The commissary has recently been putting out a selection of in-season Hawaiian fruits and Jarrod and I decided to try this bad boy yesterday -- a dragonfruit, possibly the most interesting-looking fruit I've ever seen! You prepare a dragonfruit like you would an avocado (incidentally, not counting the green parts that stick up, it's about the same size as a large avocado) -- slice it in half lengthwise, then scoop out the fruit with a fork and slice it into chunks. The flesh is bright pink with black seeds and has a very unique taste and texture. It was sort of like a mushy watermelon combined with a kiwi. Very sweet and juicy, but with a slight undertone of something else. I'm glad we got our dragonfruit, just to say we tried it, but at $4.49 a pound I don't think we'll be sampling another one until next summer!
The clear bubble part sits on top of the water while the stinging tentacles (or whatever you'd call them) dangle down. Man-o-wars are different from jellyfish because they have no way to propel themselves through the water -- they just go where the waves take them. The very first man-o-war I saw (pictured below) was the biggest one I've seen yet. It's body was about a foot long and the tentacles stretched five or six feet! (Look at that white shell for perspective.)
