Ala Moana Center is not all that far from Waikiki. We took the trolley over, and the first thing we did was eat, at Alan Wong’s The Pineapple Room. It is a place serving casual Hawaiian food. I had heard the line gets very long, but luckily it was not that bad when I went. Seeing the big dining room almost full, though, I could tell how popular it is.

Bread

Overall the prices were not all that steep.

Sauce

Hmm.. not really sure what this is.

Sauce

It seems to be mayonnaise rather than butter. It came out to spread on the bread, so I guess that is the American style.

Salad

A fairly generous portion.

Loco moco bowl

They said they could split it for us, so I asked, and this is how it came out. This is a half size, but in Japan this would easily pass for a full serving. Fried rice at the bottom, a hamburger patty in the middle, and a fried egg on top, a very fusion kind of dish. In Japanese terms it is B-kyu gourmet. Like all B-kyu gourmet, it wins on calories and volume, so there is no way it could taste bad. Considering it is really two servings, the price is reasonable too. But looking around, every table other than ours had ordered one of these per person, and they all cleaned their plates before leaving. Does living in Hawaii Americanize your stomach as well?

Pina colada

A pina colada in the tropics is something special. It is a taste you just cannot recreate in the city. So fruity and sweet you hardly notice the alcohol. It finally sank in that I was in Hawaii.

Alan Wong’s special tea

The size.. wherever you go and whatever you order, it is American sized. This was tasty too. Alan Wong is better than I expected. They say the main restaurant is very popular, but booking was a hassle so I could not make it this time. I will have to drop by on the next trip. Whenever that turns out to be.

After the meal we wandered around Ala Moana, and there really is a lot of shopping to do. It is not half price like an outlet, but plenty of brands were mid-sale, so I picked up some nice clothes. I bought a few items I had been asked to get at Nordstrom and some winter clothes at Oakley, and before I knew it, it was evening. It is hard to cover it all in a day, so we decided to come back another time. I had been tired since the morning anyway.

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