When we interviewed Bill Cosby a few weeks ago, he asked for recommendations for a good Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant. We suggested The Mandalay in Downtown Honolulu, and according to Mandalay owner Linda Chan, Cosby took our word for it and visited the restaurant upon arriving in Honolulu for a pair of shows he did Jan. 15 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Chan said Cosby couldn't get enough bitter melon. After his first meal at the restaurant, he ordered food from the Mandalay to be delivered to his hotel room every day of his stay in Honolulu. He even swung by the restaurant on his way out of town to be photographed with Chan and her son Michael, and to thank them for feeding him so well.

Jimmy Buffett recently returned to Bora Bora, the inspiration for one of his biggest hits ("One Particular Harbor") to raise $40,000 for a much-needed playground. Buffett's trip to Tahiti, where he penned his harbor hit in 1982 with Tahiti resident Bobby Holcombe, is why he played a surprise concert at his Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber restaurant in Waikíkí a few weeks ago.

Buffett stopped on O'ahu in part to pick up promoter Tom Moffatt, his longtime friend who was in Tahiti with Buffett when he wrote his hit tune.Buffett played two concerts in three days at the legendary Bloody Mary's in Bora Bora to help raise funds for the playground.

Moffatt also squashed rumors of John Mayer coming to Hawai'i any time soon for a concert. "I talked to his agent before I left with Jimmy and again when I was in Bora Bora to try get him to play here,"Moffatt said. "He said John is going to Europe next and not coming this way. Love to get him here sometime."

Al Green's concert at the Blaisdell Arena last weekend was the first arena show for Bamp Project promoters, who originally wanted to have Green play the cozier Blaisdell Concert Hall. But that venue was reserved by the Hawaii Opera Theatre as it prepared for tonight's 50th season opener, "Le Nozze di Figaro". That turned out to be a good thing for Bamp, because it gave enough room to all of Green's concert-going fans who danced in front of the stage, in the bleachers and in back. The show wouldn't have had the same vibe in the concert hall.

It is a joke to have the Pro Bowl played this weekend in Miami. Yes, NFL fans are cheated because few players want to play an all-star game a week before the Super Bowl, but for us on O'ahu, we're cheated even more: Traditionally , Pro Bowl week brings some of the best and biggest parties to Waikíkí, plus kids are missing out on the NFL Experience held every year at Kapiolani Park, where keiki can test their skills, play games and get autographs from current and former NFL players.

The Pro Bowl isn't played until Sunday, but it's not too early to call holding it away from O'ahu and a week before the Super Bowl a failed experiment.We're glad it returns here in 2011 and 2012, but for entertainment's sake, let's hope the Islands get it back for keeps. ...