We decided to drive up to the North Shore this morning to find some local foodie establishments, have some lunch, and then be back for our scheduled appointment at Laniwai spa. As we made our way up to North Shore - we stumbled upon the Dole Plantation and stopped by for a quick visit. We didn't spend a lot of time at the plantation - figuring we would take time to see the plantation and explore the maze when we were back in Oahu in August for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary. We would have the kids with us then.
The plantation visitors' center was a giant store featuring everything pineapple and more. Seth made a bee-line for the back of the store where they were selling the infamous Dole Whip. Before I even had a chance to look around much, he came strolling back with one and had a big grin on his face. The Dole Whip was sprinkled with fresh pineapple and was just amazing. Tim and Lisa had never had a Dole Whip and simply loved it. I picked up a few small things to take home: lychee chewy candy and pineapple/macadamia nut mini cookies. I thought seriously about having some fresh pineapple shipped home but it was about $50 to have 2 shipped. You could get 6 pineapples shipped for about $80 and I considered splitting it with Lisa, but that was an awful lot of pineapple. Each pineapple was around 4 1/2 pounds. Maybe in August, we'll have some shipped home.
 |
| Dole Whip |
This was also when we were first introduced to Li Hing powder.
"The red powder, called li hing powder consists of ground up plum skin that has previously been pickled in a combination of aspartame, food coloring, salt, and sugar. Li hing powder is sold separately and can be used as a flavoring usually sprinkled on candy and other fruits notably pineapples and apples. "
We considered buying some but the expiration date on the package was April so we decided against it. I had grown up on Li Hing Mui - the dried salted plums - as a kid. We had the opportunity to try the powder the next day at the swap meet.
As we exited the Dole Plantation Visitors' Center, there was a small tent with the sign "Farmer's Market" on it that we went to check out. It wasn't exactly a "market" - just the one tent - but there was a huge selection of pre-cut fresh fruit. Lisa and I each bought a sampler container with fresh mango, papaya, coconut, sugar cane, and a small banana - I think it was $6 or $8.
We got back in the car and continued north but missed the turn off towards Haleiwa so we stopped at the beach just north to take a closer look at the ocean, waves, and the "surfing capital of the world".
 |
| Butter Garlic shrimp from Macky's Shrimp Truck |
Check! Another stop ticked off our list of "things to do in Oahu". Our next stop kind of surprised me. Just down the street from Macky's was a small ukelele store. Seth turned immediately into the parking lot because he wanted to buy one! This store was full of real ukeleles in all different sizes and some were beautifully carved and decorated. Seth spoke briefly with the guy in the store and soon we were on our way out the door with a new ukelele.
Next, about 1.5 miles down the street was Matsumoto's Shave Ice. Parking was a bit of an issue - we had to park down a side street and walk over - the line was out the door. Seth was skeptical about this place despite the fact that in 20 years of marriage I think I've only steered him wrong a very small handful of times (fodder for another blog post altogether). Seth bought a Matsumoto tshirt while I ordered us each a shave ice. Seth wanted the Matsumoto which was pineapple, coconut, and lemon. I ordered the Hawaiian which was pineapple, coconut, and banana. We figured that a small was just about the right size.
So here's Seth before the shaved ice:
...and here's Seth with the shaved ice:
Suffice it to say, Seth is a Hawaiian shave ice convert now. It's hard to describe what makes shaved ice different than a "sno cone". The ice is shaved very finely and the syrup they used isn't that icky overly sweet sugary syrup that goes on a sno cone. The syrup is much less sweet and the flavors are distinct.
At this point, it's time for us to grab some lunch before the drive back to Aulani. Lisa wanted to have sushi for lunch so she "yelped" it and found us a place called Shige's Saimin Stand. We google navigated to the place in Wahiawa. As soon as we walked in to this teeny hole in the wall, it was obvious that they did not serve sushi. We pondered for a second on what to do but first asked what "saimin" was. I had to google it. Saimin is home made noodles in a broth with meat and considered a traditional state dish of hawaii - the locals' favorite comfort food. We had stumbled upon a traditional food of Hawaii that was not on my list - and quite off the beaten path too. Like Li Hing, this food was very local and not mentioned in any of the reading that I did preparing for this trip. Lisa and I each ordered the Wuntun Saimin - home made noodles in a shrimp broth (Lisa tasted it and although she didn't like shrimp - she thought the broth was delicious) with BBQ pork, pork won tons, and Spam. Yes, that's Spam which I had always heard that the Hawaiians were very serious about their Spam. The saimin was delicious and I have to admit that I liked the Spam even better than the BBQ pork. I'm glad the noodles were not Udon - I don't particularly care for "fat" noodles.
Following our delicious traditional lunch (for at least Lisa and I, the boys had cheeseburgers), we headed back to Aulani for our 3 pm appointment at Laniwai. We got back to our room at around 1:30 and changed into our swim suits. Seth and I both had a traditional Thai massage and reflexcology scheduled. I had forgotten to pack "loose" clothing (oops #2) so I brought my pajamas instead (a t-shirt and short pajama bottoms). We arrived to Laniwai at around 2 pm so we could enjoy the Kula Wai - their outdoor hydrotherapy garden. We were checked in easily and were given some fruit water to drink and were asked to close our eyes and choose a meditation stone. I chose "strength" and Seth chose a stone that said "happiness". We were then led down the transformation corridor by the CM to the reflection pool where we dropped our stones into the small pool fed by a tear drop water feature that slowly dripped water into it. Our CM was kind enough to offer taking our picture for us.
