Is the Grand Wailea Really That Grand?

Aloha!  For anyone who has heard of this place, the Grand Wailea in Maui, Hawaii, and is thinking of staying at this hotel,  here is some of what you can expect.  As always, this is my own opinion and I believe a fair one.
You see, its called Grand because it's just that, big. But no one wants to say the Big Wailea, it just doesn't have that swerve of haughtiness to it's name.  Its full of landscaped gardens and over-sized chandeliers that look like giant snail shells. Displays of large colorful flowers are strewn throughout in lovely beds that connect the entire main plaza. 

Main Entrance

Located in the middle of the main plaza there is a splendid water feature where upon a "Lucky Mermaid" statue is located. You can try to toss a coin into the bowl she holds in her hands to bring you luck. Directly behind this is open lounge where you can buy yourself libations and get yourself Mai Tai silly, and if you don't know what a Mai Tai contains, I found a wonderful recipe called "Molly's Mai-Tai" here: http://mauirestaurantsblog.com/mollys-maui-mai-tai/.

I have to mention that the washrooms are not easily identifiable.  This is matched by a significantly small number of map kiosks placed throughout the hotel.  The kiosks are hard to find and additionally, just like the pocket size map they leave in your room, the print is so small or the area too dark for you to read them.  

For those that are pool-fools, you won't be disappointed.  I found that I picked my favorite and by the end of my stay, I had not found all of them so I suggest a little more exploration if that's your thing. They offer some small scale water slides and even have a Grotto (what would Hef say!). Pools close at 10pm so don't think about a romantic hot tub adventure late at night.  

Pool at Grand Wailea

Meals run approximately $30 for Breakfast, Lunch and go up from there.  Rooms are average, nothing really special. The bed was overly soft which didn't work for me, however if you like big, puffy pillows and such, you will love that. 

From what I could gather from the conversations that I had at the hotel with other guests,there is some bragging rights involved to say that you stayed here.  I certainly met some wonderful people although I have to say, that I found a lot of the tourists, were actually rude to the people working there. So if your that tourist that is going over to visit and figure it's okay to lose all sense of politeness and demand unbridled attention, you have 10 billion people who will replace you, seriously you are not that special. And for that special lady that started screaming when she saw an Actor, please! Grow up. It's okay to get excited but I thought I was going to have to perform CPR the way you were going on. I think that a good job for you would be to be duct taped to the front of a Firetruck and use your vocals as a Siren, or hell, why not just become a Singer, you got pipes.

7th Floor View

Overall, my view was great. And at night the Grand shines at giving romantic ambiance by using the pools and small fountains alongside the many walkways.  

In summary, I can't complain as I was given a free trip from a friend. I can, however, say that if it was not free then I do not think I could justify the $750 per night cost, could you?



Owning A Home in Vancouver is a Fantasy

I was born in Vancouver and I will never be able to afford to buy a home here.  This is a reality that is saddening for me, but one that I have decided to shrug my shoulders and just get through life as it were.   Recently, I got into a discussion with a coworker, who decided that they would buy another home, and about prices and what it takes to actually afford to buy a place. As she explained, the family, (extended included), all pooled their money together and bought a large house with a hefty mortgage to boot.  They all lived in the house and at the same time they all pay in a large mortgage payment. This allows them to pay it down quickly and at the same time release equity. That equity they use in order to purchase another property, which they will rent out for amounts equal to the payment, higher than what is required to make a profit or lose some income and create a tax loss.  This property can also be used as equity to further expand their ownership.  It does take time, but it's achievable.  What I was trying to figure out is if you don't have the family and specifically how do the banks approve 12 people to buy a home together, is there another way?

Let's see, if we look at another person I know, he was able to stay living at home until he was in his late twenties, 75% of his earnings went into a savings account and this is where he got a large sum of money to invest into buying a home.

I am a huge advocate for letting your Child to stay at home to do this. As for the family who invests together, very smart.  I can say that I come from a lack of opportunity in that arena, however there must be renters too. 

I do really wish that I didn't feel so heartbroken that I will have to move from Vancouver.  It's reality, which I'm usually extremely straight, spot-on line with except this once. I guess I feel as though this is where my heart is and where I feel my home should be. 

Maybe I should go make friends with the Bank, oh, I forgot, they don't have friends just hostages.

Hating the OutLook: Hotmail VS Outlook

They say the only person who likes change is a wet baby. I couldn't agree more.  I dreaded the notifications that kept landing on my Inbox with my Hotmail account stating it was coming and OH! yes it was coming and I had better pay attention and oh wait, another one...here it comes, aren't You excited!? Uhm, not really.

Today it happened, I signed it and voila! no more regular, good old reliable recognizable format and slapping my eyeballs was the new Outlook Mail splattering options of "how-to" and "learn more" overcrowding the right hand side menu.  I tried in vain to get rid of the side bar, I opted out of receiving ads and hoped that would get rid of it. Sigh, but it was still there.  For someone like me, format is everything. Not because I hate change, but moreover, because I suffer from sight problems.  To increase font size I madly hammer away at the +  CTRL signs to increase and decrease as I go, in order to see portions of the email properly.

I guess this means my relationship is over with Hotmail, and Outlook, well I don't find you remotely attractive and I don't want to be part of a forced marriage. 

Life is already full of frustrations and I wish the people that actually wrote the program actually had to use the lousy product.  

So that begs a question; What is your favorite or preference email program?   Does anyone specifically have sight impairment and find one easier to use than another? I'm very interested, please let me know.