Just Arrived

Aloha Friends and Family!

 We have arrived in Paradise! The day before we got here, there was a terrible storm. Then God cleared up the skies and allowed us to fly in safely on a beautiful day. But the next 2 days it rained horribly, they said it was the worst storm they’ve had in Hawaii in years! As residents of Hawaii now, we accept that rain is good, without rain it wouldn’t be this lush and beautiful here

Arrival Day:

Next Day:

3rd Day: Thursday, our one year anniversary

4th Day: Friday

So for those curious about our apartment, here are a bunch of pictures. It’s just one big room- studio apartment style. But it’s all we need I really don’t seem to miss the extra space- yet. Maybe I will but I’m just too excited and happy to be here at all right now  

Cluttered from moving

A little exhausted from the first day...

The bulk of our apartment

Stairs to the upstairs apartment where Nane's cousin stays

View of the Patio

Bathroom

Our second day in Paradise was the horrible stormy day, and that was the day that we needed to go get everything for our apartment, because it was empty. Can’t start a life with an empty apartment!    



Walmart cart... a little embarressing :/

Car stuffed full after our shopping day in Kahului



Everything we bought (and still more needed to be bought when there was more room in the car)

 As far as jobs go, we have done some good networking. The first night Jon and I went out with Candy and Nane (my aunt and uncle that we are renting from). We went to their favorite restaurant in West Maui called Pineapple Grill. It is an upscale restaurant with some casual dining in the bar and on the Lani (outside porch area). The owner and general manager both stopped by the table and offered their business cards and told us to give them a call and we’ll set up a time to chat. The owner said to bring some letters of recommendtations and a resume. If there are no available spots then we can discuss his opinons on other restaurants in the area and make a few calls for us! Knowing a local really helps! My uncle is a native hawaiian born and raised in Hawaii. He runs the Mauian hotel that is beautifully nessled on Napili Beach (Nah-peel-ee).  

  Also, on Thursday night after the rain cleared we went down to Front Street to check out some other restaurants. Cheeseburgers in Paradise is an awesome restaurant that has a prime location in a busy tourist spot right on the beach. They are a casual dining restaurant that is just our style and food that we are accustomed to. Luckily, we saw that they had a “Now Hiring” sign up. So we grabbed an application. Then we ate at Hard Rock Cafe that is at the end of Front Street. I asked if they were hiring and one employee seemed to think they wouldn’t be. His advice was “just put in applications everywhere, someone will hire you, you’re cute…” Haha, alright. I talked to another guy named Jonathan (coinsedence?!) who said “ah, yeah, they’d hire you on the spot, no doubt about that.” So he got me a resume.

 We will also be applying to Hula Grill which is a beach front busy restaurant in Ka’anapali (Kah-ahna-poli) that actually has sand on the floor, and a fine dining restaurant section toward back. Hula Grill is owned by the Dukes restaurants, if you are framiliar with that restaurant.  Jon will look into some gyms, we may check some ice cream joints, and I also turned in an application to Cirque Polynesia (Cirque du Soleil hawaiian themed) as a reservationist. Monday we will go out and turn in applications with resumes and letters of recommendations. I am still waiting on 2 more letters so hopefully I will get them by Monday!

So a few lessons we have learned within the first couple days will be illustrated with photographs, enjoy! 





Gas prices are pretty high!

Don’t leave your shoes outside if you don’t have an over hang. Maui is tropical, it will rain



Wear your bug repellent if you are going to be outside in the evening. I got 6 quarter-sized bites on my first day. They are possibly the itchiest mosquito bites I have ever had!!!



Be aware of where you park your car during a storm. There are extremely high winds here in Maui, matched with a storm=branches breaking. It's okay, the rental car wasn't hurt



Your fridge is not only for refridgerated items, but also for dry crispy food items. Because of the humidity, if you stick them in the fridge they will last longer!

Do not leave chocolate in the car while running errands on a sunny day... it will turn to liquid.

 Which means: eat it right away!



Well I hope you learned a little something about living in Maui with that presentation. WordPress will not allow me to upload videos directly onto this blog page without paying for an upgraded blog. So, we do have videos on our Flickr page. It too has restrictions on videos, only 2 allowed per month but, at least there’s a way you can see them! So click on the flickr album on the right hand side margin. There is a video of a walkthough of the apartment, and of Jon using our HD underwater camera for the first time. The sound cuts in and out I think becuase the water covers the microphone for a few seconds then clears. But, it was our first try with the camera. The water is not clear becuase Jon was right where the waves were breaking so sand was pushed up everywhere, and its hard to hold the camera still while being thrown around by waves, but it stabalizes a for a little while for you so grasp the Maui ocean and beach.

Please leave comments, questions, concerns, etc. We would love to hear from everyone back home! Mahalo and Aloha!

 Maui No Ka Oi