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.

Upcountry Wine

Today is Friday, the eve of the eve before we leave.  So sad to see the end of my trip coming.  Today, my mom made us breakfast.  We had omelettes stuffed with cheese, avocado, red bell pepper, cilantro and onions, topped off with a scoop of sour cream and Tiffany's suave salsa with a side of sausage link and Portuguese sausage (could have done with a little spice to those).  A great way to start of the day - with a homemade breakfast by your mother.

My brother decided he would like to hang with us today so we went and visited DAD...well, his real dad my sort of adopted dad.  He's got a nice property in Haiku with two houses (mostly rented out to vacationers) and a huge gulch.  Very nice view of the ocean and other parts of the island...we used to live there for a bit.  Its nice to get back to Hahana Road where I grew up and assess my "roots."  Also pet the pups for a bit.  I love dogs!  I love animals!

We then headed for a drive Upcountry through Makawao and Pukalani, and then on to our desitnation for the day, the Tedeschi Winery in Ulupalakua.  We had one main objective, to secure boxes of Pineapple Snow....mmm mmmm.  White chocolate infused with pineapple wine covering macadamia nuts.  Only sold at the winery, and quite pricey.  But, a very worth-it delicacy.  We had to do the wine tasting, of course - its free, who wouldn't?  Started off with the Rose Ranch Sparkling Wine (delish - we bought three bottles).  Then the Mele (only sold at the winery as well).  It had a great flavor - a nice red wine with hints of berries and chocolate, as well as coffee.  A serious steak wine if you ask me.  Mama bought one bottle.  Then we tried the sparkling pineapple wine...not as good as the Rose Ranch.  Finished off with the Raspberry Framboise, a dessert wine, 20% alcohol and sweet as heck.  They suggest topping off a dessert like ice cream or cheese cake, like using it as a syrup.  Lots of pretty pictures up there to be taken, especially of the jade vine growing.  So pretty.  We also stopped at the Ulupalakua Ranch Store for some refreshments before trekking back down the mountain.

Aaron had some time to kill before heading off to his job, so we detoured to the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm for a bit.  Its great there.  The smell of lavender lingers in the cool air of Upcountry.  The drive Upcountry is recommended to anyone who wants to experience a slice of undeveloped Maui.  Green green green, and flowers - lotta cows and goats though.  Gives you a great view of the island, and some of the surrounding islands as well.

As I sit here drinking my Stella Artois, Im anticipating my Hawaiian dinner of pork and chicken lau lau (steamed in taro and ti leaf), rice, poke (fresh, raw ahi chunks with soy sauce and onion), lomi lomi salmon (tomatoes, onion, and fresh salmon), and kim-chee (mmmmm cabage pickled/fermented in chili sauce).  Yum.  Rachel will have to be brave for this one.  Tomorrow is my last day here.  Sadness is setting in.  :(

Cheeseburgers, Breakfast & Fish Tacos

Wellllll.  On Wednesday we headed out to Lahaina for a little Front Street browsing.  Picked up a couple of shirts for my hubby and wandered up and down the street, stopping in all the little shops to take a peek at what they had to offer tourists.  The most important item on the agenda was to have lunch at the famous Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant.  They absolutely have the best cheeseburgers.  We popped in and had a couple of photos taken with their like 5 pound fake cheeseburger.  Cheesy, I know (no pun intended).  I ordered the guacamole burger and Rachel got one with the works (including mushrooms and guacamole).  We also got a side of seasoned fries.  We were not quite bold enough to go for the onion rings or chilli cheese fries that day!  But we were hungry enough to each devour our entire cheeseburgers.  The first bite into my cheeseburger was a slice of heaven.  I love that first moment when all the flavors come together and dance around in your mouth!  Savory.  Washed that down with a couple of Kona Ales (the best!).  Then we headed off to the beach (smart idea after packing our tummies full of burger).  A nice afternoon on the beach altogether, until a shark decided to swim up.  Yes, I'm serious.  Good thing we werent in the water.  It was probably harmless though, just a small sand shark or something - but the fin in the water is enough to scare anyone regardless.

