Delta & Korean Air gives bad end to wonderful holiday

After 18 wonderful days in Hawaii, we got on the airport shuttle bus to make our way to Honolulu Airport for our long flight back home.

Yeah...it was a good holiday!

Joe was happy to ride the bus again while Joy-Anne napped on Yee Yee.

At the airport we had a long time to say our goodbyes because the lady at the check-in counter couldn't find Joy-Anne's name in their system.

I can't get on the plane???

I also discovered that the seats we were assigned for the Seoul-KL flight were not bulkhead row seats i.e. no bassinet. After an hour of hassle, we finally got everything in order.

honi honi yee teow

honi honi yee yee.

Honi honi means kiss in the hawaiian language. We learnt that at the luau. So after all that honi honi, we took a long walk to the gate through the non-air-conditioned airport.

We flew Delta (code share with Korean Air). I picked this flight because it was had the least connections with the shortest transit time - only 75minutes in Seoul.

Excellence, my foot! When we got on board, Joe asked, "where's the tv?"

I had checked their website earlier and they boast personal AVOD (audio video on demand).

When the stewardess passed out headsets, I asked her where the tv was. Thinking I didn't know what the headset was for, the stewardess told me, "for tv". Duhh....what kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course I know it's for the tv. So I asked her again where it was, thinking that maybe the have it hidden in some hi-tech slot. And she pointed me to the huge screen in front.

It was gonna be a long boring flight. But the horror of horrors was when they started serving meals. I was surprised they did not serve Joe first since it's regular practice to feed the kids first.

Guess what? They did not have Joe on their list. The stewardess told me I had to request earlier. She also said Joy's baby meal was a late request. I was hopping mad by then. Again and again I had to explain (because the korean crew can't speak proper english) that I had made the requests when I purchased my tickets in March, confirmed again in June and again on Wednesday 6th August. All they did was say sorry. Too bad.

So there was no kids meal for Joseph. And their meal options for adults....? Beef with rice or beef with noodles. What if I have gout and can't take beef?

Joe ended up eating a few mouth full of white rice with butter. On the second flight, he slept 6 out of 7 hours and ate nothing.

no food...eat plate.

In comparison, our outbound flight on MAS and ANA was fantastic. They gave out cool kids toys, colour pencils and activity sheets. Joe kept himself occupied watching Bob the Builder and A Bug's Life. He also had special kids meal, served first.

doing my big business at 40000ft...shh...don't let others know.

So Joe kept himself occupied climbing up and down.

To make matters worse, Joy developed a face rash. Probably allergic to either the blanket or the wipes given out by the stewardess.

Sigh....caring indeed. I will certainly not be flying Korean Air anymore in the future.

Hawaii - last days

After the wedding on Thursday, Joe was happy to hit the beach again. This time at the calm waters of the Hilton Hawaiian Village's lagoon.

He really enjoyed pushing his new dump truck and bulldozer in the sand.

On Friday, we spent the earlier part of the day in the mall....yes, again. Joe liked The Disney Store very much. It's amazing how the shop people here leave you to enjoy their store without hovering over you (like how they do back home in Malaysia). You can do what you like with all their soft toys and nobody bother you.
Too bad I earn measly Ringgit. The plush toys are so adorable. There was a set of Handy Manny's tools and also the Little Einstein friends, and Darby and Buster etc...
At the Jungle Fun shop, Joe enjoyed bossing his sister around. He said, "Put Joy-Anne here", pointing to the seat next to him.
In the evening when the sun was less hot (and after the kids had a good nap while enjoying the air-conditioning at Barnes & Nobles [it's a book shop...like Borders] ) we took a walk along the shore line.

Waikiki is the land of ABC Stores and limosines

After all you can't come to Waikiki, stay almost 3 weeks and NOT see Waikiki Beach, right?
This is Joe's first time seeing boats at a marina.

The lagoon at Hilton Hawaiian Village

Further down the beach, the sun started to set.


We made our way back towards the Hilton where our day ended with the fireworks display. Joe loved it! It's been 3 weeks of many 'firsts' for Joe. First time watching fireworks, first time at a marina, first time as a page boy, first time at a zoo....he's learnt so much. It's certainly been a good holiday.....I kinda dread going back to work :-)

BTR no more

Today is the day! Uncle Danny's bestman told us that Uncle Danny used to say he's a BTR - Bachelor Till Rapture. Today he's officially been kicked out of the Bachelor's Club.

We had a rehersal yesterday, followed by dinner at the Rainbow Lanai.

And today...Yee yee and Uncle Danny (now I'm supposed to call him Yee Teow) tied the knot at the Ocean Crystal Chapel at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

I got to be the page boy.....and boy, did I look good. Mummy kept saying I look so handsome today.

I smiled my way down the aisle.

After the short and sweet ceremony, we adjorned to the Rainbow Suite III for the reception. I didn't eat much because I was more interested in running and jumping around and watching Ah Ku do his magic.

Some people say that after the Engagement Ring and the Wedding Ring comes the SuffeRing but Uncle Danny looks pretty happy.
I'm pretty happy too. Check out my new girlfriend....

Pretty, eh?
Yee yee looks pretty too. I told her, "You've got a lovely dress!"
Now I've got to share my yee yee with Uncle Danny...

But Kong Kong and Nana are very happy to have a new addition to the family.


See how happy Yee Yee is...

Hawaii - Day 13

We spent the earlier part of Tuesday just resting and taking it easy. Rebecca and Danny had a taste of parenthood with borrowed kids.

Joy-Anne slept comfortably on Danny's well-cushioned chest.

In the evening, we all went out to Germaine's Luau.

waiting for the bus

I learnt that luau (pronounced lu-aw) means a hawaiian party. But if you pronounce it wrongly like in lu-aah, it means the bathroom/toilet. So when saying "I had a great time at the luau"...be careful to pronounce it correctly.

Germaine's Luau is located on the south-western part of Oahu at Ewa Beach. The ocean front was a lovely setting. We arrived there early and had a good time taking pictures.

And we tried some Bollywood poses too.
Joe was quite cooperative with the photo-taking most of the time.

Before the buffet, we saw the Imu ceremony. Imu is the underground oven from which they took out a huge pig that had been roasting in it all day.
Joe gave the Blue Hawaii (the non-alcoholic version, of course) two thumbs up.
Food was abundant and pretty good.
The sunset was lovely. My photo-taking skills don't do it justice.
We shared a few drinks...margarita, pina colada.... This is probably the first time I've really had some alcohol. No effects though.
We got back at about 10pm. It was a good evening.