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!
