My friend had to cancel breakfast on Tuesday morning ’cause he was sick. Thus, I lounged by the pool a tad longer than usual.
Still feeling cultural, I headed off to Iolani Palace. The last time I was in the Palace was probably 1994. They no longer offer guided tours, only audio ones. Entrance was $14.95; less than the $19.95 for Bishop Museum. Shoes must be covered so as not to mar the floors. The Palace is decked out with oodles of gorgeous koa wood. It’s purportedly the only palace on U.S. soil. I strapped my headset on and began the tour, with my point-and-shoot, DSLR and Samsung Galaxy S4 in hand. My DSLR eventually died because, when the shuttle driver showed up half an hour early to pick me up for my flight, I’d neglected to pack the battery charger for it! About halfway through my little tour, the audio went a little crazy and switched to French. I could still understand part of it until it switched again of its own accord… to Hawaiian! After touring royal abodes in Europe, Asia and now Hawaii, I have one question. Were people really that much shorter back then?! The beds seem small (i.e. short), even for someone of my petite stature! (Whenever I used to book hotels for a guy at work, he INSISTED on a King bed. He said that he was too tall for a Queen bed, and would always have to lay cross-wise, if he wanted his feet on the bed at all!)
Lunch was at Big City Diner. All I had a hankering for was fried rice. Theirs was HUGE; good, but I didn’t finish it. I went to the Mai Tai Bar at Ala Moana afterwards because Josh Tatofi was scheduled to play for the 4:00 p.m. Happy Hour. I ordered drinks and settled in, only to find out that the band had cancelled. So I sat there awhile longer watching basketball surrounded by local guys.
Speaking of poke (we were, weren’t we?), everyone has always told me that Foodland is a good place for it. Since there just happens to be a Foodland in Ala Moana, I went in search of their poke offerings. Let me assure you, they have a vast and amazing poke selection – ahi, tako, clam, mussel, salmon, shrimp and crab. There might have been more, but the number of choices was overwhelming. I don’t eat clams, mussels or tako; and don’t care for ahi or salmon. That left me with crab or shrimp. It was shrimp, all the way. I had a 1/2 lb. of garlic shrimp poke and 1/2 lb. of kim chee shrimp poke. They were both $5.99/lb. Some of the poke, mainly ahi, was as much as $10.99/lb. I also went into Long’s Drugs to make some purchases; I’d promised my boss’ boss’ boss a care package from Hawaii. She’s half Japanese, yet had never heard of the Japanese mochi/nori popcorn that I’ve seen in Hawaii. Her care package will consist of that popcorn, mixed mochi balls, mochi waffle mix, li hing mui kettle corn and li hing mui gummi bears!
Tuesday’s drink stop was at Brasserie du Vin in Chinatown, even in the rain. It was much busier on a rainy Tuesday night than the midweek afternoons when I’d stopped by before. Love their rustic French décor, but the menu seems a little contrived French-wise. The bartender/sommelier, Kevin, came off as a little brusque at first, but warmed up. I had a few glasses of Malbec, plus hazarded a taste of the Sangiovese, though he said that it would probably be too dry for me. I was fine with it, though the Malbec WAS better. As I was leaving, he wanted me to try a mix of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. He described it as floral; tasted like honeysuckle to me!
Oh, and I had my same nightcap again – a Coke and some Maui Onion chips from ABC!
