Quick Trip to Hawaii

Published on June 27, 2009 in United States

W and I have just returned from a trip to Hawaii for Ian's wedding - and what a fun, fast-paced time we had! I left work a few minutes early on Thursday and went straight to the airport, where I met W, and we boarded our 6:00pm flight to Honolulu. The flight was slightly bumpy, and we tried to sleep. Our flight of choice was Jetstar, which was mediocre as always (imagine flying EasyJet for 10 hours), but we knew to plan ahead as much as possible.

After arriving in Honolulu we quickly boarded the little bus to the other terminal, and boarded a second plane to Maui. A short island hop later and we landed in Kahului. Immediately after leaving the airport, and marveling at how tan everybody was, we hitched a ride with the Thrifty van to the rental car depot. Just as we arrived at the depot we glanced over and saw a tow truck with a totalled car - this acted as a sombre reminder to purchase the highest level of insurance we could. We arranged to pick up the car extra early on Friday, and hitched a ride back to the airport. We waited 30 minutes for the next bus, and departed to the main part of Kahului.

A short busride later (the mall we wanted to go to was only 4k or so from the airport), we walked into the Maui Seaside Hotel. The hotel staff were kind enough, yet the hotel was just what we expected. We rested for a few minutes, then left to catch a bus down the Piilani Hwy. The bus slowly meandered down the coastal road, and when we saw most of the locals jump off, we followed. W had some craving for "American food", and the best I could think of was Denny's. After Denny's we played on the beach some, and waited for the bus the other direction. A few hours later we were back at the hotel, and in bed by 11:30pm.

Friday started a regular regime for us: waking up early. The alarm buzzed at 6:15, and we were on the Dollar bus heading to Thrifty at 7:00am. I had arranged a "mystery car", and at 7:15am were delighted that it was a clean Dodge Charger. Well, clean on the outside, the inside was a bit smoky, which led to an increased carsickness rate when combined with the curvy roads. I closed my eyes and visualised being a 16 year old again (visualising driving on the right side of the road), and we set off. I adjusted quickly, and thankfully the Hawaiian drivers were quick mellow - nobody seemed to be in much of a hurry. Juxtaposing this to Sydney, and the hellish traffic we have here, I was quite happy.

The main reason for waking up so early was so we could go up to the Haleakala National Park before going to Ian's wedding. To maintain the "American food" motif, we at breakfast at IHOP, where W proceeded to drink six cups of coffee. I should have known better, just as a parent should know better when their kid starts devouring candy. A short (by Sydney time) drive and we were at the brim of the Volcano, surrounded by Japanese tourist groups.

Although the Thrifty rental guy said stick to the highways, I soon veered onto the side streets to see some of the countryside. We passed through some beautiful scenery, much of which reminded me of driving around New Zealand's South Island. Upon leaving one uneventful turn a small town emerged, which we naturally visited for coffee. Soon we were back on the road, and after a few wrong directions, hit the Hana Hwy.

Ian had warned me about driving the Hana Hwy, and this was actually the main reason behind spending as much on insurance as we did on the car rental. The first part of the highway was quite tame, but quickly turned curvy. Two and a half hours later we emerged in Hana, successfully, and pulled into Ian's guesthouse.

Although Ian and Xiaowen weren't there when we arrived, we sat down and interviewed Xiaowen's parents. Soon Ian arrived, and we started helping entertain the steady stream of guests. The guests started to wander out or to bed, so after helping clean, we snuggled onto his couches and fell asleep.

Bright and early the sun illuminated W, which meant I was awoken shortly thereafter. We finished checking email, and left for the wedding.

The ceremony was just lovely - Ian and Xiaowen were very lucky to have this special moment in such a great location, surrounded by close friends and family. After the ceremony we had lunch at the resort and went back to the guesthouse. Ian and Xiaowen finally looked relaxed, and we left.

I should explain why we could only stay for less than 48 hours. Our entire trip to Hawaii needed to be short; I have just started a (greaaat!) new position, which means I think it would be irresponsible to take significant vacation. Our flight back to Sydney needed to be very early on Monday, so early in fact that we needed to stay the night in Honolulu on Sunday. This meant staying Saturday night near the Maui airport.

After saying our goodbyes we departed and I drove back to our Hotel. We arrived sleepy, but content. However, we weren't hungry, had a car, so drove up into the hills. Looking across the lights of Kahului reminded me of parking on top of Park Street in Ashland, but with an ocean. Our thirst for "American food" heightened, and we ate some Taco Bell.

