Tannya joaquin biography for kids

By Tannya Joaquin - bio | email

HAWAII KAI (HawaiiNewsNow) This growing community is home to 30,000 people, including me.

After 50 years of change the last of the old-time farmers are feeling the pinch.

A handful of pigs still call Hawaii Kai home. But, it wasn't that long ago when there were more pigs than people. More crops than condos.

"You may not know that Kalama valley was pig farms," said author Rich Budnick. "We've got houses there today. There are houses there today, but it was pig farms and in fact, that was the first place Hawaiians fought for land rights."

Budnick is author of "Hawaii's Forgotten History." He says the turning point came when developer Henry Kaiser started building.

"Hawaii Kai, which means seaward Hawaii, actually Kai is short for Kaiser," said Budnick. "Henry Kaiser being the founder of Hawaii Kai."

This is a look above Hawaii Kai today. You'll see all the development, but this all used to be considered unvaluable swamp land.

In the 60's, Kaiser began dredging Kuapa Fish Pond, and carving out a community around the marina and Maunalua Bay.

Today, they're a main attraction for residents, a favorite spot for families like mine.

The first families moved into the neighborhood in 1961.

We found that same house. Not much has changed. The only difference? The price. Asking price back then was around $30,000.

Today, you'd be lucky to get into this neighborhood for less than $2 million!

Kaiser also pioneered the country's first town homes. Terrace Lanais were sold for $19,000.

They're still there on Kawaiahae Street, but the area is filled in now with other marina-front properties, even a Costco.

Some say Hawaii Kai is too congested now, but it's nowhere near what Kaiser had in mind.

"Henry Kaiser wanted to promote Hawaii Kai with resorts, hotels and also a 50,000 seat baseball stadium," Budnick said.

Nonetheless, Hawaii Kai has undergone a huge shift from its rural roots.

In its hay day, 60 percent of Oa

We’re excited to announce that Tannya Joaquin will be our host for this year’s Mana Up Broadcast Showcase: World Stage for Hawai‘i on November 20 at 3:00 p.m. HST! We talked story with Tannya Joaquin–TV personality, Emmy-nominated journalist, co-host of Hawai‘i’s original lifestyle program, Living808, and working mama.

Tannya Joaquin is best known for her role as a morning anchor on KHON News, which she first filled in 2002 after making Hawai‘i home. After taking a hiatus from television and pursuing life as a mom-preneur–doing public relations for various local organizations– is back on the set of KHON. This time, as a co-host on Living808 where she shares the special stories of the 808 State’s people, experiences, and aloha. She lives “808” everyday with her ‘ohana–which includes her and two keiki–Hana and Kaimana–by enjoying local food, fashion and fun. In just a couple of weeks she’ll be introducing our islands’ newest budding local entrepreneurs during Showcase. Read our Q&A with her below!

Mana Up: What about collaborating with Mana Up are you most excited about?
Tannya Joaquin: I’ve been a TV personality for 25 years covering elections to news, and now what makes Hawai‘i so unique. That’s what I love about Living808 and Mana Up–I love supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs, and being able to wear and support local. I also enjoy seeing these mompreneurs, boss babes and working moms!

MU: What are you looking forward to at Showcase?
TJ: I’m so excited to host this worldwide event–it’s like Shark Tank meets American Idol meets QVC. I love doing this with local stories that are homegrown, plus I love shopping, music and TV; this is actually my dream job. It’s not just the news–it’s more about lifestyle and supporting our community. The entertainment by Kimié and Josh Tatofi will be the icing on the cake. Also, I’ve never done a live broadcast from Hawaii Theatre before and ironically

I clearly remember the moment: standing in front of a Matson container ship, holding up a toilet paper prop purchased from Daiei. You know, the old Holiday Mart, mauka of da kine, you know, Liberty House?

To this day, I still get a kick out of how we give directions in Hawaii. As a reporter new to Honolulu in 2002, I had to fake it at first.

May as well have been a foreign language to me, as I would have to decode directions as I set up interviews over the phone. Processing and scribbling notes, sometimes phonetically, so as not to let on I had no clue what in the world it all meant.

“Holiday Mart, mauka da kine, Liberty House? Sure. See you there!”

I can chuckle about it now. Back then, I got an on-the-job crash course on Island-style geography/history. That local tradition of referring to places from the past, sometimes several times removed. Think Don Quijote aka Daiei aka Holiday Mart.

But back to that defining moment, holding toilet paper, of all things. That was my TV news debut in Hawaii. First day on the job. A live report on the rush to buy necessities with a potential shipping strike on the horizon.

Toilet paper? No explanation necessary. Spam? Another local lesson learned.

I’m reminded of it now because shipping issues have really been a recurring storyline in my life in Hawaii. Thankfully, not for toilet paper, but for other essentials.

You know, like snow boots for the kids, which you waited to buy until the last minute before a trip?

Now, I’m an online shopping pro, so finding cute bargain boots is a breeze. Shipping last minute to Hawaii, not so much!

How frustrating is it to buy, say boots, for $15 and get all the way to checkout to see:

1) The company doesn’t ship to Hawaii.
2) The company only ships USPS by ground (aka snail mail).
3) The company will rush deliver, but the shipping is more expensive than the actual item.

At that moment of truth, you:

1) swear to yourself you won’t procrastinate a

Tannya: Well, I hope you don’t mind, I made just myself right at home at your house here.

Alex: Please, make yourself at home. It’s only half a house, unfortunately. But it’s …. it looks like a house.

Tannya: Your mama brings some drama this year, doesn’t she?

Alex: Yes, mama brings drama. Yeah, mama equals drama. That’s right.

Tannya: You left is I mean……what a way to end Season 2. Everyone’s dying to get to Season 3. What can you tell us about the first episode?

Alex: Well we….. I can tell you that we take care of all the cliffhangers, right away. Kono sinking in the ocean at night, Malia in a lot of trouble and me opening the door to meet Shelburne, who turns out to be my mother.

And the most interesting of those three is, of course, me and my mom. I’m kidding, by the way. Yeah, I mean how does…..

Tannya: But not really, everyone… This is fascinating.

Alex: It’s kind of a big deal, you know. How does someone …. how does someone process coming face to face with their mother after thinking she’s been dead for 20 years, you know? And not just that. You know, I mean, Steve’s dad was killed, you know, as a direct result of the decisions that his mother had made and…… You know, he was in pursuit of her killers all those years later.

And so much devastation and destruction has happened because of what she chose to do, so. Where do you pick up? How do you forgive? How do you trust again? And what do you do with the resentment that you have?

Tannya: And women are just creating all kinds of problems for you this season. A lot of estrogen on the set this year.

Alex: A lot of estrogen on the set this year, yeah ah-ha, yes. I don’t know how we’re going to deal with that? I guess we’re just going to take it a day at a