Consistently named among the top colleges and universities for military service members, Hawaii Pacific University hosts a number military campus programs and schedules classes at Hickam AFB, MCBH Kaneohe Bay, MCBH Camp Smith, Schofield Barracks, Pearl Harbor NS, Tripler AMC and a virtual off-island student campus.

Visit HPU’s Military Campus website

Your collection of Honolulu favorite bookmarked sites will not be complete without the Pacific Business News City Guide for Honolulu.  While targeted to business travelers, items like top restaurants, city attractions and a section called “cocktails” contain valuable information for newcomer or kama’aina alike.  Check it out.

There are 12 letters in the Hawai’ian alphabet; 7 consonants (H, K, L, M, P, and W) and 5 vowels (A, E, I, O, U).  For more information about the Hawai’ian language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_language.

Here are a few common words in Hawaiian:

Aloha (ah-low-ha): hello, goodbye, and love

Hale (hah-lay): House

Kane (kah-nay): man

Keiki (kay-kee): baby, child

Kokua (ko-coo-ah): help

Mahalo (ma-ha-lo): thank you

Makai (Mah-kah-ee): to the sea

Malihini (ma-li-hee-nee): new comer

Mauka (mow-ka): to the mountains

Pali (paw-lee): steep cliffs

Pupu (pooh-pooh): appetizer, hors d’oeuvre

Pau (pow): finished, over

Wahine (wah-hee-nay): woman

One of the many benefits of your new home in paradise is that Hawai’i is rabies-free.  If you are just starting to plan a move to the 50th State and pets are part of your plan, you will definitely need to take a moment to review the rules and regulations associated with animal quarantine. Generally, pets are quarantined for 120 days, but efforts taken prior to your relocation could make your pet eligible for the “5 Days or Less” alternative.

Certain animals are prohibited from living on O’ahu altogether including alligators, bulbuls, coconut crabs, electric catfishes, ferrets, gerbils, hamsters, hermit crabs, land snails. lion fishes, lories. monk parakeets, piranhas, snakes. snapping turtles and toucans.

Current information: www.hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/info.

Contact the Animal Quarantine Station @ 808.483.7151, rabiesfree@hawaii.gov.

RELOHomeSearch.com has been completely overhauled for a much improved property search capability, faster page loading, Google mapping integration and more. The new site is live and getting great reviews — check it out for yourself!  Learn about neighborhoods, property values, cost of living features and be connected with over 150,000 real estate professionals around the world.

The Department of Defense has announced a temporary expansion of the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) designed to partially reimburse eligible military personnel, surviving spouses, and federal civilian employees whose service to the nation has required them to relocate and sell their primary residence at a loss.  Learn more @ http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13009

New to O’ahu and in need of a architect or roofer?  Need painters or pest control?  Take the worry out of residential and commercial contractor selection by starting your search with Hawaii Trade Referral, your source for pre-screened contractors.  (808) 554-0445
www.HawaiiTradeReferral.com

Honolulu is in the news again this week.. first named a best city for dating and now for job hunting.

Yahoo! Finance reported yesterday on America’s Best Places to Find a Job 2009 and Honolulu was again ranked among the top 10 with news that “Honolulu’s unemployment rate hadn’t hit 5 percent before the start of 2009, and it’s still nestled below 7 percent.”  Full story.

Sperlings’s Best Places and BestPlaces.net recently named America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for Dating.  Honolulu ranked 10th in the best column overall with the highest scores for diversity and dining out.

“Large cities that everyone associates with socializing, like Los Angeles and Miami, did not rank particularly high, scoring lower in categories like coffee shops per capita and flowers bought as gifts,” said Bert Sperling, president of Sperling’s BestPlaces.

“But cities like Austin, Colorado Springs and Ann Arbor were not a complete surprise – they are heavy-populated college towns and it’s easy for young singles to get together.”

Read: America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for Dating.

Visit the BestPlaces.net Honolulu overview for information about the health, economy, housing, climate, education, transportation and cost of living in Honolulu.

The Hawaii Association of Independent Schools invites parents and friends to the Annual Private School Admissions Fairs.

Pre-School – 12th Grade Fair
Saturday 9/12/09   10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Japanese Cultural Center in Honolulu

Kindergarten – 12th Grade Fair
Tuesday 9/22/09 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pearl Country Club in Aiea

Preschool – 12th Grade Fair
Thursday 10/22/09 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Koolau Golf Club in Kaneohe

Free Admission.  For more information contact HAIS @ 808-973-1540 or visit www.hais.org.