One week in paradise: Oahu and Big Island 2017

Tuesday

When I arrived in Honolulu to meet my mom, I landed an hour late because they had to fix the cargo area’s vent system after we had boarded. Unfortunately, her flight had arrived EARLY so she was sitting around at the car rental office for over two hours. Yikes! Our first stop was the Honolulu Cookie company near the airport. We bought our coworker gifts right away, so we wouldn’t have a deal with it later (great decision). Next, we visited Lin’s Hawaiian Market near Ala Moana. The snack selection was ridiculous! Karen recommended their furikake mix, so I bought three bags!! I also got some lilikoi flower, garlic chip, and spicy olive snacks. All very interesting. We had some time to kill, so I ordered melon snow. We shopped at Ward Center before heading to Aunty’s house for a wonderful, welcoming, Hawaiian dinner. She served lau lau, poke, poi, kalbi, and sweet bread with lilikoi butter. I was shocked at how well poi tastes when paired with kalbi. I was stuffed!

Wednesday

We ate breakfast at home, and had a nice chat with Aunty and Uncle. I had a local granola for breakfast—something healthy! We picked grandma up at home and ran errands with her. At the grocery store, we found li hing pineapple. It was REALLY delicious. For lunch, we ate at Fresh Catch. We shared three types of poke, crab stuffed ahi roll, and garlic chicken. The best poke of the three was a wasabi flavor. I liked it so much that I think it’s one of my favorite pokes!

After dropping grandma off, we shopped at Windward Mall. My mom checked out the farmer’s market and bought me some fresh papaya!!! I bought a few tank tops from Cookies, Know1, and Local Motion. Love those stores! We headed back to Kailua, where Cindee had arrived with her family for dinner. Aunty served hibachi steak, spareribs, and veggies. For dessert, we had haupia cake. So much good food.

Thursday

We ate breakfast at home again, which was the fresh papaya from the farmer’s market and some apple banana! We went to visit grandma, before heading to Ward Center for more shopping. I bought a cute one-piece bathing suit for my water adventures over the weekend. I was so fat, I couldn’t fit into any of the bikinis that I had at home. L My mom wanted to go to Barnes & Noble, so we stopped by Ala Moana and ended up browsing. For lunch, I ate Poke & Box. Their two-poke lunch is such a deal! And they have tempura ball toppings, which I had never seen before. I wish all poke places offered that topping.

We went back to grandma’s house for dinner because she had prepared a wonderful roast stew. Uncle Douglas brought Sicilian pizza and cannoli, and Aunty Edith brought more poke from Fresh Catch. Grandma showed us an old photo album, which I had never seen. There were a lot of great photos of my mom and everyone else! It was truly a delight to spend so much time with grandma this trip, and really sit down and chat with her about the past. I can see that she gets tired faster now because her attention fades after a few hours. It makes me appreciative that we could make the trip, and I can’t wait to visit again soon.

Friday

I flew to Kona bright and early! Yep, this trip was from Kailua to Kailua-Kona. We had a delicious breakfast and Frenchman’s before picking up dessert at Holy Donuts. We ordered a dozen and they were all good, but the real gems were the crème brulee donuts! Andrey had to work, so we had lunch in Waimea at Luna. Best zucchini pizza I’ve ever had. The crust was buttery and light. I LOVED IT! Andy and I ventured down the coast to Hilo. We stopped at Waipio Lookout and Laupāhoehoe Point to check out the scenery and take photos. We found a market on the way to Akaka Falls, where we ate the most delicious cinnamon bun ever. It was made with Hawaiian sweet bread! At Akaka Falls, we decided to jog about halfway through the hike. The drop was really impressive, and there were so many different types of gorgeous trees!!

