Knowledge brings fear

We didn't just go to the aquarium on Sunday. Staring at all those fish made us hungry, so we stopped at a restaurant on the way back to the train station.

This particular restaurant had caught our eye earlier. It was relentlessly tropical despite the cold and almost rain. It had a thatch roof, picnic tables -all empty - and joy of joys an English language menu. I use the term loosely.

Inside, the decor was just as aggressive - think palm trees and wooden turtles. The booth we sat in had seashells cemented into crevasses in the wall.

They even had little clay tropical and food items under glass in the table.

I ordered a seafood noodle bowl that turned out to be as big as my head. Instead of a spoon I had a ladle. Various kinds of seafood hid under the noodles and creamy sauce. It was like a scavenger hunt.

While we ate, Hawaiian music played loudly over the sound system. One song ended. Before another began a male announcer came on sounding like a NPR radio host. In quiet well pronounced English he explained a little known fact about Hawaiian music. At least, the four of us had never heard it before that day.

Evidently, many classic Hawaiian songs were written in praise of the king. More specifically, in praise of a certain part of his body. The particular song we were about to hear was about an eel.

Haji looked across the table at me, "I'll never listen to Hawaiian music the same way again."

Me either.

Anyway, the food was good.

I leave you today with a quote from Scott Westerfeld, "Sometimes the facts in my head get bored and decide to take a walk in my mouth. Frequently this is a bad thing."