Barry is in the White House

Obama is known as Barry in Hawaii, which is pretty hilarious and awesome. The island was pretty darn proud when we got there during the inauguration. 

So here are some Hawaii institutions that require visiting, that are some of our new Presidents favorites. Or at least that what the article in the Star Bulletin had written.

As soon as we landed at home we went to Zippy's, and if you know anything about Hawaii, it's our state diner. My parents love this place, we've been going here since I was 3 feet tall. They are everywhere too, but not in a horrendous Starbucks kind of way. You can get any kind of local food, like a loco moco ( rice, eggs, spam, gravy) or some saimin ( like what my mom is slurping) but you can just get a hamburger and fries too. Here my brother, Tim and I all got the charbroiled teriyaki steak, my dad got oxtail stew ( with mash potatos) , and my mom got a saimin. 

Rainbow Drive-in is another such institution in Honolulu. Loco Moco's, yummy hamburgers and fries, pork long rice, it's basically amazing and has been here since before Hawaii was a state. 






Another thing that is really important to Hawaii and you really can't find anything to fill the void anywhere in the world is, Crackseed or Li Hing Mui. Which is a loose term describing strange salty sweet, dried fruits and seeds. To anyone else who isn't from Hawaii, Asian or not, you will just think its gross. Here is where I began my cravings for pickled mangos, Li Hing gummi bears and dried spicy cuttlefish. But unlike in Chinatowns across the world, something like this is just in the Malls of Hawaii, this is our candy shop. When I get really homesick I order these things onlne. But it's never the same as walking into a shop with these huge beautiful jars.

In case you need to order online.

ghost town

I don't know if it was because there was flooding a few weeks ago, but chinatown in chicago at 8pm on a wednesday is pretty much vacant. there were maybe 3 other people on the pitch black street and most of the restaurants were empty.

anyway we ended up at 'cantonesia' where we were the only people there. seems strange in the third largest city in the united states.

i kept waiting for gangsters to jump out of the ceiling or a little wizard man out of 'big trouble in little china' to float out of the kitchen in a cloud of green smoke.

the food was decent - seaweed soup, dumplings, lo mein - and we drank a bunch of tsingtao. the lights went off and doors locked as soon as we left the building.

Dim Sum and Dad

My Dad loves him some good Dim Sum. So does my brother for that matter. Actually the Chau Family we're big eaters. My Dad is 63 and will still eat 8 lobsters at a seafood buffet. Any less and my moms says "you waste money". My brother Keenan will still eat 5 fried bananas after a hot sweaty game of street ball.

Back to Dim Sum. My parents favorite place in Honolulu Chinatown is called Mei Sum Dim Sum. The Shrimp Gau came with a delicious dallop of sweet custard and there was a surprise scallop in the Taro Gok. Everything was cheap and delicious. My dad took on the chicken's feet with a vengeance. Since it's Hawaii, at the end of the meal my dad likes to drink half of his water glass and then fill the rest with hot tea. The very chinese waitresses yelled at my brother which my dad did not like.

More pics of great lookin' produce in Honolulu Chinatown.

Mei Sum Dim Sum
65 North Pauahi Street Suite A