The best part of the shopping experience was meeting the sweetest Persian jeweler Masoud! As we were walking around the marketplace we saw his jewelry and decided to check it out. He had some great stuff! They way it works he has different gold, silver, and white gold chains and you choose which one you like and he can make a necklace, bracelet, or earrings for you. Being the Persians that we are - when we shop we talk Farsi when giving our opinion about an item. All Persians do this and it is one of the perks of growing up bilingual. We asked him how much a certain necklace was and he completely surprised us by responding in Farsi. I really liked this particular gold chain and thought it would be perfect as a bracelet for my mom, sister, and I to get [when the 3 of us travel we buy the same piece of jewelry as a souvenir/memorabilia of our trip]. Masoud - ended up being from a town near where my mom grew up - sells jewelry at the Swap Meet as a side job. We chatted with him for a little bit and gathered that he has been to MI before - it was too cold for his liking - and before moving to Hawaii he lived in California. He made three beautiful custom bracelets for Mama, Doc, and I. He was extremely sweet and went completely Persian on us and "taarof" with us!! He refused to charge us for the bracelets! We kept on insisting and he would not give us the price of the bracelets! The awful thing was that there was no price tag so we had no idea/concept of how much they cost. He insisted on us accepting the bracelets as gifts and would not charge us for them. He was extremely kind and generous!! I love Persians.
After we shopped till be dropped we headed to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling. Lil Bro was not excited to go to the beach [remember he has a fear of sun and water] but he ended up being the one who snorkeled the entire time and wouldn't get out of the water!! Doc did a lot of snorkeling as well and really enjoyed it the second time around!
We went all out for our last dinner in Oahu and went to Chai's Island Bistro. It was voted in the Top 5 best restaurant in Oahu for 2012 by Honolulu Magazine. The food was divine!!! I ordered the Grilled Atlantic King Salmon with Truffle Madeira Sauce, Doc ordered the Pan Seared Fresh Local Snapper with Lobster Cream Sauce, Lil Bro ordered the Pacific Rim Ciopino & Crostinis, and Mama got the Crispy Whole Snapper. Mama loved her fish because it reminded her of fish she would eat as a kid in the motherland. She loved it!! All of our dishes were amazing!
Lil Bro & I leave tomorrow afternoon. I am avoiding packing because that means my time in Hawaii is done and I have to return the Midwest cold & lots of snow. I'm going to look like a fool at the airport in Detroit with no jacket and wearing sandals.
such pretty bracelets! So glad B snorkeled again. You guys all look so brown!
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