Esme M. Infante

21/07/2024

OMG! FINALLY, THESE STEPHANOTIS BLOOMS, AFTER FOUR LONG YEARS! 😜

In pandemic 2020 I got three little seedlings from the wonderfully generous Aaron Ching. Stephanotis is special to my family because it was a favorite of my late grandmother. It was a staple in her garden and on her kitchen table, and we grandkids learned to make lei by stringing plumeria and stephanotis plucked from her yard. Over the years I’ve been trying to create a tribute garden by growing the plants my grandmother grew.

So I planted my seedlings with high hopes … but for four excruciatingly long years, they have produced loads of lush leaves and vigorous vines, but no flowers. Just the other day I was thinking to myself, maybe I should ask this group’s advice, relocate it, change fertilizers or … something.

But just now I went outside to water plants and found … this!

I actually gave a small scream!
Inhaled the wonderful fragrance and said aloud:
We did it!
For you, Grandma! We remember! …

🤍🤍🤍

15/07/2024

Thirty years since our gang premiered Lisa Matsumoto’s “Happily Eva Afta” in 1994(!!!) … this latest revival under the direction of the amazing Michael Ng made it as fresh and funny as ever, while staying true to the heart and soul of Lisa’s original vision. Loved it! Laughed and cried remembering Lisa and our missing Menehune, Eddy and Neil, but also all the good times and legacy of decades, and feeling the thrill of seeing the legacy carried on by a new generation — including some OGs’ kids! And love how our `Ōhi`a Productions `ohana just keeps growing. Our “family reunion” picture “afterward, with alums and new`Ōhi`a members, is a tradition now. 🙏🌺

11/07/2024

05/07/2024

We were thrilled to welcome Hawaii’s own Kelly Hu () for a tour of our during one of her recent visits home. She’s spoken publicly about her family’s difficult history with cancer, and she came to learn more about our groundbreaking research, education, prevention and new directions. We are so very thankful for her interest and aloha! 💙

28/06/2024

Everyone, please tune in to 94.7 KUMU today for a special show. It’s Devon Nekoba’s final day, and Jill Chung, Shannon Winpenny and I are hanging out. Call in! 947-5868. 💜

06/06/2024

Random observations while attending a work conference in Salt Lake City:

1. When conferencing on the continent, a pua in your hair is just about as effective branding for your Hawaii organization as nearly any “spirit wear.” 🌺

2. Said pua will also make you conspicuous everywhere you go, even when you’re not ready for it. People will yell, “Oh, hey, you’re the lady from Hawaii!” down a crowded hall, across ongoing conversations, just when you’re entering a bathroom stall, etc.

3. When you’re one of maybe only a few dozen people of color among nearly 700 conferees, and the only one representing our Islands, you are an ambassador on multiple levels, like it or not. Pack planny aloha … and omiyage.

4. The 30% humidity in SLC — unlike Hawaii’s 90% — means that at the end of a 10-hour work day (pictured here for proof), your hairdo is still as “did” as it was at the start. 👍🏽😘

💚🤍

19/04/2024

And now the rest of the story can be told: I am honored and excited to have joined the University of Hawaii Cancer Center as its communications officer. My hope is that I’ll be able to add to the UHCC’s great momentum as it continues its critical work “to reduce the burden of cancer through research, education, patient care, and community outreach, focusing on and embracing the unique and diverse ethnic, cultural, and environmental characteristics of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.” As nearly everyone has been touched by cancer in one manner or another, and our state has both underserved populations but also potential for tremendous advances in prevention and treatment, I’m thrilled to continue serving our Hawaii nei in this new way. 🩵

12/04/2024

Absolutely thrilled to report that I have coaxed my late Grandma Kudo’s honohono orchids into finally blooming! 💜 And the scent! At the very first inhale, their beauty and essence filled my soul and I had to cry: That is the scent of deep Kalihi Valley and Grandma’s kitchen. Oh, how I miss her and miss that home and that simple love-filled family life so much! 💜🥹

The long journey to this point: I consider Grandma Kudo one of the “three moms” who raised me, and for a time when I was a child, we lived at her home far back in beautiful Kalihi Valley. She grew her honohono orchids under the shaded eaves of her lanai, and majestic sprays of blooms often graced her kitchen table, the delicate scent filling the room and wafting over our meals at family dinners. After Grandma couldn’t care for her plants anymore and then went to heaven, our Uncle Milton blessedly found some old bare stalks still alive and nursed them back to health. But he sadly passed away suddenly last summer, so I rescued three small honohono plants and brought them to my home. I knew next to nothing about raising orchids but have tried to research their care. Now as they blossom, I have to believe somewhere out there, up above, Grandma and Grandpa Kudo, who were both highly skilled gardeners, are watching and smiling. 🙏💜

#808 🙏🏼💫

31/03/2024

Saying aloha and a hui hou to one adventure and great group of colleagues … and helloooo to the next! 🙏💙

