Day Seven Maui: R & R All Day

Chunky Peanut Butter Mochi

It's our second day at the Wailea Beach Marriott. We had no plans other than just staying put. For once, we didn't venture out in the morning to get malasadas. That's a shame! :-) We totally slept in. By sleeping in, I meant, I woke up at 6am local time, while the rest of the gang were up between 7 and 8am.

I went to the front desk last night and inquired how much they charged per night for our one bedroom Maui suite. I thought it was around $500 per night. I was wrong. Arman, the front desk receptionist said it was $750. Whoa! That's insane. So when I got up in the morning, I had an extra pep in my step as I walked over to the lanai.  :-)

Caitlin had a Do Not Disturb Sign

By 9am, we decided to walk towards the Grand Wailea Resort which was a few hundred yards away. There were lots of people already swimming at the beachfront resort, lots of snorkelers, and stand up paddle boarders. Meanwhile, we were walking and feeling the heat and all we could think of was returning back to to our resort to swim. And that's exactly what we did. We played in the pool for a couple of hours. I asked Evan and Caitlin if they wanted to go to the beach, but they were perfectly content playing in the pool. Good for them!

Lunch time came and we decided to leave the resort and we drove to Eskimo Candy. We went to Eskimo Candy a couple of years ago. I dropped off Nancy and the kids, while I headed out to Foodland (which was about a couple of miles away) to buy poke. I bought Kimchee Tako Poke and White Crab Kimchee Poke. I can eat poke for days. So glad that Foodland's nearby. Once I got my share of poke, I headed back to Eskimo Candy and joined the family. They were already having lunch at this point.

Kimchee Tako Poke

Double Layer Lililkoi Cake

After lunch, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon just relaxing by the pool. We went from jumping in the pool to the hot tub and back. It was an afternoon of pure rest and relaxation (R & R). The hotel had these queen-size type of padded beach lounge chairs. Caitlin and I found ourselves falling asleep. There was nice warm breeze, enough to put us to sleep. Uneventful. No stress. Just R & R.

We left the hotel by 6pm, of course we wanted to take more pictures of us and the sunset. Our first choice was "Secret Beach" past Makena. It's this little cove tucked between these gorgeous beach front properties.

Walking to Makena Beach

We went here a few years ago and we had the entire beach to ourselves. Well, not last night. There were 2 weddings going on, and as much as we weren't asked to leave, we didn't want to ruin their moment, so we decided to take pictures in nearby Makena.

After taking pics in Makena, we decided to head back to Secret Beach and try to catch whatever was left with the sunset. The 2 weddings were finished and they were just taking pictures by the time we got there. What a beautiful beach!

For dinner, we went to Da Kitchen. The kids ordered a plate lunch that was big enough for all to share. I ordered Da Kitchen's Chocolate Haupia Pie, honestly, I was underwhelmed. It felt like I was just eating chocolate pudding. Way different than Maui Pie's and Ted's Bakery (Oahu). Other than that, I'd go back to Da Kitchen but not for their haupia pie.

Well, that was our Day Seven....mahalo!!!

Day Six Maui: Wailea Daze and Hamilton moment

Aaaaahhhh it’s now Day Six and we are getting used to the 3-hour time difference. The family was still fast asleep, while I got up at 5:30am (local time). I woke up Evan who gladly obliged on a quick drive to Home Maid Cafe for our morning Malasadas. The rest of the morning was spent just staying in our condo. We made reservations at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. 

This was Nancy’s request on this vacation. I was actually opposed to it. I didn’t want to stay in a resort due to the convenient amenities that we’d be missing from being in a condo. But heck, we’re on vacation so I gave in. 

Most of the morning was spent eating breakfast and getting our stuff ready as we checked out of our condo. I did the cooking, the kids cleaned up the rooms, Nancy prepared our luggage. You can imagine that it was chaos with us running the washer and dryer. Madison was also assigned to wash dishes. 

 

We left the condo exactly at 11am. We made a couple of quick stops at Foodland and I also ventured over to Maui Pie. They make chocolate haupia pies and I ordered a mini-sized pie.It smelled so delicious inside. It was the 4th of July and they had lots of pies on display.

