Hawaii: Malasada Mondays and Other Tropical Tales

For the last month our weeks have started on a sweet note: Malasada Mondays ~ a lyrical combination that has brought smiles to our faces and – big sigh – added a few pounds to our weight.

Malasadas, a favorite treat in Hawaii, were introduced here in the late 1800’s by Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores who came to work in the plantations.

Malasadas

Think donut holes – great BIG donut holes. Some served with a sugar coating and others sliced open and filled with melt-in-your-mouth custard.

The temptations were great

We’ve been lucky this year as our Hawaiian home at KoOlina has begun hosting one of the many Farmer’s Markets that take place throughout this island chain.

Although teeny in comparison to most, our market brings one Honolulu baker who serves up loaves of Hawaiian sweet bread and rolls filled with tropical flavors like coconut and pineapple. (He doesn’t have a retail outlet, but similar treats can be found at Leonard’s in Honolulu)

One of our favorite things about this one-time-kingdom-now-state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is the diversity of people here and the customs and foods they’ve brought to this tropical paradise.

They came in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as laborers to work in pineapple, taro, and sugar cane fields and related industries, from islands in the South Pacific, China, Korea, Japan, and Europe. Thanks to them bringing their foods and flavors from home, today’s Hawaii offers food lovers a feast of diverse culinary cuisine.

Hot and spicy - Korean vegetables

An editor of mine, many years ago asked, “Can you get American food there?” (Yes, he was serious. And yes, you can. Col. Sanders is serving up buckets of fried chicken while Quarter Pounders are being grilled under the Golden arches and Big Box pizza joints are making home deliveries.) But why would anyone come here to eat that food when there’s so many other 'Ono grinds' (good food)  just waiting to be sampled?

Waipahu Saturday morning farmer's market - O-'ahu

SPAM, I am

Some foods though just call out ‘Hawaiian’ in our minds. For instance, SPAM. That canned meat product is so popular here they have an annual SPAM Jam Festival!

More SPAM®, according to one of the conference sponsors, is consumed per person in Hawaii than any other state in the United States, which makes it somewhat appropriate for their signature food festival, which in 2015 takes place May 2.

SPAM® stands for ‘spiced ham’; a product introduced in 1937 by the mainland  Hormel Foods Corporation.  The food cube inside the can is a mix of ham and pork shoulder and now comes in low-salt, spicy and original (simply salty) versions. It is believed to have been introduced by the service men stationed here during WWII.

Its popularity continues to grow. There seem to be new variations available each year! Costco, the big box U.S. chain store, sells it here by the case.

Two key statistics in the SPAM Jam news release caught my eye:
* nearly seven million cans of SPAM® are eaten every year in Hawaii.)

* in the decade since it began, the Waikiki SPAM® JAM, has become one of the most popular festivals in Hawaii. More than 20,000 attend the annual event.


Shave Ice

My Hawaiian friends are offended if I compare a Hawaiian ‘shave ice’ to what we mainlanders call a ‘snow cone’. The premise is the same for both, shaved ice that is flavored with syrups of various flavors.  Apparently – it is the way the ice is shaved that can make this treat a true Hawaiian melt-in-your-mouth (pun intended!) version or a lumpy mainland version.  And a trip to the island of O’ahu isn’t complete without going to the North Shore for a stop at Matsumoto’s for shave ice.  Lines often wind into the street from the shave ice counter in this 1950’s wood-frame grocery store that now sells only shave ice, tee-shirts and souvenirs.

Matsumoto Shave Ice - an island favorite

Food Trucks:

And one can’t make a trip to the North Shore and not be tempted by the eateries that line the two-lane road through Haleiwa (a once-laid-back-surfer-town now teeming with tourists) While these photos were taken in Haleiwa, you’ll find food trucks tucked away in the most unexpected places around the island:

North Shore O'ahu Food Trucks

When you travel do you stick to foods that you ‘know’ or do you ‘go local’? Tell us in the comments below or shoot us an email.  Thanks for the time you spent with us today ~ hope to see you again soon!  "Malamapono a hue hou" ~ Take care until we meet again!

