Sansei

Every evening, Sansei restaurant is packed, with lots more people waiting on the few benches along the parking lot of its strip mall. In sight are two restaurants with virtually no tables occupied. We waited forever to get a table, but the other restaurants looked really pathetic, and we wanted a good farewell dinner.

Sansei has an innovative version of Japanese restaurant cooking. The sushi rolls are varied and delicious -- you can see a rainbow roll, a spider roll, and a classic ahi tuna roll in the picture above, and sushi of unagi/eel and ahi tuna below.

Presentations are impressive as well: below, a duck breast with accompaniments. The tempura seemed perfectly battered -- I tried one spear of Evelyn's asparagus, which was lovely. A pasta dish included large scallops and shrimp with a fusion of Japanese spicing.

On the lanai this morning, the air is very humid and smells of tropical flowers, mainly the plumeria aroma from the large bushes on the lawn. The clouds in the west are still a tiny big pink, and I don't think the sun is yet over the mountain, Haleakala, house of the sun. The sunlight has reached Lanai, the next island over, that's visible across the strait. The ocean is flat and still looks grey, as always in the early morning. I don't think we are going to get an early start for snorkel and beach, but it's been fun and I'm sorry to have to leave tonight on the red-eye.