Is The Kamekona Shrimp Truck Real? – Celebrity
Sarah Parker That said (and hopefully you watched while tapping your fingers to the catchy beat), if you’re a Hawaii Five-0 reboot fan, you probably recognize that man’s face. Yes, that’s Taylor “Big T” Wily, known on the show as “Kamekona”, who recently started a real-life Shrimp Truck business. How cool is that?! Ah yes, life imitating art at its finest.
Kamekona ‘s newest business venture which is a mobile shrimp truck and the logo is a giant smiling shrimp with his face. Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Let’s Go Luna!
Kamekona Tupuola is a confidential informant for the Hawaii Five-0 team and entrepreneur who runs Wailoa Shave Ice, The Shrimp Truck and a Hawaiian tour helicopter company. Kamekona is very outgoing. In his appearances on the show, Telia Tuli which is his real name, he’s been credited as Taylor Wily.
Flippa Tupuola (Cousin) Thomas Hoapili (Cousin) Maggie Hoapili (Niece) The Shrimp Truck. Kamekona Tupuola is a confidential informant for the Hawaii Five-0 team and entrepreneur who runs Wailoa Shave Ice, The Shrimp Truck and a Hawaiian tour helicopter company.
Where is Big T’s Shrimp Truck?
Big T’s Shrimp Truck opened about two months ago in front of Hilo Hattie on Nimitz Highway. FYI, Hilo Hattie is a store that specializes in Aloha wear and various other made in Hawaii products.
The sauteed butter ‘n garlic shrimp are farm raised on Kauai (Costco sells them), while underneath that is a generous portion of cole slaw, 2 scoops rice and a local orange slice.
Getting back to the man of my dreams (LOL!), along with his Hawaii Five-0 show’s famous Shave Ice, Big T’s Shrimp Truck also sells “Big T-Shirts” in various designs. Here’s the entire selection…
What is the shrimp truck?
The shrimp truck is not just a spot where the team hangs out and has an ʻono shrimp plate — it’s a place set up for them to be themselves and be surrounded by ʻohana. Perhaps it’s the cousins who help make that happen, but in the end Kamekona and Flippa will always be an integral part of the team.
While Kamekona became an important part of the show early on, his cousin Flippa acts as both comic relief and a reminder of Kamekona’s love of family. Flippa, whose real name, Shawn Tupuolu, was revealed this year in “ʻI’ike Ke Ao” (“For the World to Know”), seems to be one of his few family members who helps Kamekona, and because of that, …
Ever the businessman, Kamekona gave up some confidential information in exchange for McGarrett and Danno wearing blue Waiola Shave Ice shirts as free advertising.
In “Kuleana” we learned that Kamekona sacrificed himself to Chin in order to keep his younger brother Kanoa (Sam Puefua) out of jail. It was the start of what has become a beautiful friendship — between Chin, McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), and the rest of the Five-0 team.
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Tyke was killed after she crushed her trainer and injured her groomer — and the controversial story was used in the episode in order to tell a bit of Jerry Ortega’s (Jorge Garcia) back story. It also helped to introduce us to Jerry’s sister, Isabel (Zuleyka Silver), an animal-savior and activist.
This week’s “Hawaii Five-0” repeat was the season six episode, “Ka Haunaele” (“Rampage ”). The writers used the real-life story of Tyke, an escaped circus elephant who was sadly killed in the streets of Honolulu in 1994. Tyke was killed after she crushed her trainer and injured her groomer — and the controversial story was used in the episode in order to tell a bit of Jerry Ortega’s (Jorge Garcia) back story. It also helped to introduce us to Jerry’s sister, Isabel (Zuleyka Silver), an animal-savior and activist.
They love Kamekona, “because he’s fun and always up to new tricks — while always being there when he’s needed for his friends,” wrote Caroline White from New Zealand. His tricks are usually his business trials and errors — like Spam Burritos and his failed catamaran tours.