I got to Honolulu after Mochi’s bed time. Liên stayed home with her. Bill picked me up at the airport. I didn’t expect to see Mochi until the next morning. I was surprised when Mochi and Liên came out to say hi. I gave Mochi a little mermaid doll which I named Maya. Mochi was very happy to see me. She wanted me to read her books and put her to sleep. I slept with her on her bed. Liên was surprised the next morning that Mochi didn’t cry for Liên during the night.
Mochi wanted to be with me the first two days in Oahu. She wanted me to take her to school, pick her up from school, play with her, read her books at night, and sleep with her.
On the first full day in Oahu while Bill was at work and Mochi was at school, Liên and I spent the day eating poke, ranking wood puzzles, and dying my hair. I wanted a crazy color, but the dark blue color I chose at Sally’s didn’t really show as a crazy color. It looks like I have black hair again. Bill liked it because it looked natural to him, while Lan said she didn’t like it because it looked fake like I was wearing a wig.
We picked Mochi up at school right after Liên put dye on my hair. I wore Liên’s skirt and Bill’s t-shirt and a turban on my hair. I looked funny but Mochi didn’t notice.
After dinner, Bill and Liên took the dogs out on a walk. They were surprised that Mochi wanted to stay home with me. Liên said Mochi never missed going on a walk with the dogs before. Mochi and I played in her playpen. I put her in a shopping bag right when Liên got home.
On the second day in Oahu, Liên and I made chè bưởi, which is a type of Vietnamese pudding using pomelo pith. Neither Liên nor I remembered having chè bưởi before. We followed a recipe on Youtube. It took three pomelos from Liên’s pomelo trees and two hours to make it. For some reason we couldn’t steam the mung beans to softness. We finally cooked it in the pressure cooker and it still wasn’t as soft as it should be. It was fun making it and we both loved eating it.
We flew to Kahului, Maui in the evening. We ate pizzas at the Honolulu airport. Our flight was delayed for about an hour. We had to constantly watch Mochi who bolted away from us at any moment. We picked up a rental car in Kahului and Bill drove us to Duffy’s house. Duffy and Liên met while they were in medical school. He offered us the downstairs bedroom and big sofa. We stayed with him two nights. I offered to take him out to dinner the next day but instead we all dined as his guests at the country club he belongs to.
Glass Blowing – Alpaca Farm – Lavendar Farm – Goat Dairy
Liên said she had been interested in glass blowing. When she found the glass blowing experience by Glass Experience Maui in Makawao, she asked me to join her. I agreed as a birthday present to her from me (Liên had to wait a while because her birthday was in March). Bill took Mochi to a playground while Liên and I were in the glass studio.
There was a number of items we could choose to make, but round glass ornaments are the only things that require glass blowing. The bonus with choosing ornaments is that we got to make and keep two of them. We chose the colors and patterns from a display of sample pieces. Liên wanted me to make my piece first so she could learn from my mistakes. It turned out I got to do it twice since my first piece broke near the end of the process. I had more confidence the second time around so my second ornament has more swirls and looks more interesting. Liên and I took pictures and videos of each other. Olivia, the instructor, had to quickly put our pieces in a special kiln to cool down slowly. We were very excited to think we’d see our final products in two days.
We visited Makai Glass, the sister art gallery, where we saw beautiful glass pieces and watch glass artists at work.
We ate a poke lunch across the street before going to Maui Alpaca Farm. We got to pet and feed the alpacas ranging from three months old to teens. They can live up to 20 years. I was interested in Lani, the 9-month old alpaca, who has fat cheeks like Lan when Lan was a baby.
We saw angora bunnies and I had one on my lap. It snipped at my thigh and made me jump. Mochi also got to hold a bunny and got to spin the angora yarn.
Afterwards, we went to Ali’i Kula Lavendar Farm and walked through the gardens. We tried some lavender goodies.
When we got to our last stop at Surfing Goat Dairy, we were too full to eat cheese. We each had a piece of truffle. I chose the Hawaiian red chili one.
Duffy took us to his country club for dinner. Liên and Mochi used the pool while Bill and I chatted with Duffy. Duffy showed Bill and me the beach the country club has access to while Liên and Mochi changed clothes. I did not listen to Dr. Krishna, my cardiologist. I had prime rib for dinner. It had been a long time. I am not yet sure if I should regret the decision.
The Road to Hana
The Road to Hana is a legendary scenic drive from Kahului to Hana and beyond. It goes through dense forests, waterfalls, colorful flora, and a rugged coastline. The mile marker is set at zero when Hwy 36 turns into Hwy 360 in Haiku.
Duffy already went to work when we got up. We left around 6:30am for Hana. Mochi didn’t want to have anything to do with me this morning, which was odd considering she asked for my permission to go outside to Duffy’s yard the night before. We stopped at the town of Pa’ia for coffee and croissants. Liên carried Mochi while we walked to a coffee shop. When Mochi didn’t see Bill, she asked Liên where he was and then asked “Are we taking him with us?”
Our first sightseeing stop was the Ke’anae Arboretum (around mile marker 16) where there are giant leaves, beautiful flowers, and rainbow eucalyptus trees.
We got off Hana Highway to go to the Lava Rock Beach at Ke’anae Park & Peninsula where I saw big waves in Maui for the first time. It was fun to watch the waves crash on the jagged lava rocks. But then I saw big waves pretty much at all other places we stopped at. Mochi wouldn’t let me hold her for a picture.
We stopped at Pua’a Ka’a State Wayside Park (around mile marker 22.5) where Liên bought a $15 coconut. We were not sure if the price would have been different if Liên had asked how much it costs before ordering one. We shared the juice and the white flesh.
