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Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"When a service dog sits in front of you on a plane..."}]

Smile 26 3 18

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, March 18, 2026</title>

When a service dog sits in front of you on a plane...

Daily Smile: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

 When a service dog sits in front of you on a plane...

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Twenty years ago, an eager Eran Ganot arrived in the Islands grateful and ready to work. 

Prior to the 2006-2007 college basketball season, the New Jersey native was hired as director of basketball operations for the University of Hawai‘i men's basketball team. Ganot, who played collegiately for Division III Swarthmore College from 1999 to 2003, was a volunteer assistant at Saint Mary's from 2003 to 2006. The job offered no salary, and Ganot would rely on student dining meals to feed himself at times. The UH DOBO job was the first salaried gig of his coaching career. 

Ganot quickly became the hānai son of Al and Ruth Ono, a local couple. At the time, necklaces and bracelets from Phiten were all the rage in American sports culture. The Onos gifted Ganot a Phiten bracelet and it quickly became a part of his daily wardrobe. Early on in his Mānoa tenure, the bracelet fell off during a game. By the time he realized he lost it, Al and Ruth took him back to the store to get a new one.  

"It's sentimental, it's not something fancy or fluff or all that nonsense," Ganot told Aloha State Daily in a recent interview. "You can tell it's fading, but I haven't gone one day without it."

After one season as UH's director of basketball operations, Ganot was elevated to full-time assistant coach the following year. He then went back to Saint Mary's, this time as an assistant coach from 2010 to 2015. Then at the age of 33, he returned to Hawai‘i as the program's head coach, a position he's held since 2015. 

In his 191 career wins as a head coach, in his two NCAA Tournament appearances with the Rainbow Warriors, in his marriage with his wife, Barbea, and their journey in raising their daughter, Zeza, the Phiten bracelet is visible in nearly every picture. 

A simple wardrobe choice that spans 20 years informs the sentiments surrounding Ganot, now 45, as he enters his 12th season at the helm, which officially begins against Seattle University on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Whether they've been around Ganot for one year or 10, the two ubiquitous ideals that arise when describing him are loyalty and consistency. 

"He's a man anchored in tradition, and it's part of what makes him a great coach," says UH associate head coach 

. "He has a high moral compass and the standard that he holds himself and everybody around him, it's part of the reason you love coaching for him. It's part of the reason you love playing for him."

Johnson's introduction to Ganot goes back to 2015, when he was a touted recruit out of Salt Lake Community College. He chose to play for the Rainbow Warriors amid an NCAA Tournament ban levied on the program under former head coach Gib Arnold, who was fired from the school in 2014. 

Under Ganot, Johnson has served a bevy of roles. He was a graduate manager from 2019 to 2021 and the director of player development during the 2021-2022 season. After serving as an assistant coach at Utah Tech from 2022 to 2024, he returned to Mānoa prior to the 2024-2025 season. Silver Waves Media recently named Johnson one of the country's top mid-major assistant coaches. 

"Having played for him 10 years ago, and now being able to be mentored by him in the coaching ranks, he's helped me all along the way and he's definitely someone who I look up to and has showed me the ropes in this business," Johnson said of Ganot. "So, a lot of gratitude there."

This season, every on-court assistant coach on Ganot's staff is either a former player of his or previously coached under him at UH before departing for another gig, then were eventually welcomed back to Mānoa by Ganot. That includes Adam Jacobsen and John Montgomery, who were both coaches on Ganot's initial staff in 2015 and returned to UH before the 2026-2027 season. 

"He's a man of consistency. He has a standard. One thing he'll say is that he sticks to the hits," Johnson said. "When he finds something he likes at a restaurant, he's probably going to order that every time [thereafter]." 

Added guard Isaiah Kerr, one of two returnees from the program's 2025-2026 NCAA Tournament team: "He is the most consistent coach I've ever had. I know what I'm gonna get from him, and I think he's a great coach. I really enjoy playing for him."

As new members of the Mountain West starting this year, the Rainbow Warriors will take on a new conference slate, with new road routines set to be established. One guarantee Ganot can count on in each new arena is the Phiten bracelet on his right wrist. By now, it easily could have been swapped out for gold, but to Ganot, 

"I've just worn it ever since, all the time," Ganot said. "I'm pretty sentimental, especially here in Hawai‘i, and to people in Hawai‘i and the people who've helped me. When I have it on, there's some memories to it."

