we go picnic

Whenever we visited my grandparents on the Big Island, one of the things we would do was go on a picnic.

In Hawaii, most of us speak pidgin english, so most of our sentences are short and to the point.

Like, "you ate? (have you eaten?)", "how come? (why?)", "we go! (let's go!)". Oh and as someone once pointed out to me, we always end our sentences with "yeah?"

Anyway, whenever we went on picnics, we would usually throw whatever was in the refridge into a big cardboard box, adding some tamagoyaki (rolled omlette), some musubi.

Into the car would go some goza (rolled straw mat) maybe some beach chairs, an ice chest with some juice/soda, some fruit, maybe something sweet and a thermos filled with hot barley tea.

We'd go to a park with a picnic table and benches (if no table could be found, the goza and chairs would be used) and eat the lunch we brought, while waving away flies that came to pester us, hoping for some part of our bento.

If the weather was too windy, you'd have to hold onto your paper plate and paper cup.

Oh, you should also know that the tableware of choice in Hawaii are paper plates, easy to throw away, nothing to wash afterwards. Not very environmentally friendly, but hey, that is our food culture in Hawaii.

Afterwards, the grown-ups would chat while the kids would play, maybe finding a pond with fish.

This post is for my Grandpa who loved going on picnics.

I recently made my own picnic bento using foods that were in my fridge (char siu, yatsumi-zuke, carrot salad). I made a rolled omlette with tsukudani in it and some temari-style musubi topped with takuan and ume (pickled apricot).

For dessert, a cocoa berry mochi and some green tea.

Even though the weather was rainy, pretty gloomy and I had to eat indoors, it was a nice lunch and a nice way to remember my Grandpa.

Miss you Grandpa!