Aloha Maui!!! -Day2

                And its finally the day. Our first Anniversary!! Yes yes we were excited. Our plan for the day was sinking into the Maui beaches and experiencing true Polynesian culture at the Old Lahaina Luau. So here goes…

                The day starts with breakfast right? So we set off to try Cane & Taro at the Whalers Village. But before that we tried our luck at the Gazebo restaurant. Gazebo is this little place that’s quite popular in the area. But due to rain, and me forgetting the umbrella, plans changed! Cane & Taro is voted the best in many Maui tourist books for breakfast. It’s a neat place. With a wonderful ocean view and fresh air, it makes your breakfast very appetizing.

                Ka’anapali Beach is right next to whalers Village. It’s a long beach with many resorts adjacent to it. Guests from all the hotels enjoy this beach. And it rightfully does deserve this popularity. It’s a fine beach with sporty blue water and fun golden sand. It’s a place for kids and adults alike. Black rock the famous rock for diving is at this beach right adjacent to the Sheraton. You can also snorkel at this beach. Just rent your snorkel gear for just $1.50/hr at the stall ashore! At night, this beach is amazing for star gazing. Boat bobbing in the water and the stars shining above make a perfect romantic spot in the evening.

Black Rock at Ka'anapali Beach

Keawakapu Beach at Wailea

                Our next stop was at the Keawakapu Beach. This is a beach in Wailea town full of resorts. A calm and serene place, not much activity except on the beaches. Wailea houses one of the best beaches for snorkeling. Being away from the usual crowd in Lahaina, the beach is not very populated. Next to Keawakapu is the Ulua most famous for clear water snorkeling in the area. Water at perfect temperature as usual, sand as golden as ever, this beach is great for making sand castles to snorkeling deep into the water.

Big Beach At Makena State Park

                Much further south is Makena state Park with the Big and Little beaches. These beaches have their own charm. Big Beach has big waves, clear water, exceptionally fine sand and the right proportion of people to make your beach experience relaxing and refreshing. Little beach is hidden on the other side of a few rocks, but its very well known to all of us. Its supposed to be a semi-nude beach, less than half the width of big beach but it has the same magic with the same water, sand, and privacy. There is a hot dog stand at the entrance where you could quench your thirst or have a quick snack of fries or a dog before or after your dip. One problem I see at this beach is that they had no showers. So we had to leave with our salty hair. They did have toilets though.   

Big Beach

   

                After a long soak and play, we headed back to Lahaina for dinner at the Old Lahaina Luau. Luau is a traditional Hawaiian feast along with entertainment. Old Lahaina Luau is hosted on Front St. adjacent to the ocean. The setting sun makes a great background for the event. They start at 5:15pm and end at 8pm.

View from Luau

                You are greeted as soon as you enter with Mai Tai, even as you wait to be seated. You are also given a memo of all the events and the menu. Every one of the hosts and waiters are dressed in traditional costume. You are then seated by your host at your designated seat and adorned with Lei, their traditional garland of flowers. As you wait for the event to begin you may stroll around the area, take pictures by professional photographers, shop for ocean jewelery, get some flowers made for your hair, or get some amazing animals or flowers made out of palm leaves. You can also go for some hula lessons!! The time is right with the sun just setting, and the Polynesian music playing along gets you into the mood to hula and enjoy a splendid evening.

                The first on the agenda is the unearthing of the pig. The pig is cooked in an oven made out of sand pit and stone. It is buried underneath sand, wrapped in banana leaves, and the heat is produced by stones. The pig cooks for nearly an hour in this oven and the process of removing the pig is also an event here at the luau. This pig would be a part of our dinner later in the evening as the Kalua pig.

Pig baked in a sand pit

                Once we got back to our seats, we are ready to treat ourselves with unlimited tropical drinks! All included in the fee. Everything in here is included along with the fee. The food, performance, drinks, everything. So feast your senses, all of them!!! Mai Tai was the best we ever tasted. All the drinks were in fact superb!! The drinks menu consisted of 14 varieties of unique alcoholic tropical drinks, Beer and wine, plus non-alcoholic ones for your driver! Mai Tai, Pina Colada, Lava Flow, Margarita, and many many more.

                Now the Hula performance begins. The performance is mainly for introducing us to the history of Polynesia, and their traditional dance and its transition through the years.