Eran Ganot 102826

<title>Phiten bracelet offers constant reminder of Eran Ganot's journey</title>

The no-frills UH men's basketball head coach has stuck with the same accessory for two decades. Each time he looks down at it, he's reminded of how far he's come.

Phiten bracelet offers constant reminder of Eran Ganot's journey

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

There will be several Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre debuts this week, including one for teenager Flash Inouye, who plays Danny Torrance

in “The Shining,” which is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King.  

The production is the work of Composer Paul Moravec and Librettist Mark Campbell. Directed and conducted by the husband-and-wife team of Brian Staufenbiel

, the approximately two-hour opera also features Joshua Jeremiah as Jack Torrance, Rebecca Cox as Wendy Torrance and 

Hallorann. The production marks a debut for its conductor and director, as well as Cox and Inouye.

Catch the performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, and 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall

“It's such a unique production,” said 

, who is Flash’s father and the resident conductor and artistic advisor of Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre. “One of the interesting things about this is the way the whole stage and the production sort of transforms you and brings you into the world of this eerie, haunted hotel.”

To rehearse for the opera, singers and a pianist initially practice separately from the 

 Recently, while Paiement was conducting the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Inouye conducted a rehearsal of the singers with the pianist occurring at the same time.

“That was just so special for me to be able to conduct something that my kid is in,” he said. “It was really great.”

The opera is sung in English and will have supertitles.

The story explores what happens when Jack Torrance

 and his wife, Wendy, and their son, Danny, become caretakers of a hotel in a remote part of the Colorado Rockies and have spooky encounters with the supernatural.

The production uses music, orchestration and projections to bring the story to life.

“The way the set works is — you really feel like the hotel is alive in an eerie sort of way,” Lance 

 said. “There's all kinds of hallucinations that go on. And again, that's done musically and with lighting projections and everything. It really brings you into this world as an audience member.”

Flash, who just turned 13 years old, plays Danny Torrance, a boy who possesses a second sense, or the shining, and can see the supernatural.

It’s a role the teenager played almost two years ago at Portland Opera in Portland, Oregon.

“He really understands the process of how an opera is put together,” his father added. “You start out with just a sing through, and then you work on the staging scene by scene, and things get layered. You add in the orchestra. You add in the costumes, the lighting, the makeup further along. The last few days have been getting more and more exciting because they're putting the final touches on.”

Tonight is the dress rehearsal with an audience, he added.

A few days ago, his son celebrated his first birthday as a teenager.

“That was extra special because the whole cast got to sing ʻHappy Birthday’ to him,” he said. “And if you have a cast of professional opera singers singing ʻHappy Birthday,’ I mean, what could be better?”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He laughs."}]

“As far as this production, it's being staged and conducted in such an incredible way that it really transports you as an audience member into this world that's very eerie and unpredictable,” Lance 

 said. “It really shows you the power of opera and of the performing arts to just transport you.”

Stephen King’s horror novel, which inspired the opera, will celebrate its 

 in January of 2027. This production falls just a few months ahead of that date.

“One of the main things I like to tell people is opera is not just one thing,” he added.

,” which was performed almost entirely in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and featured 

This opera is a theatrical piece that combines poetry, music, moment and light, he said, adding, "The magic of opera is that it can really put you in a different world."

Lance Inouye

<title>Horror and opera collide in 'The Shining'</title>

Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre is bringing horror story “The Shining” to the stage at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall this week. Catch Lance and Flash Inouye, the father-and-son duo working together on this production.

Horror and opera collide in 'The Shining'

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

A new documentary illustrates confusion about Native Hawaiian culture. 

 is produced by Science and Nonduality, a nonprofit that promotes new age spirituality.

The documentary features interviews interspersed with nature b-roll. Picture lava-lit volcanoes, windswept vistas, and the vast ocean. The filmmakers make ample use of the pull-back reveal shot, where a camera zooms out from a person to reveal their context.

The star of the documentary is William Iaukea. Iaukea is billed as a healer and storyteller. His words open and close the documentary, with interview footage threaded throughout.

