UYE Chinese New Year 7-Course Dinner

NADINE C. & JUDY C.‘s EXCELLENT CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION! :D
Q: What do you get when you give a room full of Yeeps each a balloon to blow up then arm those same Yeeps with their very own balloon-​sharp toothpick?!
A: Yeep Chinese Fiyah Crackers!!! :D
That’s the way Party Coordinators Nadine C. and Judy C. began our festive Chinese New Year Celebration dinner in the back room of the Wah Kung Chinese Restaurant located at the Mapunapuna 99 Ranch Market. What fun!
What a well-​planned dinner celebration!
Nadine and Judy promised a memorable event and that’s exactly what they delivered. As everyone walked in, each of us signed in to pay our very reasonable $ 22 dinner party fee.
After that it was a well-​coordinated flurry: Each Yeep simultanously chose a ziplock bag with balloon and toothpick, walked around to survey fellow party Yeeps to complete a Chinese Zodiac mingle-​around ice breaker bingo sheet, all while deciding where to sit at one of four large, round lazy-​Susan tables.
This was my first-​ever UYE event and even though I really only knew one person IRL, Ric C. (hey, I never knew he Unilocal!), and had just recently met a small handful of Yeeps, Cathy, Maka, Nadine C., Gary N., and Eric Robert R., everyone — names above & ones I met for very first time (nearly the entire group!) — was so warm and welcoming that it just felt so easy to participate.
Between the 40 or so Yeeps in attendance, there was not much room to walk between tables but it all worked out great because for one, we didn’t need to travel far to find someone to help us fill out our Chinese zodiak grid, and second, there was not enough room for anyone to be shy!
Just before the food arrived, we sat at our tables and began dinner with our opening fire-​safe Chinese fire cracker balloons & toothpicks!
The efficient restaurant staff then delivered yummy dishes to our tables & proceeded to serve their delicious soup.
But wait! lol
Q: How to tell if there’s a Unilocal-​imposter in your group?! A: They probably would not take fuud photos to post them on Unilocal!Yep! All my table-​mates took photos despite any rumbling stomachs. It’s truly the most remarkable unsaid Yeep-​love! Hehe: D
Here’s to Many Cheers!
Yay for Year of the Lamb that just happens to be my zodiac year! Yay for me being able to attend my first UYE dinner! Yipeee! :D
Yay for the delicious dishes! Yay for all of the good-​fun ice breaker and games not to mention delightful prizes and funnie reasons for winning them!
Thank you for the fun prizes! I got a Hello Kitty chapstick for winning bingo, a beautiful bright blue Oriental fan for being a year of the lamb-​er (bless your heart for allowing me such a word hehe), and a mini zippered coin purse for attending my first UYE Dinner!
Yay for Nadine C.‘s party skills! (I have unexpectedly yet most pleasantly learned lots about party coordination — thank you, Nadine C.!) Yay for Nadine C.‘s delicious almond float; Judy C.‘s almond cookies were divine! Yay for being so smart to have us partake in the traditional Chinese 7– or 9– course banquet practice of ending our meal with delicious, long-​life House Special cake noodles! [Verrry important in Chinese culture! ;) ]
Yay for all the little touches and details in both food, party, and games coordination! Yay for a tremendously successful event held within a short span of time with so many fun things to do and eat that no one… wanted to leave! Hehe: D
Yay for this extremely memorable positive experience that I will never ever forget! Yay for all of the terrific new Yeeps I had the honor of meeting there that night! :D
Thank yous to my celebration-​mates on table #1 for making it a fun dining experience (lft2rt): Emi H., her mom Jay, Frankie R., Kristine C., Nadine C., Eric Robert R., Gwen G., Ada C., & Ric C.
A personal HUGE thank you from me to Emi H. who sang our table number 1’s duet for us (=Emi H. & me, that is — yikes bc I tend to be kinda super shy, right? Thank you, Emi H.!) I was saved and blessed by her gorgeous voice! :D
Thank you to our gracious UYE-​coordinators for starting us all off on the new Chinese lunar year right with a positive, cheerful Chinese New Year celebration, all done perfectly, just the right way that would satisfy even my often rascally Chinese ma-​ma, po-​po (grandma), and goong-​goong (grandpa)!
So :D With a million-​zillion deep bright-​red excited firecrackers lighting up with one huge, majorly loud fire cracker bomb going off at the end imagined in your mind’s eye *wink wink wink* lol (as Nadine C. inscribed in our mind’s eye), KUNG HEE FAT CHOY; Happy Chinese New Year, Everyone!!! :D
May we all have a wonderful new 2015 full of love; hope; good fortune, friends, family, and job/​business; and of course. happiness! :D Warm ((Hugs)) to you all! :D
Thank you again everyone for a great time! Thank you to Nadine C. and Judy C. for coordinating this fun, warm and welcoming, well-​planned UYE dinner! :) Faaaannntastic job!!! :)

