Ah. Summer vacation. This time I went to the Big Island. I had forgotten how nice it is to see the outer island. Here's a quick tour.

Graduation the Hawaii way. It's not usual to see these pink plumerias. This type is known to be more hardy and with a slight fragrance than the white plumeria. The yellow plumerias are also pretty sturdy. Plumeria leis always feels like old Hawaii to me. We found the tree near the beach in Mokuleia and was able to pick the flowers. Here we are making leis for my niece's graduation which was later that day.

Hearts of San Francisco

One of the Hearts in San Francisco on display. The project benefits San Francisco General Hospital where those without health insurance can get medical care. The hearts can be found all over the city.

Look, I found the keys to the city. Can you guess where this is?

The Veranda
Originally uploaded by jonathansz.

Here's the entry to the Veranda at the Kahala Hotel. I shared afternoon tea with a friend. We enjoyed the tea and cakes and we could see the afternoon dolphins feeding through the window. The veranda is open and breezy -- a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon in Honolulu.

2007 graduation adventure

I went back to Honolulu to see my niece graduate from high school. We got waylaid in Hilo because we missed our flight out of Oakland. Here's our photgraphic adventure.

Beautiful tropic fruit found in Honolulu Chinatown. Dragon eyes (longan), dragon fruit , and gorgeous lychee from the Big Island.

Box o' malasadas
Originally uploaded by jonathansz.

The infamous box.

Malasadas
Originally uploaded by jonathansz.

Look at these beautiful malasadas. The Dutch have their version called the "oily ballen" -- not sure if I spelled it right. Okinawan's have their version, andagi. What other cultures have fried sweet dough?

H&H Bagels

80 & Broadway
New York, New York

I spent this past Christmas in the suburbs of New York and we came into the city to pay visit to the Natural History Museum (after seeing Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum with my nieces). We had some extra time so we stopped by Zabar's to look around at 11am and guess what I see: H&H Bagels! I had to get an "everything" bagel and ate it for lunch.



I'm from the West Coast, so it's not often you get a fresh, warm bagel. I dug into half of it before I took the picture. I usually eat it as is, but this time I bought some chives schmeer. Before I knew it, I ate the whole bagel and 4 oz. of schmeer.

Two Ladies Kitchen

274 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
808-961-4766

I love mochi especially this beautifully boxed mochi from Hilo. It's so local style in the plate lunch box, but "ho -- broke da mouth". My friend, Eliza, brought several boxes of mochi back from the Big Island. Thank you, Eliza, it was worth hauling back to San Francisco. We read about Two Ladies in a Star Bulletin article and saw the image similar to one below. Love at first sight. Imagine a box of assorted chocolate, but rather than chocolate -- it's mochi! Each one was a divine creation of flavors. Such happiness in a box.

Nantu mochi (filled with an, dipped in soy-bean flour), sweet-potato mochi, traditional white mochi, yaki manju (baked) and tsumami mochi (green, filled with an).
Momo (peach) mochi, furusato manju (baked with sweet-potato filling), chi chi mochi (soft, milk-flavored), plum flower (red for good luck, with red azuki-bean filling) and sweet-potato mochi.
Plum flower, nantu mochi, azuma manju (baked, topped with walnut), peach mochi, traditional white. Tsumami mochi, pie-crust manju, lilikoi mochi and yaki manju.

Strawberry Mochi.
THIS is beautiful food and wonderful to eat. Soft outer mochi layer with sweet azuki beans combined with fruity strawberry. Now just a mere memory of joyful sweetness. Anyone going to the Big Island soon? Bring some back, please.