In Search of the Madagascar Gecko

Erick, our new photography buddy said we could find the red-spotted green gecko at Foster Garden, so me and Susie with our new cameras set out a few days ago to go look for it. Had some interesting plants there.

This is the Calabash tree from West Tropical Africa. Kinda looks like avocados.
This is an Air Potato plant. Neat, hah. I guess it's a potato that grows above the ground.

Cannonball tree from Guiana.Had plenty of these guys, but no green gecko.

Plenty of flowers too.

but no gecko. I kinda remembered that Erick said they were by the hot house orchids so we headed there. I didn't take pictures of the orchids 'cause they were kinda boring, but these were nearby.

I was taking a shot of these Crown of Thorns when Susie started calling for me.

She was about to sit on a bench but something beat her to it!!

SCORE!! Thanks Erick.

Holokai Grill - 9/16/2007

My girlfriend Fay knows what a social butterfly I ain't, and being the good friend that she is always tries to keep in touch. Once in a while she manages to drag me out of the house for a get-together, and today we went to the Holokai Grill.


We got there at about 11:30 and the place was still a bit empty.
The aroma from this 8-ounce steak Holokai Sizzle Platter ($12) on the table next to us got my juices going. . .
as did the sight of this Beer Battered Seafood & Chips ($12).
We started off with the Salt & Pepper Calamari ($9) served with kimchee aioli and like the menu says fried perfectly "light and crispy!"
Fay ordered the Orange & Guava Glazed Ribs ($13) . . .
which came with grilled corn . . .
and sweet potato fries. I thought that the fries were overcooked at first, but it must've been just the sweet potato color 'cause it was cripsy on the outside and moist on the inside . . . veeeery good.
I ordered the do-it-yourself Perfect Salad ($11) where you pick your own toppings. I should've unveiled my salad more for the picture 'cause hidden underneath the grilled chicken and avocado are sliced mushrooms, chopped eggs, cucumber and bacon bits. It was excellent, although the avocado wasn't as tasty as the stolen ones from Brandee's neighbor.

As the restaurant started to fill with customers the service got increasingly slow, but Fay and I had a lot of catching up to do, so the time went by really fast. Thanks, Fay, for the treat . . .I'll catch the next one.

Wendi and Alaina - 9/07/2007

Tsukiji Fish Market Restaurant

Here's a small sampling of the luncheon buffet items. At $18.95 I thought it was a good deal. Missing are pictures from the soup station (miso, saimin, soba) and the small (really small) salad bar.
I'm not a raw fish sushi eater so I can't tell you how good the sushi was, but the California roll was excellent.
I also liked these cute little musubi's.
This kinda curly noodle somen was also tasty.
Shrimp and vegetable tempura was good. Had mahi tempura too but I didn't take a picture.
One of my favorites was the miso eggplant on the right. There's pumpkin and sweet potato on the left and kinpira gobo in the middle . . . all good.
Hot items, not my particular favorite in any buffet . . . kalua turkey,
Kalbi
Teriyaki chicken
Friday fried rice
Cold shrimp
And dessert, my particular favorite in any buffet . . . shave ice
cake (had chocolate too, but my picture came out blurry)

and my favorite . . . mochi. I gorged on the kinako mochi until my stomach popped out.

Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation Jungle Adventure - September 9, 2007

Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation is a small organization run by big-hearted individuals who are committed to assisting families of children touched by cancer. HCCF's Jungle Adventure is held in September, National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, at the Honolulu Zoo.