Today's edition of the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story called The Downside of Paradise. Lo and behold but Umlaut's dear Old Metal friend Lauraloha was featured:
San Francisco Chronicle
June 7, 2007
Page E-2
Living the dream: For some Bay Area residents, a tourist's taste of the islands isn't enough. Each month in Hawaii Calls, I'll share the story of someone who moved to Hawaii, so we can all vicariously live the dream.
First up: Laura Kaplan, a former San Franciscan who lives on Maui and owns a company specializing in outcall massage (the legit lomilomi kind). After growing up in Pittsburg and Antioch, she moved to the city in 1988 and worked for Bill Graham Presents for almost 20 years, Kaplan writes via e-mail from the Maui Meadows subdivision in Wailea.
"(I) spent all my time at live shows and traveled the world with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Metallica. I moved here because I met a man whom I fell in love with and I really wanted out of the music business," she explains.
But Kaplan also considers herself a 9/11 expat, since she got stuck in Los Angeles on Sept. 11, 2001, while waiting for a plane to Maui. She finally made it to the Valley Isle on Sept. 20, "a strange time here as there were no tourists," Kaplan recalls.
Married to a massage therapist, Kaplan says, "I found myself in massage school in 2004 while working as a hotel concierge. Now I run my own business, work side by side with my husband and am surrounded by tropical beauty."
But one paradise can still leave you longing for another. "Not one day goes by that I don't miss San Francisco," Kaplan says. "It is my home."
You can find out more about her company's services on www.mymauimassage.com.
Pretty cool, right? Yayy Lauraloha! Cue Dio and / or Robbie Williams.
Click HERE to relive Lauraloha's finest moments with Umlaut.