I truly have felt honored to work at Honolulu Star-Advertiser and return to newspaper work for the past 2 1/2 years, and I hope I did right by the kuleana of covering Hawaii education. It’s been grueling at times, but I’ve also been privileged to cover some important moments, issues, places and people. Deepest mahalo to my editors and colleagues, our readers, and my friends and family for your wonderful support. Everyone, please continue to support fact-based journalism — our democracy depends on it. 🙏

(New landing spot TBA soon. 😌)

21/03/2024

It was a quiet birthday this year. And that was just right, given all that has happened and is happening. I am just grateful for every day that I wake and can walk the earth, and serve my family and friends and community, and dance and love, and savor the blessings Akua has generously given. Mahalo from my heart to everyone who wished me a good birthday. Your kindness in just thinking of me is appreciated more than I could ever say.
🕊️🙏🤍

26/02/2024

To the pet parents and cat lovers among my dear family and friends … I humbly ask for your continued kind thoughts and prayers for our Slinky. Our goodest, smartest, gentlest, sweetest girl is not even 11, but this incurable cancer is getting the best of her, and so she will be with us only a short time more. We are devastated at losing such a cherished member of our family. I believe in prayer, so I would be grateful if you would please join me in praying for Slinky’s pain and suffering to be eased, and for her to know and feel how loved she is. From my heart, thank you. 🩶

22/02/2024

This damn cat! 😼😸 I was *trying* to take a nice picture of these precious puakenikeni. Can’t get one second of peace … 🙄

16/01/2024

Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy; it is democracy.
~Walter Cronkite

26/12/2023

Trying to capture just one nice holiday picture of the girls was like trying to herd … oh, forget it. 🙀😸 , all!

11/12/2023

If you liked our Islandwide Crafts & Food Expos (Hawaii) show this year (and I really hope you did! 🫶) ... won't you please leave us a review on Yelp? We were gone for three years prior, so the reviews there are pretty out of date. Thanks in advance for your help!

2 reviews of The Islandwide Crafts and Food Expos "It's always crowded, always traffic... but, support local vendors! Great for home decor, Xmas gifts and more"

07/11/2023

- Even the way we make our commercials for our 34th Islandwide Crafts & Food Expos (Hawaii) is a family affair! ❤️💚

Michael Shishido — my dear brother-friend who used to team with Devon and me for the morning show on 94.7 KUMU — continues as producer at Pacific Media Group, and we are so grateful that he came in at a special day and time to handle my voiceover tracks.

Then Toni Borreliz and Daniel Bernardoni also scrambled their calendars and worked crazy hours to hammer out our new TV commercial. Toni has filmed and produced all of our video commercials since our 6th Islandwide Expo back in the 1990s!

So super grateful to have the support of talented, warm-hearted friends on this crazy adventure! ❤️💚❤️💚❤️

05/11/2023

LAST CALL FOR VENDORS! We're SUPAH EXCITED to finally bring back our Islandwide Crafts & Food Expo, and we'd love for you to join us, Black Friday weekend at the Blaisdell!
If you are a handcrafter or a food maker, learn all about our ohana and our event, at IslandwideExpos.com . You can also request a vendor application at bit.ly/IslandwideAppRequest. See YOU deah! ❤💚

Hawaii's favorite holiday crafts expo for three decades and counting! Gorgeous crafts, 'ono foods, warmhearted vendors, ohana operation since 1987. The Islandwide Crafts & Food Expo is a kamaaina family-run company supporting hundreds of other local small businesses. Join us! E Komo mai!

26/10/2023

Did you know that long before our mom, Caroline M. Infante, became Founding Expo Director of our Islandwide Crafts & Food Expos (Hawaii)... she was a highly successful clothing designer and mass-production seamstress? Yup, she was a crafter first, just like so many of our vendors. Read her story on our new website:
https://www.islandwideexpos.com/caroline-s-story

To say that Caroline M. Infante founded and directed the Islandwide Crafts & Food Expo in 1987 is to describe only a sliver of her extraordinary journey as a gifted artisan, devoted wife and mother, and pioneering businesswoman.

25/10/2023

My very dear and thoughtful friend Baron Gushiken bought these buttons for me and my colleagues. So, please allow me to seize this moment to amplify the message:

There is no democracy without journalism.

Media continue to be under worsening attack — politically, financially, even mortally. Fewer and fewer people seem to understand the crucial role that trained journalists and journalism play in democracy and society.

Less journalism means less accountability by the people who spend your hard-earned tax dollars and make the decisions that govern your life.

Fewer trained journalists mean fewer reliable storytellers spotlighting and preserving the stories of people, our history and culture.

To those who continue to support fact-based journalism, thank you. 🙏

#808 🙏🏼💫

09/10/2023

Every once in a while when I’m out on assignment, I get someone to take a picture of me so I can send it to my kids. My own children almost never read my news stories (sigh!). But I figure at least they can see where I’ve been, and what I do that keeps food on the table. And just maybe one day they’ll have a sense that my work played at least some small role in helping to preserve and promote our community and democracy.

