Sunday, July 19, 2009

hilo

Friday, I went with my Grandma and Aunty M to Hilo. It was the 3rd memorial service for my Grandma's sister.

Arriving in Hilo, it began to drizzle. While my Aunty went to get the rental car, I found this anole and wild orchid. These Hilo anole are so laid back, it let me take its photo and even posed!

After waiting almost 2 hours for our car (there were MAJOR hang-ups!) we were starving for LUNCH!

We drove to the nearest place...Don's Grill.

Luckily the place wasn't too packed and we were able to get seated right away.

It was my first time eating here and I tried their won ton mein. It was hot and the broth was nice, not too oily or salty. Their won ton mein comes with homemade won ton, spam, char siu, won bok, egg & green onion. It really hit the spot.

After lunch, we visited with some of my Grandma's friends and then with our relatives.

What interested me while my Grandma visited with her friend's were their plants...a blazing hibiscus, an anthurium whose "nose" was growing warts (doesn't it look like a cob of corn or a witch's nose?)

And these...bags for your clothes pins. Almost every home in Hawaii has these, handmade to look like a dress, it is hung by a baby's hanger.

Did you know that my mom's cousin is a local celebrity of sorts? He has a show for Seniors which covers Hilo events as well as cooking tips, you can view videos on YouTube now Seniors Living in Paradise. Pomai of Tasty Island also wrote about him once.

On one of his recent shows, he featured Hi-Ho Mongolian Grill, a new eatery in downtown Hilo, and wanted to take us there for dinner. Apparently this is a franchise, you choose your bowl (little khan, mighty khan and barbarian khan), fill it up with veggies, meat, noodles, and choose a sauce. Take the bowl to the stir-fry area and watch them stir-fry your food.

Each bowl comes with a bowl of rice and soup, and afterwards some pudding and fruit. Everything was flavorful and good. It was a great dinner, even my 93 year old Grandma ate all of her little khan, plus all of her rice and soup!

Of course, second to visiting with the relatives are the wonderful fruits and goodies you can find in Hilo.

My aunty bought these apple and coconut Rainbow Falls Connection pies at KTA (the local supermarket)..these were 6-inch types and my mom thought they were better than the Walaka ones we tried earlier this month.

We got these delicious fruits (pineapple, papaya & mountain apple) from my mom's cousin. (Thank you!)

Oh and that bottom left shot is my breakfast at Hilo Hawaiian, it is their US$4.99 special...bacon cheese muffin, 1/6 of a papaya, 1/3 of a banana and a little chunk of pineapple...everything was so delicious!

The rain didn't let up on Saturday either, we even tried to go to the Kinoole farmer's market, but ended up picking up some flowers then running to our car.

On our flight home, I noticed that a Maddie look-a-like was on board (Rowena, did you know Mads was on vacation without you??), though I think the dog was small kine breaking the rules outside of its carrier bag.

It was a great trip despite the rain, it was nice to see my relatives and I am glad my grandma got to see her friends too.

Hope your weekend was a good one.

Don's Grill
485 Hinano Street
Hilo, Hawaii
Phone: 808.935.9099

Hi-Ho Mongolian Grill (next to Low's International)
194 Kilauea Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii
Phone: 808.961.1777 UPDATE: as of 2012, this place is no longer in business

Rainbow Falls Connection
47 Rainbow Drive
Hilo, Hawaii
Phone: 1.800.397.9902

10 comments:

Rowena said...

Hahahaha! If Mads could handle the long haul, you know that she'd be island-hopping all over the place. Anyway...the anole...I had no idea that's what you call them. I always thought they were chameleons (eh, they do change color). But I checked Wiki-know-it-all and found a link that clearly states the misconception.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychrotidae
Very interesting, so thank you for clarifying. As for the fruit breakfasts...I'm mad jealous that you enjoyed such yumminess in Hilo. Even if I lived there only 4 years, I do consider it as my 2nd home away from home. Great post to start a Sunday, now I gotta plant the bay leaf tree!

2kamuela47 said...

Glad you had a great time visiting Hilo. Yep! The Big Island has so many wonderful fruits and vegetables!

K and S said...

I grew up calling them "chameleons" too, Rowena, Kirk K and my Aunty clarified it in the other post :) I was quite surprised with that breakfast myself.

Thanks Laura, I had a nice time :)

Take care you two.
Kat

Anonymous said...

very nice photos. two hours wait for the car? ugh! glad you had a good visit though. good your grandma ate all her food. it's good she has a good appetite. very cool about your mom's celeb cousin. ;-)

paz

Jann said...

Lots of lovely photos. Sounded like a very busy time for you~lots of good eating on this trip!

KirkK said...

I love the photo of the pooch...must've been really well behaved. We used to love the Hilo's Farmers Market, too bad they don't have the Suisan Fish Auction anymore.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Looks like a busy and filled quick trip and that you managed to find some good things to eat over there. ;-)

K and S said...

Thanks Paz, we had a nice time :)

Thanks Jann :)

I used to follow my granpa to the auction too Kirkk, didn't realize that they don't do them anymore :(

Thanks Deb, I think we can always find something good to eat there :)

Take care everyone.
Kat

Suze said...

Wow, that is either a small papaya or a very large mountain apple. lol. The mountain apple looks delicious!

K and S said...

It is actually a REALLY big mountain apple Suze...very watery but delicious!

Take care.
Kat