I started off Thanksgiving Day by driving my son to the annual Big Island Road Runners Turkey Trot at Coconut Island. It is a very popular event and the weather was perfect that morning.The Hilo community came out in force and participated in a fun and healthy activity while supporting the Big Island Road Runners organization.My son enjoys running and this event allowed us to support the BIRR and their effort to give back to the community with their canned good drive for the local food basket.After the run, my son and I went out to breakfast at Kuhio Grille. I had a delicious corned beef hash breakfast upgraded with fried rice.  What a delicious way to start the day.Watching my son and my friends run in the morning and having the yummy breakfast gave me enough energy and motivation to go for a short “wog” around the neighborhood.In the early afternoon, my daughter and I left Hilo and headed for Oahu to join her soccer teammates for a Thanksgiving soccer tournament.

This gave us the chance to have Thanksgiving dinner with our loved ones on Oahu where we feasted on turkey, ham, stuffing, cake noodles, poke, and warabi salad (from Hilo Lunch Shop).The day after Thanksgiving, my daughter wanted to participate in Black Friday shopping at Ala Moana. I’m not a shopper but since it is an activity my daughter enjoys, we went. I had a really nice time with my youngest. I know that several of my friends were also shopping at Ala Moana at the same time, but we didn’t cross paths at all. We did see long lines for the Disney Store and Prada. I guess those two stores had some special deals while we were there. I don’t know how long the wait was to get into Disney, but I heard that the wait for Prada was two hours.

One of my daughter’s favorite restaurants is located at the Ala Moana Shopping Center and she requests to eat there every time we are on Oahu.

We enjoyed Tan Tan Ramen, Banbanji Chicken, Curry Rice, and Tonkatsu from Goma Tei. That fueled her for her afternoon soccer game.We went straight from shopping to the soccer tournament held at the Waipio Soccer Complex in Waipahu.The Big Island Rush team won their first game!  Yay–what a great way to start the tournament.

After the soccer game, we celebrated with a dinner at Roy’s Hawaii Kai with my brother and sister-in-law. Everything was delicious! We especially loved the clams. My daughter was in the mood for pasta and even though it was not listed on the menu, the kitchen was happy to prepare a pesto linguine with shrimp for her.  My daughter was very happy. The next day, after the soccer game, the team got together at Dave and Busters where the girls got to play games while the parents and coaches could hang out at the rooftop lounge and relax.On Sunday, after our early morning game, the Oahu Rush team hosted the Big Island Rush soccer girls to a breakfast buffet at the soccer field. Pancakes, bacon, sausages, eggs, fried rice, and donuts were on the menu.After breakfast, some of us headed to Ice Palace where the girls “skated” for hours. There was a lot of hanging on to the wall at the beginning but the girls picked it up quickly and had a great time. What a nice time these Hilo girls had on Oahu.  The team didn’t win the championship, but they worked well together and stayed positive throughout the tournament. Living Hilo Style.