July 30, 1970. Welcome to Aspen, Colorado Ken K.K. Wong. I must have really wanted to see what the world had to offer because I was supposed to be born in late September or early October. I weighed a whole two pounds so I was put into an incubator for a couple of months.
Life would have to wait a little bit. The only thing I can remember about my infancy is nothing. My mom told me I loved playing in the snow and was a fun loving baby. My dad told me my first word was moon. Our little family moved back to San Mateo, California and my brother, Paul was born in 1973.
Since my dad is an excellent chinese food chef we moved to West Virginia in 1977. Yes, I did say West Virginia. I lived there from 1977 to 1987 when I moved back again to San Mateo, California to go to high school with the thoughts of going to college the following year. I went to college at San Jose State University for a couple of years but did not graduate. I had gotten a job at Pizzeria Uno’s Restaurant & Bar as a busboy and worked my way up to manager in about a year. College was not my priority. The restaurant industry eventually led me to Maui.
I moved to Maui in May of 1994 with some friends who I had worked with at a restaurant in California. The first beach I visited was Kamaole Beach I and there were waves that day. How do I know? A girls top fell off when she was body surfing. I love Maui. After working for a few different restaurants and The Kea Lani Hotel in Wailea, I felt it was time for a change. Let’s see what else I can do besides wait tables and take orders without writing anything down.
2000 was the year I decided to get my real estate license. I don’t know why I chose real estate but I enrolled in John Stapleton’s School of Real Estate and passed the test on the first try. Even though it was graded by only a pass or fail, it was kind of hard because I had not been in school since the early 1990’s. My new career was about to begin. That first year was like now what do I do? I hung my license with ERA and did a couple of floor shifts and one or two open houses. Needless to say, I still waited tables at The Kea Lani. In 2002 I hung my license with Unique Maui Real Estate. The broker is Patricia Vicente and she taught me about the business of real estate. I held countless open houses and even got a few listings and made a few sales. Pat is one of the best at keeping in touch with her past clients and I cherish my time at Unique Maui Real Estate.
I became a full time REALTOR® in 2006 and my friend convinced me that Coldwell Banker Island Properties was a fantastic company to call home. After some persuasion, my decision to hang my license with Coldwell Banker Island Properties turned out to be the best thing that I have done in my career. Previously I thought of CBIP as this big corporate giant who had all the big wigs of the business as agents and they would chew up and spit out a little agent like myself. Boy was I wrong. CBIP has a small family feeling and is a great place to learn the ropes. The owners of the company were once little guys like me and they are an open book in regards to educating their agents. I would like to say thank you to Bob Cella, Doug Fitch, Kathi Fitch, Curt Kamai, Volker Weiss and all of my fellow Coldwell Banker Island Property agents in helping me become a REALTOR® and a true professional. Coldwell Banker Island Properties is the number one real estate company on Maui.
2006 was a very special year for me. I got married to a wonderful woman who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Her heart is huge and full of love. Everyone that meets Maricel, loves her personality and her innocence. Maricel and I love to spend time with each other. Whether its home watching tv, hiking in Iao Valley, or relaxing at the beach I always feel my best when I’m with her. Now if only I can convince her to go golfing. Maybe I will be able to get my scores into the low 90’s or high 80’s.
Maricel is the love of my life and I thank her for all of her love and support.
Thank you for taking the time to read a short history about my life. Feel free to contact me through my contact page if you have any questions about Maui, life on Maui or more importantly South Maui real estate.
Aloha,
Ken