We were then assigned 2 separate CMs that took us on a tour of the facility. We walked through the locker room where I was assigned a locker with a very nice robe and slippers - the locks were digital and easy to program. The CM gave me an overview of the locker room area - showers, toilets, women's relaxation room, a sauna, and steam room. She then led me outside and showed me the hydrotherapy garden and co-ed relaxation room. Before going back into the locker room, she stopped to ask me about my favorite scents - giving me several to choose from: jasmine, tuberose, ginger, lavender, coconut, etc. I chose the coconut scent and while I returned to the locker room to change, she "mixed up" a coconut scented scrub for me and gave me a small container full.
Seth and I met up in the hydrotherapy garden and soaked for a bit in one of 2 hot tubs. I had read earlier that the hot tubs were infused with herbs but this was not the case. Both of the these hot tubs were just clear water. We then walked along the reflexology path (which didn't feel great for me because my feet were sore and tender from the amount of walking we had been doing and a flare up of my plantar fasciitis prior to leaving on this trip). We tried out the rain showers which were pretty cool. 6 different rain showers - some shot warm water at you from above, some from below, and one from the sides. They were fun and when we couldn't get 3 of them to operate correctly, we asked a passing CM and she had someone come out immediately to show us how to activate the showers. We weren't standing close enough to the sensors and he showed us how to get them to turn on. We went back to the locker room to change and then relaxed for a bit in the co-ed relaxation room on very nice lounge chairs that had pillows and a soft blanket. There was someone totally asleep on one of the loungers curled up in a ball under the soft warm blanket. There was a table with fruit water, some mini muffins w macaroons on top, and chocolate covered fruit. We didn't wait here long before we were called back for our massages.
I had never had a traditional Thai massage but Seth had one in Vegas and just loved it so I booked us each one. I thought they had said something about putting us in the same room but we didn't end up in the same room for the rest of the afternoon. I had my Thai massage first while he had his reflexology session first and then we switched. I liked the Thai massage - it was a LOT of stretching but since I was just wearing my pajamas, I got pretty cool and at one point and developed a cramp in my toes when the therapist was doing a stretch move. I had also injured my right wrist during a Tough Mudder in Austin last October so a couple of the right arm stretches didn't work out very well. There was also a great deal of acupressure during this massage which reminded me a lot of the deep tissue sport massages that I had had in the past - it's definitely not for the sensitive or squeamish. Overall, I liked the traditional Thai massage but I think I like the deep tissue massage better. The reflexology was awesome - feet, hands, and scalp were all massaged and it felt great after the Thai massage. In between the 2 massage sessions, I was offered water and a small square of guava jelly.
I didn't realize how long these massages had taken - it was after 5:30 and we had dinner reservations at Roy's for 6:30. I went ahead and showered and changed in the spa. The showers were very nice, super clean, and I really didn't want to ever get out of those comfy robes. I checked out at the front desk and they were nice enough to leave a message for Seth telling him that I was leaving to go up and get dressed for dinner. I used the balance on our Disney Visa rewards card and ended up paying just $94 for all 4 massages.
We met Tim and Lisa in the lobby and, on wobbly legs, made our way to Roy's for dinner which was just down the street at the country club. We were seated immediately and ran into our one and only real meal snafu of the trip. With Lisa's life threatening tree nut allergy, both Lisa and Tim always very carefully assured that everything that Lisa eats is tree nut free and has had no chance of cross contamination with anything containing tree nuts. When Tim explained to our waiter about Lisa's tree nut allergy - he repeated back that she had a peanut allergy and, quite honestly even to me, seemed a bit cavalier about his mistake. If you work in the food industry, saying "Don't worry, we deal with peanut allergies every day" doesn't inspire confidence for someone with a severe tree nut allergy.
When our waiter returned to take our order, he, again, mentioned Lisa's peanut allergy and had to be corrected. This made Lisa feel very very uncomfortable. After our orders were placed, we had a discussion amongst ourselves about how the waiter made a mistake, not once but twice, regarding Lisa's tree nut allergy. Lisa can eat peanuts without problems but any nut from a tree results in immediate life-threatening anaphylaxis so this was very very serious and we just didn't get the impression that the waiter understood that. When the waiter returned again, I spoke up and asked to speak to the chef of the restaurant. We weren't angry or upset, we were just all feeling very uncomfortable with his assurances that he understood the nature of this allergy. Seth and I have dined with Lisa and Tim enough to now also get that "comfy" vibe vs the "not-so-reassuring" vibe from wait staff. This was definitely not a confidence booster.
The waiter immediately told us not to worry, that there was no need to speak with the chef, that he had taken care of it and that his wife had a shellfish allergy so he understood. Sigh. Another tip for those that work in a restaurant, when someone asks to speak to the manager or chef, it's best to just go and get them. We finally got what we thought was a manager and could hear quite easily that the waiter was letting the rest of the kitchen staff know about Lisa's nut allergy. We all felt much better about our meal.
I had the Uncle Roy's Pulehu combo which was salmon (overcooked but I'm very picky about my salmon), BBQ shrimp (not anything like the ones from the shrimp truck but good nonetheless), and BBQ short ribs which were my favorite. I enjoyed my meal but have to point out that Lisa's butterfish was outstanding and on our next trip to Roy's - which we are planning on in August - I'll probably order the butterfish.
 |
| Lisa's Butterfish |
 |
| Happy Birthday to Tim! |
 |
| Celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary |
No comments:
Post a Comment