Aloha Podcast Network

'80s Life: Fashion, Hair & Make-Up, Glamour Shots, and More

This is the second episode in a series on daily life as we remember it during a brighter, more hot pink time in America’s history. We’re talking about The ‘80s. In this episode, we focus on ‘80s fashion, where  everything was big. Big hair, big clothes. I mean really really big, loud, bright, and too much. We know this now. But we didn’t know it then. https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/80slife2 https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Have an Authentic Hawaii Vacation

Are you in the depths of travel planning overload? It’s time to stop the endless scrolling and officially book your Hawaii trip. But it can be tough when you’re trying to create an authentic Hawaii vacation. Today on the Hawaii Aloha Travel Podcast, Aloha Bruce is talking about the reality of a Hawaii vacation. You’ll likely discover it doesn’t quite look like the image of Hawaii you see on TV, in magazines, and in your imagination.  The good news? If you manage your expectations and open y...

'80s Life: Rotary Phones, Cassettes, Boom Boxes

Get in the Delorean because in this episode, we’re going Back To The ‘80s.  This is the first in a series on daily life as we remember it during a brighter, more hot neon time in America’s history. In this episode, we recall the phenomenology and pace of life when your only options are rotary phones that belong to an entire household, music on vinyl, cassette, or terrestrial radio, and eventually CDs, and also the wonder of dual cassette boom boxes. https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/80slife1 ...

These Hawaii Parks & Attractions Require Reservations

If you haven’t been to Hawaii in a few years, there’s one big change waiting for you here: reservation requirements at parks and beaches.  It began as a way to control crowds and guarantee spots at high-demand attractions. Now the program has grown and spread throughout the state. You’ll see at select national, county, and state parks in Hawaii – but not all of them (not yet, anyway!).  What does that mean for your vacation? Well, you can no longer come to Hawaii and just “wing it.” Not wit...

How to Declutter With Your Partner Part 1: Prepare With These Tips

We’ve been decluttering over the winter break, and thought you might be, too. Here’s some discussion, anecdotes, and tips gleaned from our decluttering projects. We hope they come in handy or at least provide some entertainment for your decluttering efforts. See all the tips and show notes at https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/declutter-tips https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/declutter-tips https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Love cats? Go here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...

Hawaii Beach Safety Guide: Navigating the Risks at Dangerous Beaches

Drowning ranks as the fifth most common cause of fatal injuries among Hawaii residents, resulting in an annual average of nearly 40 deaths. Notably, drowning stands out as the sole injury cause, in which non-residents make up the majority of victims, accounting for 53% of cases. This inclusion of non-residents raises the average annual number of deaths to 83. From 2013 to 2017, Hawaii had the second-highest resident drowning fatality rate among all 50 states, trailing only behind Alaska. From...

Childhood Christmas in Hawaii ('70s and '80s), Tips for Managing Extra Ribbons, Cards, Treats, and Gifts

In this episode we swap some memories of childhood Christmases in Hawaii during the '70s and '80s. Then we share ideas for managing extra ribbons, cards, treats, and gifts, and at the end, we include a song about a sometimes snow-capped mountain called Mauna Kea, on The Big Island of Hawaii. Show notes: https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/1970s-1980s-hawaii-christmas-reusing-gifts https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holiday Blues: Blue Can Be Beautiful Azure, Cobalt, Aquamarine

We’re not mental health pros but we do have some thoughts and feelings about the holiday blues, some of which, we bet, you won’t find in a Google search. At least we haven’t seen it. If you want to jump ahead to the main topic, it starts at about 10 minutes in. Lots and lots more show notes at https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/holiday-blues https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/holiday-blues https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Type of Traveler are you? – Hawaii Edition

When thinking about a Hawaii vacation, it’s important to consider the type of traveler you are. Do you want to have an adventure? Are you looking just to chill out? Is this a special occasion, a once-in-a-lifetime experience?  Or maybe you don't know!  These are some of the questions I ask clients when planning their Hawaii vacations, and I am sometimes very surprised that some people have no idea or haven't traveled much, so they need guidance. The good news is that when you're traveling ...