Congrats to Judy & Nadine on hosting a UYE of EPIC proportions! I’m pretty sure that Nadine and Judy are professional party planners because they took care of every detail imaginable and then some. Fantastic zodiac ice breaker, balloon poppin’ fireworks, super kawaii prizes, singing contest and a tasty 7-​course Chinese meal! At $ 22 per person (which included meal, tax and tip) you really couldn’t go wrong with such an amazing deal. I brought my Mom along to her very first UYE and she kept asking me if Nadine or Judy works for Unilocal.Well Nadine and Judy, if I ever decided to move on to greener pastures I’ll make sure to write you both a nice recommendation to take my job! Thanks again for the fantastic time and I look forward to more awesome gatherings!!!

this was my very first UYE event to attend, and both Judy and Nadine did not disappoint! they coordinated everything from having an ice breaker game, prizes and a fabulous 7-​course meal… oh and beer! lol
i arrived 15mins late due to traffic and me taking so long to get ready :/​so by the time my plus 1 and i got there, the party had already started. Unilocalers were in the middle of their ice breaker game where they had a sheet with all the chinese zodiac animals and we had to engage with other Unilocalers to find out their sign. once we completed our sheets, we all found our way back to our seats and waited for our hosts to start the program. since we were late, we were lucky enough to find a seat at Cathy & Maka’s table. it was such a joy meeting everyone on our table and making new friends.
the food came out quickly and it’s so funny knowing you’re surrounded by Unilocalers when everyone busses out their phone to take a picture of EVERY SINGLE FOOD ITEM on the table haha. but it was also nice knowing i wasn’t alone LOL. everything was delicious, esp the homemade almond float made by Nadine!
after dinner, the night was not over yet. the ice breaker sheet then turned into BINGO. the winners got prizes, but the hosts were so generous, they did their very best to make sure everyone left with something.
i definitely had a blast at this event. i’m shy so just RSVPing to an event where you know will be more intimate with people i’ve never met is super scary! but i met a lot of great people here who helped me get out of my comfort zone and also made it a very entertaining night for my guest and i haha. thanks again Judy and Nadine for hosting a very fun event! i look forward to many more :)
#23 out of 100 Unilocal Reviews in 2015

Wow! Wow-​zy! Wow-​zer!
My very 1^st UYE & it wouldn’t been possible w/​out my co-​host, Nadine C. & all the wonderful Unilocalers! & their +1
Where do I begin on my review?.. I got so much to say about this UYE… Here goes…
This UYE was meant to be, as I read Nadine C.‘s review on Wah Kung.
I enjoyed reading her review, seeing her pics. & as its been many years since I ate at Wah Kung, so I messaged Nadine C. with a few questions about Wah Kung & this is the story behind this UYE. :0)
Nadine C. brought up a wonderful idea to host a UYE.
& I Killed 2 birds with one stone, eating at Wah Kung & UYE.
I was hesitant but I agreed, first I was afraid since this is my very first for hosting a UYE, I’ve never made it to any UYEs, & that I’m not Elite status. (someone mentioned this) I felt I’m breaking Unilocal rules.
Thru Unilocal message & seeing each other once, we were able to set a date, set menu, & plan the UYE. :) Official date of UYE Chinese New Year 7-​Course: 2÷26÷2015
Thank you so much to Nadine C. for posting the UYE event, working so hard on everything! the rsvps, printing up the sign in sheet, preparing all the games for our event, & thank you for the fun games, prizes, & of course your famous, yummy & refreshing almond float.
Thank you so much to Paul C. for the Ilima lei for both of us. You are so thoughtful!
& Thank you to Jeana for being Nadine C.‘s personal assistant!
I was happy that Michael at Wah Kung, was able to reserve the private room for our UYE, (without a deposit) & that he was able to sub the house special cake noodle. It would have been 10.00 more to do this. Thank you Michael!
That was a lot of food! 7 courses for lucky 7!
I didn’t eat 3 of the dishes (soup, kau yook, beef broccoli), but I really enjoyed the spring rolls, braised mushroom with veggies, the oyster sauce chicken, & the house special cake noodle. OM-​Goodness, my very first time! I’m in love!
I def. will be back for the chicken & house special cake noodle.
Thank you to the Wah Kung Waitress & bus boy for working so hard that night, bringing out our food, clearing our plates & for taking our group photos.
It was great seeing the Unilocal team, Emi, Maka, & Cathy! & so good to see Emi’s mom, Jay. (beautiful picture, Emi. of you & your mom)
We all had a great time including my +1, my hubby. I’m glad I signed him up to come & join me! Thank you everyone for attending my very 1^st UYE! It was very nice to meet you all!
&
Thank you everyone for your nice review!
Kung Hee Fat Choy, Happy Chinese New Year! Go Rams!

