Who knew ulu?

It’s 4 pm and I’m sitting at the Kona Coffee Mill in Hawi, Hawaii, eating a macadamia ice cream.

A visitor stopped me to ask where they were serving the ice cream that they mention in the book.  I said this must be the place because the town is very small and as far as I know this is the only place that serves ice cream on the strip and I’ve heard good ice cream. Of course I was curious to try it after that. It’s very good. I like the fact that macadamias in it are grown locally. Hawi is a small town in northern Hawaii, part of the Kohala region. It’s often known as where the Ironman and trialathon turns around.

I have come from Japan where I was 13 hours ahead of you to here, and I have come here, 6 hours behind you. It seems appropriate that I am behind you because the pace seems slower more relaxed here. When I got off the airplane and walked into the terminal, despite a 24 hour travel time, with three flights and stop over time of about 10 hours in two airports, I felt immediately more relaxed and energized at the same time. I can’t explain it.

And by the time Heidi brought me to her the town that has adopted her, or she has adopted, I was feeling very relaxed and excited at the same time, not only to be with Heidi and in Hawaii, but there is a certain energy to the island and this area in particular.

It’s like mother earth embraces you here, and tells you to settle down, everything will be ok. There is so much spectacular scenery at every time, sometimes so stunning and incredible when Heidi and I would be hiking, that I had to say holy ***, sorry those were the only words I could think of and perhaps I should be more literate but the feelings were raw like the terrain.  Through mother earth’s incredible beauty, she forces you to become more present and enjoy it all, be grateful for it. 

I heard a guy talking to a visitor about some problems he is having, and at the ends he says, “but heh I live in Hawaii and the beaches where I live are often deserted and beautiful.” I hear others say that they wake up every morning grateful to have another day in such a beautiful location on this planet. I am certainly grateful for the time I am spending here.

I had a long stopover in Waikiki and while beautiful as I walked the beach area and laid in the sun, I felt it was too crowded and touristy for me. I felt I hadn’t left Japan, just the back drop had changed. There were so many Japanese tourists, almost everything was written in Japanese as well as English, and sometimes only in Japanese, and there was the Japanese food and snacks all over that I was familiar with in Japan like snack packs of sushi and noodles, not that I am complaining, just observing.

So coming to Kona and then to Hawi feels more “Hawaiian”, more local, more real. It feels like I am peeling a fruit, layer by layer, and now I am inside where the seeds are like a papaya. I am thinking in fruit because there is so much fruit here that is grown locally that I am familiar with, however I am not, because there is nothing like tasting something that has been grown locally and just picked.

And the new produce I am being introduced to, are like new crushes. Where have you been all my life?  How can I get to know you better? Heidi said I would love ulu, especially done as a bread/cake, and she was right. The whole ulu can be put in the oven and when it’s ready, they open it up like bread! Thus the alternate name breadfruit. How great is that? Now we are both in love with the same fruit! But there is room, because there is a lot of ulu. Who knew about ulu?

I’ve also come to have a crush on lilikoi or yellow passion fruit that seems to make its way into a lot of food products from jams and ice creams to desserts. You eat the fruit by cutting a whole at the top and sucking out the seeds and pulp or cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds and pulp. You normally don’t eat the rest.

This morning we had a freshly baked cinnamon bun with lilikoi glaze at the Nanbu Coutyard café  on our way home from what is becoming our daily sunrise beach play time. Delish! The café is only open from 7 am – 2 pm and the owner is a third generation Japanese, like me. She makes everything from scratch from early in the morning. There is a beautiful courtyard as part of the café that looks like a perfect place to relax.   

When I came to the island, I felt like I was out of step with the energy of the island. The best way I can describe it is like I was a square peg trying to fit inside a round hole.  I feel that I have spent so much time being the best and right peg, in order to fit in. But here you don’t need to be a round peg or even a peg, you can be who you are.

Did you know that there are 250 varieties of mango? Who knew? At home, most of the time it’s hard to find more than two varieties and the big criteria is often how ripe they are.

That’s what I love about travelling, it challenges all my preconceived assumptions and expectations about everything, including fruits and life.  And sometimes turning your world upside down is a good thing.