We ate breakfast at the Liliha Bakery again this morning. It is still within walking distance, still open earlier than most of the other places, and we were up bright and early again, so it was a no-brainer. This time I skipped the waffle and opted for an omelet. It was served with a scoop of rice which is definitely not a thing in Utah. 😂 Kevin ordered a pancake. Yes, a single pancake. But it was the size of a frisbee, so it was plenty of food! And it was a good pancake, light and fluffy, good flavor, probably going to end up ordering one of my own another morning.
This morning’s adventure was to the swap meet held at Aloha Stadium. For those who don’t know, the swap meet is the place to find most of the same souvenirs and island products you can get at other locations for much better prices. The weekend swap meets are bigger, but today was the day that worked best with our schedule and I didn’t have a super long list of items I was looking for, so smaller was just fine. We picked up some coral earrings, puka shell bracelets, and several other fun items. We even found a bracelet that has Malia’s name on it! Her name is never included in the prefab personalized items you can usually find at all the tourist traps, but around here, it is pretty common. It is a Hawaiian name, after all. 😉 The vendor even provided us with a made to order one when we asked if she had the bracelet in another color. Malia will be much happier with green rather than pink and it only took her about five minutes to make a new one, so it all worked out perfectly.
When we finished our shopping trip, we joined my parents for lunch. After listening to one side of an entertaining phone conversation between my mom and her half-sister, my Auntie Pat, our afternoon plans shifted and we headed off to Pat’s house. My Auntie Pat has a lot of fabric that she is trying to downsize. On their last several Hawaii trips, my mom has come home with suitcases full of fabric, so I knew that my Auntie Pat had a lot, but honestly, I was not prepared for how much fabric she actually has. She has a very comfortably sized house and every time she opened a new door or cupboard or closet, it revealed yet another space completely filled with fabric. She would rather give it to people she knows will use it, hence sending it across the ocean with my mom rather than sending it to good will, so my mom just shows up there knowing that there will be stuff to haul home. And is happy about it. And my dad just smiles and nods…and occasionally rolls his eyes when my mom and my auntie aren’t looking. 😂 This time around, I’m pretty sure they are going to need to buy a new suitcase to get the latest stash home. But my folks assure me they know just the place to get one cheap, so it’s not a huge issue. We may need a huge suitcase though!
So, here’s the funny for today. My Auntie Pat is not a big woman. She’s a tiny little Chinese lady who has gotten even tinier with age. I’m married to a big white guy whom my auntie has never met. When we walked into her house this afternoon, she looked up and said, “He’s enormous!” Ahh, the lack of tact that the elderly have earned through many years of living! Sometimes I think they are just tired of biting their tongues instead of saying exactly what they think, and due to their years, assume everyone is too polite to do anything about it. And honestly, I think they’ve earned the right to just lay it all out. 😂 But Kev is a good sport so he took in all in stride. At home my half Chinese self may be in the minority, but around here, Kevin is definitely the one who stands out. 😉
Let’s talk a bit about Don Quijote. No, I don’t mean Don Quixote, the novel. I mean Don Quijote the Japanese discount store. Think Walmart with an Asian flair. Apparently, this is the place where my mom likes to buy all her chocolate covered macadamia nuts because they are cheaper than anywhere else. Apparently, this is also the place to buy a cheap suitcase big enough to haul a mighty load of fabric or smuggle a person into the United States. And since my parents have a mighty need for a container to transport all of my Auntie Pat’s fabric donations back to Utah, they suggested we have dinner at Don Quijote.
That didn’t make much sense to me at the outset, but on arriving at the aforementioned store, I discovered that they have a variety of quick service restaurants lining the outside front of the store as well as a covered area with a bunch of picnic tables where you can eat. It was an eat whatever you want kind of situation, so after perusing the options, we each made our selection and ate before doing our shopping.
Upon entering the store, I discovered that apparently, this is also the place where you can buy just about every Asian food item known to man. Kevin has talked about the onigiri, Japanese style rice balls, he ate on his mission, and we actually had some decent ones when we ate lunch at the Ala Moana shopping center yesterday, so we were on the lookout for some of the flavoring packets Kev remembers. We found an entire aisle of them and selected a few that look tasty. Our goal wasn’t to take a bunch of them home, but to find a few so that I could use the ingredient lists as a starting point for replicating the flavors in a Matthew safe version. I’m particularly careful of internationally prepared food items as each country has different food labeling laws, but I like to give my kiddos opportunities to try as many foods and flavors as I can, so I’m always on the lookout for things Matthew and Malia can try. Anyway, we read a lot of labels, picked up a few things and called it a day…while my mom was zooming around the store with her shopping car. The Parkinson’s slows her down, but with a shopping cart to steady her, she left us in the dust. 😂
