I went to Oahu last year for the 14th Annual PCATT IT Symposium held at Honolulu Community College. The theme of the conference was “Securing Our Future in Today’s Mobile World.” The purpose of this symposium was to inform and support educators about state-of-the-art ICT tools and trends in a condensed and comfortable format. I love learning about technology and how we can harness its power to make our lives better.My father and brother live on Oahu and I sometimes can find time to meet up with them.  On this particular trip, my father requested that I bring his drum up to Oahu for him. Cool drum–I hope his neighbors appreciate the music as much as he enjoys playing it.I got into Oahu early on a weekday morning. Our ride wasn’t coming for a little while so my colleagues and I decided to get a quick bite to eat before heading to the symposium.  I love that there is a Starbucks kiosk at the baggage claim area. I got the turkey bacon breakfast sandwich. It was tasty but a little bready.  I modified the sandwich to be an open-faced sandwich, inhaled it, found our ride, and off I went to Honolulu Community College to participate in a day of learning.After my day of learning, I met my brother to deliver my dad’s drum and get a bite to eat. The symposium organizers put the participants up at the Pagoda Hotel. Since we were so close to the restaurant, I suggested to my brother that we eat at MW Restaurant which is only a block away from the Pagoda. I was hoping that my SIL would be able to join us too but she had a long day at work and needed to get some rest that evening. As we walked into the restaurant, we saw our Hilo friend, Scotty Sato, working at the bar that evening. Scotty and my brother know each other from their wrestling days at Hilo High School. We sat at the bar so we could bother Scotty throughout the evening. Scotty gave us great recommendations on pairings for each of our dishes.  I asked my brother to eat family-style with me so that I could taste an assortment of things at this restaurant that I love.
We ordered the Kusshi Pacific Oysters on the half shell served with a yukari mignonette. Fresh raw oysters are always a winner.
I love otoro sashimi. I have never had it seared and was skeptical of ruining the perfection that is otoro, but this one was amazing. The sear was very light. The otoro tataki was served with wasabi and a Ho Farms watermelon radish salad. The sailfish sashimi with truffle ponzu sauce had a clean flavor. It was cut into triangles reminiscent of a sail–I’m not sure if that is what the chef was going for but that is what I got. Oishii!The Kunia Farms corn soup with Kauai shrimp was amazing. I once saw a  video segment on Hawaiian Airlines with Chef Jean Georges visiting Hokkaido and tasting some fresh corn and having some corn soup. This soup at MW reminded me of that video and what that corn must have tasted like–bursting with sweet freshness. I loved the soup with its corn niblets and chunks of shrimp. This was Kona abalone with a chili garlic caper and orzo pasta.  Another yummy dish. This was like eating an abalone stew. So good.
I love foie gras and couldn’t resist ordering it. This dish did not disappoint. The green strawberries were a pleasant surprise in this dish.Dessert, of course, to end the evening. Chocolate decadence.

After a dinner like that, I was energized the next day for another great day of learning with the very knowledgeable Burt Lum (@bytemarks).I flew home and went straight to Hilo High School’s Grad Nite event. I worked with Kerri at the snack booth.  Poke bowls, sushi, brownies, ice cream sundaes, chips, cup-o-noodle, chili, nachos, pizza, ice shave, all kind stuffs for the newest Hilo High graduates. Living Hilo Style!