Kaimusailing

It looked like I’d never get to the Suisan fish market. They close at 3pm and are closed on Wednesdays. We obtained ahi tuna from a vendor on the side of the road near Keaau at $20 cash for a chunk of nice red ahi of about 2-3 lbs. The block of tuna was sliced into 2 inch square logs and they were sliced for sashimi and served with shoyu and wasabi. Best fish in the world.
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My younger brother invited us to Hawaiian Style Cafe, which has impressive 5 star reviews on Google. I like a dish called laulau which is meat wrapped in taro leaves and boiled in broth. I ordered Luau Stew from the menu and I expected something like laulau, for it used the same ingredients, pork and taro leaves. What I got was 90 percent taro, like spinach, with a little bit of pork. I liked the taste of the dish but I wanted more pork and less taro. Laulau’s would be maybe a 50/50 ratio of meat to taro. I wrote a review accordingly. Daughter’s partner also complained about his dish which had lots of noodles, but not much protein. Perhaps other dishes were better, otherwise how come those 5 star reviews.
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Daughter’s partner took the car early in the morning and drove up Mauna Kea to about the 9,000 foot level where there was a visitor’s center that catered to tourists who wanted to know more about the world famous telescopes on that mountain. The telescopes are up near the summit several thousand feet higher. He acclimated to the altitude and then hiked to the summit. The last time he was on the Big Island he climbed Mauna Loa. We were now left with no transportation and wanted lunch. I remembered a good pizza place, but that was years ago, and maybe the pandemic had changed what was available. I found Scicchitano's Pizzeria on Google maps and found we would get free delivery if we ordered today, so we ordered an 18 inch pie, half plain, half their special pie. It was very good.
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Partner returned later in the day and we drove to my brother’s house for pupus and dinner, as well as merlot and as they say here in Hawaii, “Talk Story”. We returned to Hilo and the next day my daughter and partner headed up to Waimea on their way to Kona for a few days get away.
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I enjoyed being by myself, writing and watching some NFL channel on the cable tv. I felt sleepy and decided to go out on the the old bike I had ridden 3 years ago which still had acceptable air in the tires. I rode around the neighborhood to get the blood flowing. Nephew arrived and we drove to my brother’s house in Paradise Park. Aptly named.
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I had volunteered to do any prep work in the kitchen and I found the knives to be dull except for a small knife which I used to chop a head of cabbage into pieces that could be food processed for cole slaw. I could have done that part of the prep too with that little knife. I wanted to watch a preseason football game of the Carolina Panthers but it seemed the game was blacked out in Hawaii and they had instead a show about Terrell Owens, star receiver.
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My brother’s house had be broken into some time ago and I said get a dog. They did get a dog, but the dog only barks when the owners come home, not when thieves are around. She seems shy, maybe was abused by previous owners. I got her to lick some seafood chowder off my finger and then she was my friend, for a while, but later she still shied away from me. At some point she attacked the cable tv cable and chewed it up, exposing the wires within. The tv still functioned normally. We decided to repair the cable with F connectors. I researched the connectors and a coaxial barrel to repair the cable tv cable and found Walmart carried what we needed at the store in Hilo. Tomorrow will be repair day.
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We had burgers and cole slaw for dinner. Most of the local beef in Hawaii is grass fed and the flavor is several notches above what we get in the stores on the mainland. The cole slaw dressing was a recipe that my dad had perfected and now it’s the one they use here.
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The time had come to leave for the house in Hilo and my sister in law gave us more and more food to take there. It’s hard to reconcile the fear of gaining weight versus the excellent cooking.
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When we arrived at the Hilo house the Panthers game was on and I watched most of it. I found out later that the rookie quarterback Matt Corral suffered a foot injury that would probably end his season. He was trying to play his way onto the team. His play was not that good and the injury will probably cause him to be cut. I had tiramisu and pinot noir for dessert then went to bed.
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I was getting fire ant bites in bed, only one or two bites, but it made sleeping difficult. I spent some time playing the Wordle! Tournament. I was behind by 80 points for second place and first place was well over a hundred points ahead. When I was in first place by about 30 points I quit and went to sleep.
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I had leftover seafood chowder for breakfast and a ripe banana. The chowder seems to get better day by day. I found I had relinquished my lead in the tournament. Should have checked on it. Still, 2nd place still keeps me in the Master League.
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The image is from my daughter via Skype from Kona. Nice sunset.