Or … maybe to them this will be just a nice picture of Mom squinting into the sun in front of some building on some rare occasion when she was wearing a decent dress and heels. I’m ok with that too.

#808 🙏🏼💫

06/10/2023

Newly issued.
I don’t often need to wear a press pass. But when I do …
(ETA: To be clear, I’ve been in media longer than I care to specify, and this December will make two years since I came back to newspapering. I really do only rarely need a press pass. But every once in a while … 🤷🏻‍♀️😁)

#808 🙏🏼💫

01/10/2023

This amazing lei maker and dear friend, Lori Takato, is the reason I got so many compliments today while I while I was emceeing the 75th Aloha Festivals Parade. Her incredible artistry and skill, and her 15 years(!) experience as a pa`u rider in the parade, all came to bear in the creation of my lei po`o. I am grateful that she was able to make this even while already crazy-busy with parade work. Huge mahalo, sis!
🩷💛🤍

#808 🙏🏼💫

25/09/2023

WE ARE BACK! ❤️💚 *** Please help us spread the word by sharing, liking and commenting on this post — mahalo! ***

Mark your calendar for Nov. 24-26, 2023, when our 34th annual Islandwide Crafts & Food Expos (Hawaii) makes a long anticipated return to the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, with some of the most lovingly made local crafts and food in Hawaii for your holiday shopping!

Vendors, if you are interested in joining us and would like an application, please go to https://bit.ly/IslandwideAppRequest OR use this QR code.

More information to come. We're excited, and we hope you are too. Please join us! ❤

09/09/2023

💚🤍 “He Mele Ho`okipa”

I can’t begin to explain the pride, humility, pressure, joy, responsibility that comes with wearing that Mamo Nation shirt and chanting in `Ōlelo Hawai`i, representing our hālau in public for the first time.

Mahalo mahalo mahalo to Kumu Nui Sonny Ching, Kumu Lopaka Igarta-De Vera, all of our alaka`i and po`o and hula sisters and brothers. Tremendous gratitude to .2014 and and PN. Thank you to for capturing my HNMOP debut. 💚🤍


Hālau Nā Mamo O Pu‘uanahulu Hoʻolau Kanaka Oʻahu Ka ʻŌnohi o Nā Kai - Presented by Puaʻāinahau Foundation, Inc. & HNMOP

#808 🌺🙏

07/09/2023

Nadine Kam — Gone too soon; this just does not seem real. She will be so deeply missed! Brilliant, beautiful, sweet, funny, absolutely one of a kind. Even though we worked for competing news entities for most of our careers, I still had great respect and admiration for her, and she was always kind and generous in friendship to me and all. 🙏 May God rest her and hold her in love and aloha. I can only imagine now how overjoyed she must feel at a heavenly reunion with her beloved husband, Chris, who I also love and miss as a dear friend. Aloha 'oe, Nadine, we'll be seeing you guys again one day ... 🙏💙

💙

26/08/2023

Gorgeous hula, headliner music, ono food, awesome craft vendors, and learned cultural practitioners all in one awesome festival — this Sunday! All for admission price of just $20 presale. **I have just a few more presale tix, so hit me up ASAP!**

Pua’ainahau Foundation, Inc. presents Hālau Na Mamo O Pu’uanahulu 7th Annual Ho’olau Kanaka O’ahu Ka ’Ōnohi O Nā Kai

More information: hoolaukanaka.com

HNMOP is partnering with to help promote donations for their Kāko’o Maui Fund, where our festival guests can donate and directly support those affected by the wildfires in Maui.

(I will be in the oli group opening the festival at 10 am. See you there! ♥️🤗)

🌺🙏

17/08/2023

SO PILAU! 👎🏽 Please block and report that fake profile, , on Instagram. 🤬
It’s bad enough that this person has created a fake profile with my name and is sending messages to my friends, pretending to be me. But it’s extra stink to also steal the profile photo art that our brother created with love and aloha for Maui. Shame on this person, pulling dis kine lame shenanigans at a time when now more than ever, no one has time to waste on ridiculousness. Friends and family, please report and block this scammer so I can get their fake account taken down. Sorry for the hassle, and mahalo. 🤙🏽

10/08/2023

We love you so, Maui. Please stay strong. 💔🙏
(Art credit: )
#808 🙏🏼💫

05/07/2023

2013 and 2023. 🐌🤪

#808 🙏🏼💫

16/06/2023

A new chapter has me smiling and looking to the horizon ahead: growth, adventure, love, foundation, possibility. And at the same time, as with this kalo (a treasured gift, the latest unusual addition to my garden), roots are growing ever deeper into foundation here at home. Gratitude, gratitude, so much gratitude. Mahalo, Ke Akua! 🙏♥️
(Special shout out to for this exquisite and perfect song! 🥰🎶)
#808 🙏🏼💫