The next day (yesterday - Thursday) we opted for breakfast at Colleen's, a local bakery and cafe just around the corner from my mom's house.  Great place for breakfast, and I love to support the local businesses.  We even walked instead of drove to enjoy the fresh morning air!  I got the Hangover Cure (no, I did not need it for that specific reason).  It was delicious seasoned potatoes, ham, green bell peppers, onions, and cheese - served up after being skilleted - and with a side of whole wheat toast, sour cream, and salsa.  In the words of Rachael Ray:  Yum O.  Rachel go the stuffed croissant sandwich with scrambled eggs, tomato, and muenster cheese.  Mmm.  I had half.  I've only ever been there for breakfast but she has got some delicious things on the menu for lunch and dinner as well.  Go to http://www.colleensinhaiku.com/ to check our their menu.  We then scooped up my madre and headed out to Ulua Beach in Wailea for the rest of the day (did I mention that we love the beach?).  This is sort of a great undiscovered beach for me.  Never been, but now will go back every time!  Not to crowded and sheltered from the wind.  Nice hot sun too...got a little careless about the sunscreen application and ended up with a handprint burned into my back.  Oopsie.

On the way home from the beach, we stopped at Milagros for a late lunch in Paia.  Ever since we walked by the restaurant the other day, I had been craving fish tacos.  I just had to have them.  Again, Milagros was another first for me!  Lovely little Mexican place with a nice patio for people watchin.  Me and mum got the fish tacos, delicious ahi with a sweet chili sauce with shredded lettuce, salsa, and guacamole - with a side of black beans and rice!  It was worth it.  I had a Li Hing Mui Margarita to start and then topped off my meal with a Wailua Wheat Beer.  YUM.  Rachel had the shredded beef tacos.  Gotta love shredded beef.  A great find.  I will definitely return here as well.

Topped the night off with some fresh banana bread from Paia, a glass of chardonnay, and an episode of So You Think You Can Dance.   Ahhhhh, I love vacation.

Paia Flatbread

Yesterday was a leisurely day.  Headed downt to Paia to browse some of the shops and have lunch.  Cute little town.  We decided on Flatbread Pizza Co. for lunch.  I have eaten here one time before and it was delicious!  My mom wanted a beer so we thought this would be the best place for that - pizza and beer, yum!  Its a very popular eat spot on the island.  Everything they have on the menu is organic and their pizzas are cooked in a traditional brick pizza oven.  So cool!

We ended up getting two 12 inch pizzas and split two different kinds of pizzas on each one, and a salad made of organic Kula baby greens, carrots, seaweed, and a ginger soy vinagrette.

Pizza No. 1:  The Meat Pizza

• First Half:  Nitrate-free maple fennel sausage with sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and mozarella.
• Second Half:  Mopsy's Kalua pork with pineapple, red onions, and chevre goat cheese (from the Surfing Goat Dairy on Maui) with a yummy mango BBQ sauce.
• I have to give this one two thumbs up.  The sausage was one of my favs.  So flavorful!  I love the combination of everything on the slightly crispy flatbread.

Pizza No. 2:  For the veggie in us

• First Half:  Pele Pesto:  Pesto macadamia nut sauce with kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes, and goat cheese (again from Surfing Goat Dairy - Flatbread restaurants use all local organic ingredients).
• Second Half:  The special of the day - Pizza Margherita, which is mozarella, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and a tomato sauce drizzled with balsamic vinagrette.  Yum!
• This pizza was equally delicious.  I especially loved the balsamic drizzled over the margherita and the macadamia pesto was amazing!

We sat out on the lanai (the patio) and had a round of Mai Tais and then a nice cool Kona Ale.  Perfect lunch.  Nice laid back atmosphere.  The pizza was amazing!  I definitely recommend anyone try this place if you are a pizza lover.  The toppings are unique to Maui and most delicious.  Of course, I photographed the pizza for everyone else to salivate over.

On the way back to the car, we stopped off at Ono Maui Gelato for some, of course, gelato.  Sort of like ice cream but not.  I got lilikoi (passion fruit) and coconut mixed together, and Rachel got the coffee crunch.  Perfect, light dessert after the pizza.  Mmmm.  I really like gelato.  That was my first experience (although a bit expensive).

Hali'imaile General Store

Most people would think that Hali'imaile General Store (hereinafter referred to as HGS - who can type that over and over again) is what it appears - a store.  Well, its a nice plantation style restaurant converted from its former self - a store :)  My brother used to be a food runner here as well.  We came up on a free $200 gift certificate so we decided now would be a great time to put that to use.

