ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
We hadn't been to the Islands in a year and a half. In that time, I missed Hawaii and its food, not having had it even on the mainland since our last island visit. I looked forward to the current vacation in Kauai and Oahu, not only to get Hawaiian sun but to get some... Continue Reading →
Few would argue Hurricane Iniki was nothing less than a horrible natural disaster. It struck mainly the island of Kauai in the summer of 1992, leaving behind a path of destruction and caused almost $2 billion in damage. It was the most powerful storm ever to hit the Hawaiian Islands in recorded history, becoming a Category 4... Continue Reading →
I know I was bowled over when I first laid eyes on Waimea Canyon more years ago than I care to count. I was no less impressed when I saw it again yesterday. Nicknamed Grand Canyon of the Pacific for obvious reasons, it is a testament to the power of water erosion and faulting. The view above is from the... Continue Reading →
This one-mile-long canopy of eucalyptus trees lines Maluhia Road north of Koloa and Poipu, a beautiful grand entrance to Kauai's South Shore.
I'm not surprised, but it was inevitable that public fear of the Zika virus has caused heightened fear of dengue fever in Hawaii. I saw a poster (below) at Lihue airport in Kauai yesterday that gave pointers on how to eliminate mosquitoes to protect against dengue, transmitted in Hawaii by the two mosquito species that transmit Zika. Like Zika, dengue has been around for a very... Continue Reading →
It had the effect of a Trump speech, a shocking announcement on seattlemet.com that Chef Mutsuko Soma would be leaving Miyabi 45th on February 13 to enjoy motherhood, with no definite plans for her return. By the end of the piece, pursuant to the Donald's pronouncements, I felt despair. Okay, so the simile is as thin as hand-pulled noodles but, hell, handmade soba would disappear maybe forever,... Continue Reading →
I've made this watercress dish over the years using only XO sauce, but recently, when there was only a teaspoon of XO left in the jar, and two bunches of watercress to cook, I had to come up with some substitutions, or rather additions. I had oyster sauce and fermented black bean sauce on hand. The... Continue Reading →
For me, few things are an antidote to cold weather than hot ramen. Over a week ago, the Seattle area experienced temperatures in the low 40s, a good excuse to hop into Jinya Ramen Bar for a hot lunch while my wife and I were running errands in the Crossroads area of Bellevue. Though my favorite bowl there is the Jinya... Continue Reading →
A friend posted on his Facebook page that Kukai changed its name. The reason? It turns out that kukai means shit in Hawaiian. This would've been a sticky move for the company if they wanted to set up business on the Islands. This probably means they were considering just such an expansion when the kukai hit the fan.... Continue Reading →
My father-in-law passed away earlier this year. Beloved patriarch of the family, he lived to be just shy of 99 years. Dad was a very intelligent man, alert to the end, avid sports fan, gardener, tinkerer who had a knack for doing things instinctively. He grew a bounty of vegetables in soil amended with compost he created from kitchen scraps and yard waste. Where... Continue Reading →
zoomeboshi 