A week before the event I was asked by Nadine C if I was interested in attending her joint UYE event with Judy C. I said «Thank you for the invite but I am not quite sure on how my work schedule will be like for the night. I’ll let you know though if I do become free.»
4 days before the UYE event I went on the Check in Badge talk thread and asked if anyone was interested in getting the Soused Badge for Thursday February 26, 2015 since I was off from work for the night. A few minutes later I receive a compliment from Nadine saying «Thursday? Our UYE at Wah Kung! You coming? We can do Soused Badge together. »
There was a mental battle in my head. «Do I want to go bar hopping by myself in downtown or should I meet up with the rest of the Unilocalers for the UYE Wah Kung event?» Visualizing Nadine twisting my arm behind my back… the opportunity of meeting other Unilocalers for the first time as well as attending my first UYE food event won the battle.
Event date: February 26, 2015
Location: Wah Kung Restaurant in Mapunapuna
A meeting place was arranged between Nadine and myself. I rode Uncle Fasi’s limousine (TheBus) from the Waianae Coast to the Dillingham Boulevard/​Middle Street transfer point and got off at the bus stop in front of Airgas. Nadine arrives to pick me up… quickly I said «Don’t worry I have my RED sweatshirt in my bag». She then tells me «I seen you and I’m thinking she’s not wearing RED.» LOL.
We arrive at the restaurant.
Waiter says «Judy?»
Nadine says «I’m her friend»
We then get shown the area of where the UYE takes place. Nadine then says «make sure that everyone does this process» Sign in sheet. Payment. Name tag. Color balloon (red, yellow and orange to choose from). Chinese Horoscope paper. (Balloon and Chinese Horoscope to be used later for a game of Bingo). Repeat process for members attending the event. Name is Jeana, I picked a RED balloon, and I’m an OX that became the personal assistant to Nadine.
I sat at a table that had 7 people instead of 10. My table mates include Darin O. (I’ve attended his UYEs), as well as first time meeting of Paul C., David T., Joanne A., Kat D. and her plus 1 Rick. After the Chinese Zodiac Ice Breaker and make believe fireworks the 7 course dinner starts. Spring rolls, egg drop soup (Paul, Darin, and I had second bowls), kau yuk, braised black mushroom with vegetables, beef with vegetables, oyster sauce chicken, and house special cake noodles as well as the white rice. Boy was everything delicious. I was getting full just from the 7 course meal… then the surprise 8^th course comes out. Almond float made by Nadine. Paul was explaining to the table mates on what the Almond float consisted of.
It was a wonderful night surrounded by awesome company, delicious food, creative games, one member of each table singing verses from the «Lonely Goatherd» song, prizes to win and a lot of laughter.
Mahalo to Judy C. and Nadine C. for co-​hosting a wonderful event.

