Thank God for a good day in Maui 3/29/17 Day 3 Nakalele Blowhole and Sunset at Haleakala.

After a long day of hikes on day 2, we decided to set foot out of our hotel a little after 8AM. Since we missed the Nakalele Blowhole and a few spots in Lahaina side, our goal was to find these areas once and for all. But first, since I was a early morning bird, I walked around the beach taking photos of Maui Beach Hotel area.

 

Tamron zoom lens special again!

 

 

 

 

 

Hah, I ended up taking pictures of a couple of strangers backs. Forgive me, it was good practice. I was actually okay with the results. The night before I learned online how to take some decent pictures manipulating shutter speed with the zoom lens. Some I toggled with the ISO which gives the picture a bit more clarity but causes a bit of "noise" at the same time (zoom at the pic with the cargo boat). 

I'm no pro but I was glad to utilize my zoom lenses much better than I did when I was at Wai'anapanapa beach.  Me and the husband/wife team set foot short after.

Thank God for a good day in Maui 3/28/17 Day 2 Road to Hana/Pipiwai Trail.

Psalm 23:4 NKJV

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me 

Aloha! Day 2 is here! Let's get started!

Tasty Crust

 

 

Had to try this local delish out due to yelp and internet recommendations. I had the mini local moco and my brother and his wife had the rest. The food was good. Something to start your day with. I heard they are famous for their pancakes but I didn't try it out. I should had.... oh well.

Food to go: Sam Sato's

 

We ended stopping by here which is also close to Tasty Crust for take out for our hiking trip. We bought some thick assorted noodles to feed the three of us. 

Road to Hana/Pipiwai Trail/Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o

Road to Hana Scenery

 

So the overall objective was for us to get to the Pipiwai trail on this day. In order to do so, you must go through the dreaded Road to Hana. This road is full of curves, 54- one lane bridges, and loads of narrow roads. It took nearly two hours for us to get from Wailuku/Kahului side to arrive to our destination. To make matters worse, once you thought you were done with the Hana Hwy, there are a few more one lane bridges and narrow roads in order to get to the Pipiwai Trail. Move out early because Maui is full of mainland tourists that the roads become very jampacked after 10AM. This even goes for the Road to Hana. It also doesn't help that the locals drive like maniacs even on these roads. The good thing about this road is that there are lots of waterfall pit stops for you to take pics. There are also hidden gems if you do researches online but that wasn't my goal for the day. 

Pipiwai Trail/Waimoku Falls

 

 

 

 

 

We finally got here. The Pipiwai trail is part of the Haleakala National Park establishment. The parking here is $20 and make sure you save the receipt because the receipt is good for three days and you can use it on other Haleakala monuments. It was a very hot day but the trail was nice. You will encounter a Banyan tree, a nice, serenading Bamboo forest, mini-stream rivers, and eventually the Waimoku Falls. Sadly, I was disappointed because due to heavy rain a few months ago, getting up close to the falls was closed off. An old man actually entered despite being warned by some bystanders. I thought about it too but since people were looking and I had family with me, I decided to not do it and not get fined. Just google search Waimoku Falls and you will see people swimming in the falls and taking pictures up close. Man, I was really bummed. 

Thank God for a good day in Maui 3/27/17 Day 1 Lahaina and Dragon's Teeth.

"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." John 1:3 KJV


Maui no ka oi! Finally I was able to return to Maui after 8 years. Any changes? Albeit a few such like increase in traffic and some store changes, Maui remains mostly the same. I took a 10:00AM flight from Oahu and landed roughly around 10:30AM in OGG (Kahului Airport). Without delay, let's get started.

I checked into Maui Beach Hotel where my brother and his wife was staying the night before. Dropped our things and quickly headed out to Lahaina. First stop: Fuel for the body:

Star Noodle

 

Thank you Christina Leiting Hu for these foodie pics. 

Filipino Style Bacon and Eggs.

 

The food was onolicious! I had to eat less due to me having acid reflux-like issues, but this was a very good pit stop for all of us. We shared it of course, but even the Filipino Style Bacon and Eggs took me by surprise. This is a must try out place if you are in the Lahaina area. There is even a nice looking church adjacent to this place. The drawback is that many people come here so you may have to wait. 

Snorkel Bobs Lahaina

The Shark is laughing. No joke

 

 

Toy Review: Takara Tomy Transformers Unite Warriors LynxMaster aka Sky Reign UW-EX 2 of 2! Combiner wars UW Lynxmaster

In our last episode, the owner of this blog was not too impressed with the pics he took. So therefore he tried his best this episode to make the pics look more sharper. Tune in now for the epic final conclusion of the Takara Tomy Transformers Unite Warriors LynxMaster part 2 review!

Lynx mode ( unofficial mode)

 

In the last review I was disappointed that Sky Lynx wasn't able to break up into two parts; one being his bird mode and one being the Lynx mode featured in the original G1 toys and cartoons.  The Lynx mode is featured here as the combined version when the warriors unite. This is probably the closest I can configure him into looking like his G1 Lynx mode. He looks like he is doing the hula in the above pics. Having too much fun I guess.

Takara Tomy Transformers Unite Warriors LynxMaster aka Sky Reign UW-EX Review 1 of 2! Combiner wars

LynxMaster is now up. I always debated whether I should had got the G1 re-release of Sky Lynx or not. Thank God I didn't for HasTak decided to release a classics version of him. With him are CW/UW versions of Hound, Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, and the exclusive Ratchet! I'm gonna say before you start viewing the pictures here and that is I hated some of how the pics turned out in the photoshoot especially the vs comparisons. They look really soft for the most part. I guess I still have to practice my photography. It's never ending in that aspect. Anyhow, Let's get started!

Collectors Coin

 

 

Boxing

 

 

 

 

Instruction Manual. 

 

 

I bought LynxMaster from TFsource.com. I notice the TF figures that I buy are exclusives, they tend to come with a collector's coin plus outer boxing for the figure. For the comic, Sky Lynx and the crew are performing for Optimus Prime, Iron-Hide, Hot Spot, and what appears to be Blades. I could be wrong on the last guy. There are also some characters from the episode Carnage in C-Minor also dubbed the worst Transformers G1 episode in history. 

Looking good. I really love how LynxMaster stands tall on the box artwork. You can see a silhouette of Sky Lynx dropping the rest of the crew from the sky. 

A comic book was established for G1 continuity. You can read it here though it is in Japanese and it does not explain why Ratchet is still alive after he was killed in Transformers the Movie (1986). The comic also reveals Megatronia who is another Unite Warriors exclusive. 

Unite Warriors lynxmaster comics