The Mt. Rushmore monument is just about the only thing I knew about South Dakota before we arrived. But the state had always been on my bucket list, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to visit this amazing place. Episode 4 turned out to be a good glimpse of how Aloha Plate and its team members operate too, and we learned a lot about ourselves during this trip.
Our workflow has really developed, flourishing into a cohesive team with arguments few and far between. The show doesn’t display many of our disagreements because they were nothing in comparison to the Philly Boys or many of the other teams for that matter. But a lot of people have been asking if we fought or argued. And the truth is, we really haven’t. Of course there were a few brotherly fights between Adam and I, with Shawn intervening asking us to find God. But other than that, we decided to make a stand for aloha; to promote it and live it. And fighting wouldn’t have represented that at all.
The people of Rapids City, South Dakota really supported us, with more than a handful of folks from Hawaii showing up to the truck. It was refreshing to have people from our same state appear in a city that you’ve never even heard of before. It really showed us that the spirit of aloha is everywhere, not just in Hawaii. We even had a couple bring us some kaki mochi (rice crackers) for our team to snack on. It helped ease the homesickness for us, since this particular show represented one month on the road and already we were craving the tropical weather and warm salt water of our islands. Keep in mind the weather here was in the 40’s, and we only had t-shirts to wear!
I’ve always been impressed with Adam and his cooking abilities, but this show you really get to see his culinary talents of basic butchering. We had 15 minutes to carve what we needed, and although he said he did it in 7 minutes, I only counted 5. Remember, every minute counts in this game. Team Bowled & Beautiful were sent home this round, losing by less than $100. That’s only 10 plates!
We really stretched our budgets on this show, and tried to spend close to nothing to make things work. Our lettuce wraps were cheap, and based on the affordable prices in the country, we’re talking CHEAP. We always tried to keep our ‘thin to win’ motto in mind, and kept our ‘growing up poor’ concept in the forefront of all our decisions. Wouldn’t you know, growing up broke would finally pay off.
We are excited to head to visit this weekend, and can’t wait to see how many Hawaiians and Polynesians have migrated to the twin cities. I have never been to Minnesota before, but I know that Prince, the Twins and the city is split by the Mississippi River. And that’s it. Can you tell I paid attention in history class?
Like every show has been so far, it’s heart breaking to see another team eliminated. People don’t understand that we work our butts off during these challenges. Competitor’s dreams are shut down for senseless mistakes, and it’s not an easy competition in the least. So far, it’s been exhausting dealing with driving, to washing dishes, to everything in between. And I hate washing dishes by the way.
I would like to wish Bowled & Beautiful a warm aloha. I’m so grateful we had a chance to hang out with these three strong women, and we learned that they are beautiful both on the inside and out. During the competition, it was tough because we always looked at them as competitors and enemies; people we had to watch out for. And yes, I did say enemies. We felt threatened by the way they operated, and who wants to be beat by girls anyways!
Regardless of the outcome, we made some great friends for life. We all keep in touch too, which has been nice. To the Bowled & Beautiful, aloha ladies, heads up and whatever you do rest assured it will be amazing! We love you ladies.
Aloha, Lanai