We had a short stop at the Hawanai waterfalls (around mile marker 24) when we parked on the left side of the road and walked to the right side to see the falls.
We stopped for a quick lunch at Nahiku Market Place (around mile marker 29) and had huli huli chicken and corn on the cob. Liên wanted me to take a picture of the magnet that says “I survived the Road to Hana.” When Tom taught her how to drive, they named the yellow road signs as Tom. This one would be a sick Tom, I think.
Liên wanted to do the Hana Lava Tube but it was closed, so was the Kahanu Garden & Preserve nearby, where visitors could see the Pi'ilanihale Heiau, an ancient temple built in the 13th century. We lost some time getting off the Hana Highway to take the Ulaino Road (around mile marker 31) to these two places.
We next went to the Wai’anapanapa State Park (around mile marker 32) with its famous Pa’iloa Black Sand Beach. Wai’anapanapa means “glistening waters” or “waters of rainbow hues.” Liên had her picture taken when she was pregnant in a sea cave and now she held Mochi for another picture.
I love the blow hole we walked to. The water came up so high. I was mesmerized.
We met an Asian woman who said her daughter was half Vietnamese. She offered to take our pictures for us.
Our next stop was Hana Kai Maui Hotel (near mile marker 34 when the road hits Hana) where we stayed the night. We were able to check in around 1pm, an hour early. Our room is on the second floor with a beautiful view of Hana Bay with a black sand beach. After we unloaded our suitcases and freshened up, we went to three beaches: Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach, Koki Beach, and Hamoa Beach.
To reach Kaihalulu Beach, we had to hike a trail that has an unenforced signage prohibiting entering, but it was doable and totally worth it. The view took my breath away.
Mochi had the most fun at Hamoa Beach. How sweet that she knew that the water loved her! At Hamoa Beach, I got wet even though I didn’t go into the water because the waves were strong and the water went all the way to the rocks where I sat. The sand here is so soft. It’s more like flour than sand. Amazing!
We went back to Hana and stopped at food trucks to buy dinner to bring back to our lanai to eat. We shared a poke, a Thai noodles and chicken, and a chicken sandwich and onion rings. I got a six-pack of beer at the Hasegawa General store. We didn’t realize we’d have to consume all the beer that day because we’d be flying back to Honolulu the next day. Bill had three cans and Liên and I split the rest.
Liên wanted to enjoy the lanai longer. So she and I went out again to buy desserts. We bought Milano mango cookies and Roselani ube ice cream (sooo good) at the Hana Ranch store. We checked out Hana Bay Beach on the way back. When we got back, I found Bill on my bed. Mochi said “How do we get this lump out?” Liên and I laughed so hard. I had called her a lump when she was lying on my bed earlier today. Mochi was friendly to me again but she was restless. She ran from one bed to another while I kept falling asleep. I probably fell asleep before she did.
Hana Bay Beach – Haleankana National Park
We sat in the lanai to watch the sunrise. Then Liên went to the food trucks to get a banana bread and a musubi for breakfast. Then we went to Hana Bay Beach so Mochi could have one more time at the beach. I didn’t put on my swimsuit and got my skorts wet. We walked on the sand and got our feet wet each time the waves came in. Mochi absolutely loved it.
After cleaning up and checking out, we drove to Haleakana National Park (haleakana means “house of the sun.”) On the way, Liên caught a glimpse of the Paihi Falls on the right. Shortly after seeing Paihi Falls, we stopped and took a short walk to see the Wailua Falls.
We entered the National Park with no one at the gate, but I was able to get a park brochure later in the Visitor’s Center. We hiked the 4-mile Pipiwai Trail (round trip) to the 400-foot Waimoku Falls through a tall and lush bamboo forest. We got very close to the falls where few visitors entered and practically had the falls to ourselves. We mulched on the li hing strawberry that I bought for Mochi the day before and it was so good. I didn’t realize that the li hing is the same as xí muội in Vietnam, except xí muội refers to dried plum and tastes stronger. When we got back to Oahu, I bought a bunch of packages of li hing dried fruit to bring home.
We took a short trail to ‘Ohe’o Gulch (‘ohe’o means “something special”) where we came upon the Pools of ‘Ohe’o (also known as “Seven Sacred Pools.” - However, some sources say that there could be as many as twenty tiered freshwater pools and waterfalls on the Palikea stream, cascading to the ocean along the Kipahulu coastline, and that the term “seven sacred pools” were a marketing ploy by Hotel Hana Maui.)
We returned to Kahului by backtracking the Road to Hana. Mochi got car sick but recovered quickly. We had some time to kill before going to the airport so we stopped at the Ho’okipa Beach hoping to see sea turtles but we didn’t, though it was fun to watch the surfers.
We went to Makai Glass to pick up our ornaments but both the gallery and the studio where we did the glass blowing were closed. We were not happy (They shipped the ornaments later and we have them now. They are beautiful.)
We dropped off the car and took the tram to the terminal. Our flight back to Honolulu was on time.
Wonderland
I was totally enchanted with the Road to Hana for the lush tropical flora with colorful flowers, huge leaves, and beautiful waterfalls. It’s almost unreal, like a creation of Disney. It reminded me of the Kalalau Trail in Kauai where Liên took Tom and me on a hike 12 years ago. I had the same feelings then. This is what I wrote:
Into Alice’s Wonderland we stumbledWhile hiking on the Kalalau TrailTo arrive at the Hanakapi’ai white-sand BeachKnown to be gone in the winterBut was there for us to wonderI was Alice who had shrunkAmong the roots and ferns of giantsHalf expecting to see a white rabbit be lateI was in a Disneyland make-believeOf an enchanted forestThe scales had tipped for the floraI could wrap myself in leaves and get lost in bamboo clusters….
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