When it’s hot in summer, it’s HOT! Temperatures during the summer days are a hot and sultry 35C, it cools off at night, too. But not that much. Night time is a relatively cool 28-30C! So what do the locals do to keep cool…? Well, let’s follow my charming wife as she finds her way to a local ‘ice’ store. What will she buy?

Well, here it is. It’s a kind of ice block that is very finely shaved, called ‘shaved ice’. It was late at night, so the seller was out of most flavors, we ordered the following dish, which included a syrup, caramel pudding layer and lots of wonderfully cool ice. Now both of us have tried the shaved ice in Hawaii, but this is so much better: the ice is finer, and the flavors are stronger!

As you can see, my wife is enjoying this very much! And the price is just right. It’s about US$1.10 for each dish, and you can choose upto four different flavors. Tonight we went back for their other choice: “Snow Ice” which is made with ice and milk for a much finer texture even than the shaved ice.

Both of these dishes are very cooling on a warm summer evening! And quite tasty. Pity that I can’t buy this in the UK… Still, could be a good business idea if anyone wants to try this!