Sunday we woke up early, again, and drove to the airport. Soon we were on the plane, again, and landed in Honolulu. Our itinerary wasn't particularly full for Honolulu; actually, the only thing on our list was seeing Pearl Harbour. We boarded one of the buses from the airport, and within an hour were at Pearl Harbour. One of the benefits of traveling light is that we could just jump on and off transport. Visiting Pearl Harbour mimicked the feeling of visiting other famous sites; I'd read so much about the attack, but I could start to have a personal visualisation of what it must have been like. The entire memorial area has been wonderfully organised. Before visiting the Arizona we listened to an introduction from a previous veteran who shared his story of the attack. I still feel moved when I hear veterans from WWII speak.

After the memorial we went to our Hotel and checked-in. The room was small, but clean enough. We left our bags and started wandering around Waikiki Beach. Naturally we found the semi-night market, and had some reasonable sushi. Soon we started to fell tired and went back to the hotel, where W continued work on her PhD, and I fell asleep.

At 5:30am we woke up and left for the airport, and by 7:40am the plane was leaving Hawaii. I've been on a lot of flights, but this was likely one of the worse. Since we were flying Jetstar, there were no individual TVs (unless we wanted to pay $30 for one). The large guy in front of me kept pushing his chair back and moving, which meant I couldn't even use my laptop or table. Last, the row next to us had a psycho kid that just couldn't sit still. For the first five hours the kid kept saying "daaad daaad daaaad" over and over, mixed with "oi ei oi ei oi ei". Then, when the mom would go to the bathroom, the kid would should "maaaaa maaaa maaa maaa". I'm extremely patient, but even I was getting a bit annoyed. Everybody in the near vicinity had the same look on their faces: "give that kid some whiskey." Well, maybe not quite that look, but something like that. He soon fell asleep, but was right back at it for the remaining three hours.

Leaving that flight was a great feeling. We were back home by 5:30, and awake early the next morning for work.

So, what would be my final thoughts on Hawaii? I felt Hawaii was a combination of a handful of elements from other places we have visited. The hills were like Taiwan, the bush like Laos or Thailand, the beaches like here in Sydney, and the laid back attitude like back in Ashland. It was certainly nice, and I bet living in Maui would be about as relaxing as anywhere, but we were still relieved to be back in Sydney.

A Long, Long Flight

Published on Oct. 16, 2006 in United States

In the last few years I have been privileged enough to travel; travel a lot. International flights aren't a problem.

After my exam I jumped on the MRT to Taipei Main Station, and had some lunch. Knowing that the meals on the plan are built for "average" people, I should eat more. Lunch was mediocre, but filling, and I went upstairs to the bus terminal. The bus was already there (it leaves every 20 minutes or so, and I had plenty of time), so I purchased my ticket and ran for the bus.

The ride to the airport was filled with happiness, for seeing my family, but sadness, for missing W. We exchanged several text messages on the way to the airport, and soon I arrived.

A long line formed at check-in, although I was three hours early (which is a record for me, as you can read from previous posts). I checked-in, mostly without hassle (I actually didn't have an e-ticket, but the ticket was in the office, apparently). I moved to my gate, and walked in.

An hour later some of the flight people requested we leave, very informally, so we departed the gate, and walked outside for additional screening. I've always found the idiocy of the system interesting, and this screen provided a prime example. Immediately I realized that "if" I wanted to bring something aboard and avoid screening, I would have had to simply leave it under the seat I was sitting (or in the bathroom at the gate)(or a variety of places). Oh well, always flaws with the "system."

Everybody boarded the plane, and as usual, I tried to be one of the last people. Since I hadn't picked my seat, which I usually do, I was stuck in the very last row. Luckily, there were only two of us using four seats, so we could somewhat spread out. The problem with my flight out east is how to plan to prevent jet lag. Normally, as many know, you try to sleep on the plane the same hours as your destination (or as many overlapping hours as possible). My problem was that I wasn't going just to LAX, but after landing (in the afternoon), had a SECOND red-eye to Atlanta. When I boarded the plane in Taipei it was 4am Atlanta time. I slept for the first few hours of the flight, however since I usually go to bed at 1am (or later), sleeping was difficult. Eventually I succumbed and watched movies. Like, five.

LAX is a pretty crappy airport, especially since my connection was through the old part (which used to be top-notch when TWA owned it, back in the day). Now it is a construction nightmare, with random elevators uplifting you to random floors. But, since I had ten hours to kill, I wasn't in a hurry.

Somehow I spent my 10 hours in LAX, mostly writing my Thailand journal, some reading, some just goofing off on my laptop. I met a guy who was going to Atlanta in an emergency since his father-in-law died (or some relation like that). Shortly I boarded my flight at around 9:15, and took my second red eye to Atlanta.