At the beginning of the film, Iaukea advances a creation myth that does not match Native Hawaiian oral legends. In Iaukea’s telling, the Hawaiian people were gods, co-creators of “a perfect place in the middle of nowhere.” Once the world is formed, they decide to take on flesh and blood to live in the world.

Later in the film, Iaukea advances his own definition of pono. “Pono is as it should be — no right, no wrong, no yes, no is/is not,” says Iaukea. “The old people growing up with that language, using that word, they were able to manipulate the language to make it stronger or not as strong — to make it mean something that will be medicine for others.”

At the end of the film, Iaukea tells viewers to call on their ancestors. “You are so connected to those that came before you. Trust them. If you call, they will come.”

Between Iaukea’s creation myth and his call to summon the ancestors, the documentary takes a few turns.

First, it features Keanu Sai, a Hawaiian sovereignty activist who 

 to serve as “Acting Minister of the Interior and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs ad interim for the Council of Regency of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” Sai is called to recite the history of the overthrow and annexation.

This sets up the film’s real subject: the trauma of the Hawaiian people, traced to the overthrow and American colonization. Those interviewed claim that the trauma manifests as poverty, addiction, violence, and self-harm.

The film profiles a few organizations seeking to treat that trauma. One is Humanity Hale, a nonprofit that bills itself as offering “trauma-informed support programs for Hawaiʻi Island youth.”

In the documentary, a Humanity Hale staff member, Kim Brown, recounts her childhood discovery that she was gay. “I grew up hating myself because I went to church,” she says, “when in actuality in my culture we were celebrated.” Brown recounts feeling depressed and lonely and says she turned to heavy drinking and “reverted to other things to fill the void of who I was.”

Brown’s interview is dubbed over her sitting on a beach and holding hands with Charis Higginson, the executive director of Humanity Hale. In another scene, Higginson wears an om pendant on her necklace as she leads a group of adolescents in a sharing circle, where they share their trauma. At one point, Higginson breaks out in tears as a participant shares their story.

Another girl, interviewed alone, begins to tell her story of childhood abuse. She breaks down halfway through the interview, “I can’t do this.” Higginson rushes in from off camera to comfort her, telling her that “your story is going to help so many people. I love you. I’m really proud of you.”

“Self-love is at the center of everything that we do,” says Higginson. “If you don’t have a relationship with yourself that’s healthy and that’s strong, you don’t have the capacity for anything else.”

At one point, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, an MMA fighter, shows up to provide self-defense training for the young women at Humanity Hale. At another point, Iaukea arrives to teach a lesson. He comments on a girl that ran out into the rain to dance: “It was her connecting with the spirit inside of herself that wanted to dance, that wanted to be in the rain. And she danced in the rain. That was so beautiful.”

, Higginson made $120,000 as executive director, against $141,567 in revenue. 

, the nonprofit announced a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to support “a multi-faceted healing program for Native Hawaiian at-risk and foster youth and those facing complex trauma.” In September this year, the nonprofit said it had raised 

 toward land acquisition for a transitional housing village for youth leaving foster care, with 16 tiny homes planned.

Another organization treating trauma is Men of PAʻA, an “ʻāina-based recovery” program for formerly incarcerated men. The program blends spiritual healing with community service and vocational training.

Its participants seem chastened, though their testimonies are filtered through the language of self: “After we heal, after we get right with self, after we get right with family, beautiful things start happening.”

The end of the film features interviews with hula and chant practitioners, who share quotes that owe more to new age spirituality than to the traditional Hawaiian worldview.

Science and Nonduality is a group that finds parallels between ancient shamanic healing rituals and recent discoveries in quantum physics. In recent years, they’ve taken an interest in indigenous approaches to treating trauma, hence their visit to Hawaiʻi.

The film selects soundbites that fit into a new age, vaguely gnostic view of reality. But it downplays the contradictions between worldviews.

For Iaukea, the Native Hawaiians are co-creators of the cosmos. “We move with the creation energy to create all things above the earth, on the earth, and below.” What it is to be Hawaiian is to “believe in your ancestors’ wisdom and the strength that is handed down generation to generation.”

 a few years ago, Iaukea said that self-worship was the ancient way of his people before Tahitians arrived and imposed their temple system and idol worship. “For them, for the first people, sacredness of things was that which was in you. God inside, so to speak,” he said. “Everything external, everything outside was just the way of the earth.”

