Day 3 & 4 in Paradise

Woke up and ate lunch by the pool again. The ham & cheese panini here at the Fairmont is SO GOOD! Freshly sliced black forest ham with melted cheese in a grilled panini. Yum. We've had this twice in a row already and I'm contemplating eating it for lunch on Sunday too. ~.~

After lunch we stopped by the watch store (again) to pick up our watches and sign some paperwork. I'm beginning to think I was duped into a Maui Holiday... we aren't here for the sun... we are here for the watches!

Then we decided to explore down south. We drove down as far as we could go without violating our rental car contract, to Big Beach. The roads after Big Beach are narrow, windy and dangerous so we weren't allowed to drive past it. We ate "Maui's #1 fish tacos" by the beach and then drove back up.

Finally back at the hotel I had some time to relax and unwind... and hopefully to get some sun! Unfortunately out of the 1.5 hours I spent lying by the pool... I only had about 2 total minutes of sun. Grrrr! So I gave up and Richard and I ate by the pool instead. Kahlua Pork Quesadilla! It was so tasty it's ridiculous. I'd go back just for those quesadillas. Oh and the Ham & Cheese Panini.

After our late afternoon snack we walked down to the beach to catch our last Maui sunset. After a half hour of the breathtaking view, we went back to the hotel room to hang out before our dinner reservation. I took a looong bubble bath, long enough to finish reading James Patterson's "Mary, Mary" then got ready for dinner. We decided to eat at Roy's... we ate there last during our last trip to Maui too. The food was incredible! I love how fresh the Ahi is in Maui.... the Ahi Tatake was amazing. So were the crabcakes and their signature dish, the marinated short rib. Seriously the only beef I've ever had that didn't require a knife to eat... it melts in your mouth! After dinner we both got hit by a food coma and slept.

The next morning we had a quick buffet breakfast at the hotel before we left for the airport. The highlight of the day? All-you-can-eat rambutan!

Yum! Haven't had these since the last time I was in Indonesia... almost 7 years ago!

Then it was time to leave... at the airport we only had one thought: "Should we stay another day?" But just as weather.com promised, it started to rain. So that was it for our Thanksgiving weekend!

Black Friday

On retail's busiest day of the year, it's only fair that I put in my contribution ~.~ Unfortunately, there are no "day after Thanksgiving" sales in Maui.

We started the day with breakfast by the pool. Well, it was breakfast for me (french toast) but more like lunch for Richard (grilled ham & cheese panini). I got about 10 minutes of tanning in then we were off.

First stop, the Shops at Wailea. Richard went to visit his favorite watch store (again) and I did some (minor) damage at Louis Vuitton. Bought my mommy an early Christmas gift and Richard & I both bought organizers. Hopefully it will make me a little more productive. But I'm thinking mostly I'll just be thumbing through it looking at all the cutie pictures of cherries. :)

Then we headed up north to Ka'anapali's Whaler's Village. Again, to visit the 2nd branch of Richard's favorite watch store. This time I didn't do any damage at Louis Vuitton. :)

After all that walking we got hungry. On the way down to Lahaina, we stopped by Aloha Mixed Plate on Front St. Wow! Pretty good food! The ambiance of the place reminds me of that little restaurant in '50 First Dates'. We had a pupu platter among some other appetizers. Our "small snack" quickly turned into a 'large meal'... but then again most of our meals do. So we headed down to the main part of Front St. to walk it off.

After buying a few souvenieres, we stopped at the edge of the harbor to watch the sunset. Unfortunately we walked too slow and by the time we reached the edge, the sun had already set. Oh well. Back to the hotel to rest. Isn't it funny how tired you get on vacation? I mean all we've done is sit around and rest but somehow I end up exhausted. So anyhow we rested for a bit at the hotel then went to the lobby to eat a pear tart.

We ended the night with a quick dip in the Jacuzzi. It really was a quick dip. I can't stand more than 2 minutes in hot water. =)

Maui: Day One

No pictures yet, but here's a summary :)

Arrived today at 12:45pm Hawaii time... the flight seemed longer this time for some reason! I took a nap half of the time and spent the other half reading Nicole Richie's new book, The Truth About Diamonds. Very light read. Richard spent the entire time on Sudoku Puzzles.

As soon as we arrived we stopped by Hertz to pick up our rental car. Turns out the "complimentary upgrade" promised to us (since I'm a #1 Hertz Club Gold member) did not apply to convertibles... but I figured we're in Maui, might as well get a convertible! So we ended up getting a bright red Mustang convertible. Great!

Stopped by the Shops at Wailea, which is like the mini (really really mini) Rodeo Drive here to say hi to Richard's favorite watch salesperson at Baron & Leed's [Panerai & Rolex]. Unfortunately she wasn't there so we're going to go back tomorrow. Yay.

Then we checked into our hotel, the Fairmont Kea Lani. It's a pretty nice resort in Wailea. We have a 1 bedroom suite that over looks the pool and gardens. The suite is pretty roomy, almost 900 sq feet with a private lanai (which is just a fancy word for a balcony).

The first thing we arranged for was a tandem massage at the Spa Kea Lani. After the Spa we took a walk to the beach to watch the sunset. Sounds romantic? But I actually spent most of my time trying to write my name in the sand. Takes a lot of legwork... a lot of inner thigh strength. =)

Then we went back up to the room where I took the bubbliest bubble bath ever. I spent my entire childhood thinking more bubbles = more fun but that's not the case. It was a pretty tiring bath trying not to drown in the bubbles.

For Thanksgiving dinner we drove over to the Four Seasons resort (which is the next hotel up) and had dinner at Spago. Celeb spotting: I saw the DJ from Linkin Park there with his girlfriend! DJ Hahn? Something like that. Boy, is he chubby. After a VERY filling dinner, Richard decided he wanted to sit in the lounge at the Four Seasons... which you can't unless you order something to eat or drink so we had Pina Coladas. (Don't worry, mine was virigin)

Then we went back to our suite to sleep. There is only 2 hours difference but I didn't sleep much the night before so I was pretty tired.

That's all for Day One! Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off to Maui!

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

I scream, you scream...
We all scream, for free beauty samples!