Life’s Personal Growth Program for LGBTQ+ Folks Like Us

In this episode, we share some reflections on how realizing we were gay also led to a richer, deeper, more meaningful life. The main topic starts at around (8:45). Being queer, non-binary, LGBTQ+ definitely has its hardships. But it can also come with priceless positive benefits. Benefits that you can’t buy with money, such as being genuinely more open-minded, compassionate, and perceptive, among other things.  Also in this episode, you can hear Toast’s reactions to seeing the 1973 movie “The...

Exploring Kapaa, Hawaii

Kapaa (pronounced ka pah ah) is on the east side of the island of Kauai. In 1777 (Captain Cook’s time) the town was not populated, according to the book Rainbows Over Kapaa by Bill Fernandez. There is no mention of Kapaa, which means the solid”, in early Kauai history. In 1877, 13,400 acres were leased from the government by Makee Sugar Company. The venture failed because the operators had little knowledge about growing and processing sugar and the town was doomed to become “a backwater habit...

Our Top Picks for Best Hawaii Resorts for Couples

Hawaii is often seen as a family destination, but what if you’re searching for the best Hawaii resorts for couples? The appeal of Hawaii to families is pretty straightforward. Unlike other destinations, Hawaii has few distractions, such as gambling or a bustling nightlife. For multi-generational families, there’s something for every age group and plenty to […] The post Our Top Picks for Best Hawaii Resorts for Couples appeared first on Hawaii Aloha Travel.

DIY Home Project: Painting The Garage

This episode is some fun inspiration that’s also realistic and takes the pressure off, when it comes to home maintenance and improvement projects. Show notes https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/169-diy-painting-garage In this ep, you’ll hear us refer to a previous episode, and it’s this one: 136 Actually…Maybe You CAN Do It! (From Oct. 2022) https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/136 Find Siena and Toast on Instagram Love Cats? Siena and Toast Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Top 10 Things We’ve Learned In Our 22-Year Lesbian Relationship, Pt. 1 (#s 10, 9, 8, 7)

As recording for this topic really got going, we realized The Content was getting a bit long. So we turned it into a series. This is part one. Before we get to the countdown, FYI, we mention another ep, and that ep is: #130, released on 9/6/2022, called "Back After A Year’s Hiatus: A Brief Intro to Who We Are & Why We Took a Year Off." With that said...here's the start of the countdown... The Top 10 Things We’ve Learned In Our 22-Year Lesbian Relationship 10. Choose your battles 9. Accept res...

The Aloha State: Where to Stay in Hawaii on your Vacation

Skilled vs. Unskilled Acceptance of a Situation

We’re often told to cultivate an attitude of acceptance in our lives, while simultaneously being told to push through and make a change. This episode, we delve deeper into exactly what “accepting something” means. Because it can mean more than one thing.  Siena and Toast.com Find Siena and Toast on Instagram Love Cats? Go here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How To Be Assertive & Still Be Likable

What would you do if a neighbor dumped trash in your recycling bin? Here’s what we did. A discussion about assertiveness when you’re female, Asian American, lesbian, and were born and raised in Hawaii. …can you be assertive and still be likable?  Vanessa Van Edwards on Instagram @vvanedwards – instagram.com/vvanedwards instagram.com/sienaandtoast Blog post for this episode, with show notes: sienaandtoast.com/podcast/164-how-to-be-assertive-and-still-be-likable Siena and Toast Podcast Learn m...

Avoid making these Hawaii Vacation Mistakes

Facing Divorce When You Have Young Kids: a Flower Essence Journey

You’re probably not aware of this, because it’s only through personal referrals, but Siena does private one-to-one consultations with people, using her background in holistic health, coaching, and healing, to help them navigate life challenges. Part of this work usually involves flower essences, a type of holistic energy medicine. But what does this look like? How many flower essences does a client take? For how long? Which ones? The answers vary, because each person is unique, but in this ep...

