Jetlagged
Upon leaving the airport, I was really glad my phone has GPS so I knew where I was going as I had read on these boards about people missing the turn for the hotel. H1 did have some bad traffic but I knew to expect that and just dealt with it. I was glad I was driving instead of my husband, even when he got cranky at me for riding the brakes so much and running through a yellow light.
There was a slight backup of cars waiting for the check-in valet but soon enough we had our luggage out and headed inside to check in. We were greeted at the front door with our leis and some pineapple/lemon/lime water and then greeted again as we made our way to the check in desk. It was so friendly and nice!
Up 19 hours at this point!
Check In went smoothly. The room we were given was on the 9th floor in the Waianae tower. We trucked our stuff up to the room and discovered our keys wouldn’t work. I looked at the keys and realized that 1) That wasn’t our name and 2) we aren’t 2A2C.
My husband looked really annoyed and just sat down in front of our assigned room. I went back downstairs and had to wait in the check-in line again to get it solved. Yes, we were given the wrong room and they were really sorry about the key mix up. I headed back up and the keys worked this time!
My husband really wanted a shower so I left him to go get the car from the check-in valet and move the car to self-parking.
While I was out, apparently my special cake delivery came as when I returned to the room, my husband told me he almost flashed the lady!
I’m really glad I got the cake delivered on the first night as it is huge! It will probably take all week for us to enjoy it. The price wasn’t too bad, at least in Disney Standards as it was $141. Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate Mousse and Milk Chocolate Frosting. We weren’t going to eat it yet as we figured we should eat some real food.
It was only 5:30PM and our dinner reservation at Monkeypod Kitchen wasn’t until 7:00PM but we figured we would try to walk in or at worst situation, just eