A Month On Oahu, Hawaii With K~Girl

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

We stayed in tonight to enjoy the rain floating through

… very cool to sit here on the lanai and watch the gentle cool rain

then let's talk dinner, shall we?



I made Tonkatsu - Japanese style Pork Cutlets with Panko, that I shallow fried to GBD (golden brown and de-li-cious) along with some fried saimin (noodles) and my quick cucumber kim chee, made with local Japanese Cucumbers, YUM!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Lunch at Shirokiya Japan Village Walk




It really does look and feel like a small village with food stalls and alleyways between them. You can wander around, check all of the different dishes and even get a draught Beer for $1 !!


DH was overwhelmed by the multitude of choices that I suggested that he park himself where the AC was cracked up to turbo speed.
It's been difficult for us to acclimate to the much higher humidity as well as sky high dew point here on Oahu.
I make sure to have copious amounts of paper towels for him to mop his head and neck, poor thing.
Me, I'm ok thanks

Anyways, I took a quick tour around the grounds and found a tray to fill with our bounty for lunch.
We shared (starting from the bottom of the above photo and working clock wise) Kappa Maki Sushi, Mochiko Chicken, Chicken Katsu Plate Lunch, Shrimp Tempura. Oh and don't forget that draught Kirin Beer

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I can tell how happy you are to be home in every one of your posts, K-Girl. So happy for you! And so happy about $1 beer! Woot! Not a bad deal, eh? This juror is still out on the "little village" though. To me, it looks a lot like an outdoor mall with a really nice food court. Guess you gotta be there. Enjoy!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

CG, Shirokiya's is in Ala Moana Shopping Center, one of the largest shopping centers in the USA and THE largest open air mall in the world--- oh my, howz that...
The Japan Village Walk is inside of Shirokiya's, you see folks lined up in que in the video for the first day it opened, it was a real big deal. They had closed down for a year while they moved and the Mall itself was being reno'd.
Ala Moana now looks nothing like how we used to know it, it's all super High End stores that locals just window shop in and then go to eat somewhere in the Mall. But they did do a beautiful with the reno, even DH commented on how nice it is now. The average shopper in the Ala Moana stores are the Japanese and Chinese, they LOVE Hawaii and like to spend all of their money here, which is great for the local economy.

Oh and CG, yes, we are both very happy and enjoying being HOME! Mahalo sistah!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Little by little, since we arrived in Honolulu,
both DH and my arthritis pain has gone
through the roof !!!
This morning it is exceptionally bad and I
started to wonder ... could it be the high humidity?
DH thinks not, "it's hot here, why would that be the cause?"

WELL!

"Joint Pain Fact: Dry, warm weather helps relieve joint pain. According to Dr. McQuillan, arthritis patients feel an uncomfortable pressure in their joints on days of high humidity and low barometric pressure, especially just before a storm. A drier climate means a minimum of pressure."
[Every Day Health .com]

Harumph-so there!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

It's graduation season here on Oahu, not for only the University but also the High Schools. We like to give leis for all sorts of occasions, but especially at graduation. I'll have to look for the photo of myself when I graduated High School, I had leis that went all the up to my nose and then along each arm...

This is how much we love our leis:



We make them from all kinds of things, not just flowers...
Spam® and Diamond Bakery Soda Crackers



… and Gummy Worms! I had to laugh out loud when I saw this... the gals that were setting this display up turned around and laugh too when I said, "Geez, we'll make a lei out of anything, yeah?"

I couldn't find them the other day, but we also us mini bottles of different booze!

 

[caseydog]

Hawaiians sure do like to get leid.

CD

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Hawaiians sure do like to get leid.

CD

Why yes, yes we do Casey, and give leis to others

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

In Haleiwa, on the Island of Oahu, in the State of Hawaii
there is a small Shave Ice place that has been there
since 1951 Matsumoto's Shave Ice.
On each of our visits back home, we make the trek out the North Shore
for Shave Ice... you'll notice that we don't call it Shaved Ice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CQrK0hkX_Q



For me, it's gotta be Rainbow Flavored, strawberry, lemon and pineapple
with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream and Azuki Beans, MMM, ONO!!

DH was brave this time and actually had the Ice Cream in the bottom of his Lychee Flavored Shave Ice, not bad btw

 

[TATTRAT]

Enjoy!

The fireworks are every Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian village, the first week I lived at Discovery Bay, it scared the crap out of me!

The gentle rain, maka showers, my crew used to call pineapple juice. It was a refreshing part of the day, that's for sure.

Have some garlic chicken and pupus at Chart House for me! Also, coco curry house ichibana, up on McCully, SO GOOD!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Enjoy!

The fireworks are every Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian village, the first week I lived at Discovery Bay, it scared the crap out of me!

The gentle rain, maka showers, my crew used to call pineapple juice. It was a refreshing part of the day, that's for sure.

Have some garlic chicken and pupus at Chart House for me! Also, coco curry house ichibana, up on McCully, SO GOOD!