Linking up this week:
Travel Photo Thursday – Budget Traveler’s Sandbox 
Travel Inspiration – Reflections En Route 
Mosaic Monday – Lavender Cottage Gardening
Travel Photo Monday - Travel Photo Discovery

10 Days and nearly 10,000 miles later. . .

Our Stone House on the Hill - Greece

We covered furniture, packed up clothing, shuttered the windows, locked the doors and said goodbye to our Greek Stone House on the Hill for a few months.

Then we hopped a plane and traveled nearly 8,000 miles, back to our Pacific Northwest home where we emptied and repacked our suitcases. Ten days and another 2,000 air miles later, we arrived in Hawaii – our ‘other’ getaway home for the next five weeks of winter.

Lagoon at KoOlina, O'ahu, Hawaii

Yes, that’s the way life goes for us these days. . .travel is our lifestyle. . .and home is more a state-of-mind than a place in the world. I am reminded of the old cliche’ “Home is where the Heart is. . .” In our case, “home is where the suitcase is. . .”

Hale Kona - Marriott Beach Club - KoOlina from Hale Moana where we are

We’ve gone from residing in our the small stone house in an olive grove on a Greek hillside to our current place of residence, in one of three high-rise condominium buildings overlooking a Hawaiian beach. Here instead of being the sole owners, we are among 28,000 people who own a piece of this rock. We are back at our Marriott Vacation Club (interval ownership by the week) at KoOlina on the island of O’ahu.

Those of you who’ve followed our blog, know that we love this carefree interval life. We’ve gradually built up our weeks and now can stay here as long as six weeks each year or we can use portions of our time here and trade for other places in the world.

Sunset at KoOlina

As tempting as it is just to stay here, we’ve already tapped into our 2016 stash and traded a week here for a week in Bangkok, Thailand which will give us a chance to visit that city prior to hopping our cruise ship to Istanbul, Turkey later this spring.

Hibiscus blooms cover the KoOlina landscape

Speaking of cruises: Remember that Amazon River cruise we had planned to take over the Christmas holidays? We’d booked it and were ready to go until in late November the cruise line offered us a deal we couldn’t pass up – we traded that cruise for the one we will be taking from Bangkok. Turns out that once again the travel gods were looking out for us because. . .

We were set to sail from Miami for the Amazon River on Dec. 17th aboard Oceania’s Insignia ship. It turns out that the (newly refurbished just last spring) ship caught fire on Dec.15th as it was completing a cruise and returning to Miami.  While the fire was contained in the engine room and no passengers injured, sadly, three people were killed.  The ship, at last report, is still in dry dock awaiting repairs.  So, we wouldn’t have sailed to the Amazon River even if we hadn’t switched course. . .

Sunset over Messinian Gulf from Stoupa, Greece 

In our next post I’ll take you back to our place in Greece for a quick tour of the neighborhood and take you to some of our favorite places to eat and drink in the neighboring villages.  Then we’ll head back to Hawaii for a tour of this tropical paradise. I’ve also got some packing tips and want to talk about the business of Business Class flying in future posts so hope you’ll come back soon because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover!

Mahalo, Thanks, for the time you spent with us today! Safe travels to you and yours~ and E Komo Mai, Welcome, to our new followers this week, so glad to have you with us!

Kaua’i: Market Day

It turns out that on this Hawaiian island every day, but Sunday, is a Market Day somewhere. 

Kaui Community College Saturday Market - Lihue

We generally seek out these temporary markets – often set up in parking lots, city streets or vacant fields - when we travel because they are some of our favorite places to meet growers and buy locally-sourced food. On this island we didn’t have to do any seeking; we were offered market schedules at check-in at both places we’ve stayed.

This week we are in a condo on the island’s south side where there are any number of markets taking place. The photos in this post were taken at the Saturday morning market held weekly on the Kaua’i Community College campus. We arrived minutes after its 9:30 opening to find shoppers were already lined up to make purchases.

Coming from the Pacific Northwest where a tropic flower stem can cost more than $10, you can probably understand our delight at finding entire bouquets for $7!

(A similar market earlier in the week in Hanalei on the island’s North Shore had them for $15 which we had thought had also been a terrific price.)

We’ll enjoy this $7 beauty for the rest of our stay. . .



