Kona Brewing Company

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to become a beer drinker. It seems like every place we go has different and unique regional beers and I want to be able to partake in the beer-sampling fun with Jarrod! Hawaii boasts a couple brewing companies, the most famous of which is Kona Brewing Company. The brewery and main pub are located in Kona on the Big Island, but there's also a KBC restaurant on Oahu featuring delicious food and the whole variety of brews. Longboard Lager is the most popular choice; it can be found in some stores on the Mainland and was featured in a recent episode of "Hawaii 5-0." While the various beers are still growing on me, I absolutely love the beautiful Hawaiian-themed artwork on all the bottles and packages of KBC's "liquid aloha."

"Murder on Moloka'i"

A friend and fellow fiction fan from work loaned me "Murder on Moloka'i," the first in the "Surfing Detective" series by local author Chip Hughes. The book features Kai Cooke, a PI whose other passion in life is surfing. The book is a murder-mystery about an environmental activist who dies while on Moloka'i's mule tour to the leper colony at Kalaupapa. Her mule trips and falls, pitching her off a cliff, and her (estranged) sister doesn't think it was an accident.

The writing and plot were decent, not the best or most original murder-mystery I've ever read but still an enjoyable book. I really liked the Hawaiian element, though. I watch "Hawaii 5-0" (not quite the best show on TV right now) occasionally for the same reason -- it's neat to read about and see places we've been or want to go. This book includes scenes on several Hawaiian islands. Incidentally, my friend gave me the book at the exact time I had been researching a quick getaway to Moloka'i. The island sounds like the antithesis to bustling, over-populated Oahu. It's uncrowded, has pristine and unspoiled beaches, and doesn't even have a stoplight. The scenery appears to be stunning, and I have no doubt that the atmosphere would be relaxing. Other than lounging on the beach, we'd like to take the mule ride to Kalaupapa and visit the leper colony there. "Murder on Moloka'i" includes some history on Saint Damien and the colony, which I'll be glad to know going into the tour. Conditions at Kalaupapa were horrible for the exiled lepers, until Saint Damien began caring for patients there in 1873 and made it his mission to drastically improve their quality of life. After years of dedication to the quarantined patients, he succumbed to the disease himself and died in 1889.

Aside from giving readers a history lesson, Hughes does a great job depicting Hawaiian culture and the atmosphere of the islands. I enjoyed his usage of Pidgen and Hawaiian words, although readers unfamiliar with the language might need to look up a few terms. Hughes does italicize most Hawaiian words, and they can often be figured out in context. Here are some common Hawaiian words used in the novel:
-akamai: smart
-moke: big, local Polynesian guy (as in physically huge)
-ono: delicious, as in food (i.e. ono grinds); hot/sexy, as in physical attractiveness (ono wahine)
-wahine: woman
-kane: man
-mahu: homosexual
-haole: white/Caucasian person
-pali: cliffs
-paniolo: Hawaiian cowboy
-ohana: family
-aina: land
-mahalo: thank you

I'm planning to soon read the next two books in the series, "Wipeout" and "Kula." The latter book deals with a surfing dog, and since dogs are a topic close to my heart I'm looking forward to this book in particular. I'd definitely recommend reading Chip Hughes' series for a taste of the islands!

The Anatomy of a Mochi Ice Cream

Since we arrived in Hawaii nearly a year and a half ago, we'd often seen mochi ice cream for sale but had never tried it. I was once tempted to order one at Bubbie's, our favorite ice cream place, but since Bubbie's is really far away and an extra-special treat I just had to go with my usual haupia chip ice cream. (Haupia is Hawaiian coconut pudding, and Bubbie's homemade ice cream is absolutely amazing.) My only other experience with mochi was so-so, as blogged here, so I was reluctant to spend much to sample mochi ice cream. However, I recently noticed that the commissary carries a brand of mochi ice cream and last week my curiosity finally overcame my frugality and I forked over $3.50 for a box of six.

As soon as the first bites were in our mouths, our tongues were saying, "How could you go 18 months without treating us to this amazing melding of flavors?" and meanwhile our waistlines were saying, "Uh-oh..."

Each mochi ice cream is about the size of a small clementine. The mochi itself -- made of smashed, sweetened rice -- is a bit sticky, so each ball is dusted in flour. The mochi is sweet, chewy and has a mellow but unique flavor. And inside that is a ball of vanilla ice cream. (Or whatever flavor you choose.)

Mochi ice cream, as my husband so succinctly put it, is addicting! The box of six I bought on Thursday has long since been demolished, and our taste buds are already craving more!

Swimming with the fishies

Jarrod and I recently went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and had a fantastic time. We had fun taking pictures with our underwater camera and got some really great shots this time. Unfortunately, the camera battery died just before a sea turtle went swimming past us! As we were swimming with our turtle friend, we happened upon a huge blue and yellow eel with his mouth open and teeth pointed at us; it would've been an awesome picture. I guess I learned my lesson about making sure the camera battery is fully charged before all excursions! Nevertheless, we still managed to take over 200 pictures. Here are a couple of my favorites:

A humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Hawaii's state fish:

A pencil urchin, my all-time favorite picture with the underwater camera (taken by Jarrod, of course):

Bright pink coral: