Just a few minutes ago, I was entering my office and noticed a song playing on the radio in the office next door. “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. The office next door is a psychologist’s office.
Most of the food we ate on our honeymoon in Hawaii was awesome. All of the restaurants were very good on the resort we stayed at on the Big Island, the Fairmont Orchid.
In Kohala:
Brown’s was especially good so we went there a few times. The seared ahi salad I had was fabulous. It was a good first meal to welcome me to Hawaii. The food we had the last night we were there was great too. It was a little windy outside so everything cooled off fairly fast but it was still good.
The Thai restaurant nearby was unfortunately sub-par. There’s only one, so I’m not even going to bother looking up the name. It wouldn’t been ok, but the meal came out to be $90 after all was said and done for two drinks and two entrees.
There was a sushi restaurants at the Fairmont called Norio’s. People had been telling us it was really good so we were really excited. It was good but not as good as the hype. Plus it was quite expensive but to be expected on a resort.
In Hilo:
One of the concierges at the Fairmont suggested we try this place called Cafe Pesto while we ventured out in Hilo. This is en route to Akaka Falls and the Volcano National Park. It was a really good suggestion. The calamari was different but quite good. The poke salad I had was fabulous. I had never even heard of poke before. This is where I had my first taste of Kona beer.
In Kona:
While in Kona, we shopped around at this open air market and found quite a few things to bring back. We decided to eat at the food court they had and I gave in and tried dish they had all over the island, Loco Moco. It’s basically rice topped with a fried egg and brown gravy. Sometimes meat is added. Sometimes Spam is. The islanders seem to love Spam.
When we got to Honolulu in Oahu, there were a ton more restaurants to choose from. We just went on recommendations for the most part.
In Honolulu:
For our first breakfast, Theresa took me to Cheeseburger in Paradise. I elected to have a breakfast Loco Moco. I don’t think it was any lighter than a normal one.
We tried to offset some of our expensive meals that we had had, by going to cheaper places. We had lunch one afternoon at a Japanese ramen noodle house. I believe it was called Ezogiku. We had a big bowl of miso ramen, a plate of fried rice, and a plate of gyoza for $10. We both shared that and it was definitely enough to fill us up.
That brings us to the best meal we had during our honeymoon. It was also the most expensive by far. A friend had suggested trying out Sushi Sasabune. Her father has been going there for a long time. You’d better get a reservation before you try to walk in there. It was a Tuesday night and there were people sitting, waiting and the tables weren’t full. I suppose that way, they don’t skimp on service. We made reservations at the bar to have the tasting menu. It was quite an experience. Basically, you sit there and eat whatever the chef makes you. But you have to eat it however he tells you to. He’ll describe it to you, then tell you the proper way of eating it. For example, with or without soy sauce. Round after round, I was savoring every piece I ate. Of course you’re unaware of how much everything also. But hey, it was my honeymoon so I wasn’t concerned. It was bittersweet. I had just had the best sushi I’ve ever tasted but I knew sushi back home would never measure up.
Since we’re back and all situated from the wedding and honeymoon, I figured I should pick up where I left off.
When we got to Obi Sushi after the rehearsal, I was was excited to see everything setup upstairs. They were bringing out all the appetizers and they were plentiful. Our main issue was that alcohol was not going to be provided on our tab. If anyone wanted anything, they had to pay themselves. After everyone had gotten a drink, I realized no one was made aware of this. I went to one of the waitresses and kindly asked her to let our friends know that the first round was on us and if they wanted anything, they’d have to start a tab. Later on, I spotted on the menu provided by the restaurant, the disclosure that drinks weren’t on us. How convenient it was at the bottom and microscopic. Of course we’re partially to blame for not announcing this, but who wants to tell people this after the fact?
After everyone was almost finished with the first two entrees Theresa noticed that the last one was no where to be seen. We’d been there for about a little over two hours at this point. After asking the manager, it was obvious he forgot about it. Fast forward one hour, the salmon started to roll out. By then everyone was pretty much full. At this point, I was a little frustrated.
We then got the bill, I realized the waitress had not done what I asked. Everyone’s drinks were on our bill. Along with gratuity. I was a bit upset after seeing that. I hate to pay tip if service was substandard. Drinks were twice as much as the food. The waitress then came around and said dessert was coming. We decided that the four hours we were there was long enough and got up to leave. Besides we were all too full to eat dessert anyway. As we left, I saw the chefs preparing the dessert and I did not feel bad about leaving at all.
If any of my friends were to ask about good sushi, I probably wouldn’t recommend Obi Sushi. I definitely wouldn’t mention it for group party locations either.
I would have to say that our wedding day was the best day of my life. After over a year of planning and details, our day went off without a hitch. There was a bump in the road here and there but they were very minor. For instance, we forgot to bring the marriage license to the church but her aunt got it after the ceremony. The few days leading up to the big day were looking gloomy and we checked the weather forecast every few hours. Luckily, we didn’t get rained on but it was a bit chilly. It did rain later on but the reception was inside anyway.
It’s strange how calm I was standing up there during the ceremony. I always thought I’d be a nervous wreck and probably weep uncontrollably. That wasn’t the case. One thing that kept me calm was seeing the priest’s hands shake pretty badly. It confused me a little because I figured he’d done this many times. Theresa looked as beautiful as ever and everyone in the bridal party looked very sharp. I think our ring bearer stole some of the show. He was so adorable.
As soon as our picture taking session was over, it’s like time was on fast forward. Looking back, everything seemed like a huge blur. The reception was one of the best times I’ve ever had but it was not nearly long enough for me. I tried to talk to everyone but with so many guests there, it was impossible. I remember telling people, “I’ll be back later,” only to never return. I remember thinking how awesome it felt to look around and realize that everyone there is here to celebrate this important day in my life. One of our few regrets is that we didn’t eat enough. We’ve been hearing from everyone that the food was very good and all we had was our entrees. There was an abundance of appetizers that we missed out on. It was great seeing all my family and friends having a good time. Again, I wish it could’ve been longer.
Are you supposed to be able to top your wedding day?