I was feeling like an orphan when my mom told me that she was too busy this year to have Chinese New Year Dinner at her house like she usually does. I told her not to worry as I was having dinner with my Unilocal family! She then proceeded to help me with the games! Yay!
It all began when Judy C. noticed my review of Wah Kung Restaurant. My biological family had just celebrated my cousin’s 70^th birthday there and it was fabulous. Judy was interested in co-​hosting a UYE even though she is NOT Elite Status (yet)! Okay — let’s do this!
Judy is a great co-​host because she is very calm and organized. We met once and chatted back and forth a few times. It all went well, due to the positive response from the Unilocal Hawaii community. Each person who attended was a great addition to all of the fun we had! Everyone contributed to the Chinese Horoscope Ice Breaker and BINGO games and the LEGAL fireworks that scared away the evil spirits so that our New Year of the Ram will be an extra special one! The «Lonely Goatherd» song called all of the Goats (Jules & Malia) together!
Thanks also to Judy for the Centerpieces and the Almond Cookie favors — so yummy! She also coordinated with the restaurant and set up the private room and extra tables for our activities! Judy also made special request for us to get the House Special Cake Noodle!
The service at the restaurant was great — they let us store our Almond Float in their refrigerator; they brought out real wine glasses for us to use; and they filled our water glasses promptly! They were very helpful in distributing the cups of almond float and were so pleasant about clearing away our used dishes and bringing out take out boxes and packages for our leftovers! Of course every dish was so good that most of the food was gone already…
Awards to the following Unilocalers:
First to arrive: Jeana (my personal assistant)
First to tip: Ric
First to Review: David
Funniest photo: Darren
Best food photos: Malia
BFF: Ash
Best dressed female: Judy
Best dressed male: Eric Robert
Best use of red: Paul
Prettiest eyes: Kat
Best laugh: Jules
Nicest female hair: Nicole
Nicest male hair: John & Todd (tied)
Most artistic photos: Joanne
Best female smile: Celina
Best male smile: Jacob
Best food model: Frankie
Best wine model: Gwen (thanks for sharing your bottle!)
Most photogenic female: Kristine
Most photogenic male: Gary
Best male singer: Darin
Best female singer: Emma
Ms. Congeniality: Cheryl
Mr. Congeniality: Eric B.
Special acknowledgement to Emi, Maka & Cathy for their example of how to run a Unilocal Event — they are the greatest teachers! Special mahalo to Paul C. for the lei for Judy & me — so thoughtful!
For me, the BEST part of the night was meeting new friends and their +1s; and seeing «old» friends! Many Yeeps commented that this was their FIRST UYE — that’s REALLY great! Hope to see you at the next event! (March or April lunch in Kaneohe?)
Thanks to all of you who helped to start this New Year off right!
Goong Hee Faht Choi!

It’s been two days since my first UYE event and I still feel full from our 7-​course dinner at Wah Kung! Thank you Nadine and Judy for organizing and hosting an awesome event!
The night started off with an icebreaker to find people who matched specific Chinese zodiac animals listed on a sheet of paper. It was a great way to meet fellow Unilocalers! We soon settled into our seats, and I was on a table with Paul C, David T, Rick, Kat D, Darin O, and Jeana P. Soon came the fireworks as Nadine instructed us to blow our balloons and pop them with a toothpick. Kung Hee Fat Choy!
Our first course was deep-​fried spring rolls, which sparked a discussion on the differences between spring rolls and summer rolls. Then, came egg drop soup and pot roast pork (kau yuk). Paul C insisted that we needed to wait for the steamed rice to enjoy the juicy sauce of the kau yuk… he was right! Soon after, the food kept on coming and our table was full with plates of beef with vegetables, oyster sauce chicken, and braised black mushroom with vegetables. Our last course (or so we thought) was an enormous place of house special cake noodle. Then, we were surprised with almond float! Definitely a kanak attack for our table… keep in mind that our table of 7 was eating for a table of 10 and we still had leftovers!
Throughout the night, there were more activities including bingo (with our icebreaker paper) and a yodeling contest. In the end, everyone left the event with prizes, such as hand sanitizers and playing cards, and delicious almond cookie favors. I was also able to «win» the centerpiece full of goodies by having the closest birthday. Thanks again Nadine and Judy for a fun night! It was a great first UYE event for me.

Great job throwing a really enjoyable event Nadine and Judy! From the zodiac icebreaker (finding friends with the different animals), rolling right into bingo (using the zodiac squares as the grid), and then the yodeling contest («Lonely Goatherd» lyrics) and balloon popping fireworks, it was a great way to roll in the Chinese New Year celebration. It was also awesome of Wah Kung Restaurant to be very accommodating of us, taking our group picture with several cameras included.
With spring rolls, cake noodle, kau yuk, beef w/​vegetables, to name a few of the seven courses, I’d saying was pretty much ready to roll away. And thanks to John N. for bringing the Tsing Tao… can’t be Chinese New Year without that!
Got a chance to meet some Unilocalers that I haven’t met before, play some cool and clever games, and eat my fill of Chinese food… all in all some good times. And I swear I heard a lion dance at some point. Again, great event!

