Entries Tagged as 'mai tai'

Drinks at The Beach Bar

March 7th, 2011 · No Comments

When we arrived in Honolulu, we got our rental car*, a Jetta with only 200 miles, and then checked into our hotel. Thanks to Donna and Dustin we were able to get a great friends and family rate at the Moana Surfrider, an awesome Westin resort in Waikiki. We settled in and changed and then headed out for dinner. I know it seems like we ate a lot already, but it was over about a 12 hour timeframe, so really not that much. We checked in at a few of our favorite casual Waikiki spots, Duke’s and the Yard House, but they both had 1-2 hour waits! So we ended up just going to a favorite food court at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. I had some tacos from Maui Tacos and Dallas had some Hawaiian barbecue from Kenny’s.

We went back to our hotel and Dallas was on a second wind, but I was really tired. We decided to just get one drink at The Beach Bar. I had a mai tai** and Dallas had a Kona Brewing Fire Rock Pale Ale, a beer we were going to serve at the wedding. We chatted with the bartender, a local guy who was born and raised on Oahu, and he coined the time there before the wedding as our “pre-honeymoon.” He gave me a flower for my hair and insisted that we get our photo taken. We look very travel weary, but cute still, I think.

Also, so much for weary travelers getting a good night’s sleep. .. the Moana Surfrider gave us not one, but two faulty fire alarm awakenings that night!

* If you are ever going to Hawaii and need a car rental, check out Discount Hawaii Car Rental. The website looks so old and shady, but it really is a great company. They got us the best rates we could find and also found people cars when all the major companies said they were all sold out. Also, the customer service was outstanding and very personal. Thanks to Tien for this find!

** The original Mai Tai was created by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 by combining 2 ounces of 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew rum with juice from one fresh lime, 1/2 ounce each of Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao and French Garnier Orgeat, and 1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup. The mixture is hand shaken and poured over shaved ice with a fresh mint garnish and 1/2 the lime rind. Bergeron used the recipe in his Trader Vic’s starting in 1948, and later introduced the Mai Tai to Hawaii in 1953 in the Royal Hawaiian, Moana and Surfrider Hotels. This version no doubt derives from that 1953 origin. Source.

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Iso Peanuts

June 20th, 2009 · No Comments

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After hiking on Diamond Head we went back to the hotel and lounged more by the beach. Not much to report, except that I found out that I love iso peanuts, which are basically arare (Japanese rice crackers) with a peanut inside. I found this out when I ate the entire bowl of them. Our bartender that day gave me a fresh gardenia for my hair, it smelled divine, and asked if she could refill the bowl of iso peanuts for me. I said “please.. wait.. NO!” I drank a mai tai and Dallas had more Primo beer.

Later on we walked around Waikiki. I saw this cool bike rack.

waikiki_bike_rack

Then I made an appointment at the Apple store because I thought my computer was acting odd. The Apple store in The Royal Hawaiian’s shopping center is the biggest Apple store in Hawaii. It ended up that they couldn’t do much for my computer because they couldn’t replicate the issue, but they logged the ticket anyway in case something happens later. Dallas and I went to Yard House for half-priced appetizers for dinner and then took a nap before going out for the night.

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Keoki’s Paradise: A Kaua’i Favorite

March 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment

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Keoke’s Paradise, Poipu, Kaua’i

After arriving in Lihue, we dumped our bags off at the condo, met up with Dallas’ sister and friends who arrived a bit earlier than us, went to Big Save to grab some beer and other things quick, then went to Keoki’s Paradise. It was our first stop off last time we were on Kaua’i too. A great restaurant for some really good, fresh seafood and a few more umbrella’d mai tais.

John, Susan, Dallas and I had dinner at Keoki’s while Caroline, Dallas’ sister, and her friends Tammy and Carrie just stayed Keoki’s bar for drinks. Our table split some ahi sashimi, panko crusted scallops with wasabi butter sauce, and some mushu pork (Kalua pig, cabbage, and plum sauce with mushu wrappers) for pupus. For an entree I had opah (a white, moist Hawaiian moon fish) saute’ed with citrus, shoyu and sesame butter sauce with garlic smashed potatoes. It was fantastic and a great way to relax and end a really long travel day.

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go!

March 11th, 2007 · 3 Comments

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Drunk Paparazzi in the Honolulu Aiport

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Umbrella Drink No. ?, Honolulu Airport

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Mai Tai at the Mahalo Bar, Honolulu Airport

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Not All of the Umbrellas

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Walking to the go! Plane, Honolulu Airport

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go! Plane, Honolulu Airport

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go! Plane to Lihue, Honolulu Airport

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go!, Honolulu Airport

When we got to Honolulu our traveling wasn’t quite over yet. We needed to take a quick trip over to Lihue, Kauai. Except that our inter-island flight on go! got canceled so we had to wait 4 hours for the next one. Instead of calling up a friend or relative in Honolulu to come get us and get out of the airport, we just killed some time drinking in the airport bar. We had all of our luggage with us and John and Susan were arriving shortly, so it seemed easier to just wait it out than anything else. What a long wait, though. By that time we were in the air for something like 9 hours and just wanted to be at our final destination.

