🌺 Aloha Hawaiʻi 6/22/25

Hi Everyone!

If William goes out into the universe and does something, but doesn’t write a newsletter about it, does it really happen?

These past few weeks have been very hectic, and I have sometimes found it hard to write the newsletter. I appreciate that you all take time out of your busy days to read this, so just as a heads up, there might be a couple more newsletters in the foreseeable future that are also delayed a couple of weeks.

Now with that out of the way, let’s find out What’s Up With Will…

Rylee and I got up early Monday morning to fly out of Indianapolis back to San Francisco. I guess you can take me out of Indy, but you can’t take the I, no matter how much I pose with the sign.

We got back and did manage to run over another load of boxes to the new apartment that day, so pretty productive day all things considered. It’s a good thing, too, because we would be on the move a day later.

I am extremely fortunate that every summer, my family can go on a vacation together. However, it meant that less than 24 hours later, we were back in SFO, boarding another plane for our destination. This time, though, we would be flying with my parents (my dad booked us an entire middle row of the plane to sit  together, how cute!) You want to guess what our destination was? Hawaiʻi!

Legend has it that Pelehonuamea, the Goddess of Volcanoes, sailed from the ancestral homeland of Tahiti with her family in search of a new land. She was followed by her sister Nāmakaokahaʻi, the goddess of the ocean, who would flood the lands. Pelehonuamea, or Pele for short, tried to settle. Their clashes would shape the islands, and Pele finally found a home on the Big Island. This is the same Big Island that was the destination of our trip.

We landed in Kona and picked up Daniel and Hannah (who arrived a day earlier), just in time for lunch. We went to a spot called Foster’s Kitchen, which had been spotlighted by none other than Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I asked what Guy recommended, and she directed me to a marlin fried fish sandwich and an Uber Haupia-Colada drink. If it’s good enough for Guy, it’s good enough for me!

We then spent the rest of the day wandering around Kona and checking into our Airbnb. Rylee’s first stop was for Dole Whip at a place called Bubba and Finn’s (and I decided to get an ube and coconut soft serve). And my first stop was the ABC store, a convenience store with a cult like following in Hawaii.

One of the biggest things that the Big Island is known for is its Kona Coffee. Grown in a small patch of land only 20 miles long on the western slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualālai, Kona coffee is renowned for its unique flavor profile and exceptional quality, which stems from the rich volcanic soil and ideal climate.

To learn more about Kona Coffee, we took a tour of Greenwell Farms, one of the larger coffee farms on the island. This was so freaking cool, as we got to experience every single part of the production process. Not to mention, we also got to try lots of samples of coffee, so I was extremely caffeinated for the rest of the day. Oftentimes, people can be pretentious about coffee, but everyone at Greenwell Farms were enthusiastic to share all that they know about coffee with us.

Something that I found incredibly ironic about Greenwell is that the head coffee inspector is named none other than Chai.

It just so happened that right next door was a special museum exhibit on Kona Queen Bees.

Little did I know, Kona is a global hub for queen bee production. It is the world’s largest exporter of queen bees, supplying queen bees to 20% of U.S. hives, and 30% percent of international hives. In Hawaiʻi, though, honey bees didn’t arrive until the 1850s aboard a ship from California, but its year-round mild climate allowed farmers to raise queens earlier than most other areas in the world.

For lunch, at the recommendation of our Greenwell Farms tour guide, we went to a roadside shack called Super J’s that specialized in lau-lau, a meat that is wrapped in taro leaves. It was quite good, and almost felt like I was eating a collard greens type dish.

Near the big island, there exists a cove known as Manta Ray Village, where a lot of the manta rays come to feast at night. Now, manta rays, while related to sharks, exclusively eat phytoplankton, so some boats will take people out on the water and set up lights to attract the phytoplankton in the hope that people can get a front row seat to see the manta rays. We decided to try our luck on one of these tours. 

Fortunately, the manta rays showed up within a few minutes of jumping in the water. Let me tell you that these manta rays have no concept of personal space. They swam right under us, and at times would even run right into us. It would have been super cool, but I was deathly afraid the entire time. It should be known that I have a fear of swimming with fish and other aquatic animals, so I was screaming and hollering every time the manta rays passed under me. I am so brave! But I was more than a little bit afraid.

On Thursday, I further faced my fears when we went on a snorkeling tour. Our first stop was a place the locals called Suck-Em-Up, and we saw some fish, a sea turtle, and even a shark (I don’t have a photo for it, but I swear I did see one). We stopped at a couple of other places, but I unfortunately got seasick.

