08/28/07

Day 3 (8/28)
Since we were getting more used to the time zone we got up later today and just ate the Leonard's malasadas we bought last night for breakfast, with coffee. After that, I dropped L off to do a "make and take" craft demo (making flowers from some special kind of Japanese clay) at another hotel with her friend S while I went shopping for new shoes (since I also forgot my dress shoes at home too!) because we had a couple of dinner plans for the next two evenings.

I drove to several places around Honolulu until I found some shoes at Sears on sale (except it was one of those BOGO sales where I had to buy another pair to get 50%, so I bought some cross-training shoes too, even though I didn't need them right away). I did some more shopping 'round and 'round the Ala Moana shopping center and spent some time looking for that Crack Seed store. But I was having some problems due to the construction going on from the addition of a new Nordstrom's, which blocked off much of the parking structure around the mall. I finally found it and got a bag of Li Hing cherries (hard to find those on the mainland that taste as good) and a mango boba drink.

Kaka'ako Kitchen

Ahi Wasabi Wrap

Furikake Chicken

L called me to pick her up and I headed back to Waikiki to get her but made a wrong turn and got stuck in some horrible traffic on Kapiolani Blvd., since it was lunchtime and there was massive construction on that street also (with a huge sewer line sitting in the middle of the street. It took me about 20 minutes to get to the far end of Waikiki from Ala Moana, picked up L and then came back to Kaka'ako Kitchen across from Ward Center for lunch. I ordered the Ahi wasabi wrap (it looked much better than it tasted... the fish wasn't very fresh) and L had the Furikake catfish tempura (which was excellent!). We spent the rest of the day shopping for omiyage (gifts to take home) and souvenirs at places like Costco, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, etc., and got stuff like School Kine cookies, Hawaiian T-shirts, Hawaiian lunch bags, mac nuts, Kona coffee, etc.

The Side Street Inn Pork chops

Our wonderful hosts, Lil, Lance and Dave

Their famous Kim Chee Fried Rice

Later that evening we went to pick up Dave (since his car was on the fritz) near his house and met up with Lance & Lil at the Side Street Inn restaurant. It really is located on a side street, just up the street from the Ala Moana center, right by a bunch of strip clubs. Not the most friendly looking neighborhood. But this is a local watering hole frequented by many of the top chefs in Hawaii such as Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi. There didn't seem to be any tourists in here, the place was really busy and noisy on a Tuesday night, and even a couple of people were even singing karaoke! It's basically a bar & grill with some pretty good eats, although kind of pricey. We had their famous fried pork chops, kim chee fried rice, and steamed garlic clams (very garlicky!). But, the main reason we went out was to catch up with my ol' webbie friends and we had a fun time with them, chatting about all sorts of geeky stuff. Thanks for dinner and the Aloha, guys!