Day 18

One Last Day in Waikiki 🌴☕🌅

All the early starts we do, both at work and while travelling, must be conditioning us to wake up early because even though we had the alarm set for 5am, we were both awake before it even went off. Fortunately we’d done most of our packing the night before, so after breakfast we only needed to throw a few final things into our bags. Ted went outside for one last look around Waikiki — at least for now — before our Uber driver arrived out the front of the hotel.

We definitely got a chatty driver this morning. Within minutes he was talking about everything from Hawaiian politics to Australian wildlife, proudly claiming he was “koalafied” to speak Australian. Thankfully the roads were fairly quiet that early in the morning, so we made it to the International Airport without any problems.

Check-in with ZIPAIR Tokyo was surprisingly smooth and efficient, although the document control area — where they check your passport and boarding pass before security — was another story entirely. There was an enormous queue with what appeared to be one extremely stressed woman trying to manage the whole thing herself. Once we finally cleared security though, there wasn’t a huge amount to do airside, so naturally we ended up at Starbucks paying airport prices yet again for coffee and sandwiches before heading to our gate.

As we’d booked business class seats with ZIPAIR, we boarded early and weren’t entirely sure what to expect from a relatively new low-cost Japanese airline. Thankfully the experience ended up being much better than anticipated. The seats converted fully flat, there was plenty of storage space, charging ports and free Wi-Fi, and the cabin itself felt modern and clean. The main difference compared to traditional airlines is that food needs to be purchased separately either before the flight or onboard through the app, and entertainment options are fairly limited. Still, considering the price we paid, we really couldn’t complain. One thing we definitely noticed though was how meticulous and professional the flight attendants were — they checked absolutely everything regarding meal orders and pre-purchased extras with incredible attention to detail.

During the flight I finally watched Schindler's List, which I’m slightly embarrassed to admit I’d somehow never seen before. I also watched part of Bullet Train Explosion which, in hindsight, may not have been the smartest viewing choice considering where we were heading.

To be continued on the next footprint...Read more