In addition to flowers we came home with a bag of just-husked corn on the cob ($5), a bag of six heads of Manoa lettuce ($2.50), and a bunch of just-picked yellow bananas ($1) . The temptations were to over-buy. . .great prices and great products.

Generally, one of our favorite travel tips is to shop at these markets because they are a great places to save money as well as to get  fresh foods.

That wasn’t the case at all the Kauai markets.

The farmer’s market at Waipa Ahupua’a Field in Hanalei on the North Shore had growers offering pineapples for $8 each and some with papayas at $2.50 each.  One couple, however, offered papayas  for $1 each with a “buy 2 and get 1 free” deal. . .and that’s where we bought our week’s supply. (Food prices at grocery stores there were also high.)

Back on the South Shore, we did shop for groceries and adult beverages at Costco, the big box store in Lihue, where the price of a Hawaiian pineapple, was $3.50 and a box of five papayas $5.50. I can tell you the place was packed with locals and tourists during our Friday morning visit.

Red ginger stems

There’s a two-hours-only “Gourmet Farmers Market” taking place on Wednesday at nearby Kukui’ula Shopping Village.  We were told there would be wine tasting and food available for purchase. So far wine prices at bars and restaurants have ranged from $14 – $35 a glass so we can hardly wait to see what the prices will be at the ‘Gourmet Farmer’s Market’ . . .

If You Go. . .

Kauai is the furthest north of the major islands in the Hawaiian Island chain.  There are direct flights from several U.S. West Coast cities, including Seattle. The North Shore is famous for the amount of rain that falls there; it’s south shore is far more sun drenched. Farmer's Market schedules are readily available.

Linking up:
Foodie Tuesday @ Inside Journeys

Hawaii: When Travel Writer Meets Travel Reader

The note, sent in response to the post I’d written about Ko Olina, O’ahu, was short:

“We are also at KO.

I would like to meet you.

(signed) Louise”

One thing I’ve learned about blogging is that we don’t really know who – if anyone -- reads the posts we’ve written - unless they make a comment or send an email.

At times it is kind of like feeling as if you might be talking to yourself.

Some bloggers live by ‘stats’ but even those numbers don’t tell us if what we write is really being read.

We also know the numbers of ‘subscribers’ - those who sign up to receive the posts as emails  – and if we dig deep enough,we also know their email addresses. (Rest assured, I seldom do that.)

In the case of TravelnWrite subscribers, the majority are people we don’t know. People like Louise. So to say I was thrilled that 1) someone was reading the blog and 2) wanted to meet me, sent me ‘over the moon’.

In this case – the weird part is --Louise and I had already been together earlier in the week at a Ko Olina owners’ “Meet and Greet” that she had organized.

In fact, I’d  taken photos and written about the event on the owners’ Facebook page.

But ‘that Louise’ and I didn’t have an opportunity to chat . . . so I was guessing, when I wrote her back asking if she might be the same person. She was one and the same!

A few hours after exchanging emails, we met at poolside; chatting as if we had known each other for a long time.  We talked travel, and Hawaii and timeshares. . .and about the blog, of course.

She isn’t quite sure who recommended it to her, but she’s been a TravelnWrite reader since last September and had ‘come along ’via the blog on our South Pacific adventure.

Louise (pictured left) and her husband left Ko Olina for their California home a couple weeks before us, as they have another trip coming up.  But Louise and I have stayed in touch and will continue to do so until our paths again cross ‘same time next year’ at Ko Olina.  


Mahalo Louise, for sending that note!  And a big  mahalo to who ever recommended our blog to her!

We love meeting members of the TravelnWrite community, so let us know if we turn up somewhere near you.  Just drop us a note: travelnwrite@msn.com

If you've not subscribed and want to do so, just fill in your email address in the box to the right of this post, then reply when Feedburner sends a confirmation email to your email address. It is free and as simple as that!

And recommend us to a friend of yours. . .just look at what might happen if you do!  Thanks for the time you spent here today – we’ll be back soon with more Tales from Somewhere in the Pacific.

(In case you are wondering, I have Louise’s permission to use her photo and tell you the tale of how we met.)

Maui: Sun’s (Finally!) Out ~ Surf’s Up!!

Those postcard images of Hawaii came to life Saturday morning as we began our final week of timeshare life in our new digs on the island of Maui.