What a fabulous meal! 7-​courses were piled across the table in really short order. It was pretty much 7 courses as fast as possible. That made me super happy because I was so hungry. Combined with beer, it was fantastic!
The night started off early. I arrived 15 minutes before the start of the event and the room was already full of Unilocalers trying to find different animals. It was a zoo, but not literally. There were just a lot of people and we were all trying to fill our paper of different Chinese zodiac animals. People that did won prizes! I was the lucky recipient of an insulated bag!
My food highlight of the night was Nadine’s almond float! It was so delicious and well made. Since I am off diet now I was so happy enjoying such a large meal and dessert afterwards.
My non-​food highlight of the night was definitely seeing and spending time with so many friends and making new ones! I really like hanging out with fellow Unilocalers and having a good time.
Thanks so much to Judy and Nadine for hosting this event and supplying desserts and prizes. The event was well organized and must have taken a good amount of time to put together. It’s much appreciated!

Well, I finally made it out to another UYE — this time co-​hosted by Nadine C. and Judy C. and not sure what more I can say that hasn’t been said already but this evening of celebrating the Chinese Lunar Year of the Ram with fellow Unilocal’ers — and, as always, it was great meeting many more new faces around the Unilocal world!
Much mahalos to both Nadine and Judy for organizing event and putting together a superb dinner menu!

Okay, this was a couple of firsts for me. My first UYE and my first review! Yup, I’m a new kid on the block and what better way start off Unilocaling, than with a Chinese New Year Dinner hosted by Nadine C and Judy C.
My +1 got sick but I decided to venture out on my own tonight amid strangers. Not just any strangers, but like minded souls, who like to have fun, eat good food and meet new people.
It was a blast. We started off with a cool ice breaker where everyone was given a sheet of paper, along with our name tag and a baggie with a balloon and toothpick in it. We had to find people to match the blocks corresponding with one of the 12 Chinese animal zodiac signs listed on the paper. I tnink I only had 3 or 4 spaces left on my paper. 2 of those spaces belonged to boars. I guess all the boars decided to stay home tonight. It was a great way to meet everyone at the party.
Once everyone got settled on their tables, Nadine has us blow up our balloon, then everyone popped it with the toothpick. It was kinda like fireworks popping. Then the feast started …
Since it was B.Y.O.B. I decided to bring a bottle of Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2012 wine that someone gifted me, and it fit right in with the Chinese New Year theme! I shared it with anyone who wanted to try it on my table. The wine went well with the abundance of food that was brought out to our table. Our feast consisted of Egg Rolls, Egg Drop Soup, Kau Yuk, Oyster Sauce Chicken, Beef with Veggies, Braised Black Mushroom with Veggies, House Special Cake Noodle and Steamed Rice. My favorite was the Black Mushroom with Veggies~ I had seconds of that. lol
For dessert, Nadine C made Almond Float and we also had Almond cookies for our favors. My gosh, everything was yummy and I went home stuffed and happy.
We played more games after dinner, with more great prizes. Bingo with that same sheet of paper with the zodiac animals and a sing off of the Goatherd song from Sound of Music. Emi sang from our table. Speaking of which … our table … fun group. I’m glad I got to meet new friends: Emi H. and her mom, Ric and Ada, Eric Robert, Jules Y, Frankie, Kristine C and Nadine C. It was a blast spending time with you all tonight!
I think I just got spoiled by my first UYE! It was so much fun! I look foward to attending more of them and meeting more Unilocaler friends down the road.
Thank you Judy C and Nadine C for all of your hard work and planning for an awesome night! Time just flies when you’re having fun! I’m gonna eat my cookies for break tomorrow and the prize apron that I got will be put to good use, since I love to cook!
Kung Hei Fat Choy! May the coming year be prosperous, joyful and blessed with good health, much love and happiness!

Thinking of a way to say this. Dang geeeena! I’ve just about needed to be towed out of the restaurant because I was so KTFO from all the wonderfullnes of this 7 course meal, to hanging out with the AWESOME UnilocalY peeps, to prizes and games! Oh, don’t let me forget about Judy and Nadine getting us to yodel! Taking a classic piece from the Sound of Music! Crazy!
Judy and Nadine, you did a great job not only on this event but in ice breaking us from our little cocoon! Now we can use our pink bingo paper as a mnemonic device to remember everyone’s zodiac sign! I really enjoyed meeting some Unilocalers that I haven’t met in person but are a part of my Unilocal friends circle. I always love putting a name to a face. Eric Robert R, it was so nice to finally meet you in person! Thank you for my bag! Ric, it was nice to meet you and Ada! Jules Y, I love my picture! I’m going to post it on my page! It’s so nice to meet you! It was definitely nice seeing lovely Emi and seeing your mom again. The last time I saw her was during the thanksgiving potluck gathering last year! Frankie, so happy to see you again and sitting next to you during dinner! Darin the tiger O, it was nice seeing you again and again! Paul C, I still believe in the «you’re the Mahjong shark» rumors. The legend lives! There are so much to name, but this UYE definitely helped catapult me to another level closer to my Unilocal friends.
Judy and Nadine, thank you again and again for planning a great event. You made this so smooth not only for us but also to the servers working our party. Whoohooo!

