Back at it

It has been 4 long years since I have posted anything here and I am ready to jump back in!  A lot has happened in my life over the past four years.  I've made some life changing decisions, got remarried, matured, gone through some medical scares, and I am now looking forward to a future filled with adventure!  I am trying to maintain a super positive outlook on life, and will try to take advantage of the beauty of each day I get to be on this earth, and seize each opportunity that crosses my path to really live life in a fulfilling and FUN way!

This all leads me back here to my happy place where I can write about my travels and share photos with those who are interested in joining me on my journeys in this virtual world.  I'm also getting motivated and inspired to start my very own home-based travel consulting business soon, as I recently graduated from a Travel Marketing program.

We (my husband and I) plan on doing a fair amount of traveling this year so it's a good time to start back up.  Next week we will be traveling to the place dubbed "Beervana" by craft brew aficionados across the country - Portland, Oregon!  We'll be spending a week with our friends on a road trip up to the great Pacific Northwest (shall we cross our fingers for a rain-free trip?!).

I'll also be creating a new Facebook page so you can follow me there, and view larger albums of travel photos.  Thanks to everyone following me and hope you enjoy!

Moani

Hiking and Fine Dining

Yesterday was as good as it gets.  My tour guides, my brother and Hilda, led us on a hike to Swinging Bridges in the West Maui Mountains.  This is my second awesome hike of the summer!  It was gorgeous.  Tropical forest all around, flowers, plants, trees....mountains line the background and waterfalls cascade in the distance.  I have to admit the "swinging bridges" part got my adrenaline going a bit.  They are a little sketchy, not exactly 100% safe, although the fall to below isn't too far.  Still.  I made my way across quite slow, even slower than my mother, who professes to have a fear of heights!  Oh well, we made it nonetheless.  Quite an adventure I must say.  Overall, I think it took us about 4 hours, with a good stop for lunch in between when we reached the dam/waterfall/swimming spot.  We snacked on homemade spam musubi (a delicacy you know) and the best homemade guac sauce known to man.  Aaron and Hilda braved the freezing waters (might as well if you hiked all the way there) and then we made our way back.  Feet and legs were a little sore.  Next time, I'm wearing my tennies - none of this slipper business.

Dinner that night was quite the reward.  Every time we dine at Capische, the experience is THAT much better.  Perfect table selected, beautiful sunset, calm weather, no wind, ocean completely flat.  Of course, it always pays to know people, and Aaron and Hilda both work at Capische!  So, not only do we get the best of the best sent out to us, we also have the experts to explain the processes of the dishes we are delving into, as well as the best pairings of wine.

For starters, we had a round of martinis.  I had the mango martini, and the kicker was that they added flecks of basil to give it some bite.  I devoured that.  My mom had the white peach, Aaron had the cucumber, and Hilda had.....I cant remember but it was good.  After that, the experts ordered some fabulous wines to accompany our spread:  the white, Gavi - from Italy; the red, Palmina Undice - a to die for Sangiovese right from California.  Oh how I love wine.

And now to the food, the star of the show!  Of course we always have the fresh, moist bread baked with gigantic chunks of garlic with balsamic vinaigrette and oil for dipping.

First up was a delicate block of watermelon, vacuum sealed and compressed with tarragon and mint, topped with a tomato watermelon granita scoop, paired with a small salad of cucumber, red bell pepper, feta cheese and cayenne pepper with a streak of green basil oil across the plate.  Beautiful presentation, interesting combination of flavors.  Definitely stimulates your palate.

Next was the vongole salciccia (I hope I'm spelling that right), which includes Manilla clams in a white wine tomato broth with spicy pork sausage, homemade tagliatellee pasta, micro parsley, and a fennel grilled flatbread.  DELICIOUS.  I am not one for clams, but I am one for trying anything new once.  This was superb.  The clams were perfectly cooked and the broth was fabulous.  The dish is complete with the spicy sausage and the fennel flatbread to soak up the rest of the broth and juices.  This makes my list of must try items for sure.

Drum roll.....MUSHROOM TRUFFLE RISOTTO!  Cant come to Capische without it.  Its to flavorful and creamy, with the slight crunch of the shaved truffles and awesome cheese flavor.  Never mind the mushrooms, which I hate in "real life." 

Also for ANOTHER appetizer, we split the mango BBQ ahi entree (slightly seared so its cooked on the outside and raw in the middle), served with a jicama slaw and the best cornbread muffins around, baked with mascarpone!  MmmmmMmmm.

Next up, a beautiful simple salad of greens and vinaigrette with feta cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and I should remember this, but some type of seed (has a tart flavor, almost like a caper but it much larger).