(As I have noted periodically on Facebook, this has been a wetter, more windy winter in these tropical islands than we’ve experienced in previous stays. That’s not a complaint, just a weather fact around here.)

I’d been wanting to test out my new Fuji camera – the first one broke during our cruise to Australia last fall and was replaced by the company from where it had been purchased. 

On Saturday I finally got the chance to check it out and these are some of my test shots.

The break in the clouds prompted everyone, it seemed, to hop in the car and head out to the beaches. Even the smallest of pullouts were full of parked cars along the roadway at Maui’s north end, as people lined up to photograph and watch amateur surfers out ‘hanging ten’.

It was picture-perfect Hawaii.

And at the moment I took the photo above I knew I was in love with my new camera!

Our explorations continued as we rounded the north end of the island and found ourselves traveling a narrow one-lane (speed limit 5 m.p.h. in places) road that might make the infamous Road to Hana seem like child’s play. It was probably one of the top five most beautiful drives we’ve ever taken and a delightful change from tourist-clogged Ka'anapali Beach where we are staying – I’ll post photos and tell you about it later this week.

Thanks for your time spent traveling the roads of Maui with us today. Hope to see you back again soon!

Linking up:
Noel Morata’s Travel Photo Discovery
Kent Weakley's Sweet Shot Tuesday

Wet and Wild in Hawaii

That would be the weather to which this title refers, not Hula Babe and Beach Boy.

Our time here began 10 days ago in a picture-postcard setting; the type for which Hawaii is known. . .

. . . Mai Tai weather . . . . with tropical breezes, blue sky and plenty of sun.  These shots were taken during an outing we took along the coast to Ka’ena Beach Park at the tip of the western side of O’ahu.

Within a couple days of our arrival came the first ‘weather front’ – a storm strong enough to close the beaches on the island because of the dangerous high waves. A tourist was killed while golfing when a tree branch was blown down. A half dozen homes lost their roofs.

That tropical sunshine went into hiding behind heavy dark clouds; being fickle and peeking out  for a brief ‘sunset’ one day. So this week’s photos show you O’ahu when it isn’t postcard perfect – on the other hand, when it sure is interesting:

Our second outing was a Sunday drive under gray skies –  the kind of skies we  have in the Pacific Northwest . We passed Aloha Stadium an hour before kickoff for the Pro Bowl – I snapped the photo above between swipes of the windshield wipers. 

Those gentle Hawaiian tropical breezes have gusted throughout the week, sending sand and leaves flying. Grounds crews at Ko Olina, where we are,  have been kept busy cleaning up fallen leaves and blowing sand that has covered the grassy areas.

And the sea gods really threw a hissy fit this past week, tossing enormous waves at the shore– some the largest they’ve seen in 20 - 30 years.

These photos were taken on the day after ‘the front’s’ arrival – yet the waves still pounded the shore with a deafening rhythm.

We are reminded that while you can control many things about travel, Mother Nature still calls the shots on the weather. The photo on the left was taken a week ago, the photo on the right this Tuesday. Admittedly we aren’t suffering freezing temperatures like the mid-western United States nor fighting snow in Atlanta, but we are having a rather unusual, wet and wild time in Hawaii.

Gotta run. . .the sun’s finally out and the surf is finally down. . .just sprinkles and some wind. Time to get some rays. . .Hope you’ll return here soon. . .

Linking up this week:

Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox
Travel Photo Discovery on Monday

Hawaii: Tales from the Hale. . .

Hale ~ ‘home’ in Hawaiian.

A week has passed already and we are settled in to our Hawaiian lifestyle. We went from replacing a driveway and tree trimming at our Pacific Northwest home two weeks ago, to our carefree (no home improvement projects) lifestyle in a high-rise condo where our view of the Pacific Ocean reaches the far horizon.

I’ve written several times about our timeshares – or as we think of them, 'second homes' – in Arizona and Hawaii. I've told you how we’ve extended our stays by purchasing and using  two-bedroom ‘lock-off’ units. Lock-off, as the name implies, means we lock off one side, and use each of the two sides consecutively: two weeks for the price of one!
 

I’ve written about living in ‘the big house’ side before, so this time I wanted to give you a tour of our first week 'hale' at Ko Olina in ‘the lock-off’ or small side --  an over-sized  hotel room with small balcony and kitchenette.

