Day(s?) One

MSP--gate to flight to LAX. The usual suspects also wait. BUT...there is an over-abundance of tools. these tools captivate me the most. are they extra tooled-out b/c they'll be visiting L.A.? are they perhaps going home to L.A.? better yet...do I look like a she-tool?

on the plane. seats 38b and 38c. 38a is the window seat. i want it. person after person comes down the aisle. "That seat was empty on the online manifest last night," says dad. waiting...waiting...waiting...."ladies and gentlemen, please stow your belongings beneath the seat in front of you in preperation for take-off..." begins the flight attendant. i JUMP to the empty window seat, buckle in. and then tehre comes a last-minute passenger. his seat number? 38A. PISS.

i watch an episode of how i met your mother on the plane. LEGEN......

.......dary.

LAX. beautiful. weather, flowers, palm trees...
apparently they don't drink bottled pop here. water, water, orange juice, and water. i finally find a shop with "flavored" water, so i grab one and head to the register. the woman comes over. she's middle-aged, hispanic, has LONG bleached-orange hair and lots of make-up. she explains every size and price of bottled h2O. (i'm on the phone this whole time..which shame on me, but STILL.) i assure her what i've already chosen is what i want. she swipes my card, returns it. as i sign the reciept, she notices my large, purple, sparkly flower ring. "oh so beautiful!" she exclaims. she then proceeds to take it off of my finger and try it on every single one of her fingers. gushes over and over how beautiful it is. asking where i got it. "expensive?" i told her "from a department store. under $20." and finally, after she ASKED IF SHE COULD KEEP IT, i said "NO," through a teeth-grinding smile and then "i think i got it at dillards. in IOWA. look for it online."

our layover was only a couple of hours long, instead of the 6 we had been prepared for. thankfully. the time went by really quickly, due to a dear old friend keeping me company over the phone. good stuff.

pre-boarding. there's this kid that almost tipped a trash can over on me. it was pretty hilarious. then it turns out he's the 3rd seat mate in our row. nice kid from new jersey, fresh out of college with a meterology degree. first time out of the states, and he's going backpacking for 2 months through NZ w/ a buddy. good luck, jersey boy!:)

the flight from l.a. to auckland was about 12 hours in length. after take-off, i watched "sunshine cleaning" (or is it sunshine cleaners?) with amy adams. fell asleep before the end and didn't wake up until almost 4am auckland time (which meant about 9 hours of sleep--cheers to benadryl!!) watched "17 again," ate some fruit, and then watched an ep of "flight of the choncords" just to get in the zone. we landed at about 6 am local time.

customs line took ages! there was a chinese women's basketball team ahead of us. all of which sported red jump suits and surgical masks. creepy. the customs agent seemed a bit moody, judging from his interaction with the people directly in que in front of us, but was actually really nice. i'm assuming b/c no language barrier was involved...

we got coffee at a stand outside of the airport. the barista was devilishly cute. we ordered americanos, going off of our UK experience. he had no idea what we meant, so i told him. he asked if we were from canada or the states. we were truthful. sigh. haha....then he told us that what we call americanos, they call "long blacks." good to know, as our morning would provide opportunity for drinking plenty more of them...

we took a shuttle to our hotel downtown. the driver should be called "speed racer." yeah. there was a local sitting in front of us; her name shall be "Ms. Pretentious." i wanted to pull her hair.

we arrived at our hotel at about 730 am. our rooms weren't ready-wouldn't be ready until midday, but we were able to stow our luggage. off to explore the city!

the air is so fresh, cool, and clean. good sea air...my favorite! the sky was amazingly blue, with tremendous cumulous cloud structures ever-changing. rainbows abounded. so many forms of trees, and so many still green despite the fact that it's the dead of winter! auckland is a very hilly city, but it felt SO good to stretch my legs after so many hours on the plane. we hit up the american embassy (aka starbucks) almost immediately. more to use their restroom than anything. we trekked and trekked. made our way back to the heart of downtown, near our hotel. also near the sky tower (see facebook photos for more.) we had planned on touring it, it was just now 9 am, and the hot shower i was dreaming of was still hours away. so we went. the inside of the attached building also serves as casino, restaurants, gift shops. after being lost for quite a while, a security guard (hilarious guy) directed dad to the railing and pointed at the GIANT sign towards the basement which is how you get into the tower. almost not embarassing....

the tower itself is gigantic. the elevator is disgustingly fast. but the view was INCREDIBLE. the first step i took onto the glass-portion of the viewing deck resulted in a shriek and me dancing back off of it. terrifying!! we went up to the highest possible level, and the building swayed back and forth around us..."this is a good thing" i kept reminding myself...architectural integrity and all that.....

after this, hunger ensued. we scouted out the "hollywood bakery and cafe." we were just getting ready to cross the road, when a chap comes over and starts talking to us. "don't tell me you guys just woke up!" he says in his feminine way. "oh no, we've been up for days!" i said. ensued a conversation about missing the night life, etc. charming. crossed over finally to the cafe..good food, actually. i had a chicken sandwich on foccaccia. enjoyable. then....sigh...more wandering the city.

finally at noon we could check into the hotel. finally at noon i could shower.
it. was. divine.

took a nap, then headed out again. not too many restaurants downtown, actually. we went into the first open one, asian food. had teriyaki chicken, udon noodles, and green onions in soup form. AMAZING!!!!

and now, here i am in "esquires coffees," typing away....whatever will tomorrow bring?

love and misses to all...