My husband is the Director of Puna Taiko, a local taiko group here on the big island. He is obsessed with all things taiko.. and I mean obsessed. He ever learned how to make drums and now wants to learn how to sew to make their uniforms. So, when he found out one of the Maui groups was having a concert, he quickly started planning our trip.
Now, for those of you who don't travel inter-island all that often, you may not know that we pay extra for each leg that we fly. For example, normally all the flights hub on Oahu. Although Maui is actually closer in distance to the big island than Oahu, it may cost you more to fly there if you have to fly to Oahu first. Luckily, there are a few flights directly from Hilo to Maui, so we tried to plan our trip according to that flight schedule.
We ended up landing in Kahului in time for dinner and really wanted to try Da Kitchen. But we were also thinking of going to a movie and the timing wasn't good considering Da Kitchen was packed! So we opted to find other food in order to go to the movie. We settled on Wendy's (don't laugh) because we no longer have Wendy's on our island (Booooo). The thing we miss the most is frosty cones! We went back after the movie just to get dessert! BTW- the movie we saw was Maleficent.. totally awesome girl power movie!
The next day I was heading out, so my husband entertained my daugther.. I guess this is what they ended up doing!
I met up with the only crafty girl I know on Maui.. Kris!!
Kris and I are both Crazy Crafters and both do craft fairs. We met through blogging and became friends when she gave me some advice in starting my business. It was nice to finally meet her in person!
After our coffee date, we did some shopping (hauling) and then I headed back to the hotel. My family was already in the pool, but we decided to take a break to hit Da Kitchen....
We ended up staying at the Marriott Courtyard hotel which is right near the airport. Da Kitchen was only a hop skip and jump away. We had done some research prior to going there, so we kinda knew some of the things we might want to try, including the deep fried spam musubi. At first I thought it sounded kinda gross, but we thought we should order it it just to try and we were pleasantly surprised! I was fighting my husband for it!
My daughter enjoyed her deep fried mac and cheese. I had a fish sandwhich and my husband had the bento. We wanted to go back again, but didn't make it.. Next time for sure!
This is so typical of my daughter... Making house in the hotel lobby with her book. '
After lunch we headed back to the pool for a swim. As we were swimming, we told my daughter that she should practice her ballet moves. Then we had the bright idea of doing a lift like on Dirty Dancing. Of course, my daughter has not seen that movie, but we coached her on what to do... here's how it turned out...
LOL!!! Everytime I look at this I crack up. My husband posted this on facebook and I couldn't stop laughing. After our pool escapades, we decided to relax before getting ready for the concert. The concert was held at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. I think my husband was in love with that venue. Here's the two clowns waiting for the concert to start...
Ok.. now for the disclaimer... please don't get offended if you play taiko and you see this in the audience...
For some reason, taiko puts my daughter to sleep. What? No, she's not bored. And yes, it's loud... but honestly... I think that it has something to do with my husband playing taiko for her when she was a baby. Whether it be using my belly as a drum or playing it in the background while we tried to put her to bed, she now ALWAYS falls asleep during concerts. Even my husband's concerts!
After the concert, we were supposed to go to the reception afterwards, but my daughter was so tired, we headed back to the hotel where my husband dropped us off. Then he headed to the party and got to hang out with the guest stars.
The next day we had a few hours to do some stuff before heading home, so we decided to go to the Maui Ocean Center.. But before heading out, I decided to check out the loot I got while shopping with Kris. I guess I miss our Hello Kitty store since it closed.
Kris also gave me and my daughter some Hello Kitty RAKs. Thanks Kris!
We decided to go to get some Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Decisions decisions.
Here's a fresh batch just coming out.
Here's what we chose... total sugar rush!
Then we headed to the Maui Ocean Center.. but missed the turn off.. then couldn't find any place to turn around, so we ended up at the lookout point.. So then it was... PICTURE TIME!
Finally we made it to the Maui Ocean Center!
I gotta say, we enjoyed it much better than the Waikiki Aquarium!
This was our favorite part... Totally made you feel like you were in the tank with all the fish!
Then it was time to go home. We had fun Maui! Next time we'll fly in earlier to hit Kyle's food truck!
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