The Maui Goodness

We’ve just recently discovered Beach Portraits Maui, which is run by Grins 2 Go out of Kaanapali Beach, Maui.  They offer very affordable rates for high-quality photography.

Specializing in beach portraits, they’ve earned a reputation from their professionalism and skill when photographing couples, families and groups on the beach.

Give them a call at (808) 242-12424 or stop by their beach kiosk in Whaler’s Village Kaanapali, Maui.

You can also visit their website to see more examples of their Maui portrait photography.

The island of Lanai is likely moving into a new phase of housing development.  The county has proposed a project for over 400 new homes in a $23 million affordable housing development to be completed over the next 17 years.

The housing development would be built over 73 acres behind Lanai High School and the Elementary.  Along with the housing, area would be set aside for more empty lots as well as 2 parks and a full community center.

The county will be looking to process the project on a fast track set up to allow exemptions from community plan amendments and change-of-zoning processes.  Being affordable housing will allow it to move faster through the system for approval.

But with anything in Maui County, even if everything goes perfectly, we won’t see construction of new homes anytime in the near future.  Everything takes 100 times as long to process and complete in the state of Hawaii.  That’s probably why most of Hawaii is still beautiful.

You may also be interested in rading about the Lanai Wind Farm.  If you want to learn more about new projects in Maui, Check out Maui Real Estate Development.

Maui Pineapple Company, operated by Maui Land & Pineapple Company, will end all pineapple production in Maui, Hawaii. Warren Haruki, the Chairman and Interim CEO of ML&P, said that since 2002, Maui Pineapple Company (MPC) has lost $115 million in the businesses as well as $20 million they’d invested in a new fresh packing facility. They’ve been working for a year at making it profitable again but to no avail.

100’s of employees will be laid off as a century old business is shut down. Many are worried about what will happen with the 2,000 acres used in the ceased pineapple operations. Though ML&P has expressed that it will be used for other agricultural products, only time will tell whether it’s really sold for commercial and residential property.

This marks the end of an iconic industry that runs deep in many local families’ roots. With sugarcane also suffering, it’s not difficult to imagine what might happen to all of Maui eventually. Let’s hope we can keep the central valley green a little longer.

Perhaps induced by the recent anniversary of the original Woodstock, our favorite Aloha sticker company has come out with a whole line of great Hippie Stickers!

Stuck on Maui has been producing the most authentic Aloha and Tiki Stickers for years, and it’s great to see them branching out.  Maui is home to many hippies, and we love to see a Maui business building new quality products.

If you live on Maui or in Hawaii, please support our island economy.  If you live on the mainland, don’t buy your stickers anywhere else!  It’s hard these days to buy anything that’s not made, packaged and sold from China.   Support our friends on Maui and spread the Aloha!

Our latest discovery has been Family Flix, a Mom and Pop video editing company that specializes in putting together Family and Vacation video footage on DVD.  We really like this premise because they’re not some huge editing company based in India.  The people at Family Flix have kids, love Hawaii, and take the time necessary in personalizing your homemade video footage.

How It Works

You take a bunch of video footage while in Hawaii, as well as a bunch of photos.  You come home and look at the mess of media and realize that you have to go back to work tomorrow.  When will this stuff get put together so you can show your friends and family? This is where Family Flix has proven to be very useful.

You send your photos and/or video to Scott at Family Flix and he will put it together for you in a timely fashion.  They can make video slideshows of your photos along with clips of your footage edited for the most impact.  All of this can be put into DVD menus like a real movie.

They’ve mastered the editing process.  No longer will your videos be dragging while your audience looks at their watch.  It’s not that your vacation wasn’t interesting, it just needs to be cut correctly and put to music.  This way, you’ll enthrall anyone who’s watching!

We’ve found this service to be EXTREMELY valuable.  Do you know how much time you waste editing video and going through digital photos?  It’s pretty ridiculous.  Take advantage of their services before they get booked up for months!  Summer’s over and there’s tons of vacations needing editing.

Call Scott at 1-877-FMLYFLX or email him at info@familyflix.com

We’ve traveled on Island Air many times, which is our fault.  They often have the lower prices, and that’s what sucks us in.  Never again will any of us fly between any Hawaiian Islands with Island Air.

HISTORY

In the past, we’ve flown with Island Air and incurred long delays lasting up to 6 hours!  If you’re deciding between another carrier and Island Air, you will probably get there faster with a stop over and 1 hour layover than with a direct flight on Island Air.

