We pretty thoroughly crushed Hawaii so when the day came to return home I was content. We talked about the possibility of living here. I really like the Asian/US fusion going on here and if I lived in Hawaii I could get a taste of Japan which I've been missing while still, you know, doing American things like humming the Star Spangled Banner while eating a jumbo hotdog in the back of a pickup truck.
We said our goodbyes to our pretty sweet ocean view room.
I needed to get back to the mainland to make more of America's favorite full bodied lager.
The Hawaiian Airlines lounge at the airport was an embarrassment. Maybe the worst I've ever been in actually, and I've been to some real.. situations.
I opened a fridge hoping to find some beer but it was stocked with these awful little water cups. For shame!
The terrible things I did to JetBlue's mileage program meant that our return trip was also via business class. No big deal. I don't like to brag but I bring the business like a tax abatement.
Signature mai tai welcome dranks!
Today I realized that Hawaiian Airlines First Class Lunch/Dinner is pretty meh.
For my first course I went with the "grilled Mediterranean chicken, quinoa tabbouleh and tzatziki salad." The other choice was a Nicoise salad but I generally avoid those. Most people haven't internalized the je ne sais quoi of the Promenade des Anglais and it shows.
Main course was "soy braised beef short rib with bok choy and wasabi mashed potatoes." Lydia did worse with the "Okinawan sweet potato, kabocha, mushroom, quinoa and provolone cheese burger". We agreed that the sweet potato was pretty much just taro and tasted "taroble".
The food onboard was pretty meh but luckily the drinks were still wet. Dessert was a chilled mini orange cream pie.
When we go on adventures around Christmas time our custom is to return home on New Year's Eve because that's when the tickets are cheapest. We kept that beautiful tradition alive.
We stayed at a hotel in Cupertino, California which was cool. Just knowing that we were close to Apple's headquarters was a little bit exciting, I'm embarrassed to report. There were a few Apple office buildings around which was fun.
The hotel was very aware that this was nerdville, and the room's curtains were decorated with binary. I assume it just says "we didn't change the pillowcases" on repeat.
I was pretty tired after a long journey but I didn't want to just go to bed on New Years Eve. That'd be real lame. So I buzzed my cousin Brendan who lives in Oakland and inquired about the hippy hap. Fortune smiled. He was having a New Year's party at his house and we were invited. Three huzzahs.
In what I think we can all agree was a sign of awesomeness we rented a car just so that we could drive to the party.
All of the fun was had. I got to meet a few of Brendan and Alice's friends and see their house. These guys are people I wish I could see more often. We left the party at like 12:02 because we were having issues keeping our eyes open.
I was forced to return to the grind of making delicious beers but I'd like to think I brought a little bit of aloha back with me.