The rain is starting up sporadically and for some reason, every time I dig out my umbrella and put it up it stops. Oh, well.

A reminder that Waikele Premium Outlets is closed on Sunday, Dec. 25 so we will not be running that day. But of course, the bargains continue after that day as well!

Mahalo!

We WILL be running shuttles that day, but we ask your Kokua (help or assistance in Hawaiian) to call us to book your seats in advance! Black Friday is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year overall for most retailers in the U.S., so we want to be prepared to make sure we can accomodate as many people as possible this day to avoid disappointing your shopping plans! Don’t forget, you can also visit your closest Expedia Local Expert location in Waikiki to book your seats with us as well.

I don’t know about you, but I am already thinking about what I need to get…

Mahalo!

I suppose an Asian style BBQ is a marinated meat that is then grilled (something like a soy sauce base), as opposed to a meat that is cooked in a tangy sauce (red sauce or something with molasses or honey), that also may have the sauce dripping over it when served.

Hope they are doing ok with all that’s happening down their way…

It has been brought to our attention that some people rode to Waikele on a company that arrived at one our stops five minutes before our pick up time, but they failed to return to pick them up although their full roundtrip fare had already been collected! Another company’s driver collected a one-way fare and sent people to our desk for the return, but we had no seats left as we were sold out from our own customers!

We don’t know which company those were, but the customers thought it was us, until they realized that their driver was the one collecting the fares. Our drivers do not collect fares, our onsite desk staff handles all of that as that is also when we ask if you need a return to Waikiki and ask you to select your return time.

Try to get a name or telephone number of the company you are riding so if they fail to pick you up you can call them. If you do find yourself in that kind of predicament though, you can check with WPO Information or Security for assistance, or please come and see our onsite staff to find what seats we have available back to Waikiki. Unfortunately we will have to charge you for the return trip, but we do try to accommodate as many one-ways as we can!

Mahalo!

They have 19 locations in select hotels on Oahu, and you can book in advance through them. They’ll give us a call to confirm your booking with your name, date and time you want to go, and our drivers and loaders will call you by name to make sure you get on board. But please be on time! If for some reason you do miss the time, we will look for you at the next pick up time just in case something unexpected delayed you.

Make sure that you are riding the our buses, though, as someone reportedly got on the wrong one and ended up having to pay twice. Just show your voucher (but don’t give to drivers as they will be collected at our desk at the outlets), if you are talking to the wrong company they should let you know that you are waiting for us so there is no confusion!

Mahalo!

We’ve noticed that many of our morning customers arrive at our desk at Waikele Premium Outlets and elect to leave on either the 2pm or 330pm returns. If it is very busy and there are a lot of requests for a certain departure time, we will try to schedule an additional vehicle for that time.

If you have a short shopping window, our drivers have radio communication with our desk and they can help find out before you board if a certain return time is sold out, or please call us at 808-5-DOLLAR to check if the return time you need is sold out that day.

If you can come later in the day, our 6pm, 745pm and 915pm returns are less busy, and you can think about having dinner out here at WPO or at Waikele Center across the street.

Mahalo!

May 1 in Hawaii is also called ‘Lei Day.’ I’ll have to find out why that’s so!

Many elementary schools in Hawaii do a ‘May Day’ program, where each grade level performs a song or dance, whether it be hula or a maypole dance. Some play the ukulele while singing. You always know when it’s coming up because parents, faculty and school staff start raiding their gardens and their friends’ gardens for greenery to decorate the main stage with, so it looks like a rainforest is marching into school that morning.

A May Day Court is also selected, either by their peers or by faculty and staff, with the King and Queen, their kahili bearers (royal standard bearers at the start of the procession) and followed by the princesses and princes, one each to represent each main island of Hawaii. The court is usually made up from kids of the highest grade level at school, and they do a separate hula in addition to whatever the whole grade level is performing.

That’s where I learned each island’s symbolic color, nickname and flower, though I’m a little rusty on them now! For instance, Oahu’s nickname is ‘The Gathering Place’ and the color is yellow. The Big Island is the nickname of the island of Hawaii, and its color is red – this one I think is for the volcanoes there!

I was speaking with a friend the other day in his 40s and he says he distinctly remembers his kindergarten May Day performance, as do I. We are also both fuzzy on the other years, though I remember in the 4th grade I skinned my knee two days prior and couldn’t do the Maypole Dance. I was really bummed!!

Several people have been asking that on our schedule, some hotels have the same pick up times.

At those times, we run two minibuses, as we are working on getting more seats available to those who want to shop at Waikele Premium Outlets. We noticed that more people like to come in the morning, so those times have two running instead of one.

A reminder that between 2-5pm is the busiest time for returning to Waikiki, so if you REALLY need to be back at a certain time and cannot make it early, please call us and we can tell you which return times are sold out. We have added extra buses on selected returns, only to have them still sell out quickly.

Again, if you have a tight schedule, please call us on the day and we can tell you which returns have sold out.

Mahalo!

PG Plover takes its name from the Pacific Golden Plover, or ‘kolea’ in Hawaiian.

This beautiful bird travels to Hawaii each year and stays for several months over the winter, and leaves on April 25, plus or minus a couple of days. They fly here from Alaska together with their young, and fly back for more mating, again all together. It’s so cool!! When in Hawaii, they tend to stay in the same area year after year.

We see them looking more brown than golden when they arrive, then they get a ‘dressed up’ in April.

Will miss them, but look forward to their return.

Mahalo!

Just a reminder to say that P.G. Plover operates every day except for Christmas Day, when Waikele Premium Outlets is closed.

If traveling over the Thanksgiving period, please check our website for updates as due to Black Friday sales, which usually begin at 12am, long car queues to WPO may prevent our operating that day.

Mahalo!