 1 We started off with 3 days in Honolulu at The Modern. This is the view from our balcony overloooking the Waikiki boat harbor. |
 2 The pool and harbor view |
 3 Lunch at one of our faves in Chinatown, actually inventive Vietnamese street food by chef Andrew Le at The Pig and the Lady |
 4 Inside of The Pig and the Lady with communal tables down the center |
 5 Bar area |
 6 Table condiments, love the sriracha in the Cafe Du Monde cans |
 7 I vaguely remember this was a mezcal drink with sriracha ice cubes. The longer you took to finish, the more the ice melted, and the hotter it got! |
 8 Max's delish chicken curry and gin with house-made tonic |
 9 Pork belly french-dip, vietnamese style with pickled eggplant and lots of basil and cilantro |
 10 One of our to-dos on this trip was to get an appraisal on Max's shell lei that we purchased on Kauai over 15 years ago. We lost the paperwork long ago, and in our travels since we always received glowing compliments on the lei. My pre-trip research turned up the Nā Mea heritage shop in Honolulu. |
 11 Nā Mea sells native Hawaiian crafts, runs classes, and acts as a community gathering place. This guy was singing traditional tunes by the lithographs. |
 12 This fellow was demonstrating making hala leis, from the fruit of the pandanus tree. |
 13 Yep, lots of activity at Nā Mea that morning. These ladies were meeting for their weekly weaving circle. The quality of the hats made by several of them was simply amazing. |
 14 And this is Kai Hyde, the appraiser we came to Nā Mea to meet. Relatively young, he has been doing appraisals on the Big Island and Oahu for many years. He took many measurements and photographs, and we received the appraisal in the mail 2 weeks after we returned home. |
 15 It had been more than 5 years since we last went to Alan Wong's. So time again for an incredible, inventive, and authentic Hawaiian culinary experience. |
 16 Big Island tomato and avocado salad with li hing mui (salty dried Chinese plum) vinaigrette |
 17 One of Alan Wong's signature dishes- Poke Pines. He takes ahi poke balls, wraps them in wonton wrappers that are fringed. Then quick fries to make them look like a stand of pine trees. Delish! |
 18 Ginger crusted Onaga, baby corn shoots as garnish |
 19 Opakapaka |
 20 The dessert of all desserts, the supremely intense Lilikoi Creme Brulee |
 21 Friday mid-day we had an interview with the DHS back at the Honolulu Airport for our global entry passes. I looked online to find someplace nearby for lunch and turned up Mitch's Sushi on Yelp. The reviews were amazing, but we were skeptical as we pulled up to this derelict storefront in an industrial area next to the airport. |
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 23 We needn't have been worried, we stepped inside to be greeted by three Japanese sushi chefs who were skillfully carving away at the most impressive pieces of tuna and yellowtail that I have seen. We grabbed a table and had a simply awesome sushi and sashimi lunch. |
 24 Ah yes, Bailey's Vintage Aloha Shirts. Visited by Tony Bourdain, it is definitely a unique stop on Kapahulu. |
 25 Ms. Aloha Betty Boop says "come on in to Bailey's!" |
 26 Vintage Reyn Spooner and Tori Richards shirts everywhere, including the ceiling. Lots of tiki and aloha tchotchkes also. |
 27 Barely enough room between racks of aloha shirts to squeeze through and browse |
 28 Went into the "dressing room" (really a curtained-off utility alcove) to find that I wasn't alone. Apparently ET had already phoned home and put Snoopy out of his misery. |
 29 We had an 8 hour layover in Honolulu on our way home, which worked out perfectly to visit with Deb and Mary who had just returned from Vietnam that morning. They picked us up at the airport and we stopped at the station near their house to pick up Hawaiian essentials. Yep, the gas station mini mart carries them all- engine oil, wine, liquor, slush puppies, and spam musubi! |
 30 We loved Mitch's Sushi so much at the beginning of our trip that we had to take Deb and Mary there for dinner before we caught our flight back to the mainland |
 31 Mitch's derelict storefront becomes downright festive at night! |
 32 We went all-in this time, getting "MItch's Special Course" which includes abalone sashimi (top left in the shell - awesome!) and lobster sashimi (two tails - double super-awesome!). The toro, kampachi, and fatty salmon were equally unbelievable. |
 33 The lobster tail is used for the sashimi, the rest of the lobster makes it's way into this incredible lobster miso |
 34 We had had no need to use the restrooms when we were at Mitch's for lunch two weeks prior. This time, we watched as other diners returned from the restrooms and couldn't stop talking about it, so we had to check it out for ourselves. So, you step through a perfectly normal marked door in the dining room and find yourself in a dimly lit post-industrial machine shop. Two engines ripped apart and up on blocks, buckets of grease and work boots scattered about, an air compressor, a car parked in the far corner, and a workbench littered with tools and metal scrap. And oh yes, there is a small sheetrocked cubicle labeled as the restroom with a helpful sushi poster taped to the nearby wall. |
 35 The happy crew at Mitch's with the bounty in front of us. From L-R: Dave, Deb, Max, Jawea Mockabee who was visiting Deb and Mary from Oregon, and Mary |