After the long day of sightseeing, we had dinner in Hilo at Hawaiian Style Café. The wait was over an hour, but it was worth every minute. We shared a surf and turf dish, poke nachos, and tripe stew. There was SO MUCH food that we were stuffed! The mauna kea coffee was really yummy. After dinner, we drove through torrential rain down dark and deserted freeway to get back to Waimea. We still had time to kill when we go to Waimea, so we wandered around the KTA store. I loved walking through each aisle, especially at a new store! There was McDonald’s nearby, so we tried the guava pie. After Andy ordered it, he went to the bathroom and I opened it to take a bite. After my first (delicious) bite, the pie dropped back into the pie box and came out through the bottom. MY PIE WAS ON THE FLOOR!!!! I was laughing so hard that I almost peed in my pants. I told Andy what happened on my way into the bathroom, and by the time I came back out he had already bought a second one. HAHA. He didn’t like it, so I got to eat the rest. We finally picked Andrey up and headed home. Exhausting day!

Saturday

We began our day looking for food! After a few failed attempts and a trip to the chocolate store (where we had delicious chocolate turtle samples), we ate melona bars and butter mochi for breakfast in the car. We also stopped at Matsuyamas and picked up poke-stuffed inari. Legit hiking food! We drove to Rainbow Falls to check out the gorgeous views, and then we made our way to another scenic fall. I didn’t feel comfortable taking the local trail, but the guys convinced me to do it. The path was muddy and steep, the rocks were slippery, and by the time I got to the stream crossing I just decided that I wasn’t going to go any further. Andy and Andrey got to enjoy the rest of the waterfall hike while I sat in the stream. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t a great place to park my butt. Especially because that’s probably not a great place to be during a flash flood.  

We drove on to Hilo and picked up strawberry mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen. The strawberry mochi was even better than I expected, and I had some really high expectations due to the number of people who highly recommended it. For dinner, we ate at Café Pesto. The ginger calamari was very good, and the steak, fish, scallops, shrimp, and risotto were all delicious. After some wine, we stopped by Ross to pick up a blanket. Andy and Andrey ended up buying these matching shark shirts, but they didn’t have any in my size. DISAPPOINTING!

When we got to the Volcanoes National Park, we rented bicycles and poncho’ed up. Andrey shared a tandem with me, but the gears on the tandem bike didn’t work. So we had to pedal a whoooole lot. The ride up was not so bad, even though it was a bit windy. When we got to the top, we could see this beautiful, billowing blob of lava red. The shape was ever-changing and morphing as the lava was hitting the water. It was beautiful and almost emotional. Walking on the lava was also an interesting experience. To know that you’re walking on something that was LAVA is perplexing and makes you really think about how cool nature is. The ride back down actually had more uphill areas, and the rain really started pouring sideways. The wind picked up and it was so loud that I felt disoriented. I pedaled as hard as I could, and I was honestly miserable toward the end. I started thinking about Forrest, which I guess is my happy place? By the time we got to the bottom, I was totally beat. That was one of the most physically challenging things that I’ve experience in my adult life. We grabbed some food at Ken’s House of Pancakes, and the saimin made me feel a bit refreshed. We decided to head home and call it a night.

Sunday

We started the day with breakfast from Peaberry & Galette. The croissant sandwich was so freaking delicious. We drove to the Captain Cook area and rented our kayaks and snorkeling equipment. I was nervous to go out on the water because I can’t swim, I’ve never kayaked before, and I’ve never been out on open water without a boat before. The waves were crashing against the rocks, and it was really intimidating. Luckily, Andrey was in my kayak and he is basically a water angel. Once we got started, I realized that I LOVE the rowing part. I insisted on rowing all of the way, even when we didn’t need to row. When we turned the kayaks and started moving sideways with the waves, I felt seasick. I didn’t really have any options so we kept going to the snorkeling area by the Captain Cook monument. We stopped because we saw a group of dolphins! They were playing, spinning, and splashing around us. I got into the water to float with them, and we heard the high-pitched noises of the dolphins communicating. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I’ve never felt as close to nature as I did right then. Andrey really got close to them and started singing in the water. Dolphins are so cool! Andy and I both did not snorkel. I’m glad we went anyway because being with wild dolphins in sea water is probably not something I’ll get to experience again. For post-kayak food, we ate Da Poke Shack and it was glorious. By sunset, we were heading up to Mauna Kea observatory. Watching the sunset from mid-mountain was amazing and colorful. The higher we climbed, the colder it got. I was happy to buy a sweatshirt and t-shirt at the observatory store just to keep warm! The Asia tourists with their phone lights and cameras were annoyingly disruptive when we were trying to stargaze. If I could volunteer anywhere in Hawaii, I would work there to scold the tourists. Anyway, there were so many stars that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The night was crystal clear and we even saw Venus in one of the fancy telescopes. After the stargazing tour, we drove back to Kona and ate tacos at Oceans. I had a li hing margarita, which was my first alcoholic beverage of the trip. That must be a record!

