"Where are we going for lunch on Friday?": Happy Garden

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy Garden

1113 Maunakea St
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 538-1088

DMSC: On some days, we can't decide where to go. One of the usual "go-to" restaurants is Happy Garden. The food here is good and not too expensive!

APOO: I am so happy IG and DMSC introduced me to this place. The food is really good, the people are Chineseee nice, and the place is relatively clean. Oh yeah, food is cheap too!

IG: There is a very charming, landscaped, interior courtyard next to this restaurant. If you need to go potty, you can ask for the restroom key from the cashier to enter the courtyard.

IG: There were two steamers of this tapioca dim sum, and I wanted the "fresher" looking one. The waitress told me to go back to the table, waited a while, did a switcheroo, and brought us the "staler" one that had been steaming longer and was chewyer!!
APOO: I was just telling IG and DMSC about my high cholesterol. Then IG came back from the dim sum table with steamed custard-filled mochi. My friends are always trying to kill me, slowly and tenderly.

DMSC: We always like the Sam See Mai Funn. This time we ordered it "wet" (with gravy) - but we typically get it dry. I prefer the dry.
APOO: I second that. We had ordered the dry one for the Chinese New Year Celebration we had at work. Not to much left over.

DMSC: I wanted gai lan but they didn't have any so we ordered choi sum instead. This is steamed with oyster sauce drizzled over afterwards.
APOO: Not sure why DMSC wanted vegetables three Fridays in a row. I have always thought he is a meat person. However, I need to eat more veggies since I found out that I have semi-hight cholesterol.

IG: Lower-cholesterol, egg-white, dan tat.
APOO: Goodbye cholesterol and hellooooo egg whites :)

IG: My dining companions are always sooo hungry that they always eat their dim sum before they remember to take photos of our meal!! Only one bean curd roll left!!
APOO: I have never really think much of bean curd rolls. When I found out it seems to be the favorite dim sum for many people in Hawaii, I find myself eating them every time I go dim sum and can't leave without eating one.

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Once upon a time, there was a boring office located in Downtown Honolulu (within walking distance of Chinatown) where everyone ate lunch "in" all the time. One day Island Guy, Angelpoo and Death Metal Soccer Coach didn't have anything to eat, so they decided to go out to grab some lunch. They had a fourth lunch co-hort, who stopped having lunch with the group because his life was cut short by a bizarre gardening accident. Together, this unlikely trio has soldiered on and braved the elements to venture to Chinatown every Friday, and have been yelled at, ripped off, and called names by shop owners around town.

Here, we present to you, is the intrepid trio, with bios written and edited by each other:

ISLAND GUY (IG)

When you were a kid, did anyone ever tell you the story of the stork bringing the baby to the front doorstep? Well, Island Guy was brought by the stork, but was accidentally dropped off at a nudist beach he likes to call Hubba Hubba.

Moving away to the blustery land of 10,000 lakes and Swedes, IG maintained his love of Chinese food. However, a longing for the nudist beaches of Hawaii brought IG back a few years ago.

IG is distinguished for being able to walk at speeds faster than a Segway, and for his amazing ability to focus on Friday lunches at the start of the workweek. However, he can tell you all of the best places to buy groceries in Chinatown!

IG is hampered by an inability to properly pronounce "Satanic" and won't eat anything with preservatives in it. And he's not a big fan of tendon or raw fish either.

Usually on a Monday morning, IG will walk over to APOO's and DMSC's desks and ask "Where are we going for lunch on Friday?"

ANGELPOO (APOO)

One day back in the early days of the Reagan era, an angel from the heavens above made a glorious poo in the shape of a pineapple bun. This is the day the world was blessed with, yes, you guessed it, Angelpoo. Hailing from San Jose by way of Hong Kong, APOO's bilingual ability has been a tremendous asset when it comes time to order at the Chinese restaurants that we usually frequent. The exercising of her bilingual ability also got her called "weir [weird]" by a shop owner in Chinatown. What's wrong with speaking Chinglish?

APOO's mood can switch from "I'm having a horrible day" to "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER" just by eating. This makes her pleasant to be around (though only after lunch).

You can always tell when APOO is angry: she will squint her eyes, frown and shake one fist at you. Watch out if she shakes TWO fists at you!!

APOO has been a missionary of Chinese food, specifically dim sum, to all her non-chinese friends. She believes in all that is dim sum, sweet or salty, should be enjoyed as the main course, and to think of them as appetizers or desserts is a disgrace to the Chinese culture.

Spicy foods are like kryptonite to APOO. She also used to love eating pork, until one day IG explained to her that pork was made out of little piggies. APOO has not eaten pork since. Peanuts will also do APOO in.

DEATH METAL SOCCER COACH (DMSC)

Born in Hell (Los Angeles) and raised by wolves, DMSC moved to Hawaii at the wee age of 28 (that's 4 in human years). Handicapped only by his inability to eat shellfish and gross things (generally, a chicken foot or two never hurt, but those aren't gross, are they?), DMSC generally likes food from all over the globe. Though his claims of shellfish allergies have become mighty suspect to his peers in the group, who have seen him peel away shrimp from his siu mai and eat it, no problem.

The only one who thinks he is "sane" in the group, DMSC rarely ever chooses the lunchtime destination or items at lunchtime, because he thinks the other two are so dominant, but really, he is just plain lazy. However, on the rare occasion that he wants a vegetable or two, APOO won't let him hear the end of it.

The desperate desire of wanting to become a Chinese is shown through DMSC's constant and effortless imitation of the Chinese accent. What he doesn't know is the danger of performing such act in a Chinese dominated community, and the possibility of getting bonked in the head with a rolling pin by an angry Chinese woman. APOO can't wait to see that.

DMSC does not always count his change, so he sometimes gets ripped off by restaurant owners who take advantage of his post meal bliss. Or does this only happen when Chef Chai is in the house?