Hawaii

October 23, 2022

During the early part of my career, I spent three years travelling non-stop while installing property management systems in hotels.  Typically, I would spend anywhere from one week to several weeks at a property either teaching classes or supporting them after they cutover to the new system.  I got to see 35 different states and travelled to three other countries.   It might sound like a dream job but we worked long hours and not every project went well.

In 1988, I was part of the project team that had installed their property management system at the Royal Lahaina Hotel.  It was a project in a great place with a fun project team and the project went well.  I always looked back on the project with a lot of fond memories, and here was I was, almost 35 years later attending a HFWF event at that hotel.  It was a full circle moment.

We arrived a little bit early so that I could spend some time reminiscing.   We then headed to the area where the cocktail reception was being held.  My last few visits to Maui, I had been staying at the large resorts with perfectly landscaped gardens around the pools.  Although it was nice, there were people everywhere, we had to get to the pool early if we wanted to get a chair with shade.   The Royal Lahaina felt roomier, less landscaped, less people and more relaxing.  I thought we should probably look at staying there on a future visits.

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October 22, 2022

We headed over to the Sheraton Resort and Spa for our first Hawaii Food and Wine Festival of 2022.  We have been attending this event every year since 2014 until the pandemic hit and things came to a stop.   It felt good to be attending the event again and we weren’t disappointed.   As with previous events at the Sheraton, there were a couple dozen well known chefs creating all sorts of small plates.  There was plenty of wine and a several mixologists.

One of the first people we ran into at the festival was Aya who has always taken care of us.  Soon after we ran into Denise Yamaguchi who presented us with lei’s.  Soon after we ran into Roy.  It was good seeing everyone and hard to believe that three years had passed.

Chef Lee Anne Wong was there, we had eaten at her new restaurant in Lahaina the night before.  Fan favorite Shota Nakajima from Top Chef 18 was also there.  On Top Chef, he came off as being very laid back and very likeable.  In person, he was very nice and very easy to talk to. He has a couple of different restaurants in Portland, I would love to go up there again and check them out.

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October 21, 2022

I brought my drone to Hawaii in hopes of being able to fly it. Although I had the drone for a couple of years, I hadn’t flown it all that much.  Ideally, I wanted to familiarize myself with flying the drone without having to worry about losing it or crashing it into something and causing damage.  I knew that there was a big field next to the resort and headed over there just about every morning.

The first morning, I was told that I was in a restricted zone and I needed to get permission before I could fly.  It was back to the hotel room to read about how to get permission in order to unlock the map.   The following morning, I was able to take off but soon after, I received a message that it was very windy and that I should land as soon as possible.

Finally, I was able to fly and had fun doing so only to realize after the fact, I had not taken any video.  It was off to the field again in order to get at least one decent video!  I was pleased with the results but it is clear,  I am a beginner and there isn’t anything too exciting or dramatic in this footage!

October 19th, 2022

After taking a scenic route up above Kahalui, we headed to the Maui Aquarium.   I always remember seeing the aquarium on my way from the airport to Kaanapali but I never stopped there.   In So Cal, Long Beach has a great aquarium and Monterrey is renown for their aquarium.  I was curious to see how Maui’s aquarium stacked up.   I was impressed.

Besides the coral reef and Jellyfish exhibits (which I love) they had a 3d experience about hump back whales.  I was very impressed by that.  It felt like they were right in front of us.   They also had an exhibit with the sea turtles.   I cannot remember seeing sea turtles at other aquariums!   All three of us really enjoyed the aquarium. Continue reading →

A view from the Kapalua Airport

October 19th, 2022

We were switching hotels and moving from the Westin Kaanapali to the Westin Nanea and although they are next to each other, there is a large field between them and we couldn’t wheel our luggage down the street or beach boardwalk to the next hotel.  We wanted to explore the other side of the Island, I thought it would be easier to change hotels with a car rental.  I went to get the car rental while Sophon watched the luggage.

When I got back to the hotel, Cindy was dealing with a work issue so Sophon and i went for a ride.  Instead of heading towards Lahaina, we headed the other way.  Not to far was the Kapalua airport.  It is a very small airport and although much closer to Kaanapali, there are no flights to it from the mainland.   I remember flying into the airport back in the late 1980s and it hasn’t changed much.   While admiring the view from the airport, Cindy called and we headed back to the hotel to picker her up. Continue reading →

Sunset in Kaanapali

October 17th, 2002

My first trip since the start of the pandemic.  I have to admit, the process of planning it out and finally getting on a plane felt good.  Although it feels like things are finally back to normal, I remind myself that things may take a turn in the upcoming months.

As I landed, I found myself thinking that although I was going to be on this vacation for a week, I should have planned a few more days.  Vacations have a way of going by quickly and I would be back on a plane headed home before I knew it.

We arrived around noon and went to get our luggage and find our shuttle.  Sophon and I found a place to sit, both of us know that it takes forever for the luggage to show up on the carousel.  It is as if they are telling you that we are now on island time. We found hour shuttle and headed towards Kaanapali.

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