08/29/07

This was our final full day in Hawaii for our way-to-short vacation. I had to get back on Thursday night so that I could pick-up Matthew on Friday from his vacation with his grandparents and cousins and get back for our team basketball practice. We had leftover fried rice and malasadas for breakfast since we got up to late yet again. We tried to visit the Iolani Palace (the home of the last monarchy in Hawaii) in downtown Honolulu, but couldn't find parking after driving around and around, until we just gave up.

We decided to do some sightseeing and take in more of the natural beauty of the island and drove up to the Pali Lookout. It's been a while since I had been up there, and as usual it was windy and drizzly up there. Took a few photos of the gorgeous lookout and the town below before hitting the road again. When I stopped to get out of the car for a quick photo of the foliage, I was immediately attacked by vicious mosquitoes! Next, we took the road down into Kailua.

On the way down, I stopped for gas and needed to use the restroom, but the station didn't have one. Some little old Japanese lady who worked there had no Aloha whatsoever, and growled at me, "No, we don't have a public restroom". Sheesh! Next we drove around in Kailua and stopped at the beach there.

It was getting to be lunchtime, and since we didn't have much of a breakfast, started looking for lunch place. Once again we turned to the Mouji-boy (via IM) for some advice on grinds in the area, and he looked it up on the web and found us Boots & Kimo's. It really is a hole-in-the-wall, but was crowded when we got there. The place is very tiny and crammed with sports memorabilia (mostly football and mostly the Denver Broncos). Their specialty is the pancakes/waffles with the "original macadamia nut pancake sauce". Holy smokes, was that sauce amazing! So buttery-rich, maple-y and nutty. Must have had about a million calories though. L had the Paniolo (cowboy) omelet which was stuffed with corned beef hash and soft, rich cheese from the Big Island; very yummy too! I'm getting hungry just thinking about that place again.

After breakfast, we came across a Don Quijote store (which bought out the Daei chain) in Kailua and went shopping there. It's kind of a local version of a Kmart which is based in Japan. The thing I remembered the most about it was the fresh fish market and the case full of over a dozen kinds of Poke!

After buying a few more goodies to take home, we continued our sightseeing tour and went to Waimanolo and enjoyed the gorgeous beach there. The color was incredible, and since this was off-season and school was back in session, this beach was just about deserted!

Drove some more and kept going around the windward side of the island. L wanted to stop at the Makapu'u lighthouse but I wussed out since it was supposed to be a 45 minute hike to the top. Drove back into Honolulu and finished up our shopping (Sam's and Wal-Mart again) and returned the defective snorkeling gear. Went back to the hotel to shower and dress up for our fancy, romantic dinner at Alan Wong's.

Alan Wong's

Hot California Rolls ... But with No Rice

Roasted pepper tomato soup

I was really looking forward to this evening since I'd never been there before, heard about their reputation for gourmet food and thought this might the time for something "extra" special. Even though the restaurant is very famous in Hawaii, if you didn't know where it was, you'd never find it because it's in a totally non-descript, 3-story office building in an average business district on King street, with no sign on the building. Only the valet in front gave it away that the restaurant is in the building. It's only listed as if it were just another business in the building with those little plastic letters on the list of building tenants. And unless you're familiar with the place, are facing the wrong direction when the elevator opens on the opposite side and the host/hostess is right outside the door (probably laughing at the newbies). The inside was very neat and contemporary but nothing spectacular. Business was steady but not really busy as this was only a Wednesday night. But there looked like as many employees working there as there were guests, to maintain the high level of service, I suppose. They first served us homemade French bread with an amazingly buttery wasabi miso aioli. (Mmm!) We started our meal with the "Hot California Rolls ... But with No Rice" appetizer. OMG, what a decadent dish, made with lobster mousse instead of rice, with avocado, Ikura (raw salmon eggs) and some other kind of fish eggs! It was an awesome way to start the meal. L had the "Hamakua Springs Tomato, Beet and Avocado Salad” (Baby Red and Yellow Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Roasted Beets, Avocado, Hilo Hearts of Palm, with Li Hing Mui Ume Vinaigrette) and I had the daily special roasted pepper tomato soup (had some barbecue sauce and goat cheese mixed in) which was pretty good, although a bit of an odd combination of flavors.


Hamakua Springs Tomato, Beet and Avocado Salad	Ginger Crusted Onaga	Twice Cooked Short Rib

By now I was already starting to feel full, but when my Ginger Crusted Onaga (Long-Tail Red Snapper Miso Sesame Vinaigrette, Organically Grown Hamakua Mushroom and Corn) with the garlic mashed potatoes (which tasted like potato flavored cream!) came, I had to finish it all (except for a smidgeon of the potatoes). L had the "Twice Cooked Short Rib" (Soy Braised and Grilled “Kalbi” Style short ribs, with Gingered Shrimp, and Ko Choo Jang Sauce). Wow, those short ribs cut like butter and had an incredible flavor. The desserts looked so good, but we were both so full (L still had lots of meat left over) so we passed on that. But, I was really intrigued by the "Coffee Menu" (akin to a wine list, with different gourmet coffees, each with histories and vintages). Even though the coffees on the list went from $5 up to $9, I had to try some, and went with "Alan Wong’s Private Label Kona Coffee Regular Roast". The coffee was served in a French press, with real cream and two kinds of rock crystal sugar. The coffee was pretty good, but I'm not sure if it was from the beans or just from the cream and sugar!

So, it was time to relax with my cup of Joe, with my g/f, after a wonderful meal, and time to talk about some very important topics. But, since we were sitting out in the middle of the floor, and there were waiters and waitresses coming by our table every 3 minutes, I figured I'd wait until a more private time. Anyways, that was probably one of the best meals I've ever had, even though it was quite pricey.

We headed back to our hotel to wash up before going out for a romantic walk along the beach at night. With the construction going on next door, it was somewhat tricky to walk around the fenced off area to make it to the beach. We walked for a while but then decided to just sit on a bench and relax. We chatted a lot and watched the people walking by, and I thought maybe this would be the time. But, then the conversation turned very serious and I wasn't in the mood any more to bring up my important news. So, we strolled back to the hotel and called it an early night and ended a wonderful day with just the two of us in Hawaii.

On our final morning in Hawaii, we were just enjoying ourselves in the hotel before checking out and in the middle of our conversation I pulled this little black box out with a ring in it and asked L to marry me, and she agreed! And so, the new journey begins...

(Note: Oh, and BTW, there is no date set yet. We have a ton of issues to resolve first, before we get to that stage, but we're definitely heading in that direction!)