By order of the Double Fisted Dragon I was sentenced here…
*Snap* Actually I came here after a long day of work in support of my awesome REAL Chinese friend, Nadine C., who… Btw speaks zero Chinese! Funny how people assume that all Chinese speak Chinese. I mean I’m about 10% Chinese, but speak less than Nadine C. Zero! And no, I don’t belong to the Triad, Snakeheads or any Bruce Lee Kung Fu clubs, either…
BUT…
I do LOVE Chinese food — I mean who doesn’t, right?! Oh, and because of that amazing American lady, Nadine C., who just so happens to be Chinese. Confused? Oh well…
AND…
Did I mention how much I LOVE Chinese food? 7 courses? Really? It really seemed like 77 courses! Fo realz! And no, I’m not using a broken Chinese calculator! Not only was it delicious, but very very generous, too! I mean seems like everyone ate and was full. It started with Egg drop soup and Spring rolls… and then the entrees kept rolling! My favorite was the oyster sauce chicken and the dish with the cake noodles! Delicious! I skipped on the rice (yeah, I can be weird), but ate everything else…
AND…
Before, between, after the 77 courses we played fun games and got to know each other! From popping balloons to yodeling — you just had to be there! How fun is that? Of course, it was BYOB, so I brought a big box of Gordon Biersch beers (everyone thought it was part of Nadine’s prizes, so yup why the heck not…) — Umm, but sadly, no Chinese beer at R. Field — however, someone brought some «Kung Fu Girl» wine at our table! How awesome is that! The name alone kicks some serious A**!
CHINESE PEEPS ARE COOL…
Ok, not everyone here was Chinese. Others are still quite cool too, but in honor of the Chinese Lunar New Year of 4713… The spot light shines on this great culture! A culture that invented gun powder, the compass, the noodle, and possibly discovered America 80 years before Columbus, too! No joke! But who cares today, right? We just want to eat… And the Chinese cook hella good! Ancient Chinese secret, Yo!
GONG HEY FAT CHOY!
Lastly, biggest thanks to Nadine C. & Judy C. (one Chinese & one I think might be)… What a fun UYE! Amazing really! Also, so nice talking story with Kristine C. (drop gorgeous), Frankie R. (Goes to Hollywood), Gwen G. (wine encyclopedia) and some faces I met for the first time! I’m so glad I made it out here tonight! Thanks again Nadine & Judy… Now go take credit for inventing UYE’s too! Aiya!
OVERALL GRADE: 5.0-STARS!
LIVE ALOHA…
Unilocal REVIEW #4713 (I joke, I joke)