The Hula Dancers

The show makes you sway with the beat. It’s a marvelous sight. They don’t say it’s the best for nothing!!Each table is assigned a waiter so the guests need not get up and miss the show to get their drinks. Our waited was Bula. A fun guy, entertaining, funny, and prompt. The audience is slowly led to the buffet row at a time. I forgot to tell you about the audience by the way! There are four rows of tables, each table has 8 people, and totally I would expect around 400 people perfectly seated to enjoy the show.

As we wait for our turn we have fresh fruit and great banana bread. So the feast now has 3 salads, 2 kinds of fish, steak, chicken, pork and rice. 16 items in total. All traditional flavours including the Kalua Pig, Poi, Ahi Poke and He’e Poke, Island crab Salad, Maui Style Mahimahi, etc, etc. Must mention the butter served with the bread. Its butter with honey and macadamia nuts! It was so so yummy. Never tasted anything like it before!  You are allowed any number of servings but the platter is full and the variety so filling, you probably wont have a second.

Dinner at Old Lahaina Luau

                The desserts are amazing too! Haupia(Hawaiian coconut pudding), chocolate brownies, macadamia nut tarts, and some dark chocolate with whipped cream. All of them are wonderful and compliment the evening of feast and performance perfectly.

Desserts at Old Lahaina Luau

                One moment we will always cherish is the time we as one of the couples celebrating our anniversary on that day got our special dance. It was our first dance ever! We loved it! Something we will always always cherish.

                At the end of this wonderful evening, I would also like to mention a few things I would like improved at this event. The feast is concentrated on the performance and that is understood considering the amazing performance. But, we could have had some more tissues, or a napkin or something to soak the dripping water from our chilled drinks. And I could see the place was too dark for the elderly guests. They could probably have some candles on the table I thought. The other thing I was wondering is the weather. Even though I agree Lahaina does not get too much rain rain, they say they have the performance rain or shine. Wonder how it would be if it was drizzling onto my mahimahi. And lastly, one suggestion to the persons sitting on the table closer to the stage. Please make sure you are not in the way of your friends on the same table. It could spoil their experience as it did for me at one point.

                When the performance is done, as we leave, we are given a post card and a response card. Make sure you have some cash to tip your waiter as you leave, and say Aloha!!

                After a day full of fun and feast, we ended the day with a walk under the stars along the ka’anapali beach. What a pretty sight! You have to see for yourself! By the way have you ever watched the stars and stared at them till you float into the universe?  Well… that’s going to become a whole new chapter if I start off with that! So babyee see you tomorrow with day 3! Aloha!!

Useful Links:
http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/

Aloha Maui!! -Day 1

It was nearly a 6 hour flight to Maui Kahului airport. The flight was delayed but we arrived pretty much on time. It was raining in Maui!! It sort of disappointed us. We did see online beforehand that it would rain and we just had our fingers crossed so that it wouldn’t ruin our trip all together. Now the first thing to check out about Maui would be the weather, cause you want to have a splendid holiday. So dont go and rely on weather.com. Check out http://www.hawaiiweathertoday.com/ . Its the most reliable considering the changing weather at hawaii in different parts of the island itself! They give you a good description of how it would be in each area on the island. My advice is, if the rain is around 40% also, its ok... cause there is a 100% chance of you spotting a beautiful rainbow every few hours!!!
            As soon as we got into our rental car (a brand new mustang convertible) we headed straight to get our lunch. It was at Paia about 7mi from the airport. The Paia Fish Market. We first heard about it on Food networks The best thing I ever ate. So what we ate was, tacos. Not just any tacos they were fish tacos! And they were yumm!! Just as Bobby flay said on FN. They serve it as a side for $4.50 or a full lunch for  $9.00. They serve 2 tacos full of fish, lettuce, tomato, cheese with a side of rice or fries and coleslaw. Even the veggie lunch was good. There were fries on the side and coleslaw, it was absolutely a meal. Other favorites of the place are Ono or Mahi burgers, Seafood chowder and seafood pasta. They have a very small place with benches you share with other customers and it makes a very friendly environment. Fish  hanging from above and the walls posted with pictures of all sorts from food, people, black & white, to sharks and surfing. This place is so authentic! Everyone going to Paia must and should check this place out!

