The Left Lane
Fans of the furo

A new book, "The Japanese Bath," by Bruce Smith and Yoshiko Yamamoto (Gibbs Smith Publisher, hardback, $21.95), explores the esthetic of the furo, the ultra-hot, deep-soaking bath of Japan.

"Understanding the Japanese bath is like understanding what it takes to bake great bread; it takes far more than just a good recipe," Smith and Yamamoto explain. "Turning out the quintessential loaf takes having a life centered around cooking and eating and the sharing of food ... So it is with the bath ... It is the total of life around that bath that makes a bath Japanese."

The book is both poetic and practical, with guides to recreating a Japanese bath in your home, explanations of the various elements of the bath and a resource section for finding tubs and accessories.

— Arizona Republic

There's a 2002 Ford Explorer up for grabs, AND it's for a good cause. Today through Saturday, the central courtyard at Restaurant Row sports a putting green, site of a contest to raise money for the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure" to fight breast cancer.

You get three putts for $10 and, if you sink two out of three, you're in the finals, set for 8 p.m. Saturday. The car goes to the lucky one who makes the final 50-foot putt that night. Daily contests run from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. today-Friday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday.

While you're putting, you can pick up an entry form for the Sept. 30 Race for the Cure in Honolulu that takes place Sept. 30.

Jennifer Wada, a budget analyst with Kaiser Permanente, represented Hawai'i at the national Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C., recently, joining 73,000 cancer survivors and their supporters. "It was a sea of pink (the designated color.) You couldn't move. You had to walk," Wada said.

She also met President Bush, gave him a cigar lei, got a presidential kiss on the mouth and then gave First Lady Laura Bush a ti leaf and kukui nut lei.

— Beverly Creamer, Advertiser staff writer

Spanish Sundays

Beginning Sunday, Spanish speakers and lovers of Latin music can tune in to a new, four-hour block of Hispanic programming, 1-5 p.m. Sundays on KWAI 1080-AM.

At 1 p.m. Sundays, Nancy Ortiz will play host to a three-hour segment of her 20-year-old "Alma Latina" ("Latin Soul") show, a music program originally found on Hawai'i Public Radio. "If you want Latin music, this is the only way you're gonna get it!" said Ortiz of the show, which features salsa, merengue, Latin jazz and more.

At 4 p.m. Sundays, Jose and Marie Villa play host to the hour-long Hawai'i Hispanic News, presenting "local, national and international issues of interest to the Hispanic community here in Hawai'i." This segment is designed to help local Hispanics become familiar with federal, state and city services of which they might not otherwise be aware.

—Jean Chow, Advertiser staff writer