On Friday morning, my first order of business was to mail MY package to myself. I mailed out the coconut butter, poke seasoning, granola and tea, along with the clothes I’d already worn. I was bringing my NEW clothes back in my suitcase WITH me! The Post Office opened at 9:00 a.m. and I walked over there, arriving at 9:10 a.m. The same guy who’d helped me the previous afternoon helped me that morning. “Why you here so early?” he asked. I explained that I wanted to get it over and done with, first thing. He asked if I’d be back again that day. It WAS a possibility. He also told me what their hours were for Saturday, just in case!
Since my friend had said that he’d be by after lunch, I had time to sunbathe. My last hour by the pool was so relaxing. After showering, I was hungry, but waited ’cause I didn’t want to miss my friend. Of course, that’s when my cousin decided to call me and say that they’d pick me up that afternoon. When I texted my friend to see if he’d make it, he was stuck in a meeting. That made me cry a little bit ’cause his friendship means a lot to me, I had something specific I wanted to say and I’d been so sure that we’d see each other on this final day. My Aussie friend was shopping at Ala Moana and wanted me to join her, but I couldn’t do that, either. It was as if I was in limbo and was disappointed, to say the least. Eventually, I couldn’t take the hunger and dashed down the street to McDonald’s. Can you believe the McDonald’s in Hawaii not only has rice and pineapple, but linguica, Spam and teriburgers?! I dragged a teriburger and fries back to the room, ate and waited.
My cousin (V.), her husband (M.) and their son (K.) picked me up around 3:30 p.m. K. is 22 and goes to college in Phoenix; it was our first time meeting. M. wanted to go to the Eat the Street event in Kaka’ako, which I’d mentioned to them earlier via the phone. Since it took us a moment to figure out the actual location, we got there shortly after it started. Eat the Street is a monthly event of 40+ food trucks with live music and a drinking area. One of their neighbors even had a food truck there featuring “deconstructed” musubis. When they introduced me to him, rather than a handshake, he gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, Island-style. We made the rounds twice and had a drink while deciding what to eat. Garlic was this month’s theme. There were many interesting choices – smoked salmon macarons, red velvet malasada cheesecake, kim chee bacon, etc. K. had huli huli chicken. M. ate BBQ twice – the second time being a grilled cheese pulled pork sandwich. For a moment, I considered the crab cake po’ boy, but knew it was way too big for me to finish. Since I was still full from McDo, the best I could manage was a tomato basil pie, which was really fresh. V., who admitted to being very picky, only wanted lumpia from Elena’s Filipino Food. My Aussie friend texted to ask if I had plans for sunset, but I told her that I’d probably still be with my cousins.
After Eat the Street, it was time for DRINKING! First up was The Mai Tai Bar at Ala Moana. It was already packed, but we managed to find a table after a few minutes. That gave me a chance to speak with K. a bit more, too. As it got closer to 8:00 p.m. and the crowd started to pick up, we left and went to Mezz 127. Once the band there was finished, we headed over to Gordon Biersch in Aloha Tower, who also had live music. The band that night was Backwards Shaka, who we really enjoyed. We even took pictures with the lead singer. I initially thought that his name was Vance, but now I think he goes by “Fence.” They dropped me off around midnight. As I was getting ready for bed, V. called me on my cell. She said that M. and K. had been worried because some strange guy had walked into the hotel right after me. I assured them that I was fine, although said guy had gotten into the elevator with me. “Thanks, Dad!” I teased M.