Its funny, of course, that Aaron has to greet half the staff first.  It sure pays to know people around here thats for sure!  He recommended I try the mangorita for my first drink and we proceeded to order a slew of appetizers!  They were:

• Asian duck tostada, which is Asian spiced duck confit with ginger chili cream slaw, cilantro, green onions, carrots, sun dried cranberries, and Macadamia nuts.  This was all layered with several crispy tostadas!  It was pretty good, though we had to separate it because it was like a leaning tower.  No easy way to eat that sucker.
• Kalua pork and goat cheese wontons:  Crispy wontons in bamboo basket with mango BBQ dipping sauce.  These would have been better had they been stuffed a bit more.  Most of the wontons were air.  The mango BBQ dipping sauce was excellent, however.
• Cajun Spice Dusted Crispy Calamari served on a bed of spinach tossed with Thai garlic dressing drizzled with a citrus aioli.  Normally I do not care for the texture of calamari - a bit to chewy for my likes.  This one was pretty good though.
• Tiger Shrimp Crab Cake - Yum!  I have to say that in the past few years I have become obsessed with crabcakes and when I see them on a menu, I have to try it!  It was very delicious - I mean fried crab = YES!  My mom did butcher it a bit trying to portion it out though, oh well.
• We also got the HGS House Salad, which included fresh island greens, oranges, toasted walnuts, shaved Maui onions, and balsamic vinaigrette with buttermilk blue cheese crumble.  A very nice touch to compliment the rest of the dishes.
• Finally, the BEST appetizer award of the night goes to:  Sashimi Pizza.  What is that you say?  Well, its a thin flour crust spread with edamame hummus, topped with sashimi ahi and toasted sesame seeds drizzled with soy sesame aioli.  There was also some sort of fish egg (maybe tobiko?  It was red - you'll see the pics) and some sprouts.  All the flavors and textures combined in this dish really make it a winner.  My brother often stops in just to get one of these babies to go.

Did we dare to order entrees after all of the above?  Yep.  You betcha.  Well, my mom was pretty full at that point but we made her a sampler plate of our dinners.  Up on the table for entrees was:

• Rachel and Lena:  Braised Boneless Short Ribs with root vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and a truffle "mac and cheese."  This dish was amazing and the best tasting of the night.  God, thank you for providing flavors and textures so delicious.  This dish makes you appreciate our sense of taste.  The beef practically melted in your mouth it was so tender, and flavorful too!  The truffle mac and cheese was amazing.  Noodles and cheese = heaven.
• Me:  I had the Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Catch, which happened to be monchong.  I don't believe I have ever had this fish before but it had a great flavor and texture, nice flaky white fish that is comparable to Mahi Mahi in firmness, but slightly better.  This was served with a mango salsa, mashed PURPLE sweet potatoes, and a mango lilikoi (passion fruit) butter sauce.  Sauces rule.  The mashed potatoes were the best and very unique.
• Aaron:  Had the blackened ahi with a sweet Thai chili sauce, wasabi, tobiko tossed greens, mashed potatoes.  The fish was blackened on the outside and rare on the inside.  The best way to eat ahi in my opinion!
• We had a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that complimented our dinners very well.  I can always appreciate a nice bottle of wine...although you know they mark those things up like 50%.  Whatever.

We were much too full for dessert, although they had some mouth watering selections.  We had some pumpkin pie squares that we had baked a few days earlier that we needed to eat up!

All in all, a very delicious dinner with my family.  Thank goodness we had that gift certificate.  This place is not exactly on the cheap.  I would definitely go back there again!  Thanks HGS for a great night.

Mmmmm Sansei!

Its now Monday and I have a little less than a week here left.  On Saturday, we woke up and headed down to the swap meet for some bargain shopping while my mom prepared a big dinner.  As usual, it was nice and hot in Kahului but we found a few things to take back home.  So many vendors sell the same thing, its crazy!  We needed a bit of a cool off so we got some shave ice (Rachel got pineapple and I got blue raspberry).  My mouth was blue for the rest of the afternoon (good choice MKB).  Had an early turkey dinner before my brother headed off to work.  Homemade stuffing is the BEST!  Then I took a nap for a couple of hours.  I just cant seem to get enough sleep. 