Shortly after, we made our way to Wailea, just a short 10 minute drive from Kihei. Driving to Wailea was so peaceful with all the trees that lined up the streets. It didn’t take long and we made it to Wailea Beach Marriott. At check in, we were told that our room wasn’t ready yet. It was only 12 noon when we got there. We had booked a standard room with a couple of beds. Upon realizing that we were Elite Members, Sharon  at the Front Desk said that she can get us a better room. No arguments here, but we had to wait since not all rooms were ready. No problem!

We borrowed a few towels and decided to lounge and swim in one of the many pools on the property. It was another HOT sunny afternoon. Few gray clouds would roll in, then bam, blue skies again. There was a period of 1-2 minutes of very light showers - it was welcomed with no problem….then voila….sunny skies again. Oh so typical of Hawaii. We moved from one pool to another, there was a regular rectangular shaped pool, and a couple of infinity pools. We were equal opportunity swimmers and we used them all. 

Frozen grapes courtesy of Wailea Marriott

She said YES! 

Happy Birthday, AJ - and congratulations on your engagement with Ivan

She said YES. Photo credit: Iris Capistrano

A few weeks before our trip to Maui, we received an invite to AJ’s birthday (on the 4th of July weekend). We couldn’t make it because of our vacation. We found out that Ivan was going to propose to her on her birthday. I don’t even know where to begin with backstory with these two. Other than we love them both dearly - we’re like family and Hamily (not a typo). 

Hamilton, a shameless plug

We are also huge Hamilton fans. If you’ve been living under a rock, it’s gotta be the most popular Broadway musical that received 16 Tony nominations (and won 11 awards). Tickets to the show are so hard to get. I spent nearly 2 years traveling in and out of NY and

NJ over the past to years for work, and every chance I got to join the lottery for this show, I just never won. I’ve been following this show since their Off-Broadway run at the Public Theatre in NY, and then on to their Broadway run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on West 46th St. The lowest priced tickets last year was around $150….but scalpers would sell them at $400 to $500 to thousands of dollars. Just a few weeks ago, a new set of tickets were sold and those with an American Express Platinum Card (which I do), or American Express Centurion were able to get tickets before they went on sale to the public. I was able to get 4 tickets (2nd row orchestra) for the Spring of 2017!!! We're planning a return trip to NY with all the kids and Hamilton seats are the sure icing on the cake!!!

We are Hamily

Ivan coined this name and called those of us who share the love for Hamilton as a Hamilton Family….HAMILY. And because of this, we thought of a creative way of greeting AJ on her birthday, and we picked a few lines from the opening number of the show, Alexander Hamilton, and gave it a new title, Ashlei Joy Latag (AJ’s full name). We don’t mess when it comes to doing a little video, so we picked a location in Wailea with breathtaking views of the ocean and created our little one-minute video. If you don’t know this song or anything Hamilton in general, you probably won’t get it….but if you do, here's the video. Click the link to Ashlei Joy Latag. These were the few lyric changes:

Now the word got around they said this girl’s engaged, man

Took up a vacation now she's marrying Kuya Ivan

She got her education, don’t forget from where you came 

And the world’s gonna know your name 

What’s your name, man?

Ashlei Joy Latag

Her name is Ashlei Joy Latag

There’s a million things she hasn’t done

It’s her birthday

She got engaged!

So there, Happy Birthday, AJ and congratulations Ivan and AJ…we love you to pieces. We can’t wait to be part of this celebration. Ohana means Hamily!!!

After our little Broadway beachside karaoke (eat your heart, James Corden), we didn’t even realize that 4 hours have already passed. Time flies when you're having fun. We’ve been swimming, lounging, singing, rapping, and eating since we got to the resort. We got our room keys from the front desk. We went up to our room, our standard room that has been upgraded to a one bedroom suite with two lanais and views of the ocean and mountains. The room, if we paid for it in cash, would have cost us $500/night....instead, we used our points and got the upgrade. Yes…..thank you, Marriott!!! Mahalo!!!

We got ready, showered, cleaned up, and took a few more family pics with the majestic sunset as our back drop. 

For dinner, we went to Paia Fish Market (South Side). I ordered their Opa sautéed in garlic lemon butter, cole slaw and cajun rice. We also ordered their Shrimp and Fries and Fried Calamari. That was delicious. The Opa was firm, and flavorful. So glad we didn’t have to venture far from the resort for a good meal.

We had a long day playing in the pool so we just decided to head back to the resort and relaxed, and watched TV….that was Day Six. Mahalo!