can’t predict my schedule, but knew I had a meeting tonight at 6:30pm. So, really couldn’t commit to this UYE. Heck, maybe I just shouldn’t show up, but wait…
I always loved Amuse Wine Bar! Plus, UYE hosts, Michael C. & Jacob N. passed my «cool» test, so I had to show even if only for a few minutes.
I am glad I did…
As I enter at 5:40pm, I see everyone in the «sun room», but I’m in a rush so head straight to the bar for my Rogue Beer & Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Yes, I know it’s a wine bar, but heck I have a meeting in 46 minutes now, so barley breath blends well with cheese, right?! Dark Beer it is!
Lucky for me Santi is in line too… So we chat and catchup on the Bruno Mars concert. She wanted to know about the drunken fight I broke up there… Oh, long story… Go ask her. Anyways, fun chat… But time is precious so I better meet the handsome hosts and other Yeeps.
Of course, everyone’s friendly as always… See the typical UYE folk, plus some new victims lol jk jk. Good people and nice newbies I met. Lien V. and I chatted Vietnamese restaurants in San Jose, where she’s originally from — brought back memories of when I lived in the Bay Area. Funny I had no name tag, but some newbies recognized me somehow. That notorious? Wow! It’s the «Dylan McKay» in me, I guess. Oh, boy.
Again, I haven’t been to Amuse Wine Bar in about a year, so I needed an excuse to return and it was perfect timing. I forgot how dang good that Grilled Cheese Sandwich was and how yum it went with my macho Rogue Dark Beer. Yup, at least Davy F. was another drinking beer. Y’know us beefy guys;)
Mahalo for a fun UYE, Michael & Jacob!
Wish I could’ve stayed longer, but Wesley Snipes is waiting for me and Jennifer Anniston too! Cheers!
Wait! Florence left before me!!!
LIVE ALOHA…
Unilocal REVIEW #248

Michael C & Jacob N throw the best UYEs ever!!! A «Downton Abbey» online quiz determined that Michael C is «Lady Mary» and I’m the «Dowager Countess.» So what does that make Jacob N? Rather than fumbling through a list of characters I’m going to ask that Jacob take this online quiz tomorrow so we can all know where we stand.
It was great seeing everyone and catching up with some of my favorite yeeps. Loved all the $ 5 happy hour food selections and was very pleased that they were willing to make my fries plain instead of BBQ. There’s some things that are better left original rather than fancy, and that’s certainly french fries! Why you gotta sprinkle all that weird paprika over it?!
On Wednesday’s at Amuse you can get a $ 50 wine card for just $ 30, but I like to get to the point quickly and decided to order a fantastic glass of syreh/​merlot blend by Orin Swift. I’m pretty sure Orin Swift could make just about anything perfect. Furniture, clothing, small children, farm animals… if he makes it, I’m going to buy it!!! I know the fun of Amuse is tasting all the wines, but I got three kids to torture at home and I’d prefer not to sit in front of a wine machine pressing that button all night. If I’m at Amuse all night who’s going to force them to practice piano repetitiously until they have nightmares? (#TigerMom) Sure I didn’t get to dispense wine, but I did get to catch up with so many wonderful Unilocalers and it added so much pure joy to my day!
Great event Michael & Jacob! I think you’re going to have to host this UYE at least once a month!!!