Monday

Andy made eggs for breakfast, and we ate them with taro sweet bread. We headed to the pier, where we boarded our Big Island Duck Adventures tour! I love duck tours because they’re fun, comfortable, exciting, and you learn so much. This tour was sooo windy that I could barely keep my eyes open at time. Even with sunglasses on! We played trivia and our team, the geminis, certainly did not come close to winning. HAHA. The tour was fun anyway, and my favorite part was seeing the partially restored pond wall. The guides told us about how there was only one person who still had the skill of placing stones. I think that is something I would enjoy, like stuffing envelopes and grouting bathroom tile. After the tour, we headed to Waikoloa Beach to look for sea turtles. We eventually saw one!!! He was playing in the water by the shore. We went shopped the King and Queen shops, but Andrey was the only one who bought something. HAHA. Well, I did buy a melon icee. After checking out the beaches nearby, we had dinner at Holukoa Café. The dinner was bittersweet, because I knew I would be leaving shortly after. I had a spectacular time on the Big Island because Andrey was a fantastic host and Andy was obviously the best travel buddy. I usually feel stressed, rushed, and overwhelmed on vacations with big groups. Our trio was the perfect arrangement to enjoy everything at our own pace. This is THE MOST wholesome and active friends vacation I’ve ever taken. I can’t believe we experienced so much in so little time. I love how much they pushed me outside of my comfort zone. We made so many memories! I lava it. J

Family reunion in Paradise

Just got back from Hawaii! Family, friends, food, and fun – it was actually the purrfect trip.

Day 0
I flew in after work on the first night, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was on a new Boeing 737-900ER! The plane was so nice, that it had Recaro seats and mood /ambiance lighting. Whut! I know! I sat next to a couple from somewhere in Canada and really enjoyed their company. Those Canadians, my faves. The flight actually landed early and I got in shortly after my mom’s flight. Aunty L picked us up and we went to Zippy’s! I had the Zip min, and it was alright. We headed back to my aunty’s house and turned in for the night. Our local roommate was also another pleasant surprise. Bennie!!

Day 1
We woke up early to pick up the rental car, and then over to Grandma’s house we went! We sat and chatted for a while because I haven’t seen my grandma in almost a decade. Uncle R was there too, and the four of us went to Kin Wah Chop Suey. I ate two types of gau gee – the soup gau gee and the deep fried gau gee. Both were good! I don’t think I’ve ever had gau gee before. All of the other food was just mediocre (womp womp). It was really nice to have lunch with my grandma though, and learn a little bit about our family history. After lunch, we returned to grandma’s house and chatted some more. Later in the afternoon, we left for Uncle B’s house.

At Uncle B’s and Aunty E’s house, my mom caught up on gossip and I listened in on the family happenings. Mostly good things, some concerning things. For dinner, we ate at Saigon Noodle House, and I had the most AMAZING green papaya salad of my life. The menu was probably 90% typos, but the food was so good! I also had sweet potato tapioca dessert for the very first time. O, m, g. Delicious. After dinner, we went back to the house and watched Korean cooking shows. I slept on a really comfy air mattress in the living room and every time I went to the restroom I fell off the bed! It was more funny than annoying, though.