Until recently, Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines were the only two airlines that provided interisland flights. They were pretty much the same, if you ask me, and each charged about $100 each way for flights between the islands. Then along came Mesa Airlines with go! and everything was all shook up. go! decided to do round-trip flights between the islands for half the price of Hawaiian and Aloha – only $100. So, of course Hawaiian and Aloha airlines had to lower their prices and it was a huge controversy and everything. We flew go! for the first time and it was pretty standard. The only sort of strange thing was that you have to purchase any drinks you wanted.. no free POG like Hawaiian and Aloha offer. I always thought it was weird to have drink service on a 20-minute flight anyway. If they want to skip the drinks and offer half-price fares, that is fine with me.

One funny thing is that for the instructions and safety information, go! uses a recording of a guy, maybe two guys, saying it all in a local dialect with some pidgin thrown in. It’s kind of funny. Probably the only time I’ve listened to that stuff in years. They even start out with a good “Aloooooha!” and end with “Ahhhhhhright”. Funny. The only bad thing was that go! is located way out in the commuter terminal, which Dallas said is the really old inter-island terminal. Nothing really wrong with it, but it’s just a hike to walk or take a shuttle to.

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Smith’s Luau – Kapa’a, Kaua’i

May 12th, 2004 · 4 Comments


Smith’s Luau Grounds


Smith’s Entrance


Smith’s Luau Grounds


Smith’s Luau Grounds


Imu Ceremony (photo by Kristin)


Imu Ceremony (photo by Kristin)


Imu Ceremony (photo by Kristin)


Imu Ceremony (photo by Kristin)


Rachelle makes buddies with the Mai Tai Guy


Rachelle makes buddies with the Mai Tai Guy


Dinner entertainment


Dinner entertainment


Luau Buffet
Poi


Candle on our table


Our table


Don’t eat too much at the Luau or this will happen to you!


Dallas learning to Hula (Photo by Rob)


Dallas learning to Hula (Photo by Rob)


Dallas learning to Hula (Photo by Rob)


Dallas learning to Hula (Photo by Rob)


Dallas learning to Hula (Photo by Rob)


Dallas, Kristin, Cousin, Rob & Sarah wating for the International Pageant to begin


Tahitian Dancers (Photo by Kristin)


oooh.. cousin likes them!


(Photo by Kristin)


(Photo by Kristin)


(Photo by Kristin)


(Photo by Kristin)


Expensive Gas

Monday night we went to Smith’s Luau. First thing on the schedule was to attend the Imu Ceremony. It is here that we meet the Smith family, who despite their English name, have a long Hawaiian history. Grandma Smith waves at us, she is 97 years old. Next starts the ceremony. The imu is the underground oven that is used to make Kalua pork for the Luau. The meat is seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt and placed in the Imu. It is then surrounded with banana leaves, which produce a smoke flavor that is called Kalua. The imu is usually about 4-6 feet deep and is lined with lava rocks that get and stay very hot for a very long time. A fire is set and the food is placed inside, covered with banana leaves and other vegetation. This produces a cover and seals in flavors.

There is a short wait while the Smith’s prepare the meat from the imu. We take advantage of this time to start drinking our unlimited supply of mai tais that are included in the price of the luau. We plan a strategy since we know we are going to be cut off the free mai tais in about 1 1/2 hours and also since it is a Hawaiian law that you can only have one drink per person at a time.

When we get to the food it is amazing and abundant. The pork is excellent, as is the beef, and most everything else. I liked the sweet potatoes which were surprisingly purple in color. I tried poi for the first time. Poi is a kind of purplish pudding made from taro. It wasn’t very good. Dallas doesn’t even like it.. which I translate to mean that the haolies don’t have to pretend they do! Everything else in the buffet was excellent. I was introduced to Papaya seed dressing for the first time and loved it. I ended up buying some later on to take home with me.

During dinner we were entertained by some Hawaiian musicians and after dinner they taught people who were selected from the audience how to hula. Somehow Dallas got chosen, which is suspect.. but was very funny. We had a great time laughing at him as he hulaed with the little girls and drunk tourists.

Next we walked through the Smith’s beautiful gardens to the amphitheater to see the International Pageant. Here we saw performances by each of the ethnic groups who have come to call Hawaii home. Each of these groups also did dances – Tahiti, Hawaii, China, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Samoa. My favorite were the Tahitian headdresses, the dance with the flaming poi balls, the huli huli dance with the flowered rattles and when, during the Phillipino ceremony this guy was supposed to be demonstrating how to put a chicken to sleep and it just wasn’t tired I guess. It took a while and made for a nervous moment in the spotlight. We joked for the rest of vacation that at the end the guy just snapped the chicken’s neck.

On the way home from the Luau we stopped to get gas. The gas prices in Kaua’i are about $2.50/gallon plus a $0.47/gallon tax. Expensive!

See also:
» Dallas’ Dancing Lesson 1 (.mov, 960k)
» Dallas’ Dancing Lesson 2 (.mov, 956k)

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