And the entrees:

Me - I had the herb crusted fresh catch, which happened to be Uku (a grey snapper).  This was so good, I cleaned the entire plate.  Its got a sundried tomato relish, whipped potatoes, and a coriander vinaigrette.  I would recommend this to try, definitely.  Come on...I cleaned my plate after I ate all of the above!

Mom - well, she didn't really order an entree, but Aaron ordered a half size shrimp carbonara to put at her place on the table.  This is what I got last time I ate at Capische, its so loaded with butter and heavy cream, you might think you would have a heart attack after eating it!  Its also got panchetta, caramelized onions, and parm cheese - of course topped off with a succulent jumbo shrimp.  Sooooooo tasty.

Aaron - now, I do not condone the eating of veal in anyway, but he had veal picatta and some other type of preparation. I forgot to ask, but will later, served on a bed of pasta and broccolini.  My mom kept stealing the broccolini!  I cannot attest to how the meal tastes, but it looked fab and my brother loves it.

Hilda - had the pork chop, which I also did not get a very good description of.  So sorry, I was too wrapped up in my food, but the presentation was gorgeous.  Aaron gets this meal all the time, so I know it must be good.  Pork chops are not really my bag though.

We finished the meal off with an ice cream trio, the delectable banana nutella, the orange dreamsicle, and the raspberry (I think) sorbet.  Sweet and simple bliss.

Well, that about wraps up my trip.  I had another great day at the beach today and am going to enjoy my last, relaxing night here, before heading back to reality.  Thanks everyone!  THE END.

Sushi Lovers

Well after a "lazy Sunday" of doing absolutely nothing, we ventured out to Kihei for a serious sushi chow down!  Sansei...a place I have written about before, but if you didn't read that, and want to know what sushi heaven is like, here's what we had:

Teriyaki beef and greens - the beef is so tender and flavorful, its hard to describe with words

Sashimi platter - yellowtail (hamachi), ahi, and salmon....by far the best sashimi in the world is now hamachi.  Forget you ahi, you are a thing of the past.  This fish literally melts in your mouth.  My brother then proceeded or order a plate of strictly hamachi it was THAT good.

Misoyaki butterfish - its so delicate, hard to describe (don't be grossed out but it kind of has a "fat-like" consistency but ultimately falls apart in your mouth).  The miso sauce is what hits it home though.

Panko crusted ahi - a standard order here, and an award winning dish for Sansei, which is ahi wrapped in arugula/spinach and panko and flash fried, nestled atop a delish soy wasabi butter sauce.  Mmmm.

Kapalua Butterfry Roll - Smoked salmon, crab, fresh shiromi and veggies in crispy panko batter, served with tangy ponzu sauce.  Another one of my favorites - possibly because its fried?  How can you go wrong with that.

Sansei Special Roll - Spicy crab, cilantro and fresh veggies, dusted with furikake and served with sweet Thai chili sauce.  By far one of the tastier rolls on the menu - perhaps that's why its called Sansei Special!

69 Roll - California Roll rolled inside-out and topped with unagi and masago (ahhhh, fish eggs).  Now, I'm not a fan of the California Roll, but when you top it with unagi and the infamous unagi glaze, it makes everything taste delicious!

And of course the vegetable tempura - purple sweet potatoes, asparagus, bell pepper, zucchini, onions!  Hmmm, how many things did we order fried?!

It was all topped off with dessert, which we normally don't leave room for, but we went easy on the sushi tonight:  Tempura fried ice cream - hello dessert heaven!  Vanilla ice cream wrapped with buttery pound cake, rolled in roasted macadamia nuts, flash-fried and served with chocolate sauce.  Um yeah, totally worth it.

Until my next adventure!

A little update....

So my trip has been relaxing so far.  On Friday, we had a beach day.  We went to Ulua Beach, my new favorite beach, right in the heart of Wailea.  Its such a great find.  The beach isn't crowded, its gorgeous, and its a perfect spot to do a little swimming (or snorkeling, if that's your thing).  The weather was great, nice and sunny, and no sunburn!  We packed a picnic lunch and it was a great day.  Nothing exciting to report for dinner, just some left over BBQ shrimp and some salad!

