Yokohama Bay & Kaena Point

Posted on July 4, 2020 by sandersnm

We took advantage of the long holiday weekend and drove out to Yokohama Bay and Kaena Point. Lucky for us, the beach was empty and the hike wasn’t crowded at all. Highlights from the hike (besides the unreal views) include a Hawaiian Monk Seal swimming up on us as we dangled our feet in the water completely oblivious, the baby albatrosses, spotting a baby needle fish and a sea cucumber. Quite the wildlife adventure! We rewarded ourselves with some fantastic Puerto Rican food!

Empty beach!

Such a stunning view.

Baby albatrosses!

Sea cucumber

Baby needle fish

Yay friends!

Favorite view from the day.

Hawaiian Monk Seal!

Mofongo with garlic shrimp. So good!

Safer-at-Home & A Little Outdoors

Posted on July 3, 2020 by sandersnm

Josh and I spent most of March, April, and May staying inside and distancing ourselves in this crazy world. We finally started getting out a bit more at the end of May and beginning of June with socially distanced hiking and beach days. It’s been kind of nice to explore the island without the crowds! #luckywelivehawaii

Double rainbow from our lanai.

Kailua Beach

Birthday sangria on the beach!

Kualoa Ranch

Kailua Beach

Pu’u Ma’eli’eli Trail

Red Fish Poke

Supporting BGCH!

Posted on April 6, 2020 by sandersnm

In the beginning of March, we had an event at Mid-Pac Country Club to support the Windward Clubhouse. It was a beautiful night with great music and delicious food from restaurants in Kailua! So thankful for this organization and my amazing friends!

GOEN Dining + Bar

Posted on April 5, 2020 by sandersnm

On my mom’s last night here, we decided on a whim to go to GOEN Dining + Bar. We had all been before and decided the good food and nice outdoor atmosphere were the perfect combo for her last evening. Lucky for us, Chef Roy Yamaguchi was doing a tasting menu (which Josh ordered). We even got to snag a picture with him. The food and service are consistently above average. We’ve been doing a lot of carryout with them during our shelter-in-place time! Will be so thrilled when we can venture back out and eat there in person.

Lychee Martini: Ketel One Vodka, St. Germaine Liqueur, Lime, Lychee

Spicy Tuna Roll: Cucumber | Nori Purée | Green Onion | Fried Garlic | Pepper Aioli

1st Course: Yukari Cured Hamachi Maki Kaiware | Roasted Tofu | Ginger Soy

2nd Course: Dungeness Crab Tamagoyaki Tsukemono | Spinach | Kani Miso Butter

3rd Course: East Meets South Buttermilk Fried & Karaage Chicken | Pickles | Nori Ranch

4th Course: Garlic & Peppercorn Crusted Filet Mignon & Miso Butter Poached Lobster Tail | Creamed Sesame Spinach

5th Course: Yama Yama Sweet Potato Tart | Brown Butter | Honey Kuromitsu | Lappert’s Vanilla Ice Cream

The best dessert ever.. Halo Halo: Buttermilk Panna Cotta | Fruit | Mochi | Shaved Ice | Condensed Milk

Linda & Roy!

Gaslamp

Posted on April 3, 2020 by sandersnm

My mom came to visit back in February and we were able to cross a few of her bucketlist items for Oahu off her list. One of them being a dinner at the Gaslamp speakeasy in Kailua. We had heard mixed reviews on what the experience was like. Happy to say, it blew any expectations we had out of the water. The drinks, food, and service were all incredible. Really excited to go back once our world goes back to normal a bit!

