Food truck

Polynesian Cultural Center Oahu Hawaii All you can eat!

So it’s Monday and we have tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie on the North Shore of Oahu. Our tickets include the Island buffet plus the show known as Hã Breath of life

But first things first. Bron offered to make pancakes for breakfast. 

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We then go for a snorkel at Kuilima Cove

 

 

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After the snorkelling we got ready for the Polynesian Cultural Center by stopping at Tita’s Grill on 56–485 Kamehameha Highway, Hauula, HI 96717.

I went with the garlic prawns and garlic chips. The prawns come with rice and macaroni cheese. The chips are covered in crushed garlic. I felt like a clove of garlic all afternoon and evening. 

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The prawns were really good and as is my want to avoid mess and give me a calcium boost I just pop an entire prawn in my mouth and chew the whole thing down. The chips came with a dipping sauce which I think was a mayonnaise. I’d happily recommend Tita’s Grill’s garlic prawns to anyone. You may want to go for the combo which I think has its own small serve of chips rather than the standard serve of chips that I had in addition.

When we got to the PCC we watched the canal presentation with the various Polynesian islands represented. We also watched presentations on Samoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Tonga. 

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The Samoan presentation was all about the coconut and its many uses. I learnt so much about the coconut tree and how it can be used. 2015.04.20_15.36.03_004_GARY_LUM_FB

The Aotearoa presentation was interesting. It was nicely ended by a tribute of respect to all warfighters. Veterans in the audience were asked to stand and be acknowledged. I hope this Saturday on ANZAC day they do something special given it’s the centenary of ANZAC.2015.04.20_16.00.51_003_GARY_LUM_FB 2015.04.20_16.00.57_002_GARY_LUM_FB 2015.04.20_16.02.42_001_GARY_LUM_FB

The Tongans were all about drumming and making the audience laugh. I haven’t laughed like that in years.


Before the show we ate in the Island buffet. There are three dining selections depending on how much the tickets cost. I went with the cheapest option so we ate at the Island buffet. It was an all you can eat affair featuring pulled pork, fried chicken, poached fish, rice, mashed potatoes and gravy plus desserts consisting of jelly, mochi, haupia pudding, pineapple slice, cakes and bread pudding. 

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The show at the end was really good and almost like a Disney production in terms of quality. It was the life story of Mana and Lani and worked through the various Polynesian peoples. I was particularly taken by the Fijian effort given my father was born in Fiji. 

All in all the PCC was really very interesting. The price of tickets is quite steep but the owners claim it’s a not for profit affair.

 

I highly recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center

My first Hawaiian food truck experience

There is a small food truck scene in Canberra but Hawaii is the home of food truck. 

Today we completed our third day on our Hawaiian holiday adventure. It was a big day. I think it’s the first day I’ve not done much walking but I’ve eaten way over and above what I needed to but everything I ate I wanted to eat.

The day started with you guessed it…SPAM! Yesterday I restrained myself and bought only two cans of SPAM (heaven in a can). For this morning’s breakfast I chose the chorizo version. It had a lovely smoky spicy flavour. The eggs were also good topped with a little Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses! 

My mini tower of SPAM
My mini tower of SPAM
Two thin slices frying in PAM olive oil spray with some Challenge Butter. The smell was divine.
Two thin slices frying in PAM olive oil spray with some Challenge Butter. The smell was divine.
Here's the Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses!
Here’s the Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses!
The egg yolks seem paler than back home but they cooked very well.
The egg yolks seem paler than back home but they cooked very well in the butter.
My breakfast of chorizo SPAM, fried eggs sunny side up and cheese
My breakfast of chorizo SPAM, fried eggs sunny side up and cheese

After breakfast we went for a short walk to Kuilima Cove. We had to walk through the Turtle Bay Resort which is a very large golf course resort that overlooks the Turtle Bay beaches, coves and other geographical spots.

Apparently this cove is good for snorkeling which we plan to do tomorrow.

Kuilima Cove
Kuilima Cove

 

After a short walk on the beach and a sit on the sand to watch people we went for a drive west along the north shore. 

Bron has been great driving the Impala. The traffic today seemed very thick and slow moving. 

Bron mentioned we should try out a pie at Ted’s Bakery. Apparently Ted’s pies are world famous. When we walked in there were plenty of people in line to buy pies and other pastries. We went for a chocolate haupia cream pie.

Ted's Bakery's Chocolate Haupia Cream pie
Ted’s Bakery’s Chocolate Haupia Cream pie
Ted's Bakery's Chocolate Haupia Cream pie
Ted’s Bakery’s Chocolate Haupia Cream pie

Haupia means coconut I think. It’s a good thing I like coconut jelly dessert  The chocolate wasn’t too sweet but the whole thing was a little too smooth and not much texture. That said, it was a pleasant morning tea.

One of the things you apparently do is rip off the label and stick it to the pole of the table umbrella. We did it!

The pole of the table umbrella is adorned with stickers
The pole of the table umbrella is adorned with stickers

After our morning tea we stopped at Sunset Beach. This is a really nice stretch of sand with beautiful water and a view of the Pacific Ocean. The sand is quite coarse and it’s easy to pick up large chunks of bleached coral. 

The east side of Sunset Beach, North Shore Oahu Hawaii. Dare I say, this is a lovely beach but no better than any of those on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane and the Queensland sand is orders of magnitude finer and whiter than the sand on Oahu's North Shore.
The east side of Sunset Beach, North Shore Oahu Hawaii. Dare I say, this is a lovely beach but no better than any of those on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane and the Queensland sand is orders of magnitude finer and whiter than the sand on Oahu’s North Shore.

After a spot of people watching and sand sitting we ventured off for some grocery shopping and then had lunch at a food truck. 

This was to be our first Hawaiian food truck experience. We chose Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp (prawn). Bron went for the classical garlic butter and I chose hot and spicy prawns.

They were really good. Like a good oriental I chose to eat my prawns shell (including tail) and all. It’s nice to add a bit of calcium carbonate to the diet. With each meal you get some rice that has the sauce from the prawns soaked in plus some crispy crunchy lettuce in a ranch dressing plus a slice of delicious fresh pineapple. We look forward to doing many more food trucks. 

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After quite a lot of sand and sun and food we headed back to the condominium for a rest. 

Later in the evening I made salmon and salad Saturday!

A nice healthy way to finish the day…well the croutons, bacon bits and almonds may not be that healthy but the currant tomatoes were amazing. So sweet.

Salmon and Salad Saturday in Turtle Bay Oahu, HI
Salmon and Salad Saturday in Turtle Bay Oahu, HI

Have you eaten from an Hawaiian food truck? What did you have?