Living California, Buying Hawaii

I love Diamond soda crackers. 

 

No shame…admit it.  You like ‘em, too, even if you’re on one of those low/no carb diet things.

 

My upbringing was a a simple, humble,  and “country” one in Waipahu.  All 4 of my grandparents were Filipino immigrants who worked hard and tilled the soil to nudge its riches out to help feed the family, and I didn’t realize how much I would miss the simple things in life until I plopped myself in the middle of the epitome of urbania, a.k.a. Southern Orange County, CA.

 

When I first moved to Southern California 13 years ago, it didn’t take long before I began searching for the comforts of home.  My search led me to Marukai Market in Costa Mesa, where I found Redondo hot dogs, Keoki’s lau lau (which isn’t as good as Aunty Marianne used to make when we would spend time at her house in Makaha, but, ah, he go!), Hawaiian Sun drinks, and even dried aku!  But the bestest of them all was finding Diamond soda crackers.

 

I even had a bonus find that day when I found Hawaiian Sun lilikoi jelly 1 aisle over!  I ate crackers with butter and lilikoi jelly every day until they were gone.

 

13 years ago, it was important for me to seek out and find all those things so I could have bits of Hawaii with me all the time.  Now, it’s important for me to give bits of myself to local businesses so when I finally come back home for good (someday!), they’re still around to enjoy.

 

I still regularly buy foods made by businesses in Hawaii (and now can get Zippy’s chili, too!  Da bugga is expensive, but lemme tell you, sometimes you just gotta).  When I got married, I had the wedding party buy their sundresses and aloha shirts from a tailor in Honolulu.  We bought my mother-in-law gold plumeria earrings from a small jewelry store in Waipahu.  On several occasions, I’ve bought gifts from Hawaii merchants (Hawaiian jewelry, ABC Stores) to give as gifts, and the Swap meet/Farmer’s Market are my top places to recommend to ppl who are visiting the islands.

 

I even buy chili and huli huli chicken fundraising tickets from my nieces/nephews and just tell them “eat ‘em for me!”

 

Although I may be 2500 miles away, it’s a good feeling to be able to support Hawaiian businesses, and I’ll never stop., so if you have any suggestions for a mis/displaced kama’aina like me to support Hawaii businesses, I’d love to hear it!

 

Sidenote:  Congratulations to Diamond Bakery for now being distributed in some Eastern states!   It’s awesome to hear, in this economy, that growth in new markets is still possible for a company with such humble beginnings.