The three sold-out shows at Blaisdell Arena are history.

With latest leg of his 14-month Moonshine Jungle Tour completed and almost a month before he starts the next one, Bruno Mars has time to take a deep breath, enjoy Hawaii and talk to the Star-Advertiser.

"We saved Hawaii for last," Mars said Monday afternoon. Mars’ three shows in Hawaii followed a seven-week swing through Australia, New Zealand and nine countries in Asia. It penciled out as 23 shows in 45 days followed by a five-day break before his first show here on Friday.

"I’ve been so many places in Asia and Australia, places I can’t even spell. It’s great to be back in Hawaii," Mars said, sounding like the same soft-spoken guy we talked with 2010. "I want everyone on Oahu to know how proud I am to come from here. I haven’t done any press since the Super Bowl (in February), but this is Hawaii," he continued.

Mars acknowledged that things have changed since he performed here in support of his multiplatinum debut album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," in December 2010, that it’s difficult to go out without being recognized.

"I like to talk with people," he said, adding that these days he has to be careful. When a crowd forms and people get excited, there’s always a chance people will start pushing and shoving. "I don’t want anybody to get hurt."

The break in the tour schedule means some time with family for Mars and his older brother, Eric Hernandez, a member of Mars’ band, the Hooligans. Their father, Pete "Dr. Doo Wop" Hernandez, and their uncle, Lawrence Bayot, opened the Blaisdell engagement as members of the Love Notes, but Mars said he has "more than 220 family here."

That means there’s a lot of catching up to do. Besides family, what does Mars miss most?

"Zippy’s," he replied instantaneously. "If they ever come to Los Angeles, I want to be there."

As for that lyric switch he made to "Billionaire" on Friday about wanting to be the cover of MidWeek, "I was just freestyling. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time, but I was on the cover of MidWeek. I think I was 4."

That would have been Feb. 14, 1990, when he was known nationally as The World’s Youngest Elvis. He says that those video clips from 25 years ago can "haunt" him sometimes, but he’s learned to live with it. "There I am, 2 feet tall, with the hair and the glittery gold suit, but that’s where I was back then. I grew up listening to Elvis and Jackie Wilson and James Brown and Michael Jackson."

And what did the Roosevelt High School graduate think of showcasing his talents in front of a televised audience of 115 million people at the Super Bowl halftime show?

"It ain’t my job to think about that kind of stuff. I just gotta go out there and give it my all."