Day #1 in Hawaii: Food Court & Fish (Not Together)

Waikiki, HI~

The Chew		The View
Passian-Orange-Guava Rum Mixers		Brilliant Hawaiian Sunsets

There is something completely mystifying and stupefying about flying into Honolulu International Airport. The way the varying shades of blue and green tease you just beyond the airplane wingtips, or how the never-ending lines of waves seem to crash in slow motion from that far up.

After setting up in our beautiful Park Shore Hotel, the parents and I headed out--for them, to scope the Waikiki Strip, for me, to scope the food. I find some promising, albeit touristy (since we are without our rental until tomorrow!), bites to catalogue for the next 9 days of heaven.

Curiously, we stumbled upon a food court in the International Marketplace. This is an odd confession, but my mother loves food courts, as they often signal the presence of somewhat genuine Asian food (or at least real Asian people). And my Jewish dad, well, just likes food.

I've been to this "marketplace" (really a tourist trap for visitors looking for authentic goodies like oysters with pearls still inside, Chinese jade, and a stiff mai tai), but I never found the food court.

While my falafel gyro ($8) was on a menu alongside Chinese eggrolls, the actual falafel was surprisingly moist. And I've had far too many dry, powdery falafels in my search for a good one. My dad's Vietnamese shrimp springroll was good, but nothing new. So my food adventure in Hawaii begins with a  eclectic start in a affordable way--hopefully this holds through the rest of my trip in Hawaii.

So forget Santa's list. Here's my growing checklist of Oahu restaurants to visit...and you can bet I'll be checking some of these twice (that means you Leonard's!):

1. Tiki's Grill & Bar: I simply remember coming here 4 years ago and loving it. Sometimes nostalgia means more than an average Yelp rating.
2. Leonard's: For those of you who have never heard of the Portugese donut (aka the malasada), wait until tomorrow's post. I'm salivating just picturing those doughy balls of sugar.
3. Waiola Shave Ice: The Shanghai girl in me remembers red bean and condensed milk as a profoundly sumptuous marriage. I'm ready for some shave ice heaped with this and mochi balls.
4. Liliha Bakery: While known for their cream puffs, I'm sworn to secrecy about their lesser well-known dessert cousin. Perhaps I'll break that vow if I can just get my hands on them...
5. Boot's and Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen: You've heard of macadamia nut pancakes. What about panacakes smothered in macadamia nut sauce? Think hollandaise sauce (can you stomach this?) though I sincerely hope it tastes nothing like it.

Locals, feel free to chime in here with the list!

After our food journey and sitting in a plane for 5 hours, I had to jump in the ocean. I ended up grabbing my snorkel gear and randomly choosing the beach outside our hotel for a gander. Only in Hawaii could you take such a chance and reap such a reward. While the rest of the tourist world flopped onshore like a pack of walruses, I was privy to a world of angelfish, parrotfish, humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Hawaii state fish, I swear), and a barracuda (less riveting, more terrifying).

All on the first day. "So it begins," I thought as the wheels touched down on the runway, "the rest of my life." I can truly say that life will never be the same. An astounding week in Hawaii. A life-changing semester in Spain. A completely new and invigorating business venture in my senior year. Then graduation from Academia and being propelled into a completely new, and perhaps indifferent, world everyone likes to call "reality."

Open your eyes to the present, everyone. Life is good.

Nomnom,
The Chew