Pico de Gallo

Aloha Everyone,

This morning, the two of us went to Ralph’s Supermarket to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables to stock up our refrigerator and pantry. To expedite our shopping time, J.J. took one cart to look for meat, seafood and other items that will be our main dishes.

I, on the other hand, took a separate shopping cart and beelined to the fruits and vegetables section. I also got cottage cheese and yoghurts. J.J. had a white corn chip In his shopping cart and a container of Mexican Mild Salsa while I had Pico de Gallo, spicy salsas that goes with almost anything including as salad dressings.

Pico de Gallo, translated in English “beak of rooster” is made of fresh diced tomatoes, chopped onions, Cilantro, jalapeños, lime juice, salt and chili powder. According to the Aztec culture, Pico de Gallo with tomatoes and peppers as main ingredients is extreme healthy. Pico de Gallo helps in prevention of colds and strengthening your immune system.

Another full and productive day. I achieved 14,440 steps or 5.9 miles. Princess Cruise uses 3rd party surveys to follow-up with their clients cruise experience. Too long, too pedestrian and repetitive questions are truly time wasting. Although J.J. and I did make recommendations to a couple of outstanding staffs who definitely deserve recognition and hopefully monetary rewards to go with it.

Aloha -- Cathi

Good News & Not So Good News

Aloha Everyone,

The good news came in early from American Airlines via email. We will be reimbursed for two segments of our flight where they downgraded us from First Class to Economy.

After a light breakfast of cottage cheese with cinnamon, I went out on my walk. 6:30 am, it was comfortable enough to wear my long sleeved sporting clothes. By 9:30 am, I finished my target miles and waited for my sister to come to drop off a document which required my attention.

The bad news is that our bathroom sink is clogged. And the refrigerator is malfunctioning. After getting help from our friend who informed the manager, we were given a new room. It is on the first floor but one of the 36 newly renovated room with a new refrigerator, new mattress and new carpet. The best feature is the shower replacing the old bathtub which is cumbersome to use.

So this ended up to be a very good day. I walked 5.7 miles or 14,016 steps.

Aloha -- Cathi

Resettling at Extended Stay America

Aloha Everyone,

The two of us have approximately 5 weeks prior to our next cruise. Since yesterday evening, J.J. and I made several trips back and forth to Honu, including bringing our coffee maker so that J.J. could enjoy his favorite blend of expresso.

We also made a trip to Walmart to pick up our prescriptions and to make a large purchase of daily staples such as paper plates, paper towels, disinfecting wipes, bath soap, kitchen soap, etc. I always prepare my list of item and compare it with my “master list.” However, today I couldn’t find Hydrogen Peroxide to use for general cleaning and sponges for kitchen.

Too much work carrying pots and pans to prepare lunch so we ended up purchasing sushi bento from Nijiya Market. It’s great that J.J. loves raw fish. I munched on my tiny veggie sushi with hot Gluten Free miso soup.

For the past 3 days, my daily walking has been impacted by the air travels. Tomorrow I intend to get back to my 5 plus miles walking routine.

Aloha -- Cathi

Day 2 of our Air Travels

Aloha Everyone,

We were told in Richmond, VA that AAL will not refund or pay for hotel stays for cancellation because it was due to weather. After changing our flights routes multiple times, as well as canceling our next destination, Philadelphia, we missed our flight to Dallas.

AA’s gave us an overnight accommodation, taxi transfer to the hotel, $12 per person for breakfast at the airport.

At the end of our two stressful days of air travels, the two of us arrived in Los Angeles somewhat rested. No problem in taking a shuttle to a nearby parking lot to catch our ride with Lyft.  We celebrated our safe return to Extended Stay America with takeout sushi bentos.

Aloha -- Cathi

Hectic Traveling Day

Aloha Everyone,

The two of us try to schedule our cruises starting and ending preferably from San Pedro, California. Ending our last cruise in New York was not our choice.  

Prior to disembarking, I was able to walk around the promenade deck and to take photos of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan Skyline. Our bus ride of $39 per person was supposed to take an hour. The bus driver circled the departure area of American Airlines 5 times because of ongoing construction. He finally found the correct drop off point.

The airlines changed our travel schedule four times! Flights were being cancelled due to the weather. Destinations changed when we arrived at the gate.

American Airlines at Richmond, VA had two separate booths to assist customers but the 4 staffs congregate, gossip and it’s was quite obvious that they are more interested in their social life than working.

A man who looked their senior by the way he was dressed and spoke with standard English wasn’t going to get involved with customer service. When we addressed him, he told us that no I am not supposed to be working here. You have to wait for one of the girls to help you.

Our two assigned wheelchair assistants walked off to have their dinner break without telling us that they were going. They were in their peculiar way helpful and JJ gave them our “standard” tip.

J.J.’s gentle but firm persistence paid off at the end.  At 8:28 pm Richmond, Virginia, we tentatively booked our new flights directly to Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Arrival time of nearly midnight is a big challenge. 

Will, a ground agent at AAL was patient and helpful in assisting us with our revised flight schedules.

Aloha -- Cathi