Hawaii

October 20, 2019

Sophon has a friend from Thailand who now lives on Maui.  We met her, her husband and her son for lunch at the Monkey Pod restaurant that was in Whaler’s village that is just a short walk away.   The Whaler’s village was hosting a HWFW 2019 Kekei (child) event where kids could get a bag and then go trick or treating.  Most stores were passing out candy and there were a bunch of events geared towards children.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and went to the beach.  We headed back to the room and went to dinner at Hula’s.  I was impressed by Hula’s, it was better than what I would be.  We had seen Hula Pie a few times so Sophon had ordered it.   It was sinfully good!

October 19th, 2019
Got up and went to breakfast at the hotel since it was included with my room.  It was a really good buffet with pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, muffins, croissants, cold cuts, a few Asian breakfast items and an omelet station. What did I have?   Peanut butter on English Muffins!  PB on toasted bread was something that I loved while growing up and frequently ate it both before and after school.  I won’t allow myself to buy jars of peanut butter, I can easily finish a jar in a couple of days, but when I am on vacation and they have it on the breakfast buffet, I allow myself to indulge.

Later in the morning, we took the hotel shuttle to Lahaina, we visited the banyan tree and then walked around. Lahaina has a lot of art galleries, shops and restaurants.   I am not a shopper and am not looking for art, we were pretty much done with looking around in about an hour.   We had found a place on Yelp called Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie shop. It had several thousand of reviews on Yelp with a 4.5 star rating. They served both sweet and savory pies so we decided to Uber it over to the shop.  We weren’t disappointed.   It was delicious!

As I went into Uber to get a ride back to the hotel, I realized that there was no cell signal and the restaurant WiFi didn’t have internet access.   How was I going to get back to the hotel?   I started wandering around the parking lot hoping to get reception and although I could get a single bar, when I went to order an Uber, I would get the message that the app couldn’t connect to the Uber service.   I was about to give up and go back into the restaurant to get change for the payphone to order a taxi when Sophon was able to finally get through and order an Uber.

I was relieved but it got me thinking on just how much we rely on connectivity. The Uber driver that picked us up also had a problem with her cell phone connecting and had to ask us where we were going and she didn’t start receiving directions until we were closer to downtown Lahiana.

We spent the afternoon sitting by the the pool and then wandering down to the beach and swimming in the Ocean.  We returned to our rooms and then went to dinner at Leilani’s on the Beach in the Whaler’s Village. I felt like I had been eating all day so I made it light meal of salad and poke. Sophon on the other hand seems to be able to eat everything.

We went back to the hotel and from our room watched the fireworks.

Fireworks

Fireworks

Leodas pie

Banyan Tree

October 18^th, 2019

It is an ABC store, I am officially in Hawaii!

It is time for the 2019 Hawaii Food and Wine Festival.  This morning Sophon and I flew to Hawaii gathered our luggage and then found our shuttle to the hotel.  We boarded the shuttle and driver said that it would take 45 minutes to get from Kahalui to Kaanapali.  I was surprised by that and thought, how many times did I make that drive and yet I had no idea it was that long.  I guess when you are looking at beautiful scenery time flies.

About halfway to Kaanapali, the driver pointed out a building with a domed roof, he said it was a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was designed for Arthur Miller’s wife, Marilyn Monroe.   Arthur and Monroe divorced, and Frank Lloyd Wright died before it was built, his designs were later adapted to become the clubhouse for the King Kamehameha golf course which is often referred to as the Marilyn Monroe house even though she never lived there. I had been Maui before but nobody pointed that out to me.

Our room at the Sheraton was no ready, so we went to lunch.

I am always surprised at the number of kids and toddlers that are vacationing here in Hawaii. On the plane there was a couple on the other side of the aisle with a toddler who fussed the entire five-hour plane ride.  When I travel, I try to keep it simple one suitcase and one computer bag, I cannot imagine strollers, diaper bags and everything needed to keep a toddler happy.  I really cannot imagine.  Yet aren’t these the people who are complaining about student loans and affordable housing?

Maui was once known as the honeymoon Island, the majority of visitors are families with children and I always find myself wondering why the kids aren’t in school.

The hotel’s luau took place less than 100 yards away from my room.  I couldn’t see the stage, but it was fun watching the people who were attending.  I think every luau follows the same format.  It starts with a lei greeting, followed by a picture with the Hawaiian sunset in the background, and then Mai Tais.  Once the guests have gathered, they blow the large conch shell to officially begin the party, the host comes out teaches them a few hula moves followed by the pulling the pig out of the pit, the buffet lines open and once the guests are seated comfortably, the show beings complete with a royal court marching in, hula dancing and a fire dancer.

With Hawaii being three hours behind in time, it was an early night.