hunger is the best sauce

today was all about food, sort of... at least as far as the "tasks" are concerned. and it was fun... if not a little strange. it might be a member of the union, but this place honestly feels a little more like a foreign country to me... not completely but in some ways.

day started out (late) with a search for the "original pancake house" and my mission to try Poi Pancakes... you might be asking what Poi is... a quick explanation: Poi is a Hawaiian word for the primary Polynesia Staple food made from the Corm of the kalo plant (known widely as Taro). Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) to a highly viscous fluid. Water is added during mashing and again just before eating, to achieve a desired consistency, which can range from liquid to dough-like. I liken Poi to grits. not in flavor but in consistency. Anyway... i found the place pretty easily (thanks for the address Marassah). it was a little hole-in-the-wall joint in the industrial/rough part of town. the shopping center had some asian grocery stores, a karaoke bar, and a hair joint. pretty non-descript area. i walked in and instantly knew the food was good. not because of the smell, but because the patrons looked overly "healthy". it was obviously a place these locals come to on a regular basis. saw at least three families walk in and see other groups they knew and walk over and exchange kisses and hugs... so the very short asian lady seats me, asks if i want coffee then scurries on her way. she comes back and takes my order... two eggs over medium with bacon, and a side of POI PANCAKES.

the pancakes come first and look just like regular pancakes. then the eggs and bacon and i'm set. my curiosity is on fire so i dive into the pancakes... let me try and articulate how they tasted, but it's a little easier to articulate how they felt. they weren't horrible tasting by any means, different but not bad. had an earthy taste to them. like when you lick the side of a tree, unless you don't do that... then it's like chewing a dead leaf. not disgusting but different. the tough thing for me was the weight of these things. when i think pancake i think light and fluffy. not these things, they were heavy. and the consistency when you chewed them was pasty... not awful, just like a goo in your mouth. i ate about half my order so i could fully appreciate what i was dealing with, i also picked up a pancake and felt it, sniffed it, and held it up to the light. all so i could better report back. my big takeaway was they were heavy, thick... and if you ate the entire order you'd gain no less than five pounds and not have to eat for a week. the eggs and bacon were good.

so after that, i got a ticket for not having my seatbelt on... nevermind that I was putting it on as i backed out of my parking space... cop said your wheels can't be moving at all. jerk. i hope he gets a splitting headache tonight.

then i was off to the other side of the island to fulfill the other portion of the day's tasks. this one also had to do with food... SPAM. Hawaiians have a love affair with spam. go to this link to read why... pretty interesting actually. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29301750/ ... so my daughter got on the internet and found "the best musubi" on the island (Spam musubi is a very popular snack and luncheon food in Hawaii. A Spam musubi is composed of a block of salted rice with a slice of Spam (cooked or uncooked) on top, and typically nori (dried seaweed) surrounding it to keep it in shape. sounds nasty? i was a little concerned to be honest.


love the drive to the other side though. you go through the mountain and emerge under massive volcanic cliffs shooting thousands of feet straight into the air. breathtaking views of the bay right in front of you too. just awesome.

I found the place pretty easily (thanks Nanny). apparently it's a Hawaiian landmark. imagine an old school 7/11 before there were 7/11s. very cool place... the folks that own it were awesome. young guy up front said they were out of musubi but he'd ask his mom in back to make me one real quick (told him it was important, my girls would be upset). he came back and chatted me up about my Jeep (everyone loves her) and then went back to check on my musubi, his mom yelled at him to get out of her kitchen. then she comes out and hands me this block of rice and meat wrapped in plastic. she said she makes hundreded (yes she really did say hundred-ed) of these everyday, best on the island.. i will like. it was now or never, so i tore off the wrapper and jammed it into my pipe. the stuff wasn't bad, but was salty as all hell. i like meat to give a little resistance (that make sense?) this "meat" didn't, it just fell apart... so from a textural point of view it freaked me out. the taste wasn't bad though, it almost tasted like meat, sort of. i couldn't make sense of it. almost like limp bacon, i like my bacon crispy, but this stuff was limp and didn't fight back.

all in all a good day... some good people... minus the cop who I'd like to congratulate on making his quota.

tomorrow i'll be surfing... thanks kara for the suggestion... a day in the salt water is nothing short of amazing.