Explore Wailea | HIghlights from a quick trip to Maui

Basic Hawaii Vacation Planning | Getting started on your plans

Gratitude 2.0

Back in the ‘90s, gratitude as a practice, as a journal, was this fresh new thing. In this episode, we talk about how and why in the intervening years the whole “gratitude” thing got to feel overdone. And then we talk about some of the unusual, awkward, semi-crazy ways we’ve refreshed it for ourselves this year. We reference another episode in this ep, and that ep was titled "Do It Different: Using Teeny Tiny Goals To Make Bigger Changes" Show Notes https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/gratitude...

Here’s why Hawaii vacation prices are so expensive – What can you do?

Rein In Reactivity

In this episode, we talk about some of our own personal triggers and the opportunities for improvement we've become aware of, for having smoother, more elegant interactions in our conversations and relationship. But first, a minor technical difficulty (Toast's fault) and some ruminating on the current popularity of the wolf cut hairstyle (heard of it? it's mullet adjacent). Shot Notes https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/rein-in-reactivity Find Siena and Toast on Instagram https://instagram.com/...

Why Kauai? | A 15 Minute Guide to Kauai

Stories We Tell Ourselves, Pt. 3

In this episode, we go off! on how to NOT get pulled out to sea by the riptide currents of deceitful, delusional, or defeating stories, whether they’re stories from your own head, or from the culture that surrounds you. And we also share a contrarian take on typical inspirational pep talk, advice, and quotes. https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/stories-we-tell-ourselves-pt-3 Find Siena and Toast on Instagram https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Budget Friendly Hawaii Hotels | Are they Dumps?

Stories We Tell Ourselves, Pt. 2

In this episode, we share how the personal stories we told ourselves about ourselves evolved over the course of our lives…so far. But even before we do that, in the beginning of this ep, we mention a story – and a short film about the story – of three very special giant sequoia trees here in Portland, Oregon. Their website is save-the-giants.org. Toast’s Old Story came from Evangelical Christianity. It was that The Bible was the truth about reality; including that gay, homosexual, LGBTQ+ peop...

Saving Big Bucks on a Dream Hawaii Vacation

The Struggle Is Real: Decision Fatigue

Are you irritable, impulsive? Do you procrastinate? Maybe it’s Decision Fatigue.  When you’ve made too many decisions (and it doesn’t matter whether they’re simple or complicated), you get fatigued. It’s just what happens. In this episode, we discuss this phenomenon and what to do about it. Also, Toast is surprised when she learns what Siena thinks about her wardrobe. And, in case it comes in handy, the other ep we mention is "Why You’re In A Rut: The Need For Novelty" sienaandtoast.com/podc...

Researching your next Hawaii Vacation

How to Form a New Habit: Habit Bundling

It can be hard to form new, healthy habits. The good news is: you can probably take a habit you already have, to help form that new one! In this episode, we discuss Habit Bundling, a tactic for consciously building a new habit. Podcast Notes https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/152 Instagram https://instagram.com/sienaandtoast Find out more about Siena and Toast here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making Friends As An Adult

Just maintaining, let alone making, new friends, isn’t so easy as an adult. Amirite?! In this episode, we discuss "the 4 a.m. friend," the idealization of friendship, and “the liking gap.” We also take a much (much!) broader perspective to see how our entire economy is set-up to incentivize us away from the bonding social connections that would otherwise emerge naturally. As Charles Eisenstein has explained in his book "Sacred Economics," it does this through usury and interest-bearing debt. ...

Hawaii Hotel Resort Fees – Are they a rip off or good value?

Do It Different: Using Teeny Tiny Goals To Make Bigger Changes

Maybe you’ve found it hard to stick with resolutions or goals or new habits you’re trying to form. We sure have! In this episode, we share a teeny tiny, sneaky little trick that’s helped us follow-thru on all those good intentions. Also: Us! We could go to Mars! We make dinosaur noises What being Filipino has to do with setting big goals (for Siena) Pros and cons of big vs. little goals Teeny Tiny Goals are there to accomplish Larger Long Term Goals S.M.A.R.T. Goal: S: specific M: measurable ...

