Maui Day Two: It's so food to see you

I find myself quite active on Tripadvisor forums whenever I prepare for an upcoming trip. I value the tips and experience shared by destination experts and other tourists like me. In return, I share my unique experience with them as well. One of the TA resident expert, AkamaiNick4SW, welcomed me back and he wrote: It's so food to see all of you. It turns out that it was a typo - but an appropriately perfect typo it was.

Evan and his malasadas during our 2015 Kauai trip

Prior to our trip, Evan reminded me that he and I will have to get malasadas everyday, a tradition that he and I did when we went to Kauai last summer. Who was I to fail my little Evan? I woke up at 4am on Thursday morning (7am California time). I had a couple of places in mind, Home Maid Bakery (according to the internet, they open at 5am). Home Maid was closer to the condo so that was the obvious first choice. It was about 2 miles away.

Evan and his malasadas during our 2015 Kauai trip

 As I got Evan ready around 5am, Ethan got wind of where Evan and I were going, reluctantly, he also got up and started to get ready for a chance at some hot malasadas! We drove to Home Maid Bakery and we got there around 5:30am. It turns out that they open at 6am. Instead of waiting, I realized that I never tried malasadas from Sugar Beach Bake Shop, about a 10-minute drive from our condo. So we drove and got there right before 6am. I read in TA that it's best to either pre-order the day before, or be there really early. We were one of the first few customers and we ordered a dozen malasadas (sugar, cinnamon, and li hing mui sugar). After waiting for ten minutes (they were made-to-order), the fresh hot malasadas were in our hands. I enjoyed the Li Hing Mui malasada the most. It had a very distinct somewhat sweet taste. Oh and it's best eaten when it's hot and fresh....nothing can top that!

Li Hing Mui Malasada

By the time we got home, Nancy was already up, and prepared her homemade breakfast for us. It wasn't long after when we all got ready for the day. We decided to just hang around on this side of the island. Since we've been to Maui, there was no need to see every little thing. I had no itinerary, but I had an idea what to do, where to go, and what to eat.

We left the condo around 9am, and we decided to go Po'olenalena Beach, a beach just past the gigantic, fancy hotels in Wailea. The kids jumped in the water, while Nancy and I enjoyed watching them from our beach chairs. 

Capturing the moment on Facebook Live

It was good that we brought an umbrella, once the sun was out....man, it was hot. I also enjoyed the Fresh Ahi Hawaiian style poke that I bought from Tamura's. Soooo good! After an hour or so playing in the water, we decided to leave the beach and grab lunch.

Manju and Pina Colada Turnover

We headed to Sam Sato's, about a 35 minute ride from where we were. It was another local find, tucked away in an industrial area of Maui. We got there right before noon, and there was a bit of a crowd waiting outside. After waiting for 15-20 minutes, our party of 6 was seated. We went for the BBQ beef skewers and Dry Noodles (paired with a bowl of broth), manju and pina colada turnover.

We also ordered mini-loco moco. It was exactly as I remembered it from 2 years ago. So simple, yet so tasty. That was lunch!

Mini Loco Moco

Dry Noodles.....so frickin' delicious! 

Well, there were 6 BBQ Beef Skewers, but the kids got to them so quickly

After leaving Sam Sato's, we drove over to Stillwell Bakery, another trip down memory lane. We ordered a couple slices of pies - Mac Nut Cream Pie and Coconut Cream Pie. The Mac Nut pie had real macadamia chunks within the cream while the coconut pie had shavings of coconut. Sweet tooth satisfied. 

Haupia Sweet Potato Pie from Waikapu on 30

On the way home, we stopped by Waikapu on 30, a little highway restaurant and I ordered their Haupia with Sweet Potato. So glad I did because I was craving for haupia!

The sun made itself well known, it was quite present that afternoon, and we just had to cool down and get shave ice from Ululani's. There was a long line and it took us nearly a 1/2 hour to line up and get our shave ice. The kids ordered Local Motion, while I ordered the Haleakala Shave Ice.....it was a perfect break from the heat!

Kamaole I Beach

After all the eating, we had to get back in the water. We opted to go Kamaole I beach, it was close to our condo. The wind picked up quite a bit. If you stayed and just sat on the sand, you'd be an easy target for the sand to hit you in your legs or body. I jumped in the water with the kids. While Nancy walked around and took pictures of us. The cool thing about Kamaole I, it may look like you've gone far and deep, but truly the water was just around your waist. I was glad to see our kids play in the water, confident enough to stay afloat. Their swim lessons paid off.

By 4 pm, we decided to head back to the condo, rest and recharge and go out later that evening....NOT! First it was Nancy and me. We both fell asleep.......next thing you know, I woke up around 10pm, and I found all the other kids knocked out. I woke up Ethan and he said they all just fell asleep around 6pm. That just goes to show how tired we were.....it's all good. We're on vacation after all.

Thanks for following our journey!