Saturday was another leisure day.  We hit the swap meet in the morning and browsed for a few jewelry finds, and hit Down to Earth where I finally got my Vegi-Sal (vegetable seasoning salt) that makes everything taste yummy.  I always find it very interesting the way a health food store smells.  Then we headed out to Ka'anapali to one of my favorite lunch spots, Hula Grill.  We always sit at the Barefoot Bar for lunch.  I just love having my toes in the sand while you sit under a palapa about 10 feet from the beach!  We always order the macadamia nut and crab wontons (yummy spicy dipping sauce as well).  The wontons are to die for, with just the right amount of heat to make your nose burn a bit (there must be some wasabi in that). My mom got the fish taco and I got, what else, the fish and chips!  Its the best, though the fish selection used to be better.  I always loved the flakier Ono, but now they use Mahi Mahi, which is a bit more tough of a fish.  The best part is the spicy chili liliko'i dipping sauce, and the guava ketchup for the fries (I finally broke down and bought a bottle of the guava ketchup for myself - soooo tasty).  Wash it all down with a nice glass of beer!

Who could eat dinner after all that after a late lunch?  Just a few bites of pasta and a half a plate of avocado with Catalina dressing and pepper!  Yum.....we finally ate the grapefruit sized avocado!

Maui AGAIN!

Well I guess its time to dust of the old "blogging" fingers.  Its back to Maui again.  Sorry, no exciting destinations this time.  Just good old home.  As many of you know, I desperately needed a mental escape from reality, so what better place to do that than in the comfort of your old home, your old room, and with your mum cooking your favorite food?  So, if you'd like to know what I'm up to for the next week, check me out here :)

I arrived yesterday afternoon.  Thank goodness I had a nice direct flight in, and a window seat with an EMPTY seat to my right.  Joy!  It was nice to have some nice comfy space for once.  I always love the familiar landing routine, circling over the island and catching sight of the trees lining the airport, the same ones that have been there since I can remember, swaying in the wind.  I prepared myself for that initial rush of hot, humid, salty air that I sometimes long for.  It definitely lets you know that you are home!

Had a nice platter of ahi sashimi at home, along with my favorite salsa from Tiffany (mmmm the Suave) right from her very hands, and guacamole from the light, buttery avos from the trees that hover over my mom's yard.  YUM!  And then I went to bed at 5:00 p.m. because I was exhausted.  Well, I had every intention of taking a "nap," but I needed a good sleep.  So, I slept for about 17 hours.  Most definitely needed.

Got up this morning and had a lovely breakfast with my bro bro and my mum, omelets with cheese, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and avocado, of course slathered with salsa and accompanied by turkey bacon, tofu slices (yes, tofu - we ate it for breakfast here growing up quite frequently), and some sweet and juicy chunks of pineapple.  I always have to to wash my meals down with Aloha Maid passion orange juice, since I cant get that good stuff at home.  Met my brother's beautiful lady, Hilda.  Went and got a haircut from my favorite Portagee hairstylist, Lahela, and had some Genki Sushi for a "snack."  It was ok - save for this one roll that literally made me gag and my eyes watered as I had to spit out the only piece of sushi I have never been able to swallow.  Good grief, I swear it was drizzled and baked with mayonnaise sauce or something.  I cant quite peg what it was (BARF).  Then I went and saw my "second dad" and headed back home for a relaxing evening.

I cant wait to eat dinner.  BBQ shrimp, salad, and brown rice!  Bring on the healthy food.  Evening cocktail anyone?  To my favorite girlies, sometime soon we will have to make a girls trip out here together!  For now, I'm ready to hit the beach all day tomorrow.  Time to relax.  Ahhhhhhh.

Capische?

A perfect end to a great trip.  Capische?

I'm now sitting at home and my ride to work this morning was opposite of what we have been used to seeing in Maui the past week and a half!  Snow!  Yep, it snowed last night on the hills and a bit in Concord.  I went from 80 degrees and sunshine to 36 degrees and snow.  My body is in shock.

Anyway, for our last night on Maui, we decided to pay a visit to my brother's home turf - Capische? - the restaurant where he slaves five nights a week as a food runner.  This is the infamous restaurant that I first bragged/blogged about last year and I have come full circle to review it once again.  This time, it was even better believe it or not.

We got there about 8:00 p.m. after a day at the beach and my brother had us all set up at the bar, champagne poured into our glasses the moment we sat down.  A nice touch if I do say so.  It takes a moment to settle in and admire the ambiance that this restaurant exudes.  Dark and quiet; secluded up in the Wailea hills; candlelight; servers dressed in black; and live piano playing in the background.  My brother, unbeknownst to us, had us all set up with our first course, the "apps."  As a reminder, they serve fresh baked bread (I mean HOT when you tear into it) and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  To die for.