When I go to places, I tend to create a list of local food items that I would like to try. I think food is a great way to get an understanding of a new place and its culture. Among the list of things for Hawaii was Poke, so we went to a place called Umeke’s Fish Market Bar and Grill, where we had some incredible poke sashimi. I also treated myself to some of the best fish tacos I have ever had.

Friday morning, I decided to go out with Rylee to get another cup of Kona Coffee at Green Flash Coffee. I had already had my educational coffee experience with nothing added to it, so I was ready to now spice things up with a white chocolate and macadamia nut latte. 

I followed that up by going to the Kona Farmers Market. It felt like it was mostly catered to tourists with lots of toys, hats, leis, and Hawaiian shirts, but they did have some fresh produce (and you know I had to help myself to coconut water straight from a coconut).

And then, I went to Basik Açaí for another item on my Hawaiian food list: Açaí bowls. I always appreciate a bowl with lots of toppings, and Basik didn’t disappoint in that regard. An Açaí a day keeps the doctor away!

Our only other activity for Friday was going to a luau. It had all the usual suspects, such as hula dancers. singers, and fire-twirlers, but it was also a buffet and all-you-can-drink. I was excited to drink as many mai tais as possible, but was surprised to find that the standout drink was the Blue Hawaii (rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, and sweet and sour mix).

I liked that at the beginning of the luau, the emcee got up to say Aloha, and explain how it was the combination of two phrases: “alo” meaning in the presence of, and “ha” meaning the breath of life. I have only ever heard of Aloha as meaning hello or goodbye, but I appreciated the better understanding of the concept of aloha and not just the generally known Western interpretation. 

On Saturday, we checked out of our Airbnb to start our drive to the Volcano. However, we made a few pit stops along the way (some of which I even helped navigate to! Although most of the trip was in a straight line.)

The first stop was Pu’uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park. Pu’uhonua O Hōnaunau park served a dual purpose in Hawaiian history. It was a center of power as Royal Grounds because of its extraordinary mana, or spiritual power, which came from the bones of 23 chiefs in the Hale o Keawe temple. Right outside of the Royal Grounds served as a place of refuge for those who broke kapu, a set of ancient laws and rules that all had to follow. This place was so peaceful and serene, and was a far cry away from the hustle and bustle of Kona. 

Our next stop was Punalu’u Bake Shop, which marketed itself as the US’s southernmost bakery. I had to do some fact checking on that, but the rest of the US is above the Tropic of Cancer, meaning in fact that the Big Island is the most southern part of the United States. Punalu’u Bake Shop specializes in Hawaiian sweet bread, which is kind of like those King Hawaiian rolls, but way better and fresher. I chose to get a seafood supreme sandwich and a malasada, which is a Portuguese donut that has become a Hawai’i staple ever since it was brought over to the islands.

Our next stop was Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park, and yes, before you ask any questions, it does have black sand made from volcanic rock. This beach also acted as a resting point and nesting ground for sea turtles, so we said hi to a couple of them lounging about.

We finally made it to Volcano later in the day. In the legend of Pele, she made her final resting place the volcano Kīlauea and the Halema‘uma‘u crater, both of which are located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We had heard the day before that Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes was erupting, so we ran over to the viewing point. By the time we arrived, though, the volcano had stopped for multiple hours. We were a little sad, but hopeful that maybe sometime during our stay in Volcano it would again erupt. I don’t think there is any other way to summarize this feeling more than as Rylee put it, “never before in my life did I ever think I was going to find myself standing next to a volcano wanting it to erupt”.

We spent the entire day Sunday exploring the national park. We walked around the steam vents and sulphur banks, where volcanic gases arise from deep fractures within the ground. We also hiked around the caldera’s rim and explored lava tubes created from lava slowly carving its way through the land.

You know how much Rylee and I love a winery, so the moment we heard about the Volcano Winery, we knew we had to drag my family to it. Similar to Punalu’u Bake Shop, it branded itself as the US’s southernmost winery. We tried several wines on our tasting, including fruit wines using locally grown jaboticaba berries and a tea-infused honey wine, both of which were surprisingly complex and delicious. 

And just as nightfall arrived and we were about to leave, we looked one more time out onto Kilauea. That’s when, all of a sudden, we noticed a sliver of red, and as it got darker, we began to notice it more. We began to see the lava flow from the previous eruption. Despite the incredible danger of the lava flow, there was something equally beautiful about it. One of Pele’s defining features in Hawaiian tradition is that of both destroyer and creator. There is destruction and devastation that comes from eruptions and lava, but that same destruction leads to the rebirth of the land and the start of something new. I think seeing the lava flow itself is a good reminder of that. 

I have officially made it to the big leagues: the Rita’s Italian Ice of Alameda Instagram Account! I love that they turned this image into a reel, and that its just an ad for there new skittles flavor.