Hawaii 2012, Day 3

Sunday was another great day. We drove out to Waimanalo to meet up with a colleague who had just retired, and to deliver a package that I'd carried on the plane for him. I guess we never drive out on the windward side on a weekend because I was struck by the fact that I'd never seen so many hand made signs enticing people to stop by for homemade food, flowers, coconut water. I really wanted to pull over for some smoked fish, but we had places to be.

We met up with our friend in front of the Akebono statue in Waimanalo. He took us to a new farm, close to the Ko'olaus, where we met up with the young folks running it.

Its an amazing piece of property, with loads of different fruit trees and exotics. It was fun to hear about their plans and work, while chewing on cinnamon bark and . They've done an amazing amount of work in a short amount of time.

We saw these cute toads sitting in post holes on the property.

Then we went to Sweet Home Waimanalo and had some yummy vegan food. Or at least I did! A fake meatloaf sandwich. What's not to like? If you're in the area, I highly recommend this place.

The ladies we met last trip at the Nene Goose Bakery had recommended Big Country, a bar in Waimanalo, for local music. We stopped in on the way out of town to see what the deal is. The deal is that tourists must not go there very often because it was if the needle slipped off the record when I walked in. It looked like a cool place, but sadly we had to make a choice between staying at Big Country or going to see Led Kaapana that night. We decided to go see Led.

He was amazing, as usual. Warmed up by playing a full set over the sound of the radio. Then he played his set at the usual time. Funny. His sister accompanied him this time, and there were dancers who sometimes did their hula on top of the bar.

The highlight, though, was meeting a nice family from St. Louis who were huge Ledheads.  By the end of the night we'd given them our recommendations for things to do and to see on the rest of their trip. We had a nice time chatting with them, and that was really the first time we'd met people along the way on a trip.

We said good night and went on our way.

Hawaii 2012, Day 1

The usual events took place: we flew, we went to La Mariana for lunch, we checked in.

We'd hoped to find something new to do, so we went to a tourist bar to see some music. It was Friday night in Waikiki. What were we thinking? The amusing / weird part was leaving along the beach and noticing that the band had turned around to play to a woman in an incredibly small bikini. She repaid the compliment by playing air guitar and, well, air humping the short fence that keeps the beach people separate from the bar people. Oh Waikiki.

After a call over to Chuck's Cellar to see who was playing there, we trudged through the sea of humanity and metallic-painted street entertainers to take refuge. We sat at the bar and listened to Betty Loo Taylor play everything from Round Midnight to My Love Does It Good.

The bass player arrived partway through the set, and none of the house equipment was set up. As he reached over the bar to plug in an amp, I noticed that the third plug of his power cord was missing. I said "Are you going to get a shock, plugging in that un-grounded plug?" which is exactly what happened as I was saying it. Betty Lou and the drummer didn't miss a beat while all of this (and a blown fuse, subsequent search for appropriate power outlets, finding one, guarding the power cord so nobody tripped, taping the cord to the floor, putting out a "wet floor" sign over the taped down cord) was happening. Chuck's was perfect for us last night. We'd heard that our aunt was dying, and the music and setting were such a comfort. Jazz piano reaches deep inside both of us as a reminder of our parents and others of that generation who we love.

Later we headed down Kuhio to our hotel on foot. It's sketchier than Kalakaua, but I'd rather dodge minor street action than mimes, tourists and professional moonwalkers again. Our dinner at Chiba-ken was a perfect way to end the evening.

So concludes day 1.

Hawaii 2012, Day 2

We just had a few simple goals: KCC Farmer's Market, Heiva I Honolulu (Tahitian dance festival) at the Waikiki Shell, and dinner with the Farmer's Daughter. Mission mostly accomplished.

KCC was terrific. It's surprising how much busier it is than in January when we usually go. We completely revitalized the economy by buying crazy vegan / raw food, poi, sweet potato cookies and fresh-bbqed abalone. This was my first abalone experience and I'm sorry to say that I didn't care for it.

Streets in Honolulu were blocked off for the St. Patrick's Day parade, so we kept our car up the hill and walked down to the Tahiti Fete.

It was hot and sunny. When we got to the Shell, we noticed that there weren't any seats in the shade, so we passed. We did, however, sit in the shade outside the Shell and cool off while listening to the music. On the way back up we could see the backstage area. Reminded us of the Aloha Festival, minus the fog and goosebumps.

Pho 1 was as cool, crisp and delicious as I remember. Antique Alley was its sweet amazing self. The owners are friendly and knowledgeable, and always have a story to tell.  I found some really weird ephemera to bring home. This is the only place in Honolulu that sells old, weird stuff and gives you a sense of adventure. I highly recommend it.

Our trip home took us past the convention center, just in time to see many cosplay folks leaving the anime convention.

The centerpiece of our day was hanging out with the Farmer's Daughter and her lovely husband. We went back to La Mariana for this, which was the perfect setting. No St. Patrick's day nonsense, a completely mellow setting. I know we just met, but I have missed her, and it was fun to meet her husband, whose blog name is just formulating. We're going to meet up later in the week for a little business and a little pleasure. FD and I are trying to see if we can find a way to work together...

Tomorrow we're headed to the farm...

Poi, My Boy

One night while working in Japan I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. Thus started my interest in taro and poi.

I turned on the tv and found what seemed to be a travel show. A woman with a traditional newscaster's mic walked up and down rows of very tall taro plants. She parted the leaves of one row to reveal two ladies eating their lunch in the taro patch, under the shelter of the huge, heart-shaped leaves. Then she interviewed them. Hilarious!

The next segments dealt with getting the skin off of the taro. Various methods were explored, including using a wadded up piece of aluminum foil as a scrubber. Then they showed a traditional method in which a wooden cage was placed in the narrow spot in a stream. The force of the water rotated the cage, and the taro rubbed against each other and the cage.

Then to the studio, where various minor celebrities cooked baby taro roots on George Foreman grills. I'll never know what this show was about, but it made me curious about taro.

About a year later, a small group of us played Hawaiian music at a friend's wedding. As part of the buffet, there was poi. I'd never had it. I asked Auntie to take a picture of me, I was so excited. It was tasty. It had a slight perfume of violets. I started buying poi at the store when I came across it. Mrguy won't touch it.

After my amazing poi experience in September, I really wanted to know how to make it myself. I steamed some taro and pounded it while watching the Golden Globes. Super tasty. Nutty. Not like my first taro or the taro I get from the store. I can't wait to learn more.

Monday is our poistravaganza.