Thai Food and Dole Plantation

Tags

Dole Plantation, food, Haleiwa, Hawaii, North Shore, Oahu, Thai Food

9 May 2015 – Sherrie is always looking for the next great Asian restaurant – particularly Thai or Chinese (and more specifically, Sichuan).  She found out about a little Thai place on the North Shore in Haleiwa – Opal Thai Food.  Of course we had to go.  It was doubly convenient because we were planning on visiting the Dole Plantation which is only 10 minutes away from the restaurant.

Opal’s is a small restaurant (12 tables) next door to a Long’s Drugs in Haleiwa.  It is run by Opal and his 12-year old son, Lio.  Opal meets you at the door, seats you at your table and then asks you if you like Thai food.  If you respond yes he will ask you what Thai dish you last ate and to list five Thai dishes.  If you can answer the question he throws the menus on the floor and asks you for your favorite ingredients and plans a menu for your table based on your favorite things.

He brought us fish cakes with a wonderful red pepper sauce, shrimp noodles for the kids, a bowl of curry soup for two, garlic sweet fried chicken, and larb gai with lettuce wraps.  All amazing.

Opal, his son, and his staff are wonderfully welcoming and take the time with each table to talk and make sure that everything is perfect – waters are always full, napkins were replaced several times, etc.  Exceptional service.

They loved the children and took Lucas into the kitchen to watch and Opal carried Giuliana around the restaurant.  Lio and Lucas made fast friends and Lio made Lucas a rubber band bracelet with a button he had found.  We will definitely return.

Lucas and Lio at Opal Thai Food

From lunch we headed to the Dole Plantation – now a tourist spot located on the spot of the original 60 acres of James Dole’s first pineapple field in the Hawaiian islands (which further expanded to Maui and Lanai).  The kids loved the train, the maze, and the pineapple ice cream.  We also attended a pineapple demonstration where they discuss how to pick, slice, and grow a pineapple (it takes 20 months for a plant to bear fruit).

Aurelia, Isabella, and Lucas in front of the Dole Plantation

They loved taking the train through the pineapple fields and looking at all of the various plants: banana, Ti, breadfruit, coffee, pineapple, mango, papaya, etc.

Sitting in front of us on the train were two very friendly Korean ladies who took a liking to the children and gave Sherrie a small pineapple necklace (“for the beautiful lady”).  Of course I had to oblige them with a photograph 🙂

Korean ladies with Lucas, Aurelia, and Isabella on Dole plantation train

We then walked through the world’s largest maze in search of the eight stations where you stencil a unique design on the back of your ticket.

We finished our time at the plantation with their famous pineapple ice cream.

Lucas, Aurelia, and Isabella after ice cream at the Dole Plantation

Growing pineapple at the Dole Plantation

A gecko in a pineapple plant

Dole plantation banana tree

After the plantation we headed back and hit the pool for an hour before dinner 🙂  No day would be complete without swimming in Hawaii!

Colmar and the Rue du Vin

Tags

Alsace, canal, Colmar, food, France, grapes, market, Rue du Vin, vineyard

After a late arrival last night we woke up at 0900. Actually Lucas, in his role as family alarm clock, woke everyone up with a, “everyone get up, it’s sunny!”

Good morning Colmar

Aurelia, Isabella, and Lucas watch the town awake from the hotel window

After adding some money to the parking meter we had a nice breakfast in the hotel courtyard.

Isabella and Lucas enjoy breakfast in the hotel courtyard

We then ventured out to explore Colmar. It was raining, but we made the best of exploring this picturesque Alsacian town. It had several markets, a canal system, a cathedral, and is filled with renaissance buildings.

Exploring Colmar

We explored the markets filled with wonderful foods like cheeses, meats, fruits, and pretzels!

Covered market

Covered market

Pretzels in the covered market

We also walked the canals and through the winding streets of the old town. On the way we had to stop and sampled fresh macaroons: pistachio, raspberry, chocolate, orange, rum raisin, and original.

Colmar buildings

Street in Colmar looking towards the cathedral

Macaroon place. She is embarrassed I photographed he snacking on them. I would too!

Our last stop was the old town hall and cathedral before going to lunch at for traditional Alsacian fare.

At lunch

Lunch menu

Alsacian pizza with ham, onion, cheese and creme freche

Sergio's lunch of baked potato, ham, and mushrooms in a hollandaise

Our hotel

We went back to the hotel to dry off and decided to explore the surrounding wine region by travelling the Rue du Vin. This amazing road traverses the vineyards and through the small wine making towns which really show the character of the area.

Alsace wine region: vineyard and hill towns

Alsacian grapes

After returning, we had a nice dinner of meats, melon, roast chicken, and scampi.

Isabella, Lucas, and Aurelia heading back from dinner

Hello Spain!

Tags

food, Granada, Spain, tapas

It felt like a crime to wake the kids up at 0400 this morning.

Aurelia still sleeping at 0400

Lucas and Isabella still sleeping

We got ourselves together and after a short taxi from the hotel we caught the Gatwick express from Victoria station. Luckily, the hotel provided breakfast boxes.

On the train to Gatwick airport

After the rigors of navigating the airport we were on the plane and on our way to the next adventure.

Lucas and Aurelia strapped in and ready to fly!

Aurelia catching up on her beauty rest during the flight

Once at the airport we waited an hour to get the rental car and another hour installing car seats. Not a great start.

While a trip to the beach before Granada sounded nice the kids were tired and took a nap during the two hour drive from Malaga to Granada. In the end well rested kids equal happy kids and a better trip.

The trip to Granada was beautiful. We headed away from the beach inland towards the snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains. The road was lined with olive groves and, of course, the sun was out. In some ways the architecture and landscape reminded me of central California.

The Alhambra and Sierra Nevada mountains

When we arrived in Granada it took some time to find the meeting spot to get the keys for our holiday let. It took even longer to find a parking garage. I’m sure I broke some traffic laws along the way.

We then trekked thorough the old Islamic district to the apartment.

Street in old Islamic district of Granada

Isabella and Lucas in the apartment courtyard

The view of the Alhambra from our apartment

Once we got settled we headed out for tapas. We still needed to move the car to the correct parking spot and hit a tapas bar on the way.

Fries with eight sauces, seafood salad, and croquettes

Enjoying tapas!

Jamon Iberico Plata with some of the best Spanish meats

We finally moved the rental car and walked our luggage through the labyrinthine streets of the old Islamic district, the sounds of our wheeled luggage on the cobblestones echoing in the narrow passages.

The Granada old Islamic district from above