E Komo Mai, Welcome to Hawai’i

March, 2026

Oahu, Hawai’i

Shopping, Eating, and some Sight Seeing

We had the pleasure of going back to Hawai’i for a few weeks and had a wonderful time. We stayed on Oahu, the island where we lived for 13 years. It was a lot of fun visiting some of our old haunts, along with some new experiences. Although I admit that nothing here really stands out as exciting, it was very nostalgic for us. We weren’t looking for excitement, we were looking to recreate old memories, while creating new ones. We left the island in 1999. A lot had changed. Some things for the better, and other’s for the worse, but we will always be in love with Hawai’i until the day we die.

Aloha,

Julie (Kulii)

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Our Nostalgic Hawaiian Sun Bacardi Cocktail

Gordon Created This

Just 2 Ingredients

Hawaiian Sun Canned Juices, and Pineapple Bacardi Rum

One of the first items we purchased in Hawaii were our old favorite Hawaiian Sun juices in the cans. We lived off these things during our time there. They come in different flavors. Pineapple Orange, Passion Orange, Guava Nectar, Lilikoi Passion… just to name a few.

1 Shot Of Bacardi Pineapple Rum To About 8 Ounces Juice

Something Easy And Tropical To Enjoy In Our Hotel Room

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Navy Exchange, and the Pearl Harbor Commissary

Headed Toward Nimitz

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Arriving At: Bougainville Drive, Honolulu

What you see above is the new Exchange and Commissary. It didn’t look like this when we lived there. And, we actually lived right down the street on Valkenburgh. Valkenburgh Street was named after the Captain of the U.S.S. Arizona. We drove by where we used to live, but all that old condemned housing had been torn down and much nicer housing was built in it’s place. But, we did see the spot where our little townhouse used to be.

This new Exchange and Commissary and all the other businesses within it were wonderful! So much nicer from when we would shop there. But, the old ones were nice too, just not as big.

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Shopping At The Exchange

Grabbed A Cart And Loaded It Up!

We hit up the base shopping on March 3rd. We needed to buy some things for the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Luau, as well as some personal shopping we wanted to do. The Exchange was loaded with everything we wanted! But the prices were pretty high. I was really surprised. We noticed that our hotel gift shops items were cheaper than the Base Exchange. The thing is, we were staying in the military hotel in Waikiki. Normally, the prices here would have been cheaper than Waikiki. I couldn’t imagine the average military family being able to afford much in that Exchange. I know that back in the day when we lived there, we would not have been able to afford much on a military salary.

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Hina Matsuri (Girl’s Day)

March 3rd. is Japanese Girl’s Day in Hawai’i

I was excited to see this Girl’s Day display. We always celebrated Girl’s Day in Hawai’i. Our daughter Veronica loved that day because it was all about her being a girl. Something nice to celebrate. I did buy Isabelle a Girl’s Day t-shirt.

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Grabbing Lunch In The Exchange Food Court

Wow! An Elevator, A Giant Rock Fountain, And At The Bottom Floor…. Beautiful Local Vendors

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Grabbing Plate Lunch Take Out For Dinner

With our shopping, banking, and errands out of the way, we wanted a traditional Plate Lunch for dinner.

As luck would have it, there was a business right at the base.

Gordon Grabbing Us 2 Huli Huli Chicken Plate Lunch, for Dinner At Our Hotel

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Cooking The Huli Huli Chicken

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At the end of the day, out on our Lanai, eating our Plate Lunch and listening to the drums and the music of the Luau going on below us. 🙂

Life just doesn’t get any better than this.

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Ala Moana Shopping Center

March 4th.

Two days to our son’s wedding, and I just did find a dress to wear from Macy’s. I’m holding it in the photo above.

(Here I thought I was cutting it close until I talked to a woman at the wedding that bought her dress and shoes the morning of the wedding. I then felt so much better.) 🙂

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Ala Moana Center is located on Ala Moana Blvd. in Honolulu

It was always THE PLACE to shop and eat at the Food Court and some restaurants located in the mall.

Ala Moana is huge! With tons of parking!