Day 2
Another early start to meet up at Aunty L’s house for lunch! We picked up another aunty on the way to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, where we were the very first people to arrive. We didn’t actually need to show up at opening, but we were anticipating a crazy wait time. The ramen was great, but not phenomenal. I liked it but I don’t “need” to go there again. I got dropped off at Ala Moana mall and shopped for a while – they barely had anything in my size! I got two “HI” souvenir tank tops (one for myself and one for Matt). I got picked up not too long after. In the parking lot, there was a really ancient lady who was wandering around, obviously lost and confused, trying to find her car. We eventually were able to find it, but were very concerned that she was driving in that state of mind. And she looked as old as my grandma (94). Geez! Anyway, that was my good deed for the trip.

When we got back to Aunty L’s place, I took a quick nap and then got ready for the family reunion! We went to Waimalu Chop Suey and our party took up half of the restaurant! I met (and re-met) a lot of interesting people, and learned as much as I could about distant relatives. The best part was the family tree on the wall, where we could see exactly how ridiculously large our family is! My great grandmother had 12 siblings. My grandma alone had 7 children. And even without everyone able to attend the reunion, we still had PLENTY of people and lots of tables. I can’t imagine the work it took to organize that event, but I’m very grateful that it happened and that I went. I found out that two of my cousins who could not attend actually live within 30 minutes from me. What a small world. Food highlights of the reunion were teapot-sized gau gee, sweet and sour chicken that tasted like li hing, and guava cake from Dee Lite Bakery!! THE CAKE WAS SO DELICIOUS.

After the family reunion, Eric picked me up and we went to Mai Tai bar at Ala Moana! Omg, the super buff Hawaiian guys at that bar drink beer out of pitchers. I guess that’s size-appropriate, considering. The club DJ music turned into live local music, and both were good. It was just seriously too packed. I was surprised to see that some girls were dressed up like they were going to a nightclub; I suppose it’s similar to what used to be Pnk in Seattle (partying at the mall LOL). After Mai Tai, we went to Bubbies to get mochi ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Suh good! I stayed over at Eric’s place in his extra bed. It was like a metal crib, HAHA.

Day 3
And yet another early start. We got up at 8 AM to head over to Cinnamon’s in Kailua for brunch! It was totally worth the drive, the waking up, and the wait. The guava pancakes were freaking heavenly. The kalua pig eggs benedict was really good too. We also went to Manoa chocolate (upstairs) and did a chocolate tasting. I ended up spontaneously buying a box, that’s how good it was! I spent $75 there, on chocolate, but hey – you can only get it there.  Next, we stopped at Pali Lookout, and goodness gracious… WAS IT WINDY! Hair was blowing everywhere, and so were giant bees. We only stayed long enough to take a few pictures, then we headed to WAIOLA SHAVE ICE!!!!!!

Dude, the shave ice was so good. So light, fluffy, and creamy. I got the rainbow flavors, with condensed milk, ice cream on bottom, and li hing powder. WOW! Honestly, it didn’t even need the ice cream… condensed milk, ice, and li hing powder is the trifecta. After shave ice, we tried to go to the swap meet! Unfortunately, there was a game at the stadium, so swap meet was canceled. We drove to Ono Hawaiian to get poke instead, and it was good! The miso tako was also good.

I needed a break from eating, so I found an aviation museum via trusty Yelp. It was on Ford Island, so we drove over to the Pearl Harbor visitor center. When we arrived at the ticket desk, they JUST so happened to have 2 tickets to the USS Arizona tour. How lucky is that? It’s super lucky, because later Aunty L told me that people usually need to reserve tickets in advance. We decided to do that, and we got the audio tour headsets. Watching the historical documentary was moving, and it was news to me because I never paid attention to history (sad, I know). It made me feel patriotic, like I want to serve my country too! Being on the USS Arizona memorial and seeing the ship parts through the shallow water. Watching the oil float on top of the small waves. Wow. Truly disturbing!

After we left Pearl Harbor, we went to Nico’s for some local seafood. The furikake seared ahi tuna… was really, really, really good. Like insanely delicious. I loved it! For dessert, we went to Ward Warehouse and got our second Waiola shave ice! HAHAHA. This time, I got guava and lilikoi, with condensed milk, mochi on bottom, and li hing. Again, totally didn’t need the mochi. I guess I just can’t resist adding extra things from the menu, LOL. By the time we finished our shave ice, we were exhausted! That was about the 12-hour mark. In the spirit of remembering Pearl Harbor, we went back to Eric’s place to watch the movie Pearl Harbor. I didn’t get to finish the ending! I had to get back to my Aunty L’s place before it was too late … didn’t want to wake them.