Here are the great things, our wonderful fun hostesses: Judy C. and Nadine C. along with last minute Jeana P. helping out with sign in. Mahalo Nui Loa for such a great event that brought new and experienced Unilocalers to the table to celebrate a new year.
I know that I will forget to write about some things — so I preface saying excellent evening and thank you to everyone for making it wonderful.
I should have arrived at 6 pm like I planned– but I was really close to 6:30, already many Unilocalers had pink papers and were diligently trying to win at the ice breaker by filling up their bingo cards with other Unilocalers names– one of the missing squares was TIGER.
OK– relax I made it before it starts. NOOOO– they ask me what year I was born and I say tiger, I get handed 15 papers to sign before I can sing in and people already know my name without even getting my name tag written yet. I know I am not a cool person– by any means, but for all of 5 minutes I now know what it feels like– I have to say, it really did help people get to know names quickly and loudly.
We blew up balloons and pretended to have fireworks. Good idea as a party favor– different.
Our first table discussion kinda revolved around who was elite and who was working on that.
Foodwise:
Deep-​Fried Spring Roll was our first up– and a short intro to what is the difference between spring or summer roll started good heartedly. But after food porn pics.
Egg Drop Soup — I’m used to only corn and egg in my typical soup when I get this but there were many other vegs in ours.
Oyster Sauce Chicken– by the time this came up some people had started to slow down on the eating race.
Beef w/​Vegetables– the beef was cooked well and tastey– mushrooms were a good addition to this one.
Pot Roast Pork (Kau Yuk) — looked to me more like char su pork, it had some fat/​gristle still on it, and a short discussion about no rice yet and it being gravy or sauce, but now we know that there is some corn starch in it to make it tastey.
Braised Black Mushroom w/​Vegetable– ohh looked soo good, nicely done.
House Special Cake Noodle– I thought it did not have any meat in it but it was loaded with onion, bean sprout, crunchy and moist sauce with tons of noodle under.
Steamed Rice– maybe the most anticipated as everyone wanted to enjoy with the HI staple.
BYOB– means many UYes seem to be getting better and better as those in the culinary arts knows how to pair well with great food, folks, and fun.
I know I did not get to finish my card game, but there were many other games planned for the evening for different prizes.
One game– again I know I am not a cool person, I warned my table, I’ll play any game but I warned them that our table will loose if I am the chosen person– what game was it???
Singing.
I can read but if you ask me to sing– you’ll get noise and not a good voice. The game though was the children in the Sound of Music making a puppet show for the family of the GoatHerders. And a Yodel. I may have missed how this is a New Years thing but I just went with it, so then I got a prize. Yeah!
Ohh — BTW I was in Austria and many of my German speaking friends hate the Sound of Music as the school (Salzburg College) was where the movie was filmed. WE talked about just repeating «The Hills are Alive» as our song choice for next UYE! Any takers???
Just my humble opinion, this was a longer UYE than others I have attended– but that is not saying anyone was bored– far from it, I felt like what is next? And then there was something totally unexpected next.
So glad to see and talk to IRL people that I know from Unilocal online. We also had Emi our vocally talented CM on hand to welcome new Unilocalers and talk story too with the hard core Unilocalers.
I know there were a few after parties to go to– but I had my 100% of fun for the night and need to drive safely home.
Mahalo Nui Loa– Happy New Year!

It’s not a new year without fireworks & the night’s dinner started with a bang – literally! The lovely hostesses, Nadine C. & Judy C., had this genius of an idea for make believe fireworks appropriate for being inside of a Chinese restaurant using balloons & toothpicks. Bang! Boom-​boom! Pow!
Prior to the New Year’s blessing, we mingled around looking for Chinese horoscope signs (’93 Rooster represent!) & collecting autographs as the icebreaker game. Lo and behold this piece of paper was also tied to a bingo-​like game with names being called out with the ziplock baggies that contained the balloon & toothpick in which our names were written on. I tell you, the games oozed «Inception» status – there was a game within a game within a game. Then out of nowhere, a yodeling throw down. Everyone was a winner that night since there was a whole boatload of free goodies. I got myself animal nail stickers just for being a UYE newbie.
The seven-​course menu at Wah Kung Restaurant consisted of crispy, thick-​stuffed spring rolls, steaming egg drop soup, meaty kau yuk, oyster sauce chicken, braised black mushroom with seasoned vegetables, beef with vegetables & cake noodle. For a table of seven, we definitely ate our share of 10. Nadine C. also surprised us with her famous almond float dessert. Oh & did I mention we also got almond cookie favors courtesy of Judy C. Since this was my first UYE it was a pleasure meeting other Unilocalers along with my awesome tablemates! Thank you to Nadine C. & Judy C. for hosting a never ending, fun-​filled dinner! You’ve set the standard for future UYEs I attend.

Baahh! Gong xi fa cao! What a good way to celebrate Chinese New Year than with great food and great Unilocalers. I was about an hour late but luckily they’re still playing the get to know you icebreaker game and food was not served yet. And Todd S saved me a seat too and some almond cookies.
I missed the «fireworks».
They played a fun fill in the name ice breaker related to the Chinese New Year sign. Apparently I got to play even thought I wasn’t there! Thanks Todd S again!
It was a 7 course meal:
Deep-​Fried Spring Roll
Egg Drop Soup
Oyster Sauce Chicken
Beef w/​Vegetables
Pot Roast Pork (Kau Yuk)
Braised Black Mushroom w/​Vegetable
House Special Cake Noodle
Steamed Rice
I couldn’t eat a lot of it since I’m on a pesecetarian diet right now but what I did eat was good.
There was even time for bingo and a sons contest with yodeling… and there were a ton of prizes. They went all out for this uye.
The best part was Aunty Nadine’s almond float. It was part of my motivation to go since I knew I couldn’t eat a lot of the food.
Thank you to my group table for the tsing tao and shock top beer. I met a couple of new Unilocalers which was nice. There were a bunch of new Unilocalers which was great.
Thank you Nadine C and Judy C for such a fun event. You two should be party planners!