It was different from when we were there last, in 1999, but it was still magnificent and impressive. I was able to find a dress for the wedding that I was happy with.

I Always Loved All The Fountains With The Japanese Carp

Beautiful and Colorful

Always Tranquil

I Think I See Some Tadpoles In The Ponds

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THE Food Court at Ala Moana Center

This is probably the best Food Court you will ever come across in your life.

We First Made Our Rounds Before Deciding

The Fake Foods Were Beautiful!

I wish I had a huge kitchen, I would display these fake foods all around.

I think they are just lovely.

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Now For The REAL Food!

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Pineapple Fried Rice, Left 🙂

(We do wish that we had bought this at the time.)

Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Local Boy Special

Lau Lau is Always Good!

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I love that they have these ready made containers of food to purchase and take home with you.

All the ready made local fast foods that are very popular.

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Prime Rib, Truffle Roasted Chicken…

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Kalua Pig, Chicken Long Rice, Tripe Stew, Squid Luau, Pipikaula

Kalua Pig Cabbage, Pork Adobo

I Think We Are Zeroing In On What We Want For Lunch

We’ll Take The Chicken

2 Sets of Chopsticks, Please

(We did share this. I just wanted a few bites for lunch, and we were picking up something bigger for dinner, so I held back.) 🙂

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Just Look At This Buffet!

It Is Beautiful And Everything That I Love

We did end up grabbing Italian to take back to our Hotel Room for Dinner that night.

A Chicken Pesto Italian Pasta Dinner. My god it was good!

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What I have always loved about Ala Moana is that they book such great entertainment.

The music was amazing! I even recognized some of the old songs, but I couldn’t place them.

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I don’t know who these people were, but I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them, and I appreciate that they took the time out to bring us their music.

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March 7th.

Aloha Stadium, Aloha Flea Market

99-500 Salt Lake Blvd, Aiea, HI 96701

Wednesdays from 8:00am – 3:00pm
Saturdays from 8:00am – 3:00pm
Sundays from 6:30am – 3:00pm

(Interestingly enough, right after we left the island they tore down Aloha Stadium in order to build it back up with more seats added. I don’t know if they are still holding the Flea Market during the construction, but I hope so for the vendors and buyers sake.)

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This has been a Hawai’i stable for years! It is where we would go to buy our children’s school clothes when they were little. Our t-shirts, board shorts, slippers, pareo’s, Kalikimaka gifts to send to the mainland, silk flowers, food items, and as always a SPAM Musubi to snack on while browsing the booths.

Parking At The Aloha Stadium

Gordon, Ready To Browse

This was a favorite of ours. We actually bought from this family back in 1999 and have some of their wooden carvings.

It was nice to see the Le Family again.

Something that has always been extremely desirable are the Hawaiian quilts.

These are not the ones that range in the thousands of dollars, but they were very nice and lovely and we did buy a few items from this booth.

We Especially Love The Honu’s (Sea Turtles)

(Gordon took Veronica and Brian to this booth and because we had bought so much, the vendors gave them a great deal on what they wanted.)

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Time For Lunch

Sugarcane Juice

and some sort of Pork Taco’s

(They were delicious!)

I don’t remember exactly what we had for lunch to eat, but I do remember that our entire order was around $50.00.

Unheard of back in 1999! Gone are those days!

Happy We Brought Along Some Shopping Bags

(Apparently that is a thing around Hawai’i. They expect you to bring your own bags, or they charge you for the ones they have to give you.)

We Found A Spot To Sit Down To Eat In This Busy Flea Market

Veronica, Brian and Isabelle Arriving

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The Shave Ice Truck

Love the cute local couple left, enjoying their Shave Ice

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It was at this business that Gordon bought about 3 Hawaiian shirts.

I wasn’t interested in buying anything for myself, so I stayed outside the booth with all of our bags, sipping my Sugarcane Juice.