Because the documentary is filtered through Iaukea’s gnostic worldview, it has no room to express the actual Native Hawaiian religion, which was a complex polytheistic system involving rigid boundaries between the sexes, cultic worship, and human sacrifice. Native Hawaiian religion is reduced to a few forms of cultural expression: hula and chant.

Because the documentary is generally hostile toward Western culture, it has no room for the mass conversions of Native Hawaiians to Christianity, nor for Hawaiian chiefs like Keōpūolani asking for baptism. It has nowhere to put the 1840 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which committed the kingdom to the Christian God.

For the filmmakers, Native Hawaiians are an interchangeable people group. They are yet another colonized people who must reclaim “indigenous knowledge,” insofar as that indigenous knowledge is identical with the new age beliefs found in a Northern California yoga studio.

There is no room for the triune God who created all things and now commands all people everywhere to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

The people of the Hawaiian Kingdom worshipped Him. The film’s gnostics and pantheists agree on little, except to reject Him.

View of the west side mountains

<title>The ancestors in “Kupuna ʻĀina” are not the ones who lived here</title>

A “healer” tells the camera that Hawaiians were gods who chose to take on flesh, and a nonprofit director wearing an om pendant leads foster kids in a trauma circle. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on how a new documentary swaps the faith of the Hawaiian Kingdom for the spirituality of a Northern California yoga studio.

The ancestors in “Kupuna ʻĀina” are not the ones who lived here

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Thanksgiving is coming up on Thursday, Nov. 26. Whether you’re dining out or looking for an at-home feast, check out the following options:

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"100 Sails Restaurant & Bar"}]

: The Thanksgiving dinner buffet costs $109 per adult ($54.50 per child ages 6 to 10 years old). Highlights include kiawe-smoked prime rib that’s carved to order, kiawe smoked brisket, ‘ahi poke, assorted sashimi, snow crab legs, salt and pepper shrimp, caramelized mushroom linguini, roasted turkey leg and turkey breast, holiday stuffing, temaki sushi, Prince bread pudding, pumpkin crunch haupia crunch pie and more.

The brunch buffet costs $111 per adult ($55.50 per child ages 6 to 10 years old). It includes many of the featured dinner buffet offerings — including kiawe-smoked prime rib, kiawe smoked brisket, roasted turkey leg and turkey breast — but also includes breakfast offerings like Prince fried rice, a waffle station and an omelet station.

: Dinner buffet 5 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 26-29; brunch buffet 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 26

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"53 By the Sea"}]

: 53 By the Sea’s Thanksgiving take home packages are available for pre-order online and via phone.

The standard Thanksgiving dinner set ($250) is designed to feed four people and includes:

The deluxe Thanksgiving dinner set ($750) is designed to feed eight people and includes:

: In-person pick-ups from 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 26

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"C4 Table by Colin Hazama"}]

: fishcake Honolulu, 307C Kamani St., Honolulu 

: C4 Table’s Thanksgiving holiday menu ($370) is designed to serve four to six people. It includes:

: Pick-up from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 at fishcake Honolulu 

: Email pre-order with name (first and last), telephone contact number, number of meals/additional sides, and preferred pick-up time slot to 

: Chart House Waikīkī’s traditional turkey dinner ($65) includes butter and sage roasted turkey, savory cornbread stuffing, mashed or baked sweet potato with rum butter, pan gravy, creamed spinach and cranberry relish. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hy’s Steak House"}]

: This Thanksgiving ‘ohana feast to-go ($585) is designed to serve eight to 10 people. It includes:

: This special Thanksgiving dinner ($40) includes butter herb roasted turkey, homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, green bean casserole, candied yams with toasted marshmallow, grilled corn on the cob and a dinner roll. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Merriman’s Honolulu"}]

: This Thanksgiving prix fixe menu costs $140 per person ($45 for children ages 12 years and younger). It includes:

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"MW Restaurant"}]

: This Thanksgiving family feast ($725) is designed to feed six to eight people. It includes:

Pre-orders must be placed by Tuesday, Nov. 24.

