Taste of Hawaii

My family gets together every Sunday for dinner at my Grandparents home on the Eastern side of the Island. Our Christmas activities have just begun and it seems that everyone is constantly shopping for more and more Christmas gifts and planning games and activities for the holidays. I chose to tag along with my Mom and her sisters, and spent a girls day out visiting tons of stores and malls in Hawaii (this is something I never do in Chicago). The stores were packed of course, but I was not interested in the shopping, instead I was craving all the wonderful foods the island has to offer. From start to finish, I was spoiled by all members of my family who knew what I had been missing. My grandparents have already cooked some delicious Hawaiian food and my grandfather made sure to mix poi today! One can be assured that my taste buds are content, and remembering all the tastes of Hawaii.


I have so far enjoyed sushi, sashimi, Zippy's Saimin, L&L Plate Lunch (an island Classic) and my favorite dish: Korean bbq and bubble tea at Pearl's bbq in Kunia, Oahu!



Pearl's BBQ



My two cousins, Jadie and Sadie smile beside me after a long day of roaming Kahala Mall and still finding very little interest in anything.



After a delicious lunch at Assagios Italiano Ristorante, in Ala Moana Shopping Center, my two younger brothers and I smile for my dad behind the camera.



A view of the sunset from the ONLY monorail on the island.


Unlike Chicago, Hawaii has just one transit system on the island, and that is The Bus. The bus system in Hawaii seems to have declined in it's efficiency over the past two years and there has been much talk about building a monorail and/or train system on the island. This has brought about many mixed feelings as to how islanders are reacting in regards to the creation of a transit system that will further westernize the natural beauties and landscape of the island. There is however, one monorail that does exist on the island to connect two hemispheres of a gigantic mall in Pearl City, Oahu. My youngest brother, Amir, enjoys his visits to Chicago because he has the opportunity to travel in new ways by riding the Amtrak, Metra, or CTA. The Pearl City monorail is Amir's favorite thing to do while at that mall. In a way, that one monorail gives Islanders a peek into what the mainland has running throughout much of it's vast and spacious land, and the experience of riding the monorail gives a glimpse into a larger world of mass transit but at a much smaller and stress-free scale. It is almost an amusement ride rather than a transit system. Nonetheless it does make children smile.


Aloha Oe.