 |
 |
| Cookies + Cream |
 |
| Ube Crinkle Cookie |
 |
| Campfire S'mores |
 |
Hurricane Lala resulted in a lot of devastation throughout the islands, especially on the Big Island. We were fortunate to have very minimal impacts to our home. Our power went out for 17 hours, but we were able to stay connected and keep our fridge powered thanks to some key products (I only bought one of the below items via Amazon, but all links below are Amazon associate links).
 |
We bought the Anker Solix S2000 at Battery Bills. It powered our fridge and I also plugged in a countertop 2-burner to cook dinner. The countertop burner ate up a lot of power, but after 10 hours of charging the fridge we still had enough power for at least 10 more hours. We also bought the solar panels to charge the unit if the power was still off after the battery was depleted.
Portable power stations typically don't ship to Hawaii, so your best bet is a local retailer, like Battery Bills.
 |
The LuminAID Solar Lanterns provided light and could also charge our phones. I bought the model that can charge two phones via luminaid.com (as of this post, there is a sale on their website - thank you to @malikadudley for sharing!).
 |
The SIMO Solis Hero is a mobile hotspot that I intially bought for international travel years ago. It came in handy during the power outage, allowing us to stay connected (send / receive messages, check social media for updates, and report outages). You do need to buy a data pass, and I had bought a bundle of 20 a few years back, which turned out to be about $6 per day pass. The data passes do not expire and are for unlimited data. At times it lagged searching for service, but overall it was a great help in keeping us connected, because I primarily looked to social media to find out what was happening with the storm.
Here is a link to a story at Lokahi FCU about portable power stations from our friend Kyle Harada:
He also made an updated comparison guide to include the Anker Solix S2000. Thank you, Kyle, for allowing us to share here!
I recently met up with a couple of friends for dinner at Pepper Lunch, a Japanese chain that recently opened on Oahu. It was all of our first time, so we were excited to see what it was all about.
Ordering is done at a kiosk, and once your food is ready, the employees bring it right to your table. Each table comes equipped with two sauces—a garlic soy sauce and a sweet honey sauce—so you can flavor your meal to your liking.
 |
We decided to try a few different dishes: the Cream Shrimp Pasta, Beef Pepper Rice, and Angus Rib Eye. Each dish arrived sizzling hot in a stone pot, and the aroma alone was irresistible! You can hear the sizzle and smell everything cooking as soon as it hits the table.
 |
| Cream Shrimp Pasta |
 |
| Ribeye Steak |
I ordered the Beef Pepper Rice and added garlic chips because, well, why not? It was VERY garlicky, but in the best way possible. The garlic chips added a nice crunch and even more flavor to an already delicious dish.
 |
We also ordered a side of onion rings just for fun. They were crispy and a nice addition to the meal.
 |
As someone who loves teppanyaki, I really enjoyed the Pepper Lunch experience. I like that you get the fun of a sizzling teppanyaki-style meal without the formal sit-down experience. Everything was flavorful, interactive, and satisfying.
This was my first visit, but definitely not my last. I'm already thinking about bringing the family next time!
Open daily: 10:30 AM - 9:00 PM.
PEPPER LUNCH
930 VALKENBURGH STREET (MOANALUA SHOPPING CENER)
808-458-5237
 |
 |
 |
