My first trip to Hawaii (Part II)

Random snack #1: BOY chips, adobo flavor.




For our boy, Alex. Who is at home, minding Tar-tar. And likes adobo.









We found the chips at Sueoka's grocery store. I also found a cat.













Random snack #2:


Papaya.

I guess I have never had fresh papaya before. It tastes like potpourri.

Gack.



Random snack #3:



The snackers: mosquitos.

The snack: Wisa.

By the time we got to our house, she had gotten four or five squeeter bites. They sure do like native blood.







Oki Diner!

















Typical Hawaiian eats: loco moco, saimin, mac nut pancakes, spam fried rice, etc.



Yumi and I split the pancake special, which consists of two pancakes, two eggs, and Portugese sausage.

Good, fluffy cakes. Nicely seasoned sausage. Perfectly manageable for two people.













Toru & Mich split the loco moco and saimin (not pictured).













Large. Intimidating. Salty. Good.

































Franco & Wis split the same pancake special. It comes with three different syrups: vanilla, coconut, and strawberry. I think they're a mixture of coconut milk, sugar, and strawberry or vanilla. They have the consistency of yogurt, come in little refrigerated Tupperware containers, and are super sweet. The others liked them, but I was too busy wrapping little pieces of pancake around my Portugese sausage.

Thumbs up! If you're in Lihue and are looking for solid diner snacks, go here.



Puka Dog!


So the reason Yumi & I went halves on breakfast is that we were saving room for our Puka Dog lunch.









What is a Puka Dog, you ask?

Puka means 'hole.' This place bakes their own buns then pokes a hole in them with a dual-duty hole-poker/bun-toaster thing. Then the bun is filled with your choice of sauces and your choice of dog.

How do you order your Puka Dog? So glad you asked...






















































Dinner at Trish's sister's giant rental house!



This is Pam, Trish's sister and Wallace & Gromit's momma.

(Kidding. His name's not really Wallace.)

There was fried chicken, the most amazing roast pork, salad, kalua pig, roast duck, and lots of beautiful fruit.














Oooh.












Aaah.
















While Pam, Mrs. Wong, and the aunties did all the work, the rest of us sat around...
















...took photos of each other...














































...and Gabe played bartender.



















We all know how much Trish likes her booze.












My plate: Kalua pig, fried chicken, rice, and fruit, fruit, fruit (no papaya, though).

If I lived here, I would eat nothing but pineapples & mangoes.
























Jeremy tries to eat in peace...















...with little success.



















Most of the food came from a nearby Chinese restaurant. Don't know the name of the place, but everything was really yummy.




The roast pork was juicy, salty, and had lovely, crispy skin. And the fried chicken was awesome.



















There are an awful lot of free-range chickens on Kauai, so it's no wonder the chicken was so good.

Some years ago, there was a hurricane that destroyed a chicken farm. Ever since then, Kauai has been overrun by chickens.

Of course, I don't think you're really allowed to catch the chickens and eat them. But if I lived here, I'd certainly take advantage of the free chickens. And the eggs.

I'm just sayin'...