This morning we woke up and tracked up Koko Head for a nice and breath puffing hike with a breathtaking view. A lot of locals hike this a few times a week as a workout. I saw a few people even jogging up and down. Everyone was fit and dressed in athletic gear. Sounds insane!

The hike isn’t a real hike though. It’s an old train track and you’re basically just walk up the wooden train tracks. Basically, stair master. It took me approximately 20MINS to walk up these “stairs” and I took 3 one minute breaks. My first break was about 2/3 way up! I’m proud of myself! 🙂 It wasn’t as hard as I imagined.

The view was nice and gave a whole wide spread view of the ocean. I thought it would be sunny and hot up there but it was actually very breezy and cool. I enjoyed resting up there a lot.

Then we decided to celebrate our accomplishment with eating brunch at Koko Head Cafe. Chef Lee Anne Wong from Top Chef owns this restaurant! I feel honored to eat here. I am a fan of her!

Strawberry Hula – prairie organic cucumber vodka, strawberries, cucumber, mint, pineapple. I wanted to get a matcha latte but they sold out so I got a brunch cocktail instead. Mostly because I miss my boyfriend and getting a cocktail reminds me of him. This drink was easy on the taste buds; not boozy at all. There are strawberry bits in the drink for me to chew on. It’s light and refreshing.

Do you guys know her? She was on Season 1 of Top Chef and now works behind the scenes organizing all of the cooking challenges.

Chinese chicken dumplings. Okay! This is the thing to try! This is Chef Lee Anne Wong’s specialty. She even has her own dumpling cookbook!!! Everyday, they have one of her special dumplings from her cookbook. Today is the Chinese chicken dumplings. They were very airy and crispy. The skin was puffed up so that when you bite into it, there is a big pocket of air with hot flavorful chicken. It is also topped with a light creamy white sauce.

Koko Moco – Maui Cattle Co. Beef patty, garlic rice, mushroom gravy, sunny up egg, served with tempura kimchi. This was my second favorite dish but I am biased again because I love loco mocos! I love the gravy and mushrooms and the soft chewiness of the rice. The bottom layer of rice was also crispy and crunchy!

Breakfast Bibimbap – bacon, Portuguese sausage, heritage ham, kimchi, soy-mirin shiitake mushrooms, ong choy, sesame carrots, bean sprouts, sunny up eggs, served over crispy garlic rice in a hot skillet. This was my least favorite dish but that doesn’t mean it is bad. It’s still good to the others but I am not a big fan of kimchi and sour flavors for my entree dishes.

The waiter flipped the dish upside down for us.

Cornflake French toast – billionaires’s bacon, creamy black pepper maple, frosted flake gelato. This French toasts was huge! It was short and tall. The skin was lightly crispy and the inside was soft and doughy. There was a light sweetness to it. I enjoyed this. 🙂

Don Buri Chen – miso smoked pork, five spiced pork belly, French styled scrambled eggs, housemade pickles, chicharron, sushi rice. I was indifferent to this one. The eggs are very fluffy though!

Ohayou Eggs – Baker eggs, heritage ham, local mushrooms, Parmesan dashi cream, topped with bonito flakes. THESE WERE MY FAVORITE!! The moment I saw this on the menu, I knew it would be the best! It’s my favorite type of breakfast to get. Anywhere that there are egg skillets and creamy sauces over toasts, count me in! The sauce was savory and creamy. I love the runny eggs and the mushrooms. The bonito flakes give a light salty flavor.

Then we went to Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha for a second round of shaved ice. I love this shaved ice place way more than Matsumoto’s!!! It’s so good! It’s the ice cream that makes it!

Uji Kintoki – matcha green tea syrup with azuki beans, homemade mochi, condensed milk and Tahitian vanilla ice cream. They’re known for the Tahitian ice cream. It had little black specks inside the ice cream that are specks of vanilla beans, which give it a grainy texture. It totally made the shaved ice so bomb. The mochi was very soft and chewy. The shaved ice syrup was concentrated but not too sweet.

Lychee Lover – Lychee syrup with lychee, homemade mochi, condensed milk, and lychee cream ice cream. The lychee ice cream is so good!! It also has little chunks of lychee in the ice cream!! It was creamy and good. The lychee syrup was also a good flavor.

We did a little taster of kale syrup. It. Was. Good. Wow! It tasted like a mildly sweet kale juice.

Then we went kayaking at Kailua Beach and went past Lanikai Beach. We tried to get to this island but failed. I was paired up with Marian because she said she knew I was strong and would do most of the work. And I did! :0

Then we chilled on Lanikai Beach for a bit eating some yummy chips we got from Dole Plantation.

Last chance to grab dinner at a poke place! This will be our third poke place. It is called Keeaumoko Seafood.

I got the spicy salmon poke bowl that was only $10. It was really good, but not as good as the first two places we’ve tried.

Andddd tomorrow we have a half day until we go home. The thought of it sounds good. I miss my home by now!