Gordon Shopping

I placed our bags right here while Gordon was inside shopping. I stood beside them the whole time. After Gordon purchased his shirts, the woman who helped him walked out of the booth with him and then immediately started to go through our bags trying to ‘find a place to put the shirts Gordon had just bought.’ I’m not used to that kind of behavior so I just sort of stood there in surprise. She then placed the shirts Gordon bought into our bags and as we gathered them up to leave I told Gordon that I think she thought I was shop lifting while he was inside and she was going through our bags looking for their merchandise. I wanted to go back and tell her that ‘if we were shop lifting from you, YOU would know it! Because we aren’t very good at it.’ 🙂

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I Hit Up The Local ‘Yard Sale’ Booths Looking For My Treasures

The Flea Market looked different from when we lived in Hawaii in 1999. In our day they had rows and rows that went into circles with the most expensive and popular booths all around the outside circle, while the more local family’s selling their ‘yard sale’ items were in the very center of the circles. So in those days we would have to walk around all the circles until we came to the inside booths, with each circle getting smaller and smaller.

That isn’t how it is today. You enter into the Aloha Flea Market through an entrance and they do have straight rows that are horizontal. You can either turn left, or right.

The food trucks are in the middle along with covered tent seating on picnic tables. We however sat on some stage to eat our lunch. The place was so busy and crowded at that time. Seeing the stage there must mean that they have entertainment sometimes. That’s new.

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My Treasures

I did find some books I wanted, however I am also taking into account either packing heavy books in our luggage, or mailing them back home.

I love old books! Going to old used bookstores was my childhood. I did find some great ones, which I will talk about in a minute, but I just wanted to point out some of the other great things that we saw that these very local ‘yard sale’ people were selling. Some of them were selling live tropical plants for your backyard or that were cut for table decorations. As in Heliconia, Bird of Paradise, Torch Ginger, etc. Beautiful!

We also saw what looked like a Tiffany Lamp of the ocean. When Gordon and I saw that we just groaned and kept walking. We knew that it would just be a lot of trouble to get it back home.

We found a vintage Hawaiian Coffee Company large burlap bag. 🙂

We saw some vendors that did crafts of rosettes out of palm leaves. I wanted to head over there but then I remembered that I already have a ton of that kind of stuff in the garage with all my Hawaiian crafts.

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Now For The Books

One thing that I love the most about old books are the graphics and photographs capturing that era.

For someone that loves the past, it is my heaven!

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THIS Is My TREASURE!!!!!

I was so excited when I found this book that I ran back to the car to start reading it while Gordon continued to shop for Hawaiian t-shirts.

I told him to take his time! I’m good! I’ve got A/C, Water, Snacks, an empty Bladder, and THIS BOOK!

(I bought the book from a man that was sharing a booth with another man selling car parts and junk. He charged me about $5.00 per book. I knew that this book wasn’t originally his. If it was I would have picked his brain about it. But, I just knew he had come across it at some point. He didn’t look Japanese to me.)

The Legacy Of The Japanese In Hawaii:

Cuisine

Published By: The Japanese Cultural Center Of Hawaii

First Printing – September, 1989

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To Visit Their Website, Click On The Link:

https://www.jcchawaii.org/

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Dedicated to the many who were pioneers in Hawaii…

a new land… and all those whose efforts and contributions continue to inspire the preservation of

The Legacy of the Japanese in Hawaii.

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One reason this book means something to me is that when we first moved to Hawaii in 1986 we met a Japanese American family that were Interned during WWII. At that time they had just received compensation for their Internment. They were very nice people. Not resentful at all. Just sort of ‘matter of fact’ kind of people. I cannot imagine what all they went through, but I was very happy to have known them.

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Check Out That Little Pink Stamp

That little pink stamp appears throughout this cookbook. Obviously this cookbook has been used quite frequently by this woman. You know it was owned by a woman because of the cute little pink stamp. This woman cooked many a meal from this book. She would even place the stamp by the ‘other methods’ of preparing a dish. She marked her favorites. Without ever knowing who this woman was, I would love to meet her, if she is still alive, and talk to her about her cooking. Perhaps even sitting in her kitchen talking to her, and taking lots of photos, of course. 🙂

I Don’t Know What Happened Here!?

