just another

After a dozen glorious years on Oahu I'm headed for California this week.

I'm taking cuttings of some Polynesian plants; I've already scoped out the L&L at the new
location; I've stocked several cans of Samoan-pack ono. A friend will be mailing me some Love's
Hawaiian-bread hot dog buns (kids' favorite). I've packed shoyu, chili peppah watah, and pickled
mango.

What kinds of Hawaii touches do other expatriates go in for?

kilikini

Li hing mui candy! I can't find it anywhere. God I miss that stuff.

kili

emmettjcat

hilo hattie has a store in orange county
don't know if that is close to where you will be
but they have many things that you might miss

auntie maria

If you want to purchase online, use google to search
for either "crack seed" or "crackseed" -- there are
quite a few suppliers on O`ahu who will ship.

Crack Seed Center at Ala Moana is the first that
comes to mind, but there's also that discount
crack seed warehouse off Nimitz...anybody remember
its name?

-- auntie maria --

razzbar

In Idaho, there's a summer traditional food we call 'pork and seeds'.
It's char siu. A hundred years ago, there was a large Chinese
population in Idaho, and char siu kinda made a hit with the local
whites. Supermarkets always sell big trays of it in the summer, but
only in the summer. It's definitely a local tradition, and that's why
it reminds me of Hawaii, because it's a local tradition, rather than a
national thing.

In fact, anything that's really 'local' reminds me of Hawaii. America's
so mixed up now. Idaho has had the same growth that Hawaii has in the
past 30 years, that the towns and cities are like everywhere else. But
every so often you run into something that's unique to the area, and
that's what reminds me of Hawaii. A place that's special unto itself. A
place to love. The ancestral homeland. It's called aloha 'aina in
Hawaii.

And then when I'm in an area where I can see them, the Owyhee mountains
remind me of the Kanaka pioneers... At one time, there were probably as
many Hawaiians as whites in the Pacific Northwest.

I never had such an appreciation of place before I lived in Hawaii.
It's a feeling I learned from the Hawaiian culture, and I'm very
grateful to Hawaii for teaching me.

That's the most important thing to take with you from Hawaii -- aloha.

just another

Heh! Thanks for reminding me... pack one box Li Hing Mui cigars!

jayjayjpg

What part of California? If you have a Longs Drugs near by, it may
have quite a few Hawaii items. The ones in Vegas do.


Smart. I would suggest a lilikoi seeds and if you are up for it a
Hapuu fern. You can get pikake (aka arabian jasmine) and plumeria.

maggiesheridan

You may have problems getting plan products into California....need to
chedk that out.

Anyway......I'd recommend that you bring your Hawaiian mucsic CD's. A
bunch of locale haoles who worked in broadcasting moved up to LA in the
early 1980's. We all sat around listening to Olamana records and
crying our eyes out.

We were very, very homesick.

Maggie..

jayjayjpg

Geez, I must have been drinking when I wrote that reply. I meant to
say that pikake and plumeria are widely available in Southern
California. Pikake is sold at Lowes even up in Vegas. I had to go to
SoCal to get plumeria though.

Maggie Sheridan is right about cuttings being a problem into
California. If the cuttings are "by you" then you may not get past
even the Hawaii Airport Agricultural screeners. But if you buy your
cuttings at a nursery/plant shop and it has the "stamp of approval"
you should be okay.

Jay

pakehaole

You're moving to California, not Siberia. You can get almost everything
from Hawaii in California. Find some good local cookbooks and you'll be
able to get most, if not all, of the ingredients you need. I'm in Rhode
Island and I can get taro (malanga islena they call it here), mangoes
from Florida and Mexico, apple (Brazilian) bananas, linguisa, even sushi
(but no spam musubi) at my local "Stop 'N Shop" chain food store, fried
doughboys (similar to malasadas) at the local lobster and clam shacks,
etc. Can't imagine you'll have trouble in California, unless you're up
north by the Oregon border or in the Central Valley or High Sierras.

the L&L at the new

be mailing me some Love's