Shave ice IS all it is made out to be

Living in the Midwest, the closest thing we have to shave ice is a snowcone. I'm telling ya, they are not even in the same family!  

Shave ice is a Hawaiian favorite. We went to Ono Ono Shave Ice in Kapa'a. It is a very small, family run, open window business. They start with an 8" cube of solid ice. Once securely clamped in a shave machine, blades shave thin crystals into a big plastic flower-like cup. The ice is packed level with the top. Then the amazing part - they place a giant scoop of ice cream on top of the ice. Additional shave ice is added around and over the ice cream and packed into place. Then you must pick from 60 flavors of syrup to top it all off.  60??  They had a flavor for every pallet.

I went with macadamia nut ice cream with mango, strawberry and pineapple syrup. It was fabulous. 

And now I'm embarrassed I ever compared it to a snowcone