Tips for an extended or month long Hawaii Vacation

The Holiday Special with Siena and Toast

Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka. This is the Holiday Special for Fans of Christmas Only. The fun, and foibles of Christmases present, and past, and heartfelt wishes for Christmases future. In this episode: What Will The Neighbors Think: Holiday Edition Pump Up The Jam: Bing Crosby Remix Relationship Challenge: The Tree-Decorating Test We talk about the olden days (The ‘70s & ‘80s), happy golden days of yore. And end the episode with a studio recording we did, of “Silent Night” with a ve...

Hawaii Vacation Experience | 2022 Year End Review

Whatever Happened to Hobbies?

You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. Have you noticed people these days don’t have hobbies like they used to? You might not. You’d have to be old enough to compare today (the 2020s) with the 1970s-90s or so. Over those decades, our society has experienced a decline in hobbies. In this episode, we talk about why, and recall the hobbies we had, way back then.  We talk about why hobbies are a healthy thing. And Siena sort of interviews Toast about her hobby of making “time traveling” pl...

Mauna Loa Volcano is Erupting !

You Can’t Change People; Maybe Focus On Who YOU Want To Be Instead

After a debate about artificial Christmas trees, we discuss the dark consequences of Too Many People following the conventional wisdom of focusing on what they CAN change, how we need all kinds of people, including the fighters, and, we are surprised by a non-human guest.  More details and show notes at https://sienaandtoast.com/podcast/142 Connect with Siena and Toast www.sienaandtoast.com Instagram Instagram.com/sienaandtoast Facebook Facebook.com/sienaandtoast Twitter Twitter.com/siena...

Crime in Hawaii | Will you be safe here in the islands?

How to Do It When You Don’t Feel Like Doing It (Motivation, Exercise, Self-Care)

One annoying thing about being human is wanting to do something, and at the very same time, NOT wanting to do that exact same thing. On this episode, we mash and hash on the weirdness and frustration of this phenomenon, and discus some unconventional ways we’ve approached and overcome the quirky obstacle. One of the most important skills to develop is being able to give yourself a command and follow it. Turn off your brain: don’t even try to be grateful or any of that stuff You’ll never gu...

Should a Big Island Vacation be included in your Hawaii Vacation Plans?

136 Actually...Maybe You CAN Do It!

Maybe don’t write yourself off so easily. We were never the fix-it, handy-person, tool belt wearing kind of lesbians. But then, something happened…. In this episode, we talk about stretching yourself. For pics of the before and after, check out the show notes at sienaandtoast.com/podcast/136 SienaandToast.com Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forgiveness (But Make It Fun): There Are No Enemies, Only Teachers

Would you center your identity around another person’s weakness? (Or what you judge to be their weakness.) In this episode we have a wide-ranging discussion about forgiveness. We cover phrases and phenomena like “hurt people hurt people," Fundamental Attribution Error, grudges, revenge and punishment, being triggered by others, the Sermon on the Mount, hoʻoponopono, and more. For complete show notes go to SienaandToast.com/podcast/135 Connect with Siena and Toast on Instagram Facebook Twit...

Why Waikiki ? | Where to stay and What to Do

Tips for Repeat Oahu Visitors

Flower Essences: An Underrated Holistic Modality for Emotional Wellness and Balance

What are flower essences and how do they work? In this episode, Siena shares why she began using flower essences almost 30 years ago and Toast nerds out on the science of how they work. We discuss to how take and use them, why they’re ideal for Highly Sensitive People, and why they’re best used consistently over time. Also in this episode: Have you ever heard of a high school class having 14 valedictorians?! Learning to grow vegetables in a home victory garden. Relationships with animals can ...

Maui Pros and Cons | Is Maui the right choice for your Vacation?