Yesterday, we woke up and attended the meeting at the Haiku Kingdom Hall.  It was nice to meet new people.  They had the International Convention going on in Honolulu these past few weeks, so there were a lot of visitors (Australia, Minnesota, Texas, New York, etc.).  It was really neat to see that.  My mom even went (her first time at a meeting!). 

After the meeting, we hung around the house for a couple of hours before heading out to dinner at Sansei, my favorite sushi restaurant.  We have to get there for the early bird at 5:00 p.m. so that we can get the 50% off discount (we stood in line for 45 minutes to ensure our spot in the restaurant).  Thats the usual.  On the menu: 

• Kapalua Butterfry Roll (yes, I said ButterFry):  Slices of Hamachi (yellow tail), crab, and some veggies wrapped in nori (seaweed) and deep fried in panko flakes!  Anything deep fried is delicious, especially sushi.  This is one of our favs.
• Maui Beef:  tender sliced teriyaki beef served on a bed of greens.  This has to be the most delicious beef on the planet.  It practically melts in your mouth.
• Sansei Special Roll:  Love the crab mix in an inside out roll topped with spicy/sweet chili sauce.
• Shrimp Tempura Roll:  Also inside out, stuffed with delicious shrimp tempura (yet another fried item) and a sweet unagi sauce (the best sauce ever).
• 69 Roll:  California Roll (which I usually despise) topped with slices of unagi (eel) and tobiko (teeny tiny little bright orange FISH EGGS) and drizzled with the unagi sauce.  Best roll of the night for me.
• Panko Crusted Ahi:  Usually one of my favorite things on the menu but it fell really flat this time.  Its ahi lightly seared wrapped with a bitter yet very complimentary arugala and deep fried in panko flakes.  The sauce is the best part of this dish.  Hard to describe it but its a bit butter and orange, dotted with black sesame seeds.  It was just OK this time.  Too bad.
• We also had misoyaki chicken and some vegetable tempura.  Pretty basic but very delicious.
• Top that off with a to go box of spicy tuna, spicy hamachi, and another 69 roll!  We are obsessed with sushi.

Rachel did try a few things but we really got the tempura, beef, and chicken to make sure that she was nourished for the night (sushi, fish, and shrimp are not exactly her forte).

My brother's friend from when they were little stopped by and gave us the run down on the neighborhood gossip.  Mostly people having babies after babies!  Oy.

This morning we got up and had bagels and cream cheese, turkey bacon, and orange juice while we sat on the deck listening to the sounds of Haiku.  We are off to the beach today, if I can get my brother out of bed that is.  Got some turkey sandwiches, chips and guacamole and salsa, and some beers for the day all packed up!  Sun, here we come :)

Maui Time Has Arrived!

Well, its finally here.  Yesterday, Rachel and I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to catch our flight to Maui via Honolulu on Hawaiian Air.  The flight was a bit long but I got to catch up on some reading.  Of course, due to our flight being on Thanksgiving Day, the complimentary meal onboard was dry/stale turkey with lumpy mashed potatoes and gravy.  Mmmmmm.  We had a quick stop over on O'ahu.  Its been about six and a half years since I last touched down on that island.  I really need to get back there to visit my family.  We arrived on Maui at about 2:00 p.m. and were greated by my mumsy and we headed out to Haiku.  First day of hair feeling nasty down.

What do I delve into first?  Chips and salsa and guacamole!  Ahh the salsa.  Made by Tiffany.  She has put wayyy too much tomato sauce in it.  It no longer seems like salsa but more like bordering on spaghetti sauce.  A big disappointment.  Hopefully, we can spruce it up with some cilantro or something.  Gotta love the guac though with the mutant avocados that grow in my mom's yard!  So buttery and delicious.  The evening was topped off with tacos made with homegrown Maui beef and my mom even deep fried the shells herself (we are too lazy at home for such things).  I dozed off while trying to watch the Dancing with the Stars finale and then proceeded to head to bed....for the next 12 hours! 

A special treat was listening to the Maui rain last night.  I love it as it patters on the tin roof and falls down onto the leaves.  Its so soothing.  I should record it and make it into my very own soundscapes mix.  It was easy to fall asleep to that with the cool breeze floating in the window with the smell of rain.

