Saturday, November 25, 2006
[Saturday's Ratings: Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co. breakfast = Ono / Kauai Chocolate Co. = Neut. / Building sand castles & catchin' waves at our beach = Ono / Gettin' all sandy = Ono / Caffe Coco = Ono / Lost Pelican Group = Ono]
Posted at 11:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
There's enough sand in my hair to build a decent-sized sand castle. Dean asked me if I used shampoo when I rinsed it out earlier. I didn't know I was supposed to! Every time I scritch my scalp, my fingernails come out entirely filled under with sand. V., v., v., fun oceaning, out in front of our place. And Caffe Coco was ono grinds. Unbelievably! And completely unique. We've never been to a place like that before. I loved the Lost Pelican Band! The lead singer reminded me of solo Rick, and the other guy played a Hawaiian lap guitar (part of the time), like Richard. That (Caffe Coco) was the best thing we've done on this island! That, and this afternoon's oceaning, #2 best. The Lost Pelicans were covering "He Aloha Mele" when we ordered our food and I knew Caffe Coco was going to be good.
Posted at 10:05:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I tried my "Nuts-O-What?!!" li hing mui boiled peanuts from the grocery store and they are actually good! They sort of remind me of edamame. This morning at a slacky o'clock we went to the Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co. for breakfast and it was good. I had a Bagel Benny, which is half a bagel topped with ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce (there are also non-ham versions), a superb combo. (Like Eggs Benedict, but it was even better.) Kalaheo Cafe has good cappuccinos, too. I like them. We went there last night for coffee while waiting for the super-slacky slackiest business of all time and absolutely do not deserve the ono the book gave them "brick oven" pizza place across the street to make our food after we dissed the supposed vegetarian restaurant in Hanapepe because they only had one vegetarian thing on the menu, and it was stuffed shells (!!!?). Every other dish had fish!
Posted at 2:48:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
"Art Night" in Hanapepe was not much, but it was kind of quaint and appealing. (The whole little town pretty much snoozes except for three hours every Friday night when the shops and galleries and restaurant open.) It was somewhat zzz, but I got to go to the used bookstore [Talkstory Bookstore!] and they had All Stings Considered for half the new price! I have been wanting All Stings Considered for years, ever since I drooled over it at the Kona Borders. It even has a whole chapter on Crown-of-Thorns injuries!! As we were leaving, one of the women in front of the bookstore said to me, "If you stick around, you can get lei'ed for only $5!" I replied, "Oh, boy!" (We did not stick around.)
Friday, November 24, 2006
Posted at 11:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
[Friday's ratings: Smelly Store = Good / Lappert's = Ono / West Kauai Farmer's Market = Neut. / Puka (Gulpa) Dog = Ono / Poipu Beach = Neut. / Spouting Horn = Puh / Hanapepe (Art Night) = Neut. / Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co. = Ono / Brick Oven Pizza = Puh!!!]
All right! Kauai is improving exponentially! "Smelly store," Lappert's, FOAM shop, and silly grocery store with cute signs. Sueoka's. The book lied about Lappert's. Kona Blue Mauka coffee and keiki-sized caramel mac something-or-other ice cream was good. We want to go back and buy a choc chip mac cookie. They looked insanely yummy.
Posted at 12:38:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We had Thai for Thanksgiving last night and it was good. So far I'm 100% on restaurant picks. We'll see about tonight. Vegetarian place in Hanapepe. It's only open on Fridays--Art Night! Drove up to the Waimea Canyon yesterday, and it was grand [and, as a result, impossible to photograph.) Especially the "best view in the Pacific" at the last spot: giant grey nothingness. Cloud. We were cracking up. (It felt nice inside the cloud, though.)
Posted at 11:20:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Kauai = sugar cane, red dirt, a million tiny post offices, clear blue skies with big fluffy white clouds, big sandy beaches, very 3D topography, and so many wild chickens that they're like regular birds.
Dean claims we're each gettin' a puka dog. I'm skeptical but tentatively game. [Edit: We did it! Puka Dog is a very well-designed business. A Puka Dog franchise would make millions. They need to work on their watered-down lemonade, though.]
Thursday, November 23, 2006
[Thursday's ratings: Glass Beach = Neut. / Dunes Beach = Neut. / Waimea Canyon = Good / "Best View in the Pacific" = Puh / Mema = Good.]
Posted at 11:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Cape Cod Beach Dunes. More dunes. My brain is bruised.
Posted at 1:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sug. More sug. Thanksgiving is the day where you're hungry 'cause you can't buy any food because everything's closed.
Posted at 12:50:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
All right, so far we saw a run-down town where everything was closed, a glass sand beach with hardly any glass, and a bunch of junk embedded in a cliffside (historic old junkyard). And the Big Save HQ!
Posted at 12:35:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Hanapepe = home of Lilo and Stitch?!! Too bad everything's closed today, except one postcard store. Even the million-flavors shave ice stand is locked down.
Posted at 11:54:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
[Wednesday's ratings: Flight here = Ono / Pomodoro = Ono / Big Save = Neut.]