RECENT EXPERIENCE

Our flight to Kauai was delayed by 2 hours without notice.  I mean, no one told us anything and instead had us sit and wait with no idea of what was going on.  Then, on our flight back to Maui, we arrived at the ticket check in counter to find a sign saying our flight was cancelled and that no one could check us in for an hour and 20 minutes.  We sat and waited and couldn’t go into the airport till we had a boarding pass.  Finally, we got checked in and got to our gate with no one there.  25 minutes after our flight was supposed to leave, a message over the intercom explained that our flight was delayed by over 4 HOURS!  Meanwhile, other flights with Island Air to Maui continued to board in front of us throughout the day.

We spoke with a supervisor (a major ordeal to obtain an audience with, but we had the time.)  The only solution he came up with was to buy a ticket with a rival airline!  Yes, it’s true!  The supervisor of Island Air told us if we really need to get to Maui in a timely manner, we should consider buying a ticket with another airline.

We also overheard a TSA employee mention that most locals know to use Hawaiian Airlines because of their punctuality.  He said, “It’s worth the extra few bucks to make sure you get there.”  So our day concluded with over 6 hours of delays and cancellations.

THE FUTURE

It pains us to watch Hawaii businesses go out of business in these harsh economic times, but if Island Air dies, (with a smile) I’ll chalk it up as Economic Darwinism.

Billionaire David Murdock has plans to build over 200 wind turbines near Polihua Beach on the island of Lanai, Hawaii.  The power generated by the windfarm would be sent by underwater cables to the island of Oahu, our most populated island.  In this move, Murdock would recoup some of his losses from his struggling Lanai resorts as well as provide Oahu with a large amount of much needed renewable energy.

As with any change to the islands, residents and visitors are complaining about Castle & Cooke’s building of these windmills.  It seems that with any change, for good or bad, people become restless and upset.  But when you look at the project rationally and objectively,  it benefits everyone affected.

• Lanai Residents – Jobs will be made and the island will prosper with additional revenues.
• Maui County – Maui and Hawaii’s goal of using 70 percent green energy by 2030 will come closer to completion.
• Honolulu, Oahu – Honolulu will become less dependent on foreign oil and coal for their power needs.
• David Murdock and the Castle & Cooke Company – The new profits will make up for their disastrous losses over the years.
• Hawaii Visitors – The resorts of Lanai will remain open and Lanai will continue to have ferry services.

With time, our islands need to change.  It’s a sad thing that the Lanai is no longer accurately called the Pineapple Isle.  But as the world becomes smaller and the economies of each nation become further intertwined, the only way to survive is to acclimate and grow with the changes.  In light of all the bad decisions effecting Hawaii (overdevelopment, pollution, loss of Aloha), we believe that this is one of the better moves by a large corporation.

Recently, a few of us had the opportunity to attend a beautiful wedding at the Sugarman’s Estate in Makena, South Maui.  Everything went off without a hitch and we thought we’d mention some of the highlights.

This is one of the most beautiful properties on the island, and we we’re overjoyed in being able to spend some time on it again.  For weddings, it’s perfect.  The sunset over the water is set up perfectly for photos and general guest enjoyment.  The property is very large and able to accommodate hundreds of people with sprawling green lawns and very large trees with ample shade.

Our favorite part of the wedding was without doubt the food.  Maui Catering was provided by Maui Executive Catering, of whom did a smashing job.  We’ve been to many weddings in Maui, and the food can be hit or miss.  These guys did an unbelievable job.  We thought we’d peak in and take some photos of their crew and kitchen area while at work and ask their service staff some questions:

Aloha!  We’ve been noticing how well you all work together.  How did this catering company pull together such a great team?

“Jeff and Jason (Owners of Maui Executive Catering) work harder than most people we know.  They’re great to work with, and I think that’s why good service staff is drawn to work with them.  They take care of their crew and make it fun for everyone.  It’s a nice change to work for them as opposed to some lesser-organized companies.  Things just seem to go like clock work.”

The food has all been delicious.  You’ve put out some pretty exotic and attractive presentations.  Is this normal?

“Yes, another perk of working with them.  All of their chefs are classically trained and well-educated.  Most have gone to the Maui Culinary Academy, one of the best in the world.  They really take pride in their work.  I often notice that they’ll put in excessive prep time for some of the most minute details just to add an extra flair.  Yep, pretty normal for them.  They use top of the line gear, and don’t mind experimenting in order to find the perfect flavors for a dish.  I’ve heard more than once from guests that they don’t want to mess up their plates by eating.  But then once they take a bite, it’s over with.  Nobody leaves hungry, that’s for sure.”

The bartending provided by Maui Executive Catering was professional and friendly.  Their bartender and barback were fun and had the skills necessary to handle a crowd of thirsty guests and do it with style.  It seemed everyone by the end of the day had suggested that they loved the bartender and really enjoyed his humor and fun-loving attitude.

Great job, everyone.  We’ll be recommending you in the future!

To learn more about them, visit Maui Executive Catering.