I guess I should start to write about this! Ok, so let's start from Thursday, Sept 19!
So, in order to get there around the same time as my friends, my flight was at 6 AM, and since I have no car, I had to book an airport shuttle, which was coming at 3 AM. And me being me, I didn't get to bed till midnight or so? Because the most important thing I had to do the previous day was, clearly, to make my awesome uchiwa.
And also finish my part of the assignment before I left. And did I mention that I had a test the following Tuesday for the most dull, yet complicated class this semester? How screwed was I? Immensely, because I also missed the first 2 classes while I was at Disney. Way to show how low of a priority school is for you. T_T
But what's more important? Life experiences that will make you happy for a long time or a (very expensive) piece of paper? I'm digressing. Anyways, I stayed up late, took a shower and woke up ridiculously early to finish packing. I waited outside for the shuttle, when it started to thunder, followed by intense rainfall. It was getting super close to my pick up time, so obviously I was obsessively checking the flight status to make sure it's not delayed. I think my friend was also up around this time, so I was chatting while she got ready to go to the airport. The shuttle finally came, about 15 mins late because of the massive downpour.
So we were just driving along, and I was the only person on there, therefore no matter how much I wanted to sleep, I stayed awake and was checking Google maps to see where we were. I'm not a paranoid person, but I've watched way too many Criminal Minds episodes to be completely at ease. At one point, it went into a residential area, away from the airport, and I had so much adrenaline running through me, until I realized we were just picking up someone else. It was like 4 AM, on a dark and stormy morning, so you can get why I, a young lady alone in a van, was on such high alert!
Anyways, got to the airport, got to the gate, anxiously kept checking for flight delays, but thankfully there were none! The flight actually took off in the midst of the rain and lightning, which looked soo cool when I was within it! I ended up sleeping through the rest of the flight though. I landed in LA, decided to get some breakfast, and relax, since I had a 3 hr layover.
I was talking to someone on tumblr a few weeks before, who was also flying from Austin and going to the concert, and I decided to text her. Turns out she also had a long layover, so we hung out, got some food and talked till I had to board my flight.
Somehow, I ended up sitting in the middle of a 3 seat section, which doesn't make sense because I ALWAYS pick the window seat! It was annoying, but I dealt with it. I tried to study a little, but I actually fell asleep while reading. When I woke up again, I decided to watch Roommate (Japanese movie). That was seriously messed up. Anyways, we were about to land, and I was super excited!
I finally arrived in Honolulu! I couldn't believe I was actually here! There was some time before my friends were supposed to come so I walked around a little bit. They finally arrived, and we were so excited! We went to baggage claim so they could get their stuff, and then booked a shuttle to the hotel. Our shuttle guy was really fun to talk to, and we were freaking out every time we saw an Arashi Blast sign (and there were a lot)!
We were supposed to keep it on the DL that there was a 3rd person staying in the hotel room, because we didn't want to pay extra, so I stood far away while they checked in. I thought there'd be 2 beds but it was a giant king bed. It was big enough for all of us though. We rested for a bit and decided to go to the Arashi Blast store in Shirokiya at Ala Moana Shopping Center, because every 10 mins someone on FB would say that something else was getting sold out.
We got our stuff, went to the Japanese food court, and got something because I hadn't eaten in hours, since it was already midnight for my body, even though it was only 5 PM in Hawaii. I finally got to eat Hiroshimayaki! So delicious~ I've been wanting to try it since I saw it on Cooking with Dog! We shopped around a bit more, and went to the Disney store and Hot Topic (aka The Store That Must Not Be Named). We got back to the hotel, and decided to go to the beach. Did I mention that there was a beach across from our hotel!?
It was pretty dark, but really pleasant outside, so we wanted to dip our feet. And of course, we got ridiculously sandy, and had to put towels everywhere while we waited for the shower. After that we decided to sleep "early" because we had to be up by 6 AM to get ready for snorkeling.
It's super late, and I really should be sleeping so I'll write the other two parts tomorrow night. It's probably going to end up being the same way, with me staying up later than I intended -_-
