Hawaii 5-0

Aloha!

Today was a fun day infused with the Aloha spirit! I went to Okole Maluna with Nacole and Jason for lunch and had some amazing Hawaiian food! Nacole ordered an appetizer of Tako Poke, which is Japanese octopus.

Nacole loves octopus! I've had octopus salad in another restaurant, but not like this... this was mostly octopus and onions. And you could see the suckers!! That is where I draw the line! I tried one sucker-free bite (which was actually pretty good) but couldn't bear to look at those little suction cups. I was even going to take another bite, but realized it had a big ole sucker on it and accidentally flicked it out on the table! It scared me! I asked Nacole if the suction cups stuck to her teeth as she chewed them up... apparently they didn't.

Finally our meals came. I got the Kalua Pig (slow-roasted pork), which was SO good, I was sad when my food was gone! It also came with some lomi-lomi salmon and Haupia coconut cream pudding, both of which I've had before and love! Nacole also had pork, but hers was Lau Lau, which is served in taro leaves...also VERY good! Jason had some teriyaki chicken and even though I'm not a huge fan of teriyaki, this was so good I'd order it.

Why, oh why did I wait so long to try this fantastic place? I wonder if I can find something similar in Wisconsin? In order to embrace the Aloha spirit, I am making it a goal of mine to make Kalua Pig...albeit a haole (White person) version.

After our amazing lunch, we went to Nacole and Jason's favorite neighborhood fish/aquarium store to find some new fish for their tank. They had a lot of pretty cool fish, newts, frogs, water crabs, and eels (although eels give me the heebie-jeebies). So there I was, enjoying the beautiful fish, when I turned the corner. The fish guys had gotten some new fish and were introducing them to the water in the tanks, so there was this big 5-gallon bucket on the floor. There on the floor next to the bucket... was a fish. I wasn't sure if it was a fake fish, or a dead fish, or what, so I grabbed Nacole and asked her what that was on the floor. It wasn't moving... just laying there! She confirmed that it was a fish, and being a good citizen (and less bewildered and traumatized than me) went to tell one of the guys at the store. Here's the conversation:

Nacole: Hey, a fish got out.

Fish Guy: A fish got out?

Nacole: Yeah, a fish got out.

Fish Guy: Like...is it a goldfish?

Nacole: No, a big fish.

Fish Guy: Oh, OK, thanks. Would you hold this (he hands Nacole some box for another customer)?

So Fish Guy walked over and picked up the fish with both hands (it was big enough to hold in both hands), and dropped it back in the bucket and said, "Stupid fish, do you want to choose the floor or life? Stay in the bucket!" Then he told us to let him know if it happened again! I was slightly on guard the rest of the time we were at the store, but he didn't jump out again. Although I did have a close encounter with a cricket later.

Then, I met my favorite fish. I shall call him Hootie and he will be my blowfish. Doesn't he look happy?