A little noise, but so what.

September 8, 2010 – 3:55 pm

 

Right now and continuing through the end of October, 2010, here at Kamaole Sands, we’re doing a little “major” maintenance. These activities are focused in three areas. First, a few of the lanais are suffering from some minor concrete and rebar deterioration–nothing dangerous, but it does need to be addressed. Unfortunately, the fix involves removing small patches of concrete which can get a bit noisy and dusty. Second, some of the fascia boards at the base of the roof tiles have reached the end of their useful lives and require replacing. This job isn’t particularly noisy or dusty, but it does require the erection of some not-so-beautiful scaffolding. Lastly, sections of the central plumbing fixtures in each building are in need of some R&R. The only noticeable implication for guests at the property will be the interruption of water service for short periods of time. The good news in all of this is that all of the maintenance activity takes place from 9-5 on weekdays only and during this period, you’ll find some really great vacation rental rates. So here’s a plan. Book a trip to Kamaole Sands and plan on spending your days at the beach. You’ll never notice the brief periods of noise or a little dust and you’ll probably get a great deal on your “home in Hawai`i.” Early fall is a great time to be in the Islands. E Komo Mai!

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes | Comments (0)

See the Space Shuttle and ISS

May 20, 2010 – 6:26 pm

Atlantis Liftoff - May 14, 2010

One of my favorite Kamaole Sands sunset cocktail beach activities–besides the cocktails–is to point out the International Space Station and/or Space Shuttle to other beach-goers as it passes overhead. People just don’t know it’s there or that they can see it.

Tomorrow night, May 21, presents a fantastic opportunity for Shuttle/ISS. Shuttle Atlantis, on its last mission, is docked to the International Space Station and at 7:29 pm, it will begin a pass almost directly overhead of south Maui.  This viewing  starts at  about  28 degrees above the northwest horizon and proceeds overhead until it disappears in the southeast. Hopefully, the clouds will cooperate.

For details on this and future passes visit the NASA website sighting opportunities page.

Author’s note: This flight of Atlantis is quite special for me. Just six days ago, I saw the launch from Complex 39A in Florida. There just are no words to describe that experience.

Enjoy!

By handy randy | Posted in Calabash (misc.), Condo Notes | Comments (0)

Where to find ‘grinds’

February 1, 2010 – 10:12 pm

One of the great things about vacationing in our Maui condo is being able to use our gourmet kitchen. In prior posts, I’ve mentioned the the fresh fruits and vegetables available at the Saturday swap meet in Kahului, but if you plan on whipping up an island meal or two, you’ll probably need a few more supplies than you can there.

Grocery StoreFor grocery purchases in Kihei, you basically have three or three and a half choices, depending on how you want to count.

Let’s start with “the half”‘; Long’s Drugstore. For a lot neighborhoods in the islands, Long’s (now part of CVS) is the local–within walking distance–general store. In Kihei, they offer a pretty basic, but surprisingly diverse collection canned goods, cereals, bakery and dairy items and even some produce. I’ve found the greens are usually not the best looking garden offerings you’ll see, but for the basics they’ve generally got you covered. Also, the Long’s liquor department often has some of the better deals on wine, beer and other spirits.

In the true supermarket category, let’s start with my overall favorite, Foodland. The Kihei store is a bit smaller than some, so if you’re looking for truffle oil or semolina flour, you’re probably out of luck, but the overall selection is not bad. The bakery’s OK, fresh fish is usually pretty good and on most days, the produce is fresh and well-stocked. Day in and day out, I find Foodland offers the best grocery value. Their Maika`i (Hawaiian for excellent) frequent shopper programs provides good weekly deals on a variety of common items and snacks and for every $250 you spend, you’ll get a 5%-off coupon. My other reason for hitting Foodland is the wine department. On the vino aisle, you’ll find a fairly broad, not overly pretentious, decent selection of the grape.

Next on my list is Times Market (formerly Star). Times is where you want to go if you’re still looking for that truffle oil. The store has more SKUs than almost any other supermarket I’ve ever been in. Times’ produce and bakery departments are pretty good and the dairy case and deli counter offer a bit diversity than you’ll find at Mr. Sullivan’s Foodland. I’ve never been impressed with Star’s meat counter, but maybe that’s just me. The down side of Star is that I find it to just be more expensive.

Head mauka to hit Safeway, the last of the Kihei supermarket options. Things have gotten a bit better, but when the store first opened, I could never find anything that said I was shopping in Hawai`i. No 20 lb. bags of Hinode, no Roselani ice cream, no Aloha Maid soft drinks. Kihei or Kookamonga? It’s sometimes hard to tell. I suppose that does make Safeway the ‘safe’ choice;  bakery and produce are pretty good, but I guess I’m just more into the ‘local’ shopping experience.

Enough said. Go get those grinds and make something ono!

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes, Food & Drink, Shopping | Comments (0)

Do the walk!

October 7, 2009 – 8:18 pm

One of the things I’ve always loved most about Hawai`I is the abundance of ono grinds, aka delicious food. The problem for me is that if I don’t offset the ono-licious input with a little physical output, I quickly become a candidate for having ZIP Code 96777 assigned to my ever-increasing bulk.

At Kamaole Sands we have an exercise room complete with tread mills, but unless you’re one of those ditto-dolts who just can’t get enough Glenn Beck, I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’d want to be walking in place, in a smelly little building, when right outside the door you have the air, the birds,  the pua, the beauty. You have the aina.

