Crouching Lion

Between Kaneohe and Kahuku, the dining choices are very limited.

We tried our best to always look for small local eateries during our trip. However, as we all know, a hungry (not to mention tired) person is less picky.

That’s why we stopped by the Crouching Lion restaurant despite the warning from the guide book.

(We actually ate here twice! When the hunger struck … we couldn’t help ourselves.)

It’s hard to miss this place on the highway since it has big sign.

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Bird of Paradise welcomes you at the entrance.

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Outdoor dining – overlooking the ocean

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Why would you sit inside when the weather is so pleasant outside?

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The food is overpriced.

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Coconut juice drinking competition

Our Dinner

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Bahia Fish & Shrimp Stew

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Pineapple coleslaw comes with each entree

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Kalua pork with cabbage

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Garlic Butter Shrimp

The food wasn’t bad, but I expected exceptional food for the price we paid. I felt a little disappointed.

Our Lunch

There’s buffet available during lunch time. It costs about $17 and it is not a big buffet. So, do go in and check first to see if it’s worth your money.

When we arrived here, the buffet just ended; so we had no choice but ordered from the menu.

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Mahi-mahi fillet salad

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Crabcake sandwich

And finally, drum roll please … my Crouching Clams! This dish was listed under Appetizers but I had it as my entree. 🙂  What can I say? I love clams.

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Crouching Clams (steamed with garlic), bread

I did enjoy my dish and thought the clams were fresh. There were quite a few of clams in the pot to fill up my stomach.

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I loved that yellow hibiscus wall.

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Chicken! Did they escape from the restaurant’s kitchen?

Hawaii has chicken overpopulation problem. So, it’s not uncommon to find a flock of chicken on restaurant’s lawn.

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Mama bird with baby birds

A waitress poured ice water on the birds to discourage them from coming to the dining area. The waitress advised us not to feed them. Apparently the tourists like to feed the birds which make them keep coming back for more. The birds tend to make a mess on the floor.

My verdict: Crouching Lion doesn’t offer the best value in food. It’s a casual place to take a break when there’s no where else to go. If you can plan ahead, skip this place.

Crater Beach

5/3

Kamehameha highway is a two-lane road that hugs the shoreline. Along the way, you’ll find many free access beaches.

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That’s what I am talking about!! Forget about the crowded Waikiki Beach. Spend a quiet day at one of these beaches.

A few miles north of Kahuku, there’s this beach that is unmarked with no facilities. If anyone knows the name of this beach, please let me know. We gave it a nickname, “Crater Beach”. You’ll see why we chose this nick soon.

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Less than 10 people on the beach!

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Baba-ji

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Clear water

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Craters on the beach

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Organically beautiful

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Radim wasn’t bothered by the sharp structure.

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I love those muscles.

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Love is everywhere in Hawaii!  I can’t say Karan is blind any more since he was the one who discovered this love shaped structure on the beach.

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Me  (The Green Love is to my right in the photo. Can you see it?)

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Sea gazer

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The beauty of destruction

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I shall explore HDR one day …

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Sunset through hazy sky

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The sound of waves lapping the shore  was recorded.

The sunset through hazy sky was different than any other sunsets. In fact, there are no two sunsets that are identical. 🙂

Fumis Shrimp Farm

5/3

We left Laie Point, and kept on driving north.

It was right before sunset and hungry travelers must eat.

There aren’t many restaurants along Kamehameha Hwy. So, when we passed by Kahuku, we stopped by at the one the shrimp shacks to pick up some din din.
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Fumi’s

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K & R deciding what to order

They finally ordered Coconut Shrimp and I ordered Chili Garlic Shrimp which came with rice. We had the food to go since we had to rush to “Crater Beach” for a sunset shoot. I didn’t have the chance to take some shrimpy photos.

I am not too fond of any kind of fried shrimp. K & R loved the Coconut Shrimp and Radim couldn’t help talking about the it for the next few days.

Fumi’s certainly didn’t hold back on the spicing. My Chili Garlic Shrimp was off the hook spicy which gave me an endorphin rush. I would love to come back for more. 🙂

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Hundreds of temperature controlled shrimp ponds next to behind Fumi’s.

Off to “Crater Beach” now.

North Shore Scouting: La’ie Point

5/3

After a fulfilling lunch at our cottage, we were off for some location scouting.

Driving towards north, we passed by a few potential locations.

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Somewhere before La’ie

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No winners here.

So, we kept on driving. We passed by one of the most popular attractions on the island Polynesian Cultural Center but we didn’t pay a visit.

We followed our map and came to La’ie Point (northeastern of Oahu).

La’ie Point

Oh! What a breathtaking sight!

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The sky was a little hazy due to volcano eruptions at one of the islands nearby.

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This point is made up of sandstone with several smaller islands off shore.

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K & R – scouting

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Radim

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Karan- scouting

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Potential spot?

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Ocean slowly dissolves the sandstone and creates beautiful art of Nature.

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Can you imagine if you miss a step and fall on these rocks?

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Rock arch off La’ie Point

This arch was created by nature in ONE day when tsunami punched a hole through the island in 1946. Talk about the power of nature!

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Rock arch off La’ie Point

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Enjoying the view while listening to the symphony of crashing waves (remember to walk carefully!)

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Good shore fishing from sea cliffs

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They caught a huge turtle! I am not sure it’s by law or not, they let the turtle go.

This spot is not crowded. It’s free and has great view. No facilities though.

Who knows how long the arch will stay? Enjoy the view before it’s gone.

Kalua Egg Panini

5/3

K & R came back from sunrise shoot before noon, feeling exhausted.

Since I stayed home and was feeling soooo refreshed, I volunteered to make lunch. I was pretty sick of eating out anyway.

There were some leftover kalua pork and poke, so I thought yummy paninis would make perfect lunch for all of us.

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Tropical breakfast

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Kalua pork/egg/cheese panini, poke. I didn’t have any panini maker with me. So, I placed heavy plate on top of the panini.  That worked perfectly. 🙂

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I got tired looking but happy customers!

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happy chef!

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happy chef does a happy jump (Wearing sarong, I totally represent Malaysia!)