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Where to get the Best Poke on Oahu?
Poke (pronounced POH-KAY) dates back to the ancient Hawaiians who would feast on freshly caught fish massaged with sea salt, seaweed and crushed inamona or kukui nuts. Since then poke has grown and evolved, in some circumstances, drastically. As immigrants from all around the world, and especially places like China and Japan, began arriving in Hawaii, new flavors began to shape poke. While the more traditional Ahi poke is made with tuna, shoyu (soy sauce), sea salt, green onions, Maui onions and limu, visit any poke shop in Hawaii today and you can find a wide array of flavors and options including kimchee shrimp, furikake salmon, miso tako (octopus), pipikaula…
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7-Eleven in Hawaii
It may sound crazy to anyone that has never been to Hawaii, but on the islands, 7 Eleven is one of the absolute best places to get a quick, cheap meal or snack. From ramen to sushi, hot dogs to sandwiches, Hawaii’s 7-Elevens have something for everyone and it’s not the lowest quality food you might imagine. I am in no way a food snob and I will proudly say certain gas station hot dogs aren’t bad. I on occasion have even purposely chosen to eat a gas station hot dog, whether it was from the ampm up the road from where I grew up or the 7-Eleven across the…
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Moss Slides
I had heard about Oahu’s moss slides since I first moved to Oahu. I saw posts about them on Pinterest and Facebook. I heard different people talk about them. I always had an idea of where they were at, but it wasn’t until my last month on Oahu, that I actually set out to find the moss slides and I am so glad I did. Located not too far off the beaten path, the moss slides are a gorgeous, secluded, fun way to spend an afternoon. Including a few detours and the time we spent at the moss slides out entire hike (out and back) was just over five hours,…
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H3 Summit Saddle – Preparing for the Stairs
Stairway to Heaven is probably one of the most popular, illegal, hikes on Oahu and from the minute I arrived on Oahu, my husband started harassing me to do this hike. I can’t deny I was drawn to the stairs climbing up the side of the Koolau mountains and would stare at them every time we took the H3 into town, but I heard too many horror stories. To start off, even before I had arrived on Oahu, the neighborhood, where hikers would access the stairs, had hired private security to stop hikers from entering and to report any illegal trespassing. Supposedly the guard is or was easy to bypass…
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Springtime Temperatures Call for Banan
Spring is in full swing here in SoCal and summer is fast approaching and that means the temperature is on the rise. As the days get longer and hotter I find myself craving a sweet treat in the evening, but nothing here seems to hit the spot like Oahu’s Banan. Frozen yogurt, soft serve, I’ve tried it all and yet I still find myself craving the sweet, cool, amazing creation that is Banan. Created by four guys with the idea to turn fruit into ice cream, Banan began selling banana based soft serve out of their roadside food truck December 2014. Based on a simple farm-to-table philosophy Banan has grown…
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Happy Birthday Teddy’s Bigger Burgers
This week Teddy’s Bigger Burgers turned 21! On April 15th, 1998 the first Teddy’s Bigger Burgers opened up at the foot of Diamond Head on Oahu serving fresh ground chuck burgers, fries and shakes. Today Teddy’s can now be found all across Oahu as well as on Maui, in Washington, Iowa, and even internationally. For a while there was even one located in Fullerton, CA, not too far from my hometown. (Although I never ate at this location, it was always on my list to try.) Teddy’s may not have been my #1 burger on Oahu, but it definitely became a big part of my life on Oahu. Burgers are…
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My Unpopular Opinion – The Pig & The Lady
Years before I even had any inclination that I would ever visit Hawaii let alone live there, I had decided that before I died I needed to try The Pig & The Lady. Known for their amazing Pho, that wasn’t what drew me there. I knew I had to go to The Pig & The Lady because they had a full dessert bar! Now I don’t mean they had a large dessert menu or a dessert buffet bar, they have a full dessert bar set up just like a traditional bar. You have your bar area, with your “bartender”, and stools that you can sit at all along the bar…
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Mermaid Caves
If you google Oahu Mermaid Caves you will be treated to hundreds if not thousands of photos and tourists (and even some locals) talking about these gorgeous and mysterious caves located on the west side of Oahu. Post after post will tell you how difficult these caves are to find and to get down into, but the pictures convince you that it is well worth the effort and the risk. You will find photo after photo of crystal clear waters and gorgeous caves, exactly like what you would imagine mermaids would hang out in. You will be convinced that if you ever got to Oahu, you will need to find…
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The Difference Between California and Hawaii
Disclaimer before you read this blog post, this is fresh anger and me venting immediately after an incident. These are purely my angry, unfiltered, and unsupported opinions. I know these are vague generalizing statements and that there are both good and bad people everywhere. Please don’t take anything in this personal, and if you are easily offended or upset please read a different post. Unless you have been living under a rock the last few weeks you are probably well aware of the Super Bloom taking place here in California. California is no longer in a drought and thanks to the crazy rain they received this winter, California’s hills, valleys,…
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L&L – Hawaii vs California
Right around the time I moved to Hawaii one of my best friends moved to Chicago. After both of us had lived in our respective new cities for a few months, I remember texting him about how it was living in Hawaii, the good, the bad, the different. I don’t remember how we got on the topic of food or what his exact words were, but my friend sent me a text message saying something along the lines of, “I bet the food there is so good, no gross L&Ls around.” Little did he realize, or I for that matter, when I moved to Oahu, L&L is everywhere on the…