Photo Left:

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii logo incorporates the official Hawaii State Flower, Hibiscus, in the pattern of a traditional Mon (family crest.) Its floral design incorporates the attributes of beauty and delicacy as well as strength in the nature of perpetuity. Its petals come together to make a whole, as the various elements of the Japanese culture must join together to become one with the intent of survival. The pistil or five seeds of the flower represents the qualities we hope to pass on: pride, honor, strength, commitment and appreciation. Flowers are most beautiful surrounded by many others: Hawaiian’s garden remains intact with the perpetuation of the Japanese culture.

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I carried this book on the plane with me home. While everyone else was clutching their laptops, or tablets, or phones, I was holding this book close as if it were treasure, because to me it was! This ratty old book meant the world to me.

I even had a few flight attendants to walk by and ask me, “What are you reading?” 🙂

Honestly, I could write so much more on this book but I will wind this up now. I’m sure that I will on another website page in the near future, or far future. Needless to say, I am just so happy I found it. Or perhaps it found me? 🙂 I do think that we end up with what we are supposed to end up with.

(I’m still studying this book when I have time. I am so enjoying it.)

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March 8, 2026

Maui Brewing Company

Boys Night Out for some great locally brewed beer! Many thanks to my amazing wife Julie for finding the add in a pamphlet from the hotel. When she found it, I knew Brian and I had to go. They had an amazing display case, seen here.

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I Julie, Inserted This In Gordon’s Write Up:

(They have these great free magazines/pamphlets/flyers etc. all around the airport and Waikiki. Pick one up! You won’t be sorry. They are filled with info about things to do and see on the islands. Take advantage of them. You just might find something interesting in one of them that you and your family may enjoy. I spotted the Maui Brewing Company information in one of them, and knew Gordon and Brian would be interested in going.)

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The brewing company was about 5 blocks down from the Hale Koa Hotel. The walk made us thirsty for the craft beer that was waiting for us.

The bottom floor had a small gift shop with the main seating area two floors up.

As you can see there was plenty of seating all the way around the bar while it had many tables to also choose from.

Another gift shop was on this floor as well along with this massive display case. I really like bariphanllia… not a real word, but one that I made up which combines the words bar and paraphenalia. I bought some really nice beer can looking glasses with the beer printed on it and a nice T-shirt. Brian got a few things as well.

Seeing how we hadn’t tasted any of these beers before, we got a few flights for the full experience.

You can see the great names of the beers which had pineapple and coconut in them … really unique and good. Every beer was good. I don’t think there was a single one we didn’t like. Here in Florida they feature a nice grapefruit.

Here is one side of the menu.

I think this is Brian’s flight of beer. We paired the beers with a heaping of Hawaiian inspired Nacho’s. What a great day and time to spend with my amazing son-in-law. I hope to have more times like this in the future!

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March 9, 2026

Headed Toward The North Shore For The Day

Me, In The Hallway Lobby At The Hale Koa Hotel

Our original plan was for us to prepare a picnic lunch to take out to Waimea Falls out in the North Shore for the day.

North Shore This Way

Haleiwa Town, North Shore

We left the Hale Koa that morning with our picnic lunch. I always bring along books to read, and my cameras to take lots of photos. We were going to meet Veronica, Brian and Isabelle there and spend the day.

Check Out That Beach

A Selfie

We were just turned away from Waimea Falls because they were filming the new Jumanji.

We were sad about it, but I also believe that when something bad happens it just might lead to something good happening. And it did!

We Found This Great Picnic Spot Along The North Shore

The Gordon Shaka

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Look At The Beautiful Tree Roots

The North Shore is a very popular spot for the locals and tourists. The parking spots fill up very quickly along the beaches.

When we found this spot we knew that we had found something special.

Those Roots Have To Go Down Very Far To Withstand The Storms

Look At All The LAVA Rock!

It Is Beautiful!

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All The Potholes In The Beach Lava

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The Duke Kahanamoku Shirt

(I Bought Gordon This Shirt For His Birthday In January, 2026. We love Duke, along with all the locals of the islands. Duke Kahanamoku is famous for riding a 16 foot wooden long board on a wave for 1 mile. One of Hawaii’s great surfing legends.)