Fish Tacos

Veggie Lunch plate

                Next we checked into our Hotel, the Royal Lahaina Resort. It’s a resort at the Ka’anapali Beach just like the Sheraton and others. It has rooms in its tower that face the sea, and some condos in the garden. The difference is just $50. So I say go for the view. Its very much worth it! The condos are much older and you would miss out on spectacular views. Since it was evening and the rain had still not really cleared, we decided to check out the beach at the hotel. The ka’anapali beach. When we went, they had actually closed down the beach access, but we sneaked in just the same. The tide was high and it was drizzling. The ocean was looking lovely. Waves were slashing on the sand and the sand was amazing. So granular and soft, we sat there enjoying our first evening at Maui. Stepping into the water made us even more happy ‘cause the temperature of the water was perfect!! We loved the place. Pics for these places I will add on a sunny day.

                Dinner was planned to be at Lahaina town. Front St is the most popular and happening place here. It has lots and lots of shopping and dining all in front of the beach. And I am sure you will enjoy it. Another interesting part of Maui is art work. Paintings, pictures and sculptures are exhibited in many galleries. Many exquisite pieces I must say. Art lover will definitely have a field day here!!

                Cheeseburger in Paradise was our stop for the night to grab some dinner. A very friendly place, with seating in two levels along with the view of the sea. They also have live music every night that sets the ambience to have a nice romantic dinner if there aren’t too many people around. The place is filled with pictures and number plates of every state in USA. Both levels have bars, and the place is quite reasonable. Since it’s a place where coconuts thrive, they don’t have a single menu that has no coconut in it. One must is the Coconut shrimp. Here, its called the Polynesian coconut shrimp that they serve with this mango chutney that’s a great combo! The shrimp was just right. The taste was perfect and cooked right. On the spicier side we had Tiki tenders that were basically normal chicken tenders, with spicy sauce. It was a good experience. The ambience makes your meal along with the food. It’s a place you will want to go to again and again. And again, Mai tai is not the least!

Live music at Cheeseburger in Paradise

The Maitai Bar

                Our last stop for the day was for dessert. Now read carefully, it’s the best place in Maui, I can bet on that. The Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice. It’s the stop for shave ice. Try all the flavours, go bonkers and crazy with it, but don’t miss out on the coconut ice cream they add to it!! Its heavenly. Its basically the ‘Ice Gola’ we get in india that is on a stick. But here its served in this huge plastic bowl, with a spoon and a straw to sip all the flavor as it melts. Quantity is large for ice cream you may think, but when you eat it, it simply melts in your mouth! Its ice of course you may say, But believe me, when they add crème to it, it does end up to be quite a mouthful. They have all kind of combinations with different fruit flavours. Mango, guava, coconut, vanilla, pineapple, and many many more. Our first try was Coconut lovers and Hawaiian rainbow. Amazing flavor both of them had!! Look at the picture I have for you! This place has great reviews all over the net and it deserves more. Make sure you do visit these friendly people serving the most delicious shave ice ever!!

Hawaiian Rainbow

Making the shave ice

Useful Links

http://www.hawaiiweathertoday.com/

http://ululanisshaveice.com/

Into the Spirit of Hawaii

Heylooo!! Planning a trip to Hawaii, we decided to warm up to the Hawaiian spirit so we tried Islands. ISLANDS is the place to experience the Hawaiian food on main land. An ambience full of trees, bamboo booths and leaves to give the tropical effect, makes you feel you are on the beach about to delve into dinner after a swim in the ocean. The bar has screens with the ocean and surfers. Coming to the food, its basically Hawaiian but not completely. The menu has a variety with Hawaiian names including the famous Mai Tai. But if you have tasted Hawaiian food you will find that it has been modified a little to suit everyone. Even then, they serve very good, refreshing food and it’s a must try. They have salad, tacos, burgers, sandwiches, and desserts that are mouthwatering! I had a ‘MAUI’, just to get into the spirit of Maui which we were going to visit in a few days. And it was awesome!! It has all the regular contents of a burger with extra guacamole too!! And so it was a feast for me (me being a person who picks guac over anything else on any menu). It was the first time I was having beef in my burger and I actually liked it. Lettuce was fresh, the cheese was mmmm…!!! Cant describe it to you guys!! Do get over to this place and try something. I am sure your gonna like it if you are ready for a change. Hey I almost forgot! The Mai Tais here are good too!!

Useful links:

http://www.islandsrestaurants.com/