• First up, gazpacho.  I've never had it before.  Its a cold soup of watermelon, tomato puree, and mint...I think there may have been some onion...also with the watermelon and tomato chunks.  He brought us a taster of it in a dainty little cup.  It was good, surprisingly (cold soup?) and the flavors were very unique together.
• First on the triple appetizer platter was the caprese salad.  Soft and creamy bufala mozarella imported from Italy with a Kula tomato wedge garnished with garden basil, Maui onions, and a coriander vinagrette.  The cheese was great, almost melt in your mouth good.  How can it not be, it came straight from Italy?!
• Next we had what I deem my favorite thing from Capische, the mushroom truffle risotto.  This may be strange to some who know me, and know that I despise mushrooms.  This CREATION includes tasty risotto in a sauce of white truffles, summer truffles, oyster mushrooms, and parmesan.  If you can ever have a dish where truffles grace your taste buds, DO IT.  To anyone that visits the island of Maui, please come here, even to taste the risotto.
• Finale of the apps was the gnocchi - usually prepared pumpkin flavored; however, my brother advised against that for the evening.  He had us set up for the lamb ravioli...but he didnt know that we couldnt quite eat the little babies. So he called it off at the last minute (Aaron, so sorry, its my conscience) and had the gnocchi prepared with the ravioli sauce...it was delish.  Roasted red peppers...mmm.

My mom was done for after the appetizers.  But me and Rachel werent.

• Entree 1, Moani:  Shrimp Carbonara (mind you I had a tough time choosing between this and the fresh catch of the day, onaga, herb crusted with whipped potatoes).  Aaron warned I should get the 1/2 portion for fear of pure amount of FAT loaded in this dish.  Uh uh.  Full order for me.  Three HUGE delicious shrimp atop the carbonara penne, loads of cream, panchetta, and Maui onions.  So rich and creamy and a perfect compliment to the shrimp.  I ate the whole thing - it was challenging, but there was no way I was wasting any of that meal.
• Entree 2, Rachel:  Meat and Potatoes:  Filet mignon with a gorgonzola cream sauce, served with whipped potatoes and an onion jus and thick stocks of asparagus.  I had to taste it, of course.  My God.  I have never seen, tasted, or heard of a better prepared steak.  So tender you could cut it with your fork.  Perfectly cooked.  Serious kudos to the chef who prepared that steak.

We sipped on Capische Cosmos and lemon drops in between bites of our heavenly meals and thought we could not eat anymore.  Well, we wanted the tirimasu.  I advised my brother.  Here is what we actually got (thank you brother, for adding 10 pounds to my waistline):

• The tirimasu....oh man....so soft and fluffy, so flavorful.  Creamy and coffee.
• Freshly made banana ice cream swirled with nutella and chopped hazelnuts.
• Chocolate mouse topped with hazelnuts (so rich!).
• And the vanilla creme brulee served with Gran Marnier (spelling..sorry) soaked strawberries as your last bite.

Wow, we could not even finish the dessert sampler he brought out for us.  We rolled home.  Thank you so much to my brother for his food suggestions and pairings.  They were amazing once again.  To everyone else, EAT HERE.  It may be a little more $$$ than some other places, but well worth it.  The atmosphere is so amazing, great for a romantic evening for couples too.  Like I said, a perfect ending!

Worst Breakfast - EVER!

I can't blame my mom because she did not know, but she suggested North Shore Cafe in Haiku because they have some cheap breakfast.  They have a Hawaii Five-O and the 808 menu, meaning $5.00 and $8.08 (he, like the area code).  Price sounded great.  Boy were we in for a disappointment.  The atmosphere is very country like, relaxed, and had a lot of locals there.  Lots of people should mean a great place right?  The first thing I noticed were the dirty stained chairs, then we sat at a table that was not cleaned off yet for 20 minutes before flagging someone down.  They came and wiped our table down - sort of.  We took note of the fact that they didnt really care about cleanliness.  They turn the cups upside down on the table after wiping it off with their nasty, dirty rags.  Thats going to make people sick.  Well then we ordered and waited forever for our food.  Then it came.  Cold.  And gross.  My mom got the benedict and her Canadian bacon (if you want to call it that) was about the size of a quarter.  My omelette was a pile of eggs scrambled with a bunch of not so great tasting veggies, and my toast was cold and soggy.  Top that off with a nice glass of water?  No.  Top it off with a nasty lukewarm glass of tap water with the dirty rimmed cup from the nasty wiped table.  I couldn't even choke it down.  And the ladies working in there were rude and sloppy.  The worst!  I will never go back there again.  You certainly get what you pay for, cheap CRAP.  Spend a few extra dollars and go across the road to Colleen's for a HOT breakfast that is most delicious and in a clean and beautiful cafe with attentive waitresses.

At least we got to have one last date with the beach, and I got to see my friend from when we were kids...she is more like a cousin really, just removed (more like my brother's cousin - but who's keeping track?).  We did have to drive out to Kahana but thats ok.  So long beach.  I will miss for another year.