Top 10 Stops on The Road to Hana (Maui, Hawaii)

The Road to Hana, as everyone knows, is the number one thing to do on the island of Maui. The drive is one of the most beautiful drives you'll ever do with plenty of great sights to stop at along the way. You can't make all the stops possible on the Road to Hana in one day, so you need to prioritize! Everyone has their own lists and favorites, but there are my top ten stops on The Road to Hana:

1. Twin Falls (mile marker 2)
When the water flow is too high, the upper part of the falls and trail may be closed, so be warned. Otherwise, a short and easy hike will lead you to a waterfall - the first among many on this road. There are also Porta Potties to the left of the hiking trail, and a fruit stand is ready to sell you juices and freshly cut pineapples near the entrance.

2. Huelo Lookout (between mile marker 4 and 5)
There's a nice ocean view from this lookout, but mainly because you can sit and enjoy the view while you're having your breakfast. There's another stand here serving acai bowls, smoothies, and sugar cane juice.


3. Rainbow Eucalyptus Grove (near mile marker 7)
To call it a "grove" is an overstatement, since the grove only has a few trees, but these rainbow eucalyptus trees are worth seeing (and snapping photos of!)


4. Keanae Peninsula (mile 16.8)
To get to the Keanae peninsula, you have to turn onto the Keanae Peninsula Road around mile 16.8 - you wont' see if from the Hana Highway itself. I almost missed it but I backtracked to find the banana bread shop and so glad I did!

We even caught a beautiful rainbow from the peninsula.

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Come for K BBQ, Stay for Uni and Bone Marrow at Hanjip (Culver City, CA)

There's a hot new Korean BBQ spot in town and it's in Culver City. Hanjip is the new restaurant from restaurateur Stephane Bombet and Chef Chris Oh (from Seoul Sausage).

While Chris Oh is mostly doing traditional Korean BBQ and other Korean dishes, he's elevating the soups and stews using bone marrow stock, perfecting side dishes with unusual ingredients, and using very high quality meats.

Most of the banchans are the traditional ones: kimchi, bean sprouts, fish cakes, and the like. There are pickled perilla leaves to eat with the grilled meat and some super fresh tomatoes, just lightly marinated.

I loved the dried squid probably the best.

You can get dishes a la carte or as a combo at Hanjip, and they use high quality ingredients that you can taste on your first bite of meat. For the pork dishes, you have to try the marinated pork shoulder ($26)

Roasted Cumin Spice Lamb ($22) - with spices similar to what you'll find at Xinjiang restaurants or at Feng Mao.

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Cute Gifts for Tea Lovers at David's Tea

Last minute shopping? If you still need gifts for the tea lover in your life, then check out the new David's Tea stores in LA and the tea and accessories they offer.

I first discovered David's Tea when I was in Banff and glad that this Canadian tea company has made its way to many cities in the US! They have many fun and festive flavored teas and nice packaging. A lot of their teas are blended with fruits and they have creative flavors like yerba mate with pumpkin and spices for the fall.

Davids Tea just opened two stores in the LA area: one at Village at Topanga in Woodland Hills and another in Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance!

I was sent one of their holiday gift packaging - the Tea for the Tree set, and a porcelain tea mug ($15) - the navy mug with gold berry branch design is festive and perfect for the holiday season.

Tea for the Tree set ($20) comes with four Christmas ornaments, each filled with a different holiday inspired tea like Banana Nut Bread and Snow Day. If you want smaller gifts for more people, each ornament comes with its own gift tag so you can gift them separately! They'd make for a great stocking stuffer as well.

Each ornament comes with enough tea to make 4-5 cups. I personally drink a lot of tea, but it's hard to gift tea at times since they often come in a plain bag. These ornament containers, on the other hand, are so adorable!

If you're shopping for a last minute gift tomorrow at in Woodland Hills or Torrance, be sure to check out these new tea stores!