On a hot day nothing beats an ice cold shave ice from the world famous Matsumoto’s on the North Shore of Oahu.  This particular one is a Pineapple, Creamsicle, Lihing Mui blend with what I call the “insurance policy” which is the plastic yellow cone protecting your hands from drippings and also insuring that if your shave ice should “calve” like a glacier it will not fall to the ground.   Started in 1951 by Mamoru Matsumoto the M. Matsumoto Grocery Store is a North Shore staple selling over 1,00 of these daily half to tourists from around the world and half to locals like myself who make this a North Shore must stop.  If you go be sure to sign in their online guestbook.

We conclude our photo safari from the 2nd floor looking down at the Maiasaura (MY-uh-SAW-ruh) “Good mother lizard”.  These are duck billed (hadrosaurs) creatures that are believe to have travelled in huge herds and nested in colonies to raise their young.  If you have kids be sure of course to let them ride the Safari Train ($3 at uptown).  Other activities include a dinosaur dig for fossils and a dinosaur picture rubbing station (located downtown).  Kids completing a Dinosaur Safari Activity Passport also can win weekly prizes.  For more information visit the Pearlridge website.   Don’t delay too long as the dinosaurs go extinct once again after August 15.  I hope you enjoyed our photo safari be sure to visit Pearlridge to see for yourself as there is no substitute for seeing this huge animitronic dinosaurs in person.

We continue our Pearlridge dinosaur photo safari with the Chasmosaurus (KAZ-mo_SAW-rus) whose name means “Gape Lizard”.  This dinosaur is part of the same family as the more well-known Triceratops.  It has a huge bone neck frill studded on the edges with bony knobs and spikes.  Unlike the Triceratops the Chasmosaurus has large open spaces in the bone which makes it relatively light for its size.  It is believed to have fed on various plans with its sharp, toothless beak and grew up to 17 feet long.  Tomorrow we wrap up the photo safari with the Maisaura.

This tyrant lizard king is one of the most well known of the dinosaurs and can grow up to 18 feet tall and 49 feet long.  Tyrannosaurus Rex (tie-RAN-oh-SAW-rus reks) is a carnivore with 6-inch fangs and super powerful jaw muscles.  It fed on the various species of smaller herbivorous dinosaurs.  This one is actually a hard photo to take since the lighting in this area while making the scene very dramatic makes photo taking difficult.  If you use a flash the animatronic creature looks very “fake” and since it is almost constantly moving non flash photos tend to blur.  Your best bet is to keep snapping away and hope one turns out okay.  The exhibit runs through August 15.  Tomorrow the Chasmosaurus (Triceratops like).

Our Dinosaur photo safari continues with the fearless Dimetrodon (Di-MET-ro-don) whose name means “double sized tooth”.  These creatures grew up to 10 feet long with a “sail” on its back over 3 feet high.  This sail is believed to control body temperature absorbing heat from the sun to warm the blood.  With massive canines and well-developed shearing teeth this predator could rip prey into bits.  Its would primarily hunt in the mornings when other reptiles remained sluggish as they warmed themselves in the sun.  Don’t miss tomorrow its T-Rex day.

Moving to “uptown” Pearlridge where most of the exhibits are we come across a bunch of Deinonychus (DIE-no-NIKE-us) dinosaurs.  They grew to 13 feet long and are characterized by the large sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of each foot (similar to its smaller more famous Jurassic Park relative the Velociraptor).  This is believed to be a warm-blooded active predator hunting down prey and tearing it apart with it serrated met-shearing teeth.  They are believed to hunt in packs and if you seen Jurassic Park you know that bad news for the prey.  So find a good hiding place and then come back tomorrow as we look at the Dimetrodon.

We continue our Pearlridge dinosaur safari with the Mosasaurus (MO-suh-SAW-rus) who’s name means “Meuse Lizard).  This was believed to be an aquatic offshoot of the monitor lizards that grew up to 14 feet long and swam using its entire body in snake-like motions.  It fed on fish and invertebrate sea creatures sometimes biting the shells in different angles to crack it open and get to its prize.  Tomorrow we will check out the Deinonychus.  Note to safari photographers flash photography while allowed create very artificial look so I recommend you bring along a tripod and find some non peak hour to go at so there is less of a crowd.

We begin our look at “downtown” Pearlridge with the Apatosaurus (a-PAT-oh-SAW-rus) display.  The name means deceptive lizard at it was originally mistaken for the Brontosaurus.  They grew up to 70 feet long and weighed around 30 tons.  It is a sauropod dinosaur with an extremely long tail and neck and a bulky body.  Scientists believe it fed mainly on treetop vegetation.  Tomorrow we visit the Mosasaurus.

Its time to being the Pearlridge Dinosaur Adventure.  Today’s photo shows keiki (kids) riding on the Pearlridge Safari Train on a Dinosaur Adventure.   The train ride costs $3 for children under 48″ tall.  Its all part of the Pearlridge Dinosaurs! exhibit that runs through August 15.  The exhibit itself is free and pretty amazing.  In the days to come we will look at more photos and learn a bit about the Dinosaurs on display.  If you can make it to Pearlridge its a definite must see.

Continuing our food fun and fashion tweetup we hit Kate Spade which had this plate of Crab Cakes & Sizzling Candian Bacon from Wolfgang’s Steakhouse along with a glass of wine.  In fact all 8 stations had wine or margaritas.  By the way this steakhouse is by famed chef Wolfgang Zwiener not to be confused with Wolfgang Puck.  By the way if you visit WolfGang’s for lunch (11am - 3pm) by June 30th you can get the Wolfgang’s 1/2 pound Classic Prime Sirloin Hamburger, steak fries/onion rings and a soft drink for $10.