So, we headed out for a big night at the Japanese steakhouse known as Teppan Yaki Dan's Steakhouse. Nice, clean place that wasn't too crowded.The waiter came around and asked everyone what they wanted to drink. All 4 of the younger generation at the table took the tropical drinks ranging from Chi Chi to Lava Flow (half Pina Colada-half strawberry daquiri). Grandma got her usual.........Manhattan "up" with lots of cherries. I emphasize "up" so you note that this drink had no ice in it. The significance will be obvious later. I still am not sure how a person of Grandma's age (just past 29, of course) manages to put down even one Manhattan. Papa (also know as father-in-law) gets his usual wine that is drier than the Sahara desert. My mother-in-law (we'll call her M1 for simplicity) orders a virgin margarita on the rocks with salt.
After a few minutes, the drinks come back. All is well except for M1's drink. Somehow, a margarita came out as an orange drink with red crystals around the rim. M1 is pretty sure this isn't a margarita. Mrs. Lime takes a sip and verifies that it isn't even close to a margarita. The waiter takes it back after M1 repeats what she wants. 5 minutes later, same drink comes out. So it's obvious, we have one of two issues here. Either the waiter's english is under par or the bartender doesn't have a clue what he's doing (not too likely in a tourist place like Hawaii). So, M1 finally writes down the name of the drink and the contents of the drink on a bar napkin. 5 minutes later, we have the proper drink so evidenly the english assumption was probably correct.
Thankfully, the rest of the night went well. The chef was excellent. He engaged in a lot of small talk and joked with the group. Everything was cooked nicely and was quite tasty. We even had pineapple cooked on the grill (great stuff). At the end of the meal, one thing became quite obvious. The Manhattans (Grandma J. had ordered two of them "up") had taken their toll. Grandma J. was off her rocker. She had a flower (which came with the drinks) above her ear and was ready to roll. Evidently two Manhattans "up" is more like 3 or 4 on the rocks, which is how she usually drinks them.
Now, let me be the first to say that there is nothing funnier then when Grandma J. has one too many in Hawaii. First, she smiles a lot (always a good thing). Second, she tells military stories about her husband who she was married to for over 50 years. They met in an officer's club in California (Grandma was the underage girl looking for a cute serviceman). Grandpa informed her when they first met that he wanted to marry her. A few months later, they did exactly that. Ah, puppy love. Finally, Grandma loves to start singing random songs related to Hawaii. I don't have a list of the songs that were sung that evening, but if there's a Hawaii song to be sung, Grandma appears to know it.
So Lawyer decided that on the way home, everyone should sing "Pop Goes the Weasel". Seems entertaining enough. We eventually get into the car and Lawyer starts up the song. It begins as such....
Everybody:
All around the cobbler's bench
The monkey chased the weasel
That's the way the monkey goes.........
Suddenly, from the mouth of Grandma comes a "POP!!!!!!" so loud, it would cause you to jump in your seat.
Everybody:
goes the weasel!
Yes, Grandma was fully into this sing-along along with her "up" Manhattans. Everyone in the car was rolling with laughter. It was honestly one of the funniest moments of the entire trip. Lawyer struck up the band again..........
Everybody:
All around the cobbler's bench
The monkey chased the weasel
That's the way the monkey goes.........
Grandma:
POP!!!!!!!! (followed by laughter by everyone)
Everybody:
goes the weasel!
This went on most of the way home. I'm not sure why it was so entertaining, but it was exactly that. Great time was had by all. Grandma is one of the best. I think we'll keep her.