The flying time was only four hours, which I was surprised by. My flight touched down around 5:15am, and I collected my bags, and jumped on MARTA (the transportation system in Atlanta). I rode the light rail for maybe an hour before leaving (at the last stop) and I tried to call my sister. Unfortunately, the first phone I used didn't fully work, she couldn't hear me. Even after calling me back, the phone would transmit my voice. The second phone simply ate my quarter, thus leaving me with only a single quarter, not enough to make a phone call. Somehow I talked the ticketing lady to allow me to make a phone call, and learned that my sister was on her way.

Twenty minutes later (a long twenty minutes, after that flight) my sister and her fiancee picked me up in the bottom floor of the parking garage.

Overall the flight was decent, nothing drastic happened. Security wasn't a particular problem with me (I've been thoroughly hastled before by security, so much so that I have missed a flight, almost twice). My one conclusion from this journey is that I hate check-in luggage, and am never going to do it again. For the most part, I never take check in. I have a perfect size backpack that, with sleeping back, I can bring on the plane. I can bring the backpack without sleeping back and can bring my laptop. Since I was bringing a suit on this trip I decided to check it all in. Never again. I had to wait an hour in LAX for my luggage to enter the baggage claim (the baggage from Taipei came last, after the people from KL, and I was one of the last people to get their bags).

ATL and Coups

Published on Sept. 19, 2006 in United States

I'm still in Atlanta, spending much time with my sister's. One of them just got married, which is why I decided to come out here.

One of my sisters is raising a set of twins, and a four year old -- so as one could imagine, I have been able to help out wherever possible. Family is good. Last night I drove one of my sister's friends to the MARTA (train) station so she could catch a lift out to the airport. However, returning back home, I got slightly lost. While there weren't too many turns I had to do, the distance was quite far. When my sister's directions (which included a street with a question mark) were combined with my mom's map (which had the wrong address circled, but an address that surprisingly made sense with my sister's directoins) -- I got quite lost. Eventually I made it home, luckily, ate some yum food, and fell asleep.

Today, however, the world appears to be revolving in an interesting pattern. The NASA space shuttle had some debris fall off. Nothing disasterous, yet, so hopefully it can return safely. What interests me most is that a military coup has occured in Thailand. As you can read from my previous posts, I was just in Thailand. My friend, Sean, is living in Thailand (Chiang Mai) at the moment -- he reported the news to me right as CNN was starting to report it here in the States. Apparently the news stations are all showing pictures of the King. Scary stuff, so I send my best of wishes to him.

Football In The Hills

Published on Sept. 9, 2005 in United States

Today we were up in the hills wandering around. Exploring if one might say. Above Santa Barbara there appeared to be a labyrinth of back valleys, and we ended up at the top of one of them. Overlooking the city, we talked about the "good old times."

Nearby, a concrete pillar thing loomed. After climbing up there, Ben proclaimed "I bet I could throw the football to Pav." Both Ben and Pav played football during high school (meanwhile, I was off trying to figure out how the hell to use Red Hat Linux 5.2).

Without further adieu, here is the throw. I'm the cameraman of course, 'cause that is what nerds are for.

Football In the Hills from Kelvin Nicholson on Vimeo.

Sleep, Errands and Cliffs

Published on Sept. 8, 2005 in United States

I am oddly aware that my bedtime is decreasing — tomorrow night for that regard is going to be really painful. Tonight will most likely be the last night that I officially sleep in the United States for quite a while! Such adventure.

After briefly reading my last entry I realize just how tired I was. In fact, my browser died half-way through scribing my day… We woke up and luckily my packages arrived — including my airline ticket from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur. I’m SO lucky! We ate some mac n’ cheese for breakfast and discussed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Luckily a lady, Vanetta from UPS called — she had really helped me with my tickets and consequently I asked to speak to her manager. On roaming (and I made sure the manager knew that) I made sure to add two very good cents for her.

After a few errands downtown we rolled to Red Rock up in the hills. We played around for quite a while and jumped around and off some cliffs. The football provided quite a bit of entertainment: we tried to catch the ball as we were jumpking off a cliff. (I was the first one, thanks to the great throw by Ben, clutch). Some great images transpired (take a look) of us doing random dives. I did a few back flips — my hand was out too far for the one caught on camera and now my entire arm sort of tingles. After Red Rock we went and drove up along one of the ridges. Some great pictures and bonding occured as we bullshit’d about randome stories and hiked on top of this equally random structure. While I was taping Ben threw the football to Pav who was standing in the cars sunroof. I’ll include a link shortly. Afterwards we looked at where Ben used to live, with one of the most amazing views of Santa Barbara.

The day is nearing an end and we are reviewing the video tapes from the day. I have a feeling we will continue the adventure out on the town, but these things don’t seem to be decided until 12:00. I’ll admit that I need to be a little careful right now; I can’t do anything too silly or get injured two days before leaving the country.

Then again, doing backflips off a cliff in the middle of nowhere prolly wasn’t the brightest thing to do.

So, enjoy some of these photos and leave your mark.