This morning we leisurely got up and had a bagel.  We were a bit fearful that it would be cloudy and rainy all day but we were able to saunter off to the beach this afternoon in Lahaina and got our first taste of the sun.  It was delightful!  The water was great as well.  I love the feeling of salt in my hair with a bit of a sunkiss on my face.  Its great to be home thats for sure.  Up on the menu tonight for dinner:  quiche!

Countdown to Maui

Well, I officially have 8 days before we leave for Maui!  I have not started packing yet, nor have I done any laundry yet.  I usually like to cut it pretty close.  My mom has been keeping me posted on groceries she has already purchased...food is a BIG deal.  I ordered a new lense for my camera, so now I can zoom in about 4 times as much as I could before, which should give me some extra opportunities for good photos.  Can't wait to use that!  I'll be updating here while I'm in Maui so stay tuned.

Beverly Hills...back at home.

Today, I am back at home after my Southern California trip.  The night before we left, we had a sunset margarita in the hot tub, accompanied by some chips and salsa, and a very filling dinner of homemade enchilladas!  They were delicious.  The other girls had smores to top off the night by one of the fire pits at the hotel (obviously I had way too many enchilladas because I refused the smores!). 

The next day we decided not to get up at 5 a.m. and to take a leisurely drive up the coast and on into L.A. for a few hours of sightseeing.  Unfortunately, for reasons undisclosed here, I had a very bad morning and I was in the worst mood for the rest of the day.  Apologies everyone.

Upon stepping out of the room, we discovered the weather was not going to be on our side.  It was raining.  Lovely.  Extra to the moody pot.  We still drove up through Laguna Beach, just to say we did ;), and took a few pics and then headed into L.A. to drop of Joanne's mom's friend.  We spent a few hours in Beverly Hills, after Kristi cautiously navigated through the busy and rainy streets of the 90210.  Rodeo Drive was dead due to the rain.  We had lunch at Mr. Chow, supposedly a celebrity hot spot.  I wasn't too impressed, but we had chicken satay (mistakenly given to us by the waiter, but oh well), Chicken Joanne (lemon sauce), vegetable and shrimped sauteed/fried rice, lettuce wraps with squab (I'm told this is a kind of bird), and potstickers.  A bit pricey due to being in Beverly Hills but cool experience to say we ate there.  No papparazzi taking OUR pictures though.

We then circled the streets again...GPS...to find the Marc Jacobs store for JoJo.  WOW.  They sell a lot of pricey things there...$600 for a dress, yikes.  Who can afford that crap?!  Although, they did have some affordable stuff in there too, like wallets, keychains, rainboots....after that we went to the Long Beach Airport.  Love L.A. traffic.  NOT.  Even more so not to love:  the Long Beach Airport.  Its pretty small, a little ghetto.  The restaurant there was good though.  Rachel was kind enough to buy me a Dragon Burger and two Blue Moons to take the edge off my moody day.  Thanks RK!

The plane boarded about a 1/2 late due to some serious maintenance issues.  One of the seats had to be fixed.  We ended up in Oakland not too late; however, Joanne's dad ran into some traffic due to construction so he was a little late picking us up.  We got home to Antioch around 11:20 and said hello to the puppies who missed us dearly!  Came home to a sick husband with no voice :(  Back at work.  Hooray.

Beach Bums

Another fabulous afternoon on the beach.  Waves crashing, red wine in hand, a devilishly good Brit chick lit book set in Dublin, Ireland.  These books transplant my mind from my run of the mill life to the hustle and bustle of Europe with character names like Clodagh and Ashling.  I love it!  I will meet you one day soon Ireland.  What else....seagulls flapping in the wind and families frolicking on the beach, Taylor Swift playing on Jo's iPhone.  Simply bliss.  Large birds diving into the water in desperate search for lunch and I wonder, how do they even see the fish?  The seagulls stick to scavenging for food along the beach...and from you.  They say, "Hey you.  Yeah, you.  Gimme that cracker there."  Then you give one a cracker and the whole flock of them zoom over to you in hopes of supplementing their diet with human food.

Enchilladas for dinner!

