September 9, 2015
Off to Honolulu for the Hawaii for the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival. I attended the event last year and liked it so much that I decided to go again this year. Unfortunately, things got off to a bumpy start. Somewhere between Los Angeles TSA and the National Car Rental desk in Honolulu, I lost my driver’s license. That also meant that I was not going to be able to rent a car and it was going to make checking into the hotel as well as my return trip back to Los Angeles a little more challenges.
As we boarded our taxi, I reminded myself that I had always wanted to try Uber. Checking into the hotel wasn’t difficult and as we unpacked Sophon asked me where his backpack was. I knew immediately, in the back of the taxi that we just got out of. Where was that piece of paper they handed me as I got in the taxi? If I knew we were going to lose something, I would have lost the piece of paper.
I hate losing things – i absolutely hate it, I could hear that adult voice in my head saying “If you had been more careful…….” Off to the front desk, a lot of phone calls while wondering if we were going to see the backpack and Macbook that was in it ever again. Fortunately, the driver dropped it off at our hotel later in the evening.
The following morning, Cindy, Sophon and I headed to the Koko Head Cafe’, Top Chef Lee Anne Wong’s restaurant. It was the start of indulgence in Hawaii. The three of us ordered enough for five people. This was one serious brunch menu and everything sounded great. We weren’t disappointed, everything was great. I commented that if I lived in Hawaii, I would probably be there too often and that would not be good thing. Everything was very good.
Mid-way through a meal, an elderly Japanese couple sat down next to us. She pointed over to Cindy’s Volcano eggs and said that is what she wanted. Little did we know, we would run into the Japanese couple at the Hyatt while waiting for the brunch event, only to realize not only had we sat next to them at the KoKo head cafe, but we had sat next to them at the exact same event the year before. What a small world!
After Breakfast was over, it was time to go back to the hotel. I decided that it was time to try Uber. I have a lot of friends that swear by it. I know all the arguments against Uber and I am not sure I agree with any of them. I have noticed a wide price range for the same company to take me the same airport at the same time of day. Clearly, not all meters are equal. How many times have I scheduled a pick up and they don’t show up? How many times have I been asked for directions while the gps hangs on the windshield? How many times when I go to pay for the taxi have I been told that the credit card machine is broken and the driver cannot make change? How many times have I had to listen to an annoying LCD screen play infomercials my entire trip and when the credit card machine works, it asks if I would like to tip 20%, 25% or 30%. Since when a tip a third of the service? Uber was a dream, I pressed a button saying I needed a ride, the car showed up and google maps gave us the directions to my destination. I was dropped off the driver pushed “End”, my credit card was charged. No tip no haggling, no awkward moments. I like Uber!
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