: Pick-up from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Nov. 26

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Plumeria Beach House"}]

: The all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving buffets will include a carving station, chef specialties and a variety of desserts. They cost $145 per adult ($55 per child ages 6 to 12 years). 

: Nov. 26, brunch buffet 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; dinner buffet 3 to 8 p.m. 

: This Thanksgiving package ($285.95) is designed to feed four to six people. It includes sliced roast turkey, turkey gravy, housemade stuffing, pineapple-glazed ham, garlic mashed potatoes, spicy ‘ahi on sushi rice, fresh cranberry sauce, and pumpkin crunch squares.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Buffet at Hyatt"}]

: Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Beach Resort & Spa, 

: This Island-inspired Thanksgiving buffet costs $110 per person (50% off for children ages 6 to 12 years, $5.99 for children ages 5 years and under).

[{"type":"text","text":"Buffet highlights include:"}]

discount is not valid for holiday menus. 

The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waik

: This Thanksgiving takeout feast ($595) is designed to serve eight to 10 people.

: Pick-up from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 26.

Upon arrival, guests should pull into The Royal Hawaiian porte cochere (valet) and check in with the team; staff members will bring your Thanksgiving feast directly to you. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Umi by Vikram Garg"}]

: Halepuna Waikīkī by Halekūlani, 2233 Helumoa Road, Honolulu 

: This special Thanksgiving dinner features a three-course ($110 per person) or four-course ($150 per person) menu.

The three-course menu features a soup or pasta (premium upgrade optional), main course and dessert; an optional wine pairing ($50) is available. The four-course menu includes an appetizer (premium upgrade available), soup or pasta (premium upgrade available), main course and dessert; an optional wine pairing ($70) is available.

[{"type":"text","text":"Featured dishes include:"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Zippy’s Restaurants"}]

: Zippy’s is offering a variety of Thanksgiving packages to choose from:

[{"type":"text","text":"Whole turkey package, $214.95; serves eight to 10 people"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Half turkey package, $124.95; serves four people"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Whole turkey only, $95.95; serves eight to 10 people"}]

: Pick-up Wednesday Nov. 25 or Thursday, Nov. 26

Thanskgiving 2026 Zippys 102826

<title>Where to go for Thanksgiving 2026 – part 1</title>

Where to go for Thanksgiving 2026 – part 1

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

After collecting spooky stories for more than 25 years, it’s interesting to note that a ghost story from Japan is one of the most popular tales in Hawai‘i. But how did it get here, you ask?

In the late 1800s, the first contract laborers from Japan began arriving in Hawai‘i to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations. Later, the influx of immigrants from Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea, and Portugal, particularly during the Hawai‘i plantation era, resulted in a unique interethnic society. These immigrant settlers brought with them their families, food, culture, and sense of community. They also brought their religions, superstitions, and ghosts.

Yōkai are a class of supernatural beings deeply rooted in Japanese spiritual traditions. Although there are a number of different expressions for ghosts, spirits, and monsters in the Japanese language, the modern use of the term “yōkai” in Hawai‘i and the Western world has come to represent a broad category of various supernatural entities.

The legend of the faceless ghost, known as noppera-bō in Japan, is a yōkai that resembles a human with no face. The creature is often mistaken for mujina, the badger or tanuki (raccoon dog) ghosts, who are shapeshifters and often appear as noppera-bō. Mujina are tricksters said to enjoy tormenting wicked people.

The true noppera-bō is an entity that looks like a regular person but has no face. They are usually harmless and are primarily known for frightening people. In some legends, the noppera-bō appears as an ordinary human being before its eyes, nose, and mouth disappear, leaving a blank sheet of skin where its face should be. When this yōkai touches the face of an unsuspecting victim, the victim’s facial features disappear, causing them to become noppera-bō.

Over the years, Hawai‘i has had its own sightings of the faceless ghost in places like the Waiākea Villas in Hilo, an intermediate school in Kailua, and the Moanalua school campus.

In May 1959, several children at a middle school in Pālolo told their parents about a faceless woman roaming the halls. The rumors spread quickly to other students and faculty, and the police department received frantic calls from parents to investigate. The principal at the time stated that the stories must have been greatly exaggerated by the students and asked for the parents’ help dispelling the rumors.

