october • 2018 keiki cover models

photo: susan slade photography

Aloha and mahalo to our October keiki cover models!

Safirah Butihi Ladore (age 9), Linea Fa‘aana Lokelani Crichton (age 7), and Maila Lehua Penelope Crichton (age 2) are our sweet cover keiki this month.

Rose Maria Crichton is Guest Services Manager at Aston Mahana, and Walker Crichton works in banquets at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. Auntie Roshelle Butihi works in reservations at Warren & Annabelle’s in Lahaina.

“Our children inspire us to be passionate in how we feel and to share our mana‘o (knowledge) with all who are willing to learn!”

feast at mokapu: andaz maui at wailea resort’s top shelf lu‘au experience

Fresh off being ranked Number 6 on the 2017 list of Top Hawai‘i resorts by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort rolled out a luxury lu‘au experience earlier this year. Named Feast at Mokapu, and billed as “a beautifully curated cultural and culinary experience set among our iconic grassy lawn and the sandy shore of Mokapu beach,” this out-of-the-ordinary lu‘au is positively top shelf—a feast for all the senses, not just the palate.

Did you know early festivities of this type were called ‘aha‘aina, not lu‘au? ‘Aha translates as “gathering” and ‘aina (without the kahako over the first letter) means “meal.” Native Hawaiians held an ‘aha‘aina to celebrate important events such as a victory at war, the successful launch of a new canoe, or a baby reaching its first birthday (origin of the “baby lu‘au”). At these gatherings, men and women ate separately, and commoners and women of all ranks were forbidden by the ancient Hawaiian religion to eat certain delicacies.