Aloha Tat!
Funny, we went over to the "village" this past Friday to watch the fireworks as well go listen to music at the Tapa Bar.
The video that I took while sitting on the beach, watching the fireworks came out crumby, dang it!

And funny #2, we had just been talking with a couple from Arizona who asked us where they should go eat, somewhere around the village and at the place that we both blurted out, Chart House!

AND I had no idea that the Curry House was still around!!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Lunch with Our Old Friend --- Japanese Food today ---
Restaurant Kunio



We started with Kirin Ichiban


along with some sushi


… and one more sushi to start out


Katsu and Shoyu butterfish bento box


Shrimp Tempura and Yakitori bento box


Nabeyaki udon

*burp*
we all walked away from the table STUFFED!!!
DH and Old Friend sat on the bench outside for a while to chat and digest while I went next door to do some shopping (we don't have a Party City in Arizona, dang it !) … what a wonderful afternoon
We all said that we really won't need dinner


**Author's Note : You'll notice Old Friend's forearms in the background of some of these photos. As a Native Hawaiian, traditional tattooing is a privilege that is earned, and boy has he ever earned his. Each tattoo has a meaning and story to them. Not only Hawaiian Men have traditional tattoos, women do as well.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

This is my DH's souvenir he brought back from Hawaii
A replica Koa Outrigger Canoe
GORGEOUS isn't it ?




We stood there and looked at for, oh I dunno, maybe 5 minutes when the shop's manager came over, "Can I help you with something?"
DH: Yes, is this the REAL price of this canoe?
Manager: Why yes it is
DH: Is this REAL Koa wood?
Manager: Yes, it is but I can call the owner who knows the craftsmen personally to verify that...
.
.
.
(a few minutes later)
.
.
.
Manager: Yes, Mister So-and-so will send you certification of authenticity if you like
DH: Well, I need to think about this, it's not cheap, but it sure is a deal for REAL Koa wood
.
.
.
All this time I hung back to give him his space to chat and decide on his purchase, so was another gentleman, whom I overheard whisper to his wife, "If this guy doesn't buy it, I WILL!"

HMMM
So I stepped up to the gal as DH started to walk away to think about it and I drilled her with more questions, not allowing Mister Vulture to swoop in
.
.
.
WE GOT IT!!!
Now, getting this home was a whole other bag of snakes !!!
The shop has stopped shipping ANY of their sales because of the liability. The different shipping companies have damaged far too many pieces of art work for them to continue to do so.
But being the resourceful person that I am, I went to the discount store to buy a hard-sided carry-on bag for the airplane ride home, along with a big bag of Styrofoam peanuts and loads of bubble wrap to secure the canoe farther.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That is beautiful.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

That is beautiful.

Isn't it PF?
I was so nervous the entire plane ride back to AZ until we got home and I opened up the case and unwrapped all of the piece, all the while holding my breathe.

 

[Kayelle]

It's just gorgeous Kgirl, and belongs in your Arizona home!!



I'd love to see more pictures of it from other angles..on maybe a solid tablecloth? How big is it?

 

[buckytom]

Very cool. I've been working on designing an outrigger for my aluminum canoe.

K-girl, you totally need to photoshop pics of you and Mr. girl (that doesn't sound right) with paddles into the canoe.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I don't think I shared about the fantastic farmer's market that I went to every Saturday, did I?
KCC Farmer's Market is da bomb!!

Oh my gravy all over my two scoop rice (that's OMG! in my world)!!

(Part one, only because I can only fit 15 photos per post )


… this is at 730am, when they first opened


you can not only find food, but absolutely beautiful orchids too ...






any sort of fruit or veg, you can get here, and it's GOOD!










Japanese Cucumbers are SO very different from English Cucumbers, we ate these every, single day that we were in Hawaii!!!










this photo didn't come out great, but there was this nice older lady selling Butter Mochi and a very small stand, YUM!!!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Part two of the KCC Farmer's Market …


… there's a Shrimp Farm out in Kahuku and a friend of mine started, oh my, maybe 30 years ago I think, and they are HUGE and delicious !!


and these Green Onions, MAN! Huge ...


My favorite Bahn mi shop now sells their breads, this sausage in pastry dough was a great grab-n-go breakfast


… and their bread was fabulous with dinner!


(from the bottom going clockwise)
local apple banana, mango, honey tangerine, local papaya, more Japanese cucumber and Chinese Peas (Snow Peas), oh I forgot the Kamuela (the Big Island) tomatoes that DH said were the best he's ever had... OH MY!!!


Add in some of the local fish and poke and we were feed well

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

It's just gorgeous Kgirl, and belongs in your Arizona home!!



I'd love to see more pictures of it from other angles..on maybe a solid tablecloth? How big is it?

Kayelle, the canoe is 26"h x 12"w x 20"l … my camera is charging back up and I'll more photos for you later...

Very cool. I've been working on designing an outrigger for my aluminum canoe.

K-girl, you totally need to photoshop pics of you and Mr. girl (that doesn't sound right) with paddles into the canoe.

What a great idea BT! I told DH what you said, he laughed and said that we should!!