I’ve jokingly called it a ‘glamping’ (glorified camping) because you need to be a bit imaginative when menu planning and shopping to stock up a tiny kitchen; although it probably is as big as many in Paris apartments. It is definitely small compared to the big side.

The week in the small side is always a good excuse, . . .ahem. . ., reason, to visit the many Happy Hours that are within an easy walk of home. 

But we also eat most of our meals in; dining on that table in our nest-like balcony. The small in-room microwave and  the communal barbeques simplify the task.

In fact, gathering at the bank of bbq’s is one of our favorite features of this lifestyle.  We’ve met  fellow owners as well as those who’ve just come for a visit -- and they come from all over the world.

The Scout, aka Beach Boy, in the photo above is visiting with a friend from Gig Harbor and fellow Ko Olina owner while the two sip wine and cook our dinners.

The room is 360-square-feet with the balcony adding another 18-square-feet. In reality, it’s plenty of room for two people who spend most of their waking hours outdoors at the beach, pool, gym or off exploring.

You do need to improvise at times. . .for instance that is my beach bag, shoes and a box of papayas (from Costco!) sharing a bit of storage space.  I photographed the door because it is the link to the full-side condominium --  had we booked the whole unit for a single week it would have been open. 

Marriott Vacation Club - KoOlina, O'ahu

Yesterday we moved into the large side -- ‘the Big House’ as we owners call them --which is home for the next three weeks. . .I am in the real den, The Scout’s in the living room, we’ve been to the gym, I’ve done laundry, and tonight we are dining at home – we’ve got a couple big steaks to grill.

Last night, a woman clad in a swimsuit, and riding the elevator as we headed back to the room with our grilled Mahi Mahi and roasted corn on the cob exclaimed, “Oh! You actually cook on vacation??!!” I almost replied, “No we are cooking  at home tonight.”

That’s it for this weekend.  I know I promised some ‘novel destinations’ but those will come soon.  We’ve had to get settled into our island lifestyle first.  Mahalo, or thanks, for visiting today. Hope you’ll be back often!

If You Go:

Ko Olina is a planned  development on O’ahu’s West (Ewa) Coast, about 20 minutes from Honolulu International Airport; the nearest city is Kapolei.

Hula Babe and Beach Boy Head to Hawaii

Hula Babe and Beach Boy, clad in tee-shirts, shorts and flip-flops, are back in Hawaii!

If you’ve been with us at TravelnWrite for the last few years, you know that this is our tropical season – the time we head to Hawaii -- and that’s our nom de blog while living in the Land of Aloha.  (Hey, if  Ree Drummond can be Pioneer Woman, we certainly qualify as Hula Babe and Beach Boy!)

We’ve settled into our Ko Olina timeshare ‘playhouse’ on the island of O’ahu.

It is here we will  be living during the next few weeks.

Lucky for us several friends need temporary quarters while we are here so we have a built-in cadre of house-sitters back in the Northwest.



“But how can you be gone so long?” “Don’t you get homesick?”   So many of our Pacific Northwest friends have asked that I decided yesterday to answer those questions by use of photos:

This would be the fog-shrouded Seattle Tacoma airport Friday morning as we taxied for takeoff. . .nice view, huh? (It looked like that all over the Puget Sound.)

It cleared a bit as we flew over the Washington State coastline.

About five hours into the flight, as we were finishing the complimentary MaiTais  . . .


. . .the view out the window improved. . .


Honolulu was coming into view. . .

And then came Ko Olina and O’ahu’s Barber Point as the plane banked to land at the Honolulu Airport.

The three tall white buildings and the four lagoons to the center/left of the photo are Marriott’s Beach Club Vacation villas. I am writing this from our condo in that complex. 

This is the view looking out the window here:

Guess that answers those questions!

While we are here, we hope to make some new island discoveries. . .have any tips for us? Out of the way restaurants? Beaches? Must see or do? Tell us about your favorites in the comment section below or by sending a quick email!

We’ll be ‘booking it’ to the beach next week so do come back to explore some ‘novel destinations'!  And mahalo for your visit today!!!
We are linking up with Noel Morata's TravelPhotoDiscovery.