Tropical Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen

The room is dark. I sit in silence at the desk and try to keep my keystrokes quiet. The night has been ruined by the most powerful four letter word in the English language. When coupled with candy, it brings hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids into the street, most in costume, many not. Free candy!

The government housing area we live in is mostly occupied by palagi's. The kids know this and they know that Halloween is a palagi custom. Truck loads are dropped off, the small, usually quiet roads are bumper to bumper with pick up trucks and SUVs carrying as many as 20 kids in each of them. Last year I bought several bags of candy and they were gone in under 5 minutes! And I was being stingy...one piece per kid! There were so many that I couldn't tell if they already been by the house! Many had the same costume or no costume at all. The littlest kids didn't even know what they were doing singing some song to a strange palagi!

Cynthia was already home when I got pulled into the driveway. We had planned to go to a movie, or out to dinner to avoid the masses and figured we had until dusk to make a plan. As we were contemplating what to do, we could hear the first wave coming! They were early this year! Our minds raced, we didn't have candy, we were supposed to be out of the house by the time they came around! "Get in the car!" I shouted. I could hear the kids singing their terrifying song as they walked up our street and closer to our house..."Halloween, trick or treat, give me something good to eat!" It was barely 5pm and still light out. We fumbled for the car keys and bolted out the door and could see the SUV in front of our house emploring their kids to continue singing that hideous song..."HALLOWEEN, TRICK OR TREAT, GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT!" "We don't have any candy" we pleaded! They sang louder!

We were seated for dinner by 5:15, not surprisingly we were the only people in the restaurant. We tried to eat slowly. We sauntered around the shopping mall. We went home. We were only going to stop by the house for a minute. Drop off the leftovers, grab the flashlight and walk to a friends house, then the bank. I killed the lights as we pulled onto our street. We quickly got out and ran into the house. No lights, can't risk being noticed. We were in and out in less than a minute and started walking to our friends place. It was dark now and the streets were crawling with kids and trucks full of more kids. Literally as many as 20 kids in the back of the trucks. As we walked down the road to the house, there was a line of trucks, most of the houses were empty, people knew to flee. Two kids asked us where we lived, "around here" we said. We asked where they were from and they said "Nu'uuli" which is the village next to ours. "No candy there" they said. I asked what they were dressed as and they said nothing. Just after free candy!

Our friends weren't home, we walked to the bank. Kids on bikes, kids walking around, kids in trucks, they were everywhere. "Halloween, trick or treat, give me something good to eat!"

We figured it would be nearly over by the time we returned from the bank. As we neared our neighborhood there were still kids loitering about. It felt as though they were following us just so they could sing that song...THAT SONG...GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD!!! We didn't walk down our street, instead deciding to walk up the grass around the back of our house and sneak in the back door. No lights, still too risky. The dogs barked, chased some kids away.

Now here I am sitting in darkness. The dogs are still barking occasionally, but its slowing down. Still no lights though, too soon. Perhaps a movie, if we keep the volume low. We can always mute it if we hear the dogs bark, a sure sign that trick-or-treaters are nearby. Just another tropical Halloween!

Glazed Walnut Shriimp

I should have known. Obviously, I wasn't thinking when I ordered. Cynthia and I went to dinner at the ever popular Hong Kong House last night. One of several Chinese restaurants on the island. The place was deserted when we walked in, but it was 6:00pm on a Wednesday evening. Nevertheless, Cynthia and I were enjoying being out together. Talking about our day and our future. We're still undecided about what our next move is so there is lots to discuss and consider in the next few months.

Cynthia ordered the Vegetable & Tofu Chow Mein right away, before I was ready to order. I was a bit flustered. I have eaten at the Hong Kong House several times in the past and have a couple items I enjoy eating, but last night I wanted to try something different. I know the fish cubes with garlic sauce and the fish cubes with black bean sauce are good. There are also several chicken dishes that are nice, but I was in the mood for shrimp. As I hurriedly scanned the shrimp menu items, the usual suspects yawned off the menu at me...Kung Pao Shrimp has peanuts, which I'm allergic to, Shrimp with vegetables sounds ok, but the vegetables here aren't too exciting. The menu item that jumped out at me in the shrimp selection was the Glazed Walnut Shrimp. Sounded exciting and different, something one doesn't typically get here, so without a thought, I ordered the Glazed Walnut Shrimp with a side of steamed rice and went back to discussing the future with Cynthia.

Another couple arrived in the restaurant and sat down at a table out of our site. Our drinks arrived as we continued to talk. Then Cynthia's chow mein was delivered to our table. The vegetables in the Vegetable & Tofu Chow Mein consisted of carrots, cabbage, and spring onions. Not the greatest selection as I mentioned. It was good chow mein though, love those noodles, may not be healthy, but damn they're good. Then the kitchen doors opened and as the other couple had only just arrived, I knew it was my Glazed Walnut Shrimp. As it neared the table I was a bit excited to eat something out of the ordinary.

As it was placed on the table I scanned the dish and was a bit confused at what I saw. Fried shrimp on a bed of cabbage, sprinkled with walnuts, with a carrot garnish was somewhat expected, but what was the white "sauce" covering the shrimp? It looked creamy, certainly not like a "glaze". "Is that mayonnaise?" I queried the waitress. She replied with a slightly embarrassed "yes". Mayonnaise!?! MAYONNAISE!?!??! On fried shrimp?!? My Glazed Walnut Shrimp which sounded so exciting and different was actually fried shrimp sprinkled with walnuts and covered...and I mean covered, dripping, thick...with mayonnaise?!?! I couldn't believe it...and yet, I should have known. I simply should have known. You can never let your guard down and must constantly be suspicious of things, especially food, that sounds too good to be true. Last night I suffered the consequences and cursed myself for doing so as I used the steamed rice to wipe the mayo off my Glazed Walnut Shrimp. I got through half the shrimp and could go no further. The dogs didn't seem to have a problem with it though.