Day 4
I got to sleep in a little bit, until around 9:00 AM, but that’s still pretty early for me… especially on vacation! Uncle R and grandma picked me up for lunch at Harbor Village Restaurant in Hawaii Kai. We had dim sum, and I saw more family (that couldn’t make it to the reunion). Cousin C has such a lovely family and it was nice to see her again! Cousin E was probably the life of the party, and I also enjoyed seeing him. Uncle D was one of my favorites when I visited Hawaii so long ago, and I was glad that he could make it to lunch. He seems to be doing well, and his kids are all grown up now too. Aside from the quality family time, the food was also good! There was a savory dish with mochi balls and pork filling. YUM! I would order that all of the time if I saw it on the menu anywhere else. I liked most of the dishes, which is saying a lot for dim sum because I usually only like about half of them.
After lunch, we went to Costco with Uncle D so mom could pick up some mac nuts to bring back as gifts. Uncle D brought us back to Aunty L’s house, and chatted more there. Uncle R and grandma also came by again later to drop off red envelopes and say a final farewell! How sweet of them!! My mother and I snuck away to Shimazu Store for more shave ice! It was not as good as Waiola, but still good! Eating the head-sized "small" shave ice was a nightmare.

For dinner, Jon picked me up and we headed to Sidestreet Inn. We went to the bar location first, and then decided to try the second restauranty location instead. I really enjoyed the longer car ride because we caught up on the last ten years… I think that’s the last time I saw him! We ordered the mochiko chicken, pork chops, and kimchee yakisoba at Sidestreet. I really liked the chicken and yakisoba, but the pork chop was too greasy for me. We literally only ate ¼ or 1/3 of each plate before we were stuffed. Those are not pupus! Those are hefty servings! For dessert, we went to Leonard’s and got malasadas. OF COURSE I ORDERED THE LI HING ONE! We sat outside and talked more about our careers, our families, our futures, and friends from the past. We literally talked for all 4 hours that we were together.

Day 5
Because we had to return the rental car, my mother and I headed to the airport in the morning. We ended up getting pre-check TSA lines and no wait at Enterprise, but my mom loves to be early for things like this. I ended up having 2 hours to wait for my flight, and that was plenty of time for reflection.

While slurping my green tea frap in the sweltering open-air airport, I thought about how nice it was to see family again, and how old everyone has gotten. I thought about how I should visit more often, especially because my grandma is getting older each year! I realized that I think this was the most fun I’ve ever had in Hawaii – I got to appreciate the food, family, and festivities as a focused adult, and this time I didn’t feel like I was competing with my cousins or being judged by my relatives. I also didn’t feel like I was being dragged around by my mom, which is unfortunately what I remember from past visits. I felt free and I really loved getting to enjoy the island with friends! And especially catching up with someone who I didn’t know very well ten years ago, who I now feel like I know well. I got to eat all of the foods I’ve been seeing on my Facebook feed, and I had the freedom to go wherever I wanted because I could drive. Most of all, I thought about how I didn’t want to leave. I’ve only ever felt that way after being in New York, but this feeling was more significant because I’d been to Hawaii before and was always ready to leave at the end of trips.

The vacation was wonderful, and the stay was perfect. Now I’ll have PTO days to save for my visit next year! I hope to go again in May, and I’m really looking forward to doing it all again. Aloha!

Deeply Rooted : 5

At dinner, my mother mentioned that my great grandmother was a seamstress and she worked at a Navy uniform factory in Hawaii. Then the conversation led to counting generations - and my brother and I hadn't realized that we actually are 5th generation Americans! I thought I was 4th maybe, and my brother had always assumed that he was 3rd.

This really goes to show how little we know about our genealogy.