I get asked a lot... "Hey! Where did you get that!?!" and I figured that if I was going to have fun on my own site, I might as well share the sources of fun stuff. Who knows? One of them may decide to be my sponsor or seek a commercial endorsement.
Hawaiian Shirts
Flying To The US
Diving In Hawaii
USA Foods In Australia
Coffee
Computer & Peripherals
Mobile Phone
Stereo
Security
Car
Rental Cars In The US
Dalmatians
Parrots
OK, I have over 450 and I've collected them for years. You can see the article I did on Hawaiian shirts here http://www.philtripp.com/pdf/shirt.pdf or check out the Wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_shirt on Aloha Shirts.
My main shirt brand is Jams World http://www.jamsworld.com which have rayon fabric and totally cool patterns. There is also a guy who owns 700 of that style and his site with all the patterns is http://www.nwmangum.com/JamsWorld/
My second fave is Tommy Bahama http://www.tommybahama.com. Also a great rayon shirt style is Reyn Spooner at http://www.reynspooner.com/ . The 50 year old Kahala shirts has returned at http://www.kahalashirts.com/ Tori Richard has a broad range of prints at http://www.toririchard.com/ Paradise Found has the Tomm Selleck Magnum PI bird shirt and many others at http://www.paradisefoundhawaiianshirts.com/
You can see a lot of designs at http://www.alohashirtshop.com/ which sells a number of brands.
It's no secret why we use Brad Thomas of Travel Managers (brad@travelmanagers.com.au) not only for our personal travel requirements but also as the official travel and transport agent for the 450 or so folk who head to South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conferences and Festivals in Austin each year (http://www.sxsw.com). Because we have come to dislike Qantas immensely--first for their incredible lack of service and now more for their raping of the Frequent Flyer Scheme), we have come up with great alternatives for flying to the US for our clients and friends.
We use two airlines with great stopovers. Hawaiian Airline and Air Tahiti Nui both operate regular services through their home ports of Papeete Tahiti and Honolulu to help break up sectors for a relaxing rest or holiday over or back.
Hawaiian Airlines http://www.hawaiianair.com.au/ has three flights a week to Honolulu with an excellent option of Standby Upgrades of A$585 (as of July 1 2008) where you can buy an upgrade if there are any unsold seats at time of check in. I've done this 8 times out of ten and the trick is to be in queue 30-45 minutes ahead of opening time. Reservations 1300 669 106
Air Tahiti Nui http://www.airtahitinui.com.au/ goes to Los Angeles and continues on to Paris with a stopover in Papeete where you can head off to other islands like Bora Bora, Moorea and many more. Instead of the Qantas Business Class price of A$12,000 return from SYD to LAX, I did the flights for A$6350 for the same level of service at half the price. Reservations 1 300 732 415
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I'm a confirmed scuba addict and can often be found off the reefs of Kona, Hawaii which are outlined at Dick Dresie's site pn Shire Diving at http://home.hawaii.rr.com/ddresie/ and other islands at Shore Diving http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/. I wouldn't dive with anyone else other than Jacks Diving Locker which is a seamless operation http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/ and Torpedo Tours Kona for underwater scooters. http://www.torpedotours.com/
Whether is Barqs Diet Root Beer, Creole and Cajun spices, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, chile sauces, barbecue sauces or just about any addictive legal food or beverage, they've got them at USA FOODS www.usafoods.com.au and can ship them anywhere in Australia.
CoffeeAt my age, it's one of the few vices left! I use Allpress Espresso Carmelo House Blend and Mountain Top beans from their Rosebery cafe. I also use Kona coffee whenever I can haul it back from Hawaii. My five fave picks of Kona producers are
Kona Joe www.konajoe.com
Kona Blue Sky www.konablueskycoffee.com
Holualoa Kona Coffee Co. www.konalea.com
Greenwell Farms www.greenwellfarms.com
Mountain Thunder www.mountainthunder.com
A few years back, I bought a Kitchen Aid KES 100 Espresso Machine which is superb and easy to use and reliable but not half as good as the company's service here in Australia through Peter McInnes.
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Jackson, Phil & Roger |
I've been an Apple evangelist for close to 20 years though I started with a Tandy Model 100 in 1985. Now it's a G4, 30 inch Apple screen, and a Kensington Expert Mouse Pro Trackball which is the essential tool.
Audio is a Bose Companion 5 sound system. I also use a pair of Ergorest forearm supports.
For the road I use a G4 Powerbook 17 inch laptop with the same trackball and also a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones for music and DVDs.
For phone I use a Plantronics Voyager 510 SL headset
I've been a Nokia fan and have had them for over a decade up to my recent Nokia E 61 which he been replaced by the new iPhone 3G model, finally introduced in Australia.
There is no taking me away from the Bose Systems as the company has the best service attitude of any I've encountered. We have two Bose Lifestyle systems in the house, a Bose Sound Dock in the bedroom, the office setup and Bose headphones.
With all this gear, we have to have top security and aside from engraving all equipment and recording serial numbers, we have a back to base alarm system and cameras hooked up to hard disk recording. So if any professional burglars have read this and are thinking, "Do I feel lucky?", think again. The dogs will probably get you before the alarm goes off!
After owning a couple of Suzuki Vitaras, we settled on the Nissan X-Trail which is actually our dogs' and parrots' car, we just drive them in it for them. It's kitted out with satellite navigation, stereo, iPod integration, Bluetooth phone system and DVD. The latter so the dogs can watch 101 Dalmatians while we are cruising to pet friendly accommodation.
Since I head over there a lot, I have exclusively used Alamo but rented the cars through Asia Pacific Travel Marketing Services in Sydney which has a great deal that is inclusive of all insurances called the Silver Inclusive package. It saves a lot of time and hassle as well as expense of insurance if bought at the time of rental. They're at www.aptms.com.au or call Janelle on (02) 9319 6624 ext 201 and tell her Tripp sent you. No, I don't get a commission!
We favour Dalmatians. Here are photos of our current and past spotty mutts.
Phil loves his parrots. Jackson (left) is a male Red Sided Eclectus aged 9 years in 2010 and will probably live to 45. Roger (right) was a Lutino male Indian Ringneck who passed away at 15 in 2008. Phil plans to add an African Grey to the flock when he retires in late 2010.