The Beach and Aquarium

So yesterday we moved into our two bedroom condo and discovered that it also had two bathrooms!  Yay.  That works out much better.  We meandered through the streets of Carlsbad to find the elusive grocery store, Ralphs.  We needed to stock up on a few things, including smore-making ingredients.  Mmmmm.  We then headed out to a beach we saw along the way to the grocery store.  It was a bit chilly out there, since it was a little overcast.  But, the sun did poke out of the clouds every now and then and it felt great.  Of course, we took pictures on the beach and then snacked on veggies and crackers with hummus and a great big Hershey's chocolate bar, with swigs of red wine to wash it all down.  It was a great opportunity to get some reading in, although I realized that I did not remember anything from the book I was already reading.  Thats ok, I read it again and it was like new for me.  Sushi for Beginners.

Back at the room, we had a great authentic Guatamalan meal of black beans and rice with fresh salsa and BBQ chicken, steak, and shrimp.  It was delicious!  Pile that all into fresh tortillas and you've got yourself one tasty meal.  I think I ate a bit too much, my baby belly decided to make an appearance.  We all settled in after the big meal and watch Bride and Prejudice!  Yes, I said BRIDE and Prejudice...its the Bollywood-style remake of the classic Jane Austen novel.  If you like Ms. Jane, Bollywood, and singing, then this is the movie for you!  I highly recommend it, and I have seen it too many times to count :)  We could hear the waves crashing on the shore last night too.  It gives you such a feeling of serenity, not to mention it reminds me of home...Maui home.  Oh how I long for you too Maui.

This morning we leisurely got up and got ready and had a simple breakfast before we made it to the aquarium at Legoland...free tickets remember!  We spent some time there this morning.  Its always nice to see the underwater creations; the fish are so beautiful, so colorful!  I always wonder if I could sustain an aquarium at home, but then I remind myself of the difficulty at keeping up a tank, not to mention the fact that the fishies need more room than I could give them.  We're back at the room now, just polished off the rest of the beans, rice, and salsa for lunch!  We are on our way back out to the beach again.  Can't pass up one more opportunity to feel that soft sand between my toes before going back home tomorrow!

We are getting up early tomorrow to head back home, but not before making our way through the famous Beverly Hills and Hollywood areas.  Beverly Hills Cop theme song stuck in my head.  Hehe.

Another Day By the Water

Alright, so we made it down to San Diego (Carlsbad) safely yesterday evening.  Before we left Bakersfield, Joanne gave us our presents from her China trip, BEAUTIFUL handmade silk scarves.  They are so colorful and who doesn't love a good scarf.  The trip down to So Cal was much more eventful than the trip to Bakersfield!  The GPS is now Kristi's sworn enemy.  We stopped in the L.A. area to pick up a friend of Joanne's mom.  We ended up in a bit of a ghetto, although we got fresh mangos off the side of the road.  They were yummy!  Its ok.  Just a slight detour.  We made it to the right spot eventually, though Slauson Road will forever be burned in our memories.  After a so-so lunch at Denny's, where my sandwich tasted like it was grilled in maple syrup, we headed on down to the beautiful seaside.  Oops.  We went to the wrong hotel.  This was not technically anyone's fault.  The number for the hotel actually covers TWO hotels...so they gave us the wrong address.  I will have to say that Kristi gets the award for driver of the year.

We arrived at the Seapointe Resort just in time to unload our mountain of luggage (six ladies, its necessary) and to head down to a brief champagne reception.  It is really pretty down here and the condo rooms are very nice.  Our room has metal seals posed on the lawn just outside our slider!  You'll see the pics.  We spent the evening unwinding in the hot tub with our CUPS of wine.  We like to go big, so we splurged on a couple of cases of Two Buck Chuck...who doesn't enjoy a $1.99 bottle of wine :)  Believably, we crammed all six of us into a one bedroom condo for the night.

This morning we got up and headed out to the complimentary breakfast.  How can you go wrong with free eggs, biscuits and gravy, and sausage!  It was delicious and the hotel had a raffle for all the guests staying here this week.  Kristi won two tickets to an aquarium in La Jolla!  Side note, JoJo already scored free tickets to the aquarium at Legoland, which we are probably going to enjoy tomorrow since the weather forecast predicts rain for us :(  JoJo kindly donated two of those tickets to the raffle for others to enjoy.  The hotel has quite a bit of activities planned for the guests, including sailing, pizza bingo (woot), a scavenger hunt, metal drum lessons (not to be missed), and Mary Kay makeovers, among other things.  What are we going to do with ourselves!  Lol.