Burrata & Heirloom Salad: Italian mozzarella, baby arugula, balsamic gastric, basil

Fashion Forward: Buffalo trace bourbon, cognac, bonal, orange, cherry, peychauds bitters, angostura bitters

Artisan Cheese & Cured Meat

Exotic Love Affair: Plantation pineapple rum, amaro montenegro, pineapple, guava, rose, koloa float, tiki bitters, tropical foam, nutmeg

Filet Mignon Trio: Prime cut filet mignon sliced atop bolilo baguettes, trio of house béarnaise, cognac peppercorn, and bleu cheese-butter sauces

Such a cozy atmosphere

Road to Morocco: pimms, sloe berry liqueur, aloe eux de vie, strawberry, mint, turmeric, lime, bitters

Jumbo Lobster Risotto: Caribbean lobster, sea asparagus, marscapone, hamakua mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes

Friends With Benefits: botanist gin, amaro montenegro, lillet rouge, rose, raspberry, pineapple, yuzu, cardamon

The Big Island: Trip 6

Posted on October 31, 2019 by sandersnm

In September, our friends Andy and Anna got married on The Big Island! My immediate family all came so we spent some quality time exploring new parts of the island along with celebrating our friends!

We arrived to Kona early on Thursday. We stopped at Daylight Minds for some coffee before heading to Da Poke Shack for some delicious poke. We checked in to our hotel and relaxed for a bit. Then headed to the coffee farm where they were getting married for a BBQ.

The next day, we got up early to hike to Papakōlea Beach (also known as Green Sand Beach). This had been on our list for years and we were so excited to finally get to see it! The hike was beautiful and even though it was completely exposed to the sun, it was such a windy day that it was pretty comfortable. The downside is that we were totally covered in dust/sand from head to toe because of the wind.

We encountered some friends on the way to the hike.

The waves were beautiful on our entire hike.

Getting closer!

Picture does not do this massive cliff justice.

So beautiful!

Tom taking his panos from every angle possible.

Holding on to dear life while we got pelted with sand.

Josh wayyyyy up there.

Checking out the view.

After we hiked back, we were all very ready for lunch. We stopped at Punalu’u Bake Shop for lunch and some malasadas (which were amazing). We then continued on to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park since Linda and Tom had never been there. We saw the steam vents and the caldera (but couldn’t see the green lake that’s forming).

So amazing!

We arrived back at the hotel and took much needed showers. We then decided to go to dinner and enjoy the sunset along the coast at the Four Seasons. We were all really excited to go back as we were fortunate enough to have dinner there two years earlier. Such a beautiful sunset!

Just stunning!

On Saturday, we decided to relax at the hotel before the big celebration that night! We arrived at the coffee farm in time for cocktails with a side of misty rain and a beautiful sunset. The weather cleared up and we had an AMAZING time! So much fun eating, drinking, and dancing!

Yay!

Fam!

Sibling love.

Congratulations!

On Sunday, we spent some time enjoying the lovely view before heading to the airport to part ways. Such a fun, packed weekend! ❤

Soaking in the last few minutes with the view.

Moorea

Posted on January 3, 2019 by sandersnm

After our cruise ended, we stayed an extra two days on Moorea in an overwater bungalow. This was an item on my bucket list that I never thought I’d have a chance to cross off. I don’t think I can truly put into words how awesome it was to stand on our deck and be able to see fish, stingrays, and sharks clearly. We spent every day walking outside, jumping into the water, and snorkeling for hours.

On our first day we checked in, grabbed lunch, and hopped in the water to snorkel. After snorkeling, we enjoyed some champagne, a sunset, and some pretty awesome stingray watching.

Saying bye to our ship from the ferry to Moorea!

Loved that we could sit and look at the water inside!

Quite a view.

This stingray seems to be missing it’s tail :(.

Huge pufferfish!

Spotted eagle ray. So graceful!

After our sunset, we headed to dinner at the crepe restaurant. At night, the blacktip reef sharks come to visit the restaurant so we had quite a few friends hanging out for dinner.

So cool.

Mango Rotui!

Delicious crepes for dinner!

After dinner, we crashed after our big day and got some sleep so we could do it all over again!

We woke up on Friday and started our day on stand up paddleboards in the lagoon. We saw tons of fish, sharks, and took in some great views. After that, we grabbed our snorkel gear and jumped in the water. The day brought more fish, more sharks, and a snowflake eel!