Just four days later, a newspaper editorial described sightings of a faceless woman at the Wai‘alae Drive-In Theatre in Kaimukī.

According to one version, a young woman entered the restroom around midnight to put on fresh lipstick. In the mirror, she saw a figure behind her with half a body, long hair, and no face. She turned around quickly, but no one was there. The restroom door slammed shut by itself and locked. The girl screamed and fainted, ending up in the hospital.

Another story states that a woman went to the restroom and noticed someone standing in front of the mirror, combing her long, black hair. The woman moved closer to the hair-brushing stranger and spoke to her. The person in front of the mirror turned slightly toward the woman. She had no face. The woman was so frightened, she ended up in the hospital with a nervous breakdown.

As most people know, the drive-in used to sit next to the Kāhala Cemetery, also known as Ocean View Cemetery. According to a map published in 1929, the cemetery stretched from where it is now, all the way to where 20th Avenue met Hoku Avenue before the Lunalilo Freeway was built. At some point, the burial grounds were cut in half, and the theater was built on the ‘Ewa side of the lot. Today, a storage facility sits atop the old drive-in site, and there are houses along the mauka and ‘Ewa borders, but the rest of the cemetery is still there.

As for the faceless ghost, she hasn’t disappeared with the theater. She’s reportedly been seen several times just across the street. People claim to have encountered her in the mall bathroom and the aisles of a nearby grocery store.

A person approached me about a crazy incident in the shoe section of a department store in that mall. It was the start of a sale, and the department was filled with shoppers looking for deals on the clearance rack that had been marked down again. But suddenly, people started dropping their shoes on the floor and leaving the area, as if they were avoiding something.

The store employee went to check it out and saw a strange woman in a red dress with long, black hair, grabbing shoes off the racks with one hand and piling them onto her arm. She was creating a mess as boxes and shoes fell to the floor. The woman’s body seemed to be shaking with tension.

The saleswoman approached the lady from behind and called out, “Excuse me?”

The stranger didn’t acknowledge the saleswoman, so she called out again, louder this time. Suddenly, the strange lady froze, holding an empty shoebox in her hand. She crumpled the box like it was a piece of paper, let out a horrible scream, and then threw the shoes she was holding to the ground.

The saleswoman said that when the lady in the red dress turned around, she had no face.

“I left,” she said, “I didn’t go upstairs to clock out. I didn’t even talk to my manager. I just left. There’s no way I’d ever go back in that store.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Have you seen the faceless woman?"}]

Waialae Public Storage

<title>The Faceless Woman of Wai‘alae</title>

The drive-in theatre on Wai‘alae Avenue may be gone, but the famous faceless ghost that haunted it is not — in fact, she's been spotted across the street at the mall.

The Faceless Woman of Wai‘alae

 opera singer will take the big screen for its Hawaiʻi premiere on Monday, followed by screenings on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Nov. 15, as part the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival.

Ta’u Pupu’a, who portrays his younger self in his first acting role in the 10-minute film, “The Platform,” was born in Tonga and drafted to the Cleveland Browns before an injury cut short his football dreams. He then did what most football players do not do … and pursued a career as an opera singer.

Directed by Mark Harris, who was raised in Hawaiʻi and Los Angeles, the film recently won 

Best Drama at the LA Shorts International Film Festival

 and has been nominated for HIFF’s Best Short Film Award.

“This movie is for all ages, all genders; it’s for everyone,” Pupu’a told Aloha State Daily. “It's a story about never giving up. It’s a story of trusting your talents, your faith — and courage.”

The idea for “The Platform” came about after Harris’ mother, Lee Casegrillo, read about the opera singer giving a concert in Hawaiʻi in a local newspaper. She mailed the story to her son, who was living in Los Angeles.

“And he saw it and was like, 'This is incredible. This should be made into a movie,'” Pupu’a said.

Harris and the film’s cowriter, Monica Foley, flew out to New York to meet Pupu’a and pitch the idea.

This NFL defensive lineman’s career took a noteworthy turn when he decided to become an opera singer. Now that story is captured in the short film “The Platform,” which will have its Hawaiʻi premiere this week.

Daily Smile: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

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