Category Archives: maui

Maui Dining and Art: 3 Top Meal Deals in Kihei

http://www.mauiartonline.comBy Stephanie Sachs

Maui can certainly be expensive. Plus you can easily end up in a tourist trap and spend good money for bad food. Being an artist I always look for clean food on a budget. Here are some of my favs.

1. Maui Thai Bistro – Great flavors, fresh herbs and friendly service. Portions are large enough to eat family style. Meal for two $20. If you’re local, ask for the kama’aina discount.

Address: 2439 S. Kihei Rd. #103B, Kihei, HI 96753 Phone: (808) 874-5605 Cuisine: Thai Hours: 11:30 am to 9 pm Daily

2.Jawz – Tried and true. Clean Mexican with a wonderful array of fixings at their salsa bar. I am not crazy about their fish but I do enjoy their enchilada pie and soft corn tacos with steak. Located at the back of Azeka’s II 1279 South Kihei Road. Air conditioned, which is a plus in Kihei. Most items under $10.

Address: 1279 S Kihei Rd Kihei, HI 96753-5228 Phone: (808) 874-8226 Cuisine: Grill Hours: 11 am to 9 pm daily; Happy Hour 3 pm to 6 pm Monday through Saturday

3. Sansei – Yes, sushi can be expensive but you have to know when the locals go to get the dakine deal. On Sunday and Monday, sushi appetizers and entrees are 50% off from 5 to 6pm and 25% off on Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 to 6pm. Be sure to get there no later than 4:30, or even earlier during season. Bring a beach chair and a book or enjoy meeting local people all waiting on line and happy about eating a great meal at a killer price. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday after 10pm, sushi and appetizers are 50% off plus they offer drink specials. Free Karaoke at night which can be a mixed blessing.

Address: 1881 S Kihei Rd Kihei, HI 96753 Phone: (808) 879-0004 Cuisine: Seafood and Sushi Hours: Dinner nightly

Please feel free to comment on these and add your own suggestions.

Warmest Aloha, Stephanie

About the Contributor:

Stephanie displays and sells her art work Tuesday mornings at the Four Seasons Wailea. You can meet her in the lower lobby. Enjoy videos hosted by the artist at www.mauiartscene.com . Feel free to see her artwork at www.mauiartonline.com.

Hawaii skies offer clear view of transit of Venus

This is a rare window to see firsthand that other planets are real: Venus will appear as a black dot crawling across the sun’s disk in the afternoon sky on June 5, 2012. Venus has been seen crossing the sun only six times before in history, prompting Captain Cook’s voyage to Tahiti in 1761 and allowing astronomers to measure accurately the size of the universe. It won’t be seen again for another 105 years.

“Venus has a carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere with complex circulation patterns that could help us better understand rising CO2 levels on earth,” explains astronomer Jay Pasachoff of Williams College, who will give a free public talk after the transit in Kamuela about his research on Venus as a part of the Keck astronomy lecture series.

Therapy animals bring joy and comfort to Maui’s elderly and disabled

Shannon Dominguez works at least 70 hours per week at Upcountry Maui’s Haku Baldwin Center.She directs a popular community program called Animal-Assisted Therapy. Several times per week, she loads up her truck with a menagerie of well-trained animals–including dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks & chickens–and visits people who are elderly, infirmed or disabled. Her therapy animals bring comfort to about 400 people per month on Maui.

I tagged along with Dominguez and her crew, and in about three hours we visited nearly 65 elderly and disabled people. Here’s how a typical animal-assisted therapy visit works. Residents of a skilled nursing facility gather in the activities’ room. Some have just come from physical therapy, dialysis or a visit with their doctor; others have gotten out of bed for the first time that day. Most sit in wheelchairs. I walked with a certified therapy dog around to each resident and asked if he or she would like to meet a nice dog. Some people don’t like dogs, and we moved on. But many love animals and did their best to pet the dog with knotted hands. Faces light up, and for a few moments, pain melts away. Some residents remained focused on the animal for the entire visit, while others after a minute or two started chatting with me. One elderly woman patted the dogs head and then showed me the newspaper she was holding. She was reading her eldest son’s obituary.

There is more demand on Maui for animal-assisted therapy than she can meet, explained Dominguez. For example, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) might benefit from animal-assisted therapy, but in order to serve them, Dominguez would have to double the size of her operation. It’s a problem that many small non-profit organizations face: a larger operation would mean a much greater administrative paperwork burden and less time doing the work. That’s not likely to happen any time soon, given Dominguez’s dedication to the programs she runs matched by existing funding for the Haku Baldwin Center and the AAT program comes from a private endowment. But Dominguez added that private donations are always welcome.

Hale Makua resident enjoys time with therapy rabbit, Koa