In lieu of pounding Nike’s on motorized rubber mats, here’s a daily walk I most enjoy:

  1. Lace up those PF Keds, head makai (toward the sea) to South Kihei Road and turn left.
  2. When you arrive at Kilohana Drive, turn left. It’s  just before the public parking lot for Keawakapu beach.  Pick your own speed for ascending Kilohana Drive. If you’re Lance Armstrong, it’s no Alpe D’huez, but for most of us mortals, it’s a nice little rise. I go to the top of the hill to the water treatment plant. If you wish, however, you can go all the way to Pi’ilani highway. At some point here, though,  make U-turn and head back makai.
  3. Turn right on Kauhale St. Whistle to the birds in the cage on the lanai of the house on the corner. They’ll most likely whistle back.
  4. Go north on Kauhale until you hit Keonekai and turn left.
  5. You’re now heading makai  on Keonekai.  After a short walk you’ll be at the Keonekai entrance to Kamaole Sands. Enter through the gate, walk to the registration building, and pick your comp copy of the Maui Snews and head on home. Total route is about 2.3 statute miles, 12,144 feet, 3.7 kilometers or, if you’re equine inclined, 18.4 furlongs.
  6. At this point, I’ve been known to whip up a big ass Loco Moco with pine-stuffed papaya on the side and perhaps open a pleasant, albeit economical bottle of sparkling wine.

For your reference, here’s a map.

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes, Hikes, Recreation, Travel Tips | Comments (0)

More Green…

September 18, 2009 – 9:15 pm

Recycle MauiFor those of us who are habitual recyclers, just tossing stuff in the trash is not only unnatural and uncomfortable, it’s stress-inducing and stress is not something you want in your Maui holiday.

Over the past several years, recycling in Hawai`i has gotten a bit easier and at Kamaole Sands, while a little disjointed, we have options that I think work.

Here are a few tips on how you reduce the impact on the island landfills while staying with us at Kamaole Sands.

Option 1  involves using the collection facilities on-site. The collection spots for recycleable items are spread out a bit, so here’s a quick guide to where to deposit items:

  • HI-5 recyclable bottles and cans (the stuff you pay deposits on) can be left in the labeled bins in the trash room on each floor. There are also bins at most county parks, so if you’re going to the beach, you can just leave them there.
  • Glass containers and plastic bottles should be deposited in the appropriate containers located in the trash room on the ground floor (across from the eleator).
  • Cardboard and boxes should be left in the container located in the parking lot on the far north side of the property, across from buildings 1 & 2.
  • Newspapers can be left on the lower shelf of the paper rack in the registration building. This is the same spot where you pick up your free copy of the Maui News.

Option 2  is a bit easier to track, but involes a short trip. The nearest county recycling center is Welakahao Road, just makai of Piilani highway. Drive north on Kihei Rd. and follow the recycle sign. At this center, you can leave all of your appropriate recycleable material and you can even get your deposits back on your bottles and cans.

Option 3 is to just dump everyting in the trash, but that’ll make you a giant dick wad and no one wants that label.

More information on Maui County’s recycle program are available on their website.

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Lint!

July 16, 2009 – 8:23 pm

Just a quick note to remind everyone that on our end of Building 10, the dryer vents are scheduled to be cleaned on August 17th. It won’t be a big deal, but if you have any questions, call 1222.

Mahalo Nui.

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes | Comments (0)

April 11, 2009 – 5:00 pm

A note to condo vacationers.

Vacation rental condominiums at Kamaole Sands are individually owned. This is true of most rentals in Hawai`i. Because of this, units are also individually furnished, decorated and equipped.

Frequently, large groups of vacationers will occupy several units and when meal time comes, they understandably want to share cooking duties and then meet in one unit or at a BBQ area to dine.

If you do this, please, please, please, return all dishes, silverware, cookware, linens, etc. to the unit they came from. Once an item gets separated from its home unit, it rarely finds its way back to its proper space. This makes the rental experience for subsequent guests less than ideal. It also drives up operating costs which leads to the necessity to increase rental rates.

By admin | Posted in Condo Notes | Comments (0)

Quel est Kamaole?

December 27, 2008 – 11:01 am

Looking through the website search logs yields some really interesting spellings of the word “Kamaole”, K-A-M-A-O-L-E. The most common adaptation is probably KAMOLE. Few things in the world drive me up the wall as much as when fellow AOAO members use the ‘kamole’ pronunciation. Other combinations seen recently include KAMALI, KAMEOLI, KAMAOLI, KAMOELE, KAMAOL, and my personal favorite KAMALE. My foodie nature leads me to assume it rhymes with tamale. 

BTW, kama `ole is Hawaiian for childless. I’m pretty sure anyone who’s spent time at any of the three beach parks sharing the name will question the applicability of the word.

By handy randy | Posted in Condo Notes | Comments (0)

Aloha and welcome to our new Kamaole Sands Blog

December 22, 2008 – 10:12 am

Welcome to our new blog at the Kamaole-sands.com website. My name is Handy Randy and I’ll be the Blog Master here. We’ll be covering a broad spectrum of topics including items specific to Kamaole Sands, Kihei, South Maui and the rest of the Hawaiian islands.

Over the next few days, we’ll be adding some “seed” entries and making a few changes to the look and feel of the site. Check back often. Subscribe to our feeds. Share your comments.

p.s. A big mahalo to the good folks at WordPress. They provide the fantastic software that powers this, and thousands of other blogs.

Blogs and Kisses,

HR

By handy randy | Posted in Calabash (misc.), Condo Notes | Comments (0)