It has been more than 3 years since I last visited my beloved, second home, Hawaii. The air you breathe and the people you greet are so different from here in NY. Of course the sun and beach are as good they get! On this trip my family went to Maui after spending time with my best friends in Oahu, a spectacular invitation from my husband’s brother, Matt and his wife, Rebecca. Thank you so much!
We stayed at the Westin Kaanapali Spa and Resort, which didn’t exist when I was living in Hawaii. Maui has changed and a lot and is much more populated now (last time I went to Maui was 1998!!!). There is even a Wholefoods and Down to Earth (local health food store) in Kahului near the airport. There is also a local health food store, called The Farmer’s Market near the resort we stayed, so I went there almost every day :D. They have a lot of local produce, Okinawan sweet potato, Molokai sweet potatoes, local eggplants, snow peas, strawberries, cucumbers, and lots more!!!
I highly recommend that you try Maui Gold pineapple, Maui corn, and Maui Mango! The Mango is like custard melting in your mouth. We often buy mango at our food coop, but they are from Mexico and taste totally different. Poi, which is made by mashing the cooked corm of the taro plant until it is a highly viscous fluid, is very delicious! (I didn’t like it when I was living in Hawaii) I buy Poke (chunk cut sashimi (usually yellowfin tuna) mixed with soy sauce, seaweed, Hawaiian sea salt, chill water) almost every other day because it is so yummy! I The people in Hawaii knows how to cook fish a way better than those chefs in NY. (the seafood dishes at Le Bernardin sucks!!!)
Last but not least, I am so impressed with how much people in Hawaii care about Japan. The donation boxes are almost every local grocery stores and drug stores (Safeway, Foodland, Long’s Drug). One concert, which was held Hilton Hawaiian Village (small venue), raised 1.6 million dollars!!! I really appreciate their care (Kokua) about Japan and sincerely wish that Japan will come back strong ever from this tragedy.
Your Body, Your Health, Your Life 