Posted at 11:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Dean says Big Save is the best supermarket ever. "It has just what you need and none of the silly stuff."
Posted at 9:22:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Laura says: BORING!!!
["Big Save" is really fun to say, though.]
Mother's special recipe for eggplant parmesean. "There's a lot of love in it."
Posted at 7:25:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Dark roads.
Violin music (Godfather music).
Dim hole in the wall with loud Italians & authentic Italian food = perfect.
DWP's eyes sproinged out! New fav eggplant parmesean ever.
E-est & easiest airport experience ever! (Not including general aviation, of course.)
Posted at 12:39:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Honolulu has a big blue sky with fluffy white clouds (no vog).
SBUX in terminal. (Not very good foam.)
South Kona Fruit Stand lady featured in Hawaiian Airlines mag. Nice 717!
[Edit, 1/21: To get to Kauai, we flew from the Big Island to Oahu and then from Oahu to Kauai. Each flight only took about 40 minutes! Photos from my airplane window: Honolulu, Diamond Head, and our first look at Kauai.]
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Wonderful final Iki, hammocked in a fishing net, up in a tree making lists together. Such fine black sand. I love the sound at Iki.
Posted at 11:22:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Pahu loves their trios. Ending ahi. Goodbye to all my pals--Loli Longs, the fish I saved, the inking octopus and the octy who held my hand, all the crowns. The the sky is so big and black here, and there are so many stars.
Lists Written Together in the Fishing-Net Hammock at Ke-Awa-Iki:
Posted at 2:30:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
New Good Things This Time:
a) Writing notes on my dive slate
b) Using the little keyboard to write entries on Zi
c) Shore diving!
d) New restaurants, including tacos
e) Boat dive with Jeff Jones (non-course)
f) Our big wetsuits
New Bad Things This Time:
a) Kona traffic
b) Vog
Things We Didn't Do Yet That We'd Like To Do in Future:
a) Shore dive at Pine Trees (Pyamid Pinnacles)
b) Go on a dive with Jack's
c) Blue Water dive
d) Go to Ba-Le (order Seafood soft stir-fried egg noodles with fresh baked croissants)
e) Figure out weights for free diving & buy
f) Dive some other sections of Puako
Things We Especially Want To Do Again:
a) "Harrass the Sea" experience with Jeff Jones
b) Snorkel at Iki & Beezer's Buddha Point
c) Rent gear from Big Island Divers and shore dive (Dean XS, Laura Jr.)
d) Hold hands with an octopus!
e) Get li hing mui drink at Cafe Pesto
f) Lounge in the hammock at Iki (& write lists!)
g) Get soup at Royal Thai Cafe
h) Have a picnic with a Senor Nacho's taco salad & a boat sandwich
i) Get shave ice from Kawaihae place (D - passion orange with ice cream in middle; L - li hing & passion orange with ice cream on bottom & li hing powder)
Best of Big:
a) Great restaurants
b) Good shore diving
c) Good snorkeling spots
d) Deserted beaches (like this one)
e) Plenty of vegetarian food
f) Kona coffee
g) Always sunny & warm
h) Nice accomodations
i) Diverse climates
j) Lots of dive shops
Worst of Big:
a) Kona traffic
b) Wind
c) Lots of construction
d) Takes a long time to get anywhere
Most Extreme Experiences:
a) Holding hands with an octopus
b) Handling Crown-of-Thorns stars
c) Seeing an octopus ink
d) Jeff Jones Experience
e) Flying a Cessna over Waipio Valley and the Kohala coast
f) Sushi from the Imari
g) Night dive
Restaurant Superlatives 2006:
Posted at 2:00:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Most Wonderful - Pahu I`a
Most Mind-Bendingly Delicious - Imari
Most Satisfying Food - Royal Thai
Best Service - Pahu I`a
Most Romantic - Pahu I`a
Best Meat - Merriman's
Most Refreshing - Passion-orange shave ice
Most Aesthetically Pleasing - Pahu I`a
Most Marvellous Selection of Food - Palm Terrace
Most Disappointing - Donatoni's & Merriman's Market Cafe
Most Surprisingly Good - Killer Taco's fish tacos
Best New Discovery - Kenichi
Best Take-Away - Senor Nacho's taco salad
Nicest Staff - South Kona Fruit Stand
Restaurants Ranked by Food Only:
Expensive: 1) Merriman's, 2) Imari, 3) Pahu I`a, 4) Kenichi, 5) Donatoni's, 6) O's
Mid: 1) Royal Thai, 2) Palm Terrace, 2) Cafe Pesto, 4) Merriman's Market Cafe
Casual: All equally good (Coffee Shack, Killer Taco, Senor Nacho and Evie's)
Restaurants Ranked by Service Only:
Expensive: 1) Pahu I`a, 2) Merriman's, 3) Imari, 4) Kenichi, 5) O's, 6) Donatoni's,
Mid: 1) Merriman's Market Cafe, 2) Cafe Pesto, 3) Royal Thai, 4) Palm Terrace
Casual: 1) Coffee Shack, 2) Evie's, 3) Killer Taco, 4) Senor Nacho
Restaurants Ranked by Atmosphere Only:
Ex: 1) Pahu I`a, 2) Imari, 3) Merriman's, 4) Donatoni's, 5) Kenichi, 6) O's
Mid: 1) Palm Terrace, 2) Merriman's Market Cafe, 3) Royal Thai, 4) Cafe Pesto
Casual: 1) Coffee Shack, 2) Evie's, 3) Killer Taco, 4) Senor Nacho
Restaurants Ranked by Value Only:
Ex: 1) Pahu I`a, 2) Imari, 3) Merriman's, 4) Kenichi, 6) O's 6) Donatoni's
Mid: 1) Royal Thai, 2) Cafe Pesto, 3) Palm Terrace, 4) Merriman's Market Cafe
Casual: All fairly valued; no one of them is more of a value than another
Restaurants Ranked Overall:
Expensive: 1) Pahu I`a, 2) Imari, 3) Merriman's, 4) Kenichi, 5) O's, 6) Donatoni's
Mid: 1) Royal Thai, 2) Palm Terrace, 2) Cafe Pesto, 4) Merriman's Market Cafe
Casual: All equally good (Coffee Shack, Killer Taco, Senor Nacho and Evie's)
Ice Cream/Shave Ice Joints, Ranked:
1. Kawaihae place near Kohala Divers
1. Kope place in Hawi
3. Fishaholic stand (because they have orange)
4. Kona International Market (fluffy ice)
5. Longs parking lot stand
Shore Dive Spots, Ranked:
(just based on our dives this trip)
1) Puako (x3)
2) 4 Mile
3) Old A (x2)
4) 2 Step
5) Sug
Snorkeling Spots, Ranked:
(just based on this trip experiences)
1) Iki (x2)
2) Beezer's Buddha Point
3) Fishyholic
4) Honaunau
Monday, November 20, 2006
Posted at 3:11:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I'm the Li Hing Queen! Title bestowed on me by the Kawaihe shave ice store lady, so that really means something. Li hing queen = big honor! (They have pretty good Kona coffee at that little market next door, too.)
[What would you do? (Extremely silly [but true] drawing on the next page of blog notebook.)]
I like this guy's music! "She Caught the Katy." He came here just to sit here and look at Puako and listen to his music and play the harmonica.
Posted at 2:14:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
[Dive slate notes from Puako:]
Posted at 1:21:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Such a tease that we can't take pictures on night dives--we saw SO much stuff, so clear, true colors (all those reds!) and right there--echinoderms all out marauding (like I imagined but never saw like this on previous night dives!); all kinds of fish two inches away, staying still, asleep; glowing eyes of fancy red shrimp and lobsters everywhere, cool bioluminescence, see-through microscope-looking animals floating all though the water, a soup of life. I loved the stretched out crawling little white cukes--long and thin, soft-bodied and cute, with Loli Longs-like soft spikes, six or eight inches stretched, but retreating from the light. Hiding under rocks by day, on the prowl by dark. And the BIG pretty sputniks. Those are probably at that site during the day too, but they were really nice. And TONS of stars! Most stars ever. I wish I could remember the first one better. It was red or orange, and slightly softer than the stiff linckias, I think.
Posted at 11:44:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
The best thing was the totally amazing and alien [Keferstein's] sea cucumbers, though. I couldn't believe it when I saw the first one. It was huge! Stretched out in full view, so long, looking like an old-fashioned vaccuum cleaner tube. It was at least two feet long, and seemed longer. Seemed endless! With feelers all extended, opening and closing and reaching, reddish brown body moving accordion-like. So weird looking, completely like something not NOT real, something I'd make up, or in sci-fi, or a dream. I took off my glove and touched it, and the body was so soft--not squishy like a Loli Longs but insubstantial, a thin thin wall filled with nothing--the book says they collapse like plastic bags if removed from the water, and I believe it. The skin of its body stuck to my hand, but it didn't feel sticky; it was more like it had a built-in clingyness ability, almost like an anemone. The tentacles weren't sticky. It was so WEIRD and amazing looking. I felt like I'd discovered something people aren't supposed to see. I was so glad Dean was there with me to see it too. I doubt anyone else saw them. Other people never notice the kinds of stuff I do. Night on the reef is echinoderm time! I like the night.
[Dive notes from night dive at Turtle Pinnacles with Dive Makai:]
Posted at 6:42:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
[We both had a craving for popcorn afterwards.]
The shave ice place near Kohala Divers is the greatest!! They have both li hing and orange, they have kiddie size, and they let you get ice cream on the bottom (or extra li hing powder!). Best shave ice ever! I had 1/2 li and 1/2 passion orange, w/extra li powder, and Dean had ice cream (and was then jealous of my passion orange--when will he learn!?). I want it to be tomorrow so I can get another shave ice! Why did we never go there 'til now??!
Posted at 4:25:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
We had a picnic at Puako (I had a boat sandwich and animal crackers, and Dean had a taco salad from Senor Nachos) and then I went on a combing. Actually it was more of a romp/tidepooling, since there wasn't much to comb. I saw a cute tiny brown eel, about the width of a finger. Puako's so pretty.
Posted at 2:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
