Hawaii 2011 Part III

The Food

I don't know about you but I can remember places I've been or things that I've done because of the food involved.   This trip was no exception

One stop was in Haleiwa and my favorite shave ice place - Matsumoto's

I love this place.  

Did you know that our name could be Matsumoto and not Takahashi?  A few generations ago in my family history there was a Takahashi who had 6 daughters (sounds familiar).  One daughter married a Matsumoto but kept the Takahashi name so it would carry on.  That's the line I came from.

We made a lot of meals at home as well.  Luke seemed to like it.

We stopped by Costco a couple times to pick up food and other things.

Like the fruit smoothies that they don't have at Costco in Canada

We did order a Costco Pizza for our first meal in Hawaii.

BBQ Tri-tip with Chef Mike

We used the large kitchen alot.

We checked out out a frozen yogurt in Honolulu - Menchies

You could add whatever they had - I added mochi

Luke and Alana left on Monday night.    

Before we went to the airport we stopped at Teddy's Burgers in Waikiki.  Great burgers

On Wednesday we went to the Swap Meet at Aloha stadium.  After we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Honolulu.  

Old Spaghetti Factory

Close to Laie in the town to Kahuku is the Kahuku Grill.   I'd have to rate it better than Teddy's.  Bigger, tastier burgers and a smaller price.  And its owned by Angie and Mike and Erika's Stake President.

 The burger

 Coconut Shrimp Plate

Fish Combo Plate

I also had another first.  I've been to the Dole Plantation before but never had the pineapple Dole Whip so this time we went for it.  

 It was Tyken approved.

We also sampled Malasadas

The best way to describe them is Hawaiian donuts

Anyone who know me know I love Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network.  When I found that Guy had been to the Poke Stop in Mililani and it was just of the freeway on our way home to Laie I had to stop.

Poke is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine.

Its like flavored sashimi.

I got some poke to go.  I had to have my picture taken by the Guy Poster.

So now I have been to 6 places Guy has been to in 4 different states.

Mike and I loved it.  I don't think anyone else even wanted to try it.   

Did you know you can buy poke at Costco in Hawaii?

Hawaii 2011 Part II

BYU - Hawaii Graduation

On Friday there was a special evening for the graduates and their guests.    Judy and I accompanied Erika. There was some speakers and a different buffet tables set up around the room.   My favorite was the sushi table (sorry no pictures of the food because there were plates in both of my hands)

There were some speakers but the highlight of the program for me was Joseph Ah Quin.  He's a Laie resident who has been singing for years.   We were sitting in the front row and he sang Let There Be Peace on Earth and the Laie Song.   During the second song he came and shook my hand and held it for a close to uncomfortable time.   I visited with him later and when I told him I was from Canada he told me he studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and has performed at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary.

Joseph Ah Quin

If you grew up in the Church you have seen Brother Ah Quin before but you probably won't recognize him.   He is one of the main characters in the original Johnny Lingo.  

He was Mahana's father Moki and he had the best line in the movie.

Who can forget "Mahana you ugly!"

Saturday was the graduation.  We went and got these seats that Luke said that his dad would approve of.  We had a good view.  We were "stacked" as opposed to being spread out along one row.  That allows us to visit easier.   We were also on a corner so it made it even easier to visit. Luke said "Scotty would be proud of us".

Elder Nelson was the guest speaker.  Here is Erika shaking his hand.   

 In Hawaii they load up the graduates with lei's.   

 It was great to have the entire family together.

Hawaii 2011 Part I

On April 7th we headed to the airport to catch a flight to Hawaii.
We were going for Erika's graduation ceremony.  And to visit our grandkids of course.

There was a direct flight from Calgary to Hawaii but because I'm too cheap to pay the extra $60 per person we had a 2 hour lay over at YVR (Vancouver Airport).  Nice face Jamie.

I can only think of two things I don't like about going to Hawaii.  One is that my butt doesn't do good on flights longer than 3-4 hours.  (Plus I had a bad experience on a flight once that still seems to affect me,  It will have to be a blog entry for another day)   The other thing I don't like is coming home.   

Our first views of Hawaii as we prepare to land.  

It was evening by the time we arrived in Laie on the North Shore of Oahu.

  Brylie had this great sign on their door to welcome us.

When we originally planned our trip to Hawaii Alana and Luke weren't going to come.  They didn't know if they could because they were waiting for Alana's visa to go to the USA.  Alana did get her visa but they planned a trip to Arizona to visit Luke's parents.   A couple weeks before we were to leave we did get tickets for Alana and Luke to join us.  They flew in from Arizona for a few days.  But we didn't tell the folks in Hawaii.  We wanted to surprise them

Alana knocked on Angie's door.  Angie was surprised

5 of my girls and Luke at Angie and Mike's.

We didn't see Erika until the next day because she was studying for 2 exams.  

When she saw Alana she was even more surprised than Angie.

We rented this house for 10 days

There was a large common area were we could hang out.  

WARNING:  The next picture contains nerdy stuff.  Viewer discretion is advised

I brought some things from home so we could have our own network.  My accessories include at wireless router, a VOIP box and a phone.  So we had wireless internet and our second phone line from Calgary working in Hawaii.

The house was only a couple hundred feet away from Pounder's beach. 

Our house was to the right at the end of the beach

and through this path

The first morning Judy and I spent some time with our grandkids.

Judy did some serious reading with Tyken over breakfast.

And then we walked Brylie to school.
(What a great backdrop)

More pictures to come.