Pufferfish

Butterflyfish

Wrasse

Giant spider conch shell

Triggerfish who constantly protected her nest by attacking us as we got in the water.

Snowflake eel. So cool!

Longhorn Cowfish

Triggerfish

We ate dinner again with the sharks and organized ourselves so we could spend the morning in the water before we had to check out!

We woke up on Saturday and made the most of the few hours we had left. We spent the morning in the water with some familiar fish. We went pretty far out in the lagoon and on our way back we encountered a giant moray eel…which is the scariest thing I’ve seen in the water snorkeling and diving. He was really annoyed at us and came pretty far out from the coral and made it known he was pissed by baring his teeth at us. Pictures do not do this thing justice. Pretty cool that we got to see this without an incident!

View of our bungalow from the water.

Loved these tiny blue fish!

Giant moray eel

Another shot of the giant moray eel.

Super sad our bucket list vacay is coming to an end.

Had the best time ever!

Beautiful flowers in the lobby as we were heading out.

We checked out of our hotel, grabbed the ferry back to Tahiti, and headed to the airport to hang out until our flight left. No words can describe how incredible this trip was and the pictures only start to do everything justice. So thankful we were fortunate enough to see this part of the world! ❤

Cruise: Taihiti

Posted on January 2, 2019 by sandersnm

Our last stop on our cruise was Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia. We had one full day there and took full advantage of it. We started the day by having a lovely breakfast in our room, wandering around Papeete and visiting the market, then renting a car to drive around part of the island. Once we picked up the car, we headed North to start our trip around Tahiti Nui (we only had time to drive around the larger part of the island).

Lovely view for breakfast.

First visit to the market.

After stopping at a black sand beach and waterfall, we continued our rainy drive by a bright colored church and stopped at a botanical garden. Unfortunately the botanical garden seemed pretty desolate. However, we did see a Galapagos turtle but we were somewhat concerned since no one seemed to be there.

Our final stop on our tour of the island was the Maraa grotto. It was pouring down rain but well worth the stop. We met the cutest kitten and wished we could have taken her home with us!

Sweetest thing.

Such a cool photo of them walking away.

After a decent amount of time at the caves, we drove back to Papeete to return the car and explore more. We walked around the city, visited the market for lunch and souvenirs, and eventually made our way back to the ship to eat dinner and pack our bags for an early morning departure.

Loved the pearls everywhere.

Cruise: Moorea

Posted on January 1, 2019 by sandersnm

Our second to last stop on our cruise was Moorea. We once again rented a car and drove around the entire island to explore. We knew we would be coming back to stay for a couple nights so we wanted to see as much as we could. Moorea is shaped like a heart and has some stunning views of jagged peaks along with an amazing lagoon to snorkel in.

Sofitel in the background.

After our drive around the island we stopped at a pizza place that had great reviews. It definitely did not disappoint! We sat at the bar outside and watched them make our pizza in the wood burning oven….and it was absolutely delicious!

Josh with his Rotui!

We had the place to ourselves.

Florentine Pizza: tomato sauce, potatoes, onions, bacon, cheese, parmesan, garlic

After eating the entire pizza, it was time to return the car and head back to the boat.

Such an awesome view

Cruise: Raiatea

Posted on December 31, 2018 by sandersnm

Our next stop was Raiatea, where we actually docked vs. anchored in the bay. We were the very first people off the boat and rented another car to explore the island. We drove all the way around the island to see as much as we could.

After we circled the island, we walked through Uturoa and then had lunch on the boat. In the afternoon, we did a drift snorkel in a coral garden on Tahaa (Tahaa shares a lagoon with Raiatea). It was pouring rain when we left, which made for an adventurous boat ride across the lagoon. It cleared up and the snorkeling was incredible. We drifted right over a really shallow coral garden and saw a ton of fish and beautiful coral.