«Omg, someone please roll me out!», my exact words leaving this spectacular UYE hosted by Nadine C and Judy C!
This 7-​course Chinese New Year themed dinner was in the cozy 4 section private area of the Wah Kung Restaurant located in the old 99 Ranch Market property.
A sea of red dressed Unilocalers and their guests feverishly filled out ice breaker Chinese zodiac charts to potentially win a prize! Everyone just kind of fell into place for seating, which was pretty nice. It was a little difficult to get all the squares filled, but totally fun nonetheless.
Of the 7 courses, I enjoyed the Egg Drop Soup, Braised Black Mushroom with veggies and the House Special Cake Noodle. Dessert was a yummy almond tofu with fruits!
Thanks to Judy C for the awesome centerpieces and mini almond cookie favors! Way to represent for Chinese New Year!

Wow! What a feast! Huge plates to share of a great selection of courses for the Chinese Year of the Goat.
Great to have the ice breaker to meet a lot of new faces. Hats off to our co-​hosts who had a great worksheet for us to tackle mingling with others. Little did we know that no Boars were present!
Evening was filled with plates of food, laughter and interesting games to entertain us. For those who don’t know Nadine C. we were treated to her ever so well liked almond float. What a great touch to end the meal.
In addition to almond cookies party favors and a snack basket for the centerpiece our generous co-​hosts provided many prizes which everyone walked away with something.
Thank you to Nadine C., Judy C., the cool Yeeps and staff at Wah Kung Restaurant who made this a memorable UYE.
Kung Hee Fat Choy!!!

Our first UYE and a great one to be part of. The food was superb, both in taste and quantity, the company, most of whom We had never met before were friendly and full of fun– new friend requests to be made.
The execution of this Chinese New Year dinner was flawless and the credit has to be given to Judy C. And Nadine C. for making this one to remember.
Fun ice breaker, fun games, generous prizes, delicious desserts by Nadine and Judy, so well paced it was surprising how much time had passed. You know, when you are having fun time flies by quickly :)
You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? See what has been posted by those who attended– a most excellent event for all– mahalos Nadine and Judy!!!

Wow. I’m so lost for words. That has to be one of the best UYE’s I’ve ever attended.
Tonight a cool group of 37 Yeeps and their +1’s came to Wah Kung Chinese Restaurant in Mapunapuna for a Chinese New Year’s dinner in the private dining room.
Upon arrival we signed in where we paid for our meal and also got an ice breaker worksheet and a ziploc bag of a balloon and toothpick. Once we got a pencil we mingled with each other trying to complete our worksheet of meeting Yeeps of various Chinese zodiac signs. Believe it or not, we didn’t even have one BOAR in the house!
Nadine being Nadine, she runs very clean which means no criminal activity, we blew up our balloon and popped it with our toothpick to sound like firecrackers. So creative!
We took our seats and was treated to a 7 — course meal where the food kept on coming. On my table I met for the first time in real life Kat D., Joanne A. and Jeana P., met Rick, Kat D. s +1 and also sat with old faces of Darin O. and David T. Our table lucked out because there were only 7 of us but was served for 10 people! Thanks to David T. and Joanne A. for sharing «adult happy juice» on our table as this event was BYOB.
We had a whole bunch of cool games which Nadine C. explained to us and had so many awesome prizes!
As I had predicted, Nadine C. brought a huge bowl of almond float where I didn’t hesitate to have seconds. It’s that good where you cannot pass on another serving.
Co-​host Judy C. had individually wrapped almond cookies as party favors and made a yummy centerpiece of various sweets and snacks. It went to the person with the closest birthday from today’s date, which was won by Joanne A.
I wanted to pass out when Nadine passed out lyrics to «Lonely Goatherd» where each person from a table had to sing a verse. Granted I had a few glasses of wine which got me mellow but there was no way I’d sing!
Sadly, this fun evening came to an end but I left very full and with a bag of several prizes I won tonight. A BIG MAHALO to co-​hosts Nadine C. and Judy C. for such an enjoyable evening.