We also found out that we get to upgrade to a two bedroom condo!  Score!  Though we will only be staying here until Wednesday, it is still exciting to have more room.  And the hotel staff is going to move all of our stuff for us.  And yes, the upgrade was FREE.  I am dubbing today Free Day.  Its a bit cloudy and chilly outside today, so we arent sure what we want to do (definitely a trip down to the beach for me).  We'll see how the day goes.

PS, it turns out they have wireless internet here.  Sweet!

San Diego Trip - Day One Down

Woohoo!  Day One down.  We are in the lovely Bakersfield, CA and its quite an interesting place to be.  I took a peek out the window today and saw a ton of oil rigs pumping oil up on the hill.  Ah, what a sight to see!  Our ride down here was pretty uneventful.  I-5 does not exactly provide travelers with exciting scenery.  We, of course, got off to a late start.  I don't know when we are ever running on time :)  We got into the BAK just after 7:00 p.m. and we had pizza and salad waiting for us!  Yum.  Can't go wrong with pizza right?!  It was nice to see everyone again thats for sure.  We did have a slight mishap though when someone backed into our travel-mobile (aka Kristi's truck)!  Oops.  Good thing Kristi and her husband are pretty chill about it.  We also got a wonderful slide show of JoJo's pictures of her trip to S. Korea for the International Convention, and China as well.  Very cool.  Speaking of pictures, I discovered that I had left my camera battery on the dining room table at home.  I have the camera.  I even have the charger and carrying case.  How could I have left the battery at home?!  This would have been my first real trip to use my new camera.  Sad face.  Oh well, at least Rachel was prepared and I will have to steal hers from her.  It is also a nice camera and really the first camera that inspired me to take photos so I'm ok with that.

Our accomodations for the night included a camper/trailer.  Unfortunately, the "landing gear" didn't get set down so we were rocking all night.  I got a little motion sick...it reminded of me of our days living on the Dayspring...a boat my mom's ex-boyfriend owned.  A sailboat to be exact.  Yes, we lived on it for a period of time.  That was also an interesting experience that I could probably write a novel on.  Love you mum.

Its morning time and the smell of coffee permeates the air (none for me of course) and there are donuts in the kitchen and fresh french toast!  I haven't touched them yet but I don't think I can pass up a good donut.  We will probably head out in a few hours to make our way to our final destination, after stopping in L.A. to pick up one more!  We will then be six people on this glorious adventure.  I can't wait to get there.  Champagne reception anyone?  Don't know if I will be able to use a computer for the next few days so you may have to hear about the rest of the trip when I return home.  TTFN!

My Blogger Intro

So, I am starting to ride the wave of blogging.  I decided to get this up to share with everyone about the places I travel too, which at this point, does not include a long list of places.  However, I do have a few trips up and coming and I like to share my experiences with people (if they are willing to read about them!).  Thank you Kristi W. for the recommendation and Eleanore for an example of the idea, which I am now stealing from you.

Currently counting down:  3 days until we leave for San Diego (well, technically Carlsbad) via a stop off in beautiful Bakersfield, CA.  We're (me and my lovely sis-in-law RK) are going to be staying with some friends of ours at a timeshare they scored for cheap.  We'll be driving down Saturday afternoon to Bakersfield to visit my sis-in-law's family for a night, and then on down to the San Diego area the next day.  We fly back in on Wednesday, Oct. 14, on Jet Blue...scored tickets for $29.00 plus fees (thanks JoJo)!  I'm pumped to be able to have a few days off to just relax by the pool, read, drink wine, and listen to my iPod.  And we will be right by the beach, which is my happy place.  More to come on that.

Also, I am counting down yet another trip back home to Maui (yes, I try to go home at least once a year).  Will I have anything new to report?  Maybe.  And maybe I just get to write about places that I've been to a million times before.  I'll be there from Nov. 26, 2009 to Dec. 6, 2009, and my lovely sis-in-law RK will also be accompanying me on this trip.  Stay tuned for words about food, the beach, more food, and relaxation.