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Haleki’i and Pihana Heiau State Historical Sites, Maui, July 2010

Wrapping up the visit to Maui, which can’t be concluded without a nod to our favorite Maui finds:

  • At Mana Foods of Pai’a, we seemed to stop here daily for groceries. They carried an exceptional brand of Maui made smoked paprika hummus. Both local and organic, the prices are decent and the fare exceptionally delicious.
  • Cane and Taro in Lahaina’s Whaler’s Village was surprisingly tasty for such a popular tourist spot. The Hawaiian Swordfish was perfectly cooked, dressed with a simple ginger butter sauce that left the fish naked enough to stand up on its own flavor and meatiness.
  • CJ’s offered the best mixed plate in Kaanapali, including mango-glazed short ribs, outstanding kalua pork and mahi mahi, as well as deliciously sweet and sour pineapple coleslaw.
  • In Haiku, Hana Hou’s chop steak, sauteed with garlic and onions, served with a side of macaroni salad and steamed rice, featured Maui Cattle Company’s tasty and local beef. Elegant yet casual with slightly upscale local fare, banana groves and roaming chicken make a perfectly authentic upcountry dining spot.
  • Our favorite eats by far was Pai’a’s Fish Market. Their ahi burger, washed down with Maui Brewing Company’s Coconut Porter, so absolutely divine, makes me want to cry because I don’t know when I can taste paradise again.
  • This trip couldn’t have been possible without the savvy advice from Vince and Vangie Meneses, Jake Sanders, and Andrew Doughty’s indispensable Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook.

The last hours of Maui were spent on sacred grounds at the Haleki’i and Pihana Heiau State Monuments, just outside of Wailuku, which served as religious ceremonial site and home to Hawaii’s chiefs and high-ranking officers. The following information on the sites are referenced from Hawaii Web and Maui’s Historical Society writer Lyons Kapi’ioho Naone III, who is highly respected as a Hawaiian healing practitioner. The hallowed land featured below offered the perfect chance to contemplate our visit in silence and beauty. Until next time, Maui. Mahalo!

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From The Salon: “Agora” Film Review

Rachel Weisz stars as Greek astronomer Hypatia in "Agora."

Originally released last year with limited U.S. screenings, audiences best take advantage of this next go-round because Agora is worth every second. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, his vision of Alexandria is a sumptuous yet often gory feast. Starting at 391 AD, the film circles around three focal points, the perpetual religious warfare of the time, the disintegration of the Roman Empire, and the assumed life’s work and teachings of philosopher and mathematician Hypatia, played by Rachel Weisz, who is stunning in her Hellenic garb, draped in pure Grecian white or clothed in rich purples and vibrant fuschias. The only comparable marvel to rival her is the city of Alexandria and its great Library, envisioned with grandeur and filled with a light and beauty that matches Weisz.

Hypatia, a historical figure, was Greek, which might excuse Ms. Weisz’s conspicuously pale skin as she plays fair maiden amidst her significantly darker Egyptian and Mediterranean counterparts. Daughter of Theon, a prefect of Alexandria, Hypatia is brilliant in math, philosophy, and astronomy though none of her original writings survive. Other philosophers and scientists pay tribute, in their texts, to her contributions, which include the charting of the celestial bodies and the invention of the hydrometer. She lived in the Roman outpost of Alexandria, and Carl Sagan, a modern day champion of her, once argued, without sufficient substantiation, that Hypatia might have been the Ancient Library of Alexandria‘s last librarian. Agora‘s filmmakers took this speculation and ran with it, creating an opulent setting for one very luminescent individual.

Read entire post at Ruelle Electrique.

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Ali’i Lavender Farm in Kula, July 9, 2010

Part of the locavore movement, Ali’i Lavender Farm is the newest kid on the block joining the Tedeschi Winery and The Surfing Goat Farm. On our last day on Maui we ate our way across the island. First munching down malasadas in Makawao, gobbling goat cheese at Surfing Goat and licking our lips with everything lavender at Ali’i Farm in Kula.

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Kihue, Kula, & Makawao, July 2010

We’re wrapping up our trip to Maui with a bang, including a day-trip to the south side of the island, a birthday feast at Koiso, Maui’s hole-in-the-wall for top-notch sushi, and then photos from our last day in paradise at the Surfing Goat Farm in Kula and, a Maui must, guava malasadas at Komoda Bakery in Makawao’s cowboy country. Come see and taste!

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Ka’anapali & Luau at Black Rock, July 2010

Immersed in the silky, clear blue waters of Ka’anapali, we trailed a sea turtle  to Black Rock and swam with the fishes along the coral reefs. This beach is popular for many reasons made apparent in the below images. While we splashed around a fellow Ka’anapali admirer shouted to the world soon as he jumped into the waves, “Yeah, Hawaii!!! This water feels so good!” We couldn’t agree more.

As we snorkeled without snorkels we spotted: needlefish, bluespine unicorn fish, yellowstripe goalfish, eyestripe surgeon, and rainbow runner, but the best sighting of the day, by far, was Phil Sanders taking center stage, hula dancing at the Black Rock Luau, a vision not to be missed. Take a peek for yourself!

Who doesn't love hula?


The last of the Hawaii photos will be coming soon, featuring a trip to Kihue, a tour of Ali’i Lavendar Farm and Surfing Goat Farm, and a final stop at a sacred burial ground near Wailuka.

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Iao Valley, July 2010

A center of culture and civilization for thousands of years, Iao Valley is now known for one of Maui’s most brutal battles. We drove out to Iao Valley to mountain goat up a 5.2 mile hike straight into Cloud Supreme. As we ascended, helicopters crisscrossed above, giving aerial tours to other Iao Valley admirers, us looking up, them looking down. This hike couldn’t be more different compared to the dry moonscape of Haleakala. Come see paradise.

Next up, some overdue sun-worshipping on the beach and Phil hula dancing.

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At the Salon: GoodReads Review on the anthology “Growing Up Filipino II”

Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**DISCLAIMER: This review is written by one of the contributors from the anthology. Please read with discretion.**

In her Borderlands/La Frontera, Gloria Anzaldúa writes of the mestiza consciousness: “The new mestiza copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity. She learns to be an Indian in Mexican culture, to be a Mexican from an Anglo point of view. She learns to juggle cultures. She has a plural personality, she operates on a pluralistic mode–nothing is thrust out, the good, the bad, and the ugly, nothing rejected, nothing abandoned. Not only does she sustain contradictions, she turns the ambivalence into something else.” The Filipino-ness, as discussed by Rocio G. Davis in his introduction and depicted by the twenty-plus authors in this anthology, develops more than a tolerance for contradictions but zeroes in on the good, the bad, and the ugly, drawing strength, voice, character, and meaning out of the ambiguity that lies at the inherent core of Filipino and Fiilpino-American experiences. Filipino history is Pluralism, and Cecilia Manguerra Brainard through her keen compilation and organization of these deceptively simple tales shows readers the complexity of individual experiences and stories in this beautifully orchestrated anthology.

Read entire review here at Ruelle Electrique

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‘Ohe’o Gulch at Kipahulu State Park: Hana II, Maui, July 2010

At five in the afternoon, you’ll find a lot of men hitch-hiking along the road to Hana. We figured they must be leaving their stands tucked in rare pockets throughout the highway. Selling shaved ice, kalua pork, or banana bread, these vendors lure adventure-seeking motorists all day long and then, soon as the clock hits quitting time, they head for home, and its difficult to get an authentic mixed plate after five since most places are closed. The only souls out and about are the mynah birds performing their Hana Highway strut as they play daredevil with the oncoming traffic. On our next trip to Maui, we hope to camp at some of the parks and then stay a couple nights at the Hana Hotel.

Hana today, the world tomorrow!

I’ao Valley trek will be chronicled next…


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Hana Highway I, Maui, July 2010

The day after Fourth of July was smoky. The evening passed with the blare of sirens startling us, and we woke to smell, hear, and read about dozens of fires that blazed through the island. Our room was heavy with the scent of burning cane, but we stuck to our schedule and headed out to Hana. Along the infamous Hana Highway, a four-hour drive full of hairpin, blind turns, and one-lane bridges, from Lahaina, we stopped for one of Maui’s famous fish tacos, made with flour tortillas, fresh mahi mahi, black beans, and cabbage. Six miles before Hana, on the twisty turn-y road, at Nahiku, we had a taste of coconut candy: “hand-sliced coconut, slow baked in cane.” Delicious. The coconut candy vendor showed us his vintage bottle collection, which included an array of glass Clorox bottles dated before World War II, shaped like our plastic bleach bottles today but in beautiful green and root beer brown colors.

Hana thrusts you right into the thick of lush green jungles whereas the western side tends to be barren and dry. See for yourself.

The Hana Highway Adventure continues with more pictures to come.

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Halekala: House of the Sun, Part II

On a trek like this, the more bottles of water and snacks loaded with carbs and sugars the better off you will be. Fearful of over-exhaustion and heat stroke, I had to take a breather more often than I would like to admit.  I’m not a hat person but with the sun blazing above, I really wished I had a visor, sombrero, or bonnet anythingto keep those pernicious rays off me. The red volcanic dust still clings to my shoes, a thick ash that sticks to your fingers, leaving a residue.

Next up, Hana Highway, coming soon…

Thanks for visiting!