Giant Grapefruits

Today we ate our first pomelo (also known as Chinese grapefruit, pummelo, pommelo, jabong, boongon, shaddock, Jeruk Bali or suha). Tommy has pronounced it as "the best fruit of all time", which is impressive since he is not ordinarily known for this type of exaggerated praise. Tommy ate the pomelo for breakfast just as one would eat a grapefruit. The pomelo required quite a bit more work than a grapefruit in terms of "de-seeding", though it was apparently worth it as Tommy raved about the not-too-sour flavor.

Tommy's breakfast inspired me to do some wikipedia research (very intensive and thorough) to learn more about the best fruit of all time. This is what I uncovered:

The pomelo is native to Southeast Asia and all of Malaysia, and grows wild on river banks in Fiji, Tonga, and Hawaii. It may have been introduced into China around 100 B.C. It is widely cultivated in southern China (Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Fujian Provinces) and especially in central Thailand on the banks to the Tha Chin River; also in Taiwan and southernmost Japan, southern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Tahiti and the Philippines. It is also grown commercially elsewhere, particularly California, Florida, and Israel.
The pomelo is also known as a shaddock, after an English sea captain, Captain Shaddock, who introduced the seed to the West Indies in the 17th century from the Malay Archipelago. In the Pacific and Asia, it is known as jabong and in Chinese it is called yòuzi (柚子) (not to be confused with the yuzu, which uses the same Chinese characters but is a different species), while it is called som o (ส้มโอ) in Thai, and buntan or banpeiyu in Japanese. In Burmese it is called kywègaw thee in the south and shaupann thee in upcountry.

The pulp colour ranges between clear pale yellow to pink to red, and tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit. It is the largest citrus fruit, growing as large as 30 cm in diameter and weighing as much as 10 kg; the peel is thick, and is sometimes used to make marmalade.

The tangelo is a hybrid between the pomelo and the tangerine. It has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet.

The peel of the pomelo is also used in Chinese cooking or candied. In general, citrus peel is often used in southern Chinese cuisine for flavouring, especially in sweet soup desserts.

Manoa Falls Hike

After eating our big Hawaiian lunch on Saturday, we decided to burn it off by hiking the Manoa Falls Trail. This trail is arguably the second most popular with tourists on Oahu (the first is Diamond Head). Though everyone here told us that this trail was quite easy, we did discover that it is quite muddy and could be treacherous if you were unprepared (read: a tourist in platform flip flops).

The trail was shaded though somewhat muggy due to the fact that it is basically through a rain forest! So cool! It felt like we were walking through the set of Jurrasic Park. There were some SERIOUS mosquitos which were not at all phased by Maggie's bugspray and who viciously attacked her legs throughout the trip. At the end of the muddy mess of trail, you are rewarded with a beautiful waterfall view. People had recommended that we jump in the pool there, and despite the fact that we came prepared to do so (wearing swimsuits under our clothes) we chickened out due to big signs about bacteria and foreign materials in the water from a landslide. We really have issues with rebellion. Maybe next time we will abandon our fears and take some pictures of us IN the waterfall.

On the way back down the trail, we encountered a very large frog (toad?) in a hole at eye level along the ridge. He sat very still and patiently waited for his portait to be done. :)

Windward Ho'olaule'a

On Saturday, we started the day by going to the Windward Ho'olaule'a...basically a festival like the one last night in Waikiki, but on a smaller scale and with more of a family focus. The festival was very relaxing--we had Hawaiian food including poi, laulau, squid luau, salmon lomi, and poke while listening to local music. I am going to try and post a video, though I am not sure that I can make it work... We also ate what is becoming Maggie's favorite substance on earth--SHAVE ICE. We also discovered shave ice variations, including "snow cap" (Carnation condensed milk on top) and "Ling Sugar" which is like sour sugar or something. Overall, a great morning in our new hometown of Kaneohe.

Waikiki Ho'olaule'a

On Friday night, we ventured down into Waikiki for the annual Ho'olaule'a-- a big street festival with live music, food and arts/crafts. It was extremely packed with people, so after making our way through the major part of the party we took a detour to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and found a seat at the Mai Tai Bar. Since this is reportedly the place where mai tais were "created" we decided it was only appropriate to order one to have the full experience. Tommy had a mai tai and Maggie had a lava flow (coconut, pineapple, strawberry).

Harvest!

This week, Tommy helped our landlord harvest bananas from our front yard area. This was apparently quite an arduous process and even involved the fashioning of tools! Now we have a bounty of bananas--more than we can eat. I sliced a bunch of them up and froze them for future use in smoothies.

The picture above shows our recent harvest, including some of the bananas, a pomelo, and some of the weird little citrus fruits that we have in our yard which are not quite kumquats. I am still searching to find their official name. Basically they are small and orange like kumquats, but have a very thin rind and have segments like oranges. They are EXTREMELY sour--kind of like eating sour patch kid candies. We have found that they work well in making a kind of "little orange fruit"-ade when you squeeze a section into water and add splenda. Our landlord tells us that the leaves are also good for use in cooking. The pomelos are very odd. They have enormous rinds and many, many seeds and are some ancient form of grapefruits. They have a greenish pulp inside and are also quite sour. Best eaten sliced into peices and knawed upon like you are living on a desert island.

Aloha Festival Parade

This morning we woke up early and headed down to Kapiolani Park, where we ran the short 2 mile loop. It was raining lightly throughout the run, which was actually very refreshing given that it was a warm and muggy morning.

After our run, we headed down a few blocks to have some coffee and find a spot on the curb to watch the Annual Aloha Parade, which is one of the major events of the 61st Aloha Festival. Thousands of tourists and locals alike come out to Waikiki to watch the marching bands, military vehicles, elaborate floats, hula dancers, bands, and other costumed characters fill the streets with their Aloha Spirit. The theme of this year's festival is related to the Historical Royal Court, and thus each island's royalty was represented in the parade. In most cases, this meant that each island had a group of people on horses and were led by someone holding a sign that read (for example), "Princess of Kauai". The women on the horses wore richly and vibrantly colored dresses with bountiful flowers on their hair and in leis around their necks. Following each of these groups of horses, there was as assigned group of (usually) kids and teenagers who were clearly on pooper-scooper-duty. The funny part of this is that there seemed to be a bit of a competition going on as to who could have the most elaborate miniature float, which was actually the holder for the poop. One of the pictures above features our favorite of these--it was made to look like a wave and had a surfboard with one of the pooper-scoopers riding it.

Maggie loved hearing the marching bands--this is her favorite part of the parade. We really enjoyed this and are looking forward to the Rose Parade in January--it is supposed to be even more elaborate since it is televised, etc.

Tuesday in Kauai

This Tuesday, I made my first trip to the island of Kauai on business. "The Garden Island", as it is called, is the oldest and fourth largest out of the Hawaiian islands. It has breathtaking landscapes which have been featured in many movies, including "South Pacific", "Jurassic Park", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and "Blue Hawaii". I am beginning to sound like a tourbook. Anyhow, I was sent there along with my fellow post-docs to visit the therapists in our study and provide consultation. I will be going back about every 6 weeks, and hope to see a bit more of the island on each trip. Our days on the island are actually quite busy, and we don't have a whole lot of time for sight-seeing, but I am hoping that some of my visits can be booked on Fridays so that I can stay over and be a tourist on the weekend. (Interisland flights are often on special for residents--sometimes as low as 18 dollars round trip from what I hear....so Nate will likely be able to join me after I am done with my business.)

On this trip, we opted out of eating lunch so that we could drive up to Waimea Canyon Look Out. Waimea Canyon was dubbed "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Mark Twain. It looks a lot like the Grand Canyon, but just a whole lot greener and not as large. It also has a picturesque waterfall that is visible from the lookout. The canyon was formed not just by erosion, but by a large collapse in the volcano that created Kauai.

My general impression was that Kauai looks somewhat like Windward Oahu, but just all over in terms of its lush, jungle-like landscapes. However, Kauai is "country" throughout and retains the feel of the 1950s. I needed contact solution and the only thing we could find was a tiny, one room pharmacy where they still line the shelves with just one or two of each item. It was also expensive. My contact solution was a tiny little bottle and cost over ten dollars. That part was not so 50s. There were chickens wandering all over the school and town yards, and there is only one major "highway" which runs around the edge of the island. I now understand why those that make Kauai their home wish to protect it from being overrun by tourists and traffic. It feels like it would be a uniquely peaceful place to live away from the hustle and bustle of...well, the whole world!

Overall, it was a great trip. We had a good time bonding as a team and adventuring together!

Wild Chickens!

I finally got a picture of one of the wild chickens/roosters!

The flowers of my run

One of the things that I love most about my run is the variety of flowers along the route. I need to buy a Hawaii flower identification book to help me learn all of their names....(and along with that a fish book and bird book). I tried to capture a picture of one of the many wild roosters that live in the woods next to Lilipuna Rd. These crazy birds wake us up at dawn (totally disorienting me on my first morning--"Where AM I?") and chase me along the shoulder as I run. However, they didn't like when I began chasing them to take their photo...

My running route

This weekend as I chatted with my Mother on the phone, I attempted to describe my running route around the Lilipuna Loop without much success. I simply don't have enough adjectives to describe how stunning the views are on my daily run....all I can say is that these views are motivation enough for getting my feet on the road. The loop that I run is just about 2.5 miles; however it is a gradual incline throughout the run, ending with a big downhill swoop into "Kaneohe town". On Sunday evening, I walked my normal route and took some pictures to capture the beauty of our immediate surroundings. Some people describe running as a meditative practice...and I must say that while running my new loop I feel like I am in one long prayer of gratitude for this place.