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The Courageous Dragon Hunter

Today I grabbed my trusty camera, made certain it was loaded and went in search of Dragons for that lady-fair we know as Melli. First I drove very slowly through my own little town of Waianae (phonetically: why-an-eye). I racked my brains trying to remember ever seeing a dragon. I know there is one painted on one of the big rigs that travels up and down our coast, but of course I didn’t see it today.

I stop at both Chinese restaurants. The first one isn’t open, but a peek in the window shows me Buddha, not dragons. The second restaurant is decorated with a bamboo motif. No dragons. I drove on down the road, still cruising slow. Not one single dragon.

I drove to the next city over — actually, not. The next city over is Ko’Olina and I skipped it. It is off the freeway and an exclusive community with guards and gates and such and I just didn’t know what I was going to say to gain entrance. I believe the truth — “Hi, I’m hunting dragons,” — would have gained me admission to nothing but the nearest psych ward. So, I went instead to Kopolei. They have many Asian restaurants, most of which are decorated with pictures of the dishes they serve. The Kopolei Chinese Restaurant (catchy name, yes?) is decorated in golden Koi and lotus leaves. Very pretty, but no dragons.

So — since I was really supposed to be doing my chores with dragon hunting as an added bonus, I went to Kunia to the Wal-Mart to purchase toothpaste, fruit juices, and pasta. It was in Wal-Mart that I finally found a dragon. It tried to allude me by hiding in the children’s isle and disguising itself as a toy boat, but it couldn’t fool me!

Dragon Cleverly Disguised as Childs Toy
Dragon Cleverly Disguised as Child's Toy

Quilly is the pseudonym of Charlene L. Amsden, who lives on The Big Island in Hawaii. When she is not hanging out with Amoeba, she is likely teaching or sewing. Or she could be cooking, taking photographs, or even writing. But if she's not doing any of that, she's probably on Facebook or tinkering with her blog.

23 Comments

  1. Isn’t it AMAZING how none of the Chinese restaurants HAVE dragons anymore!? I’ve noticed it too! That etched glass one I found was in a MONGOLIAN restaurant! I haven’t checked the Japanese steak house — mainly because I can’t afford to eat there! Mom doesn’t understand the concept of “just going in for a drink”! LOL!

    Quilly, you are a good and faithful hunter! *whips out her sword*… I do knight thee SIR Quilly of Whyaneye, Dragon Huntress Extraordinaire!

  2. Myles — so I learned.

    Mar — I was in a silly mood. What can I say?

    Shrinky — never give up!

    Leora — hmmm, check out the action figure section some time!

    Melli — yeah, I also skipped a few places I figured I couldn’t afford. Thanks for the knighthood, and don’t worry about almost beheading me with the wrong end of that sword. I put a Band-aAid on my jugular vein and ears grow back, right?

    Brig — I’m telling him you said that.

    SN — I couldn’t let Dame Melli down!

    Carletta — I shave something for tomorrow, too, but don’t know what I am doing for Saturday!

    Jill — you should have seen the people stare at me while I stalked that dragon! You’d think they’d never seen a dragon hunter before!

    Polona — not as great as your underwater capture!

    Mojo — I have a cow?

  3. The elusive dragons. What a find…that is very cute, too. I think I might drive by our two chinese…well, actually we have three, but one I know doesn’t have any dragons. I’d feel very weird going in and asking to take a picture though. I’m dragonless today so far. But I have freshly ground sage! 🙂

  4. quilly, you and I did the same sort of thing in our hunt for dragons. Of course I wish I were in Hawaii doing the hunting…:) But since I live in Flushing, NY, I am most lucky because it is the center of the Korean and Chinese communities in all of Queens. But I found my dragons in furniture stores and variety stores not Chinese restaurants.

  5. Amber — skip the restaurant — try Mary T’s idea and visit a furniture store.

    Mary — I so wanted to go to China Town yesterday but I couldn’t justify the time/expense/carbon emissions just to take pictures of dragons. Drat having a social and financial conscience.

  6. Dragons are clever like that. You would be suprised what they pretend to be.
    I wonder what the dragons did to offend the local rerstaurant association.

  7. And OC was St George, standing at readiness while you slew the dragon?

    Nice work, Quilly.

    Love the butterfly challenge – but it’ll have to wait at least three or four months until the weather warms up and the butterflies appear in late spring.

  8. Dr. John — now that you mention it, I wonder, too!

    David — OC was at work and had no clue I was stalking dragons. H?e doesn’t like it much when his fair maiden takes on dangerous tasks.

    Lori — you can never be too careful when it comes to the sneaky type of dragon.

  9. Mumma — careful, that scowl on his face is a bit scary.

    Craver — no, actually. Dragons don’t like to call attention to themselves, so once I had it trapped in a crowded store I knew I was safe unless I tried to call attention to it. I did have to wait until the toy isle was quite full of people so I could take it’s picture and get away before it could come after me.

  10. what a totally cool dragon! i love fisher price, and would have bought this for my kids – and the kunia wal-mart WAS the one i went to before they opened the one in town. wasn’t that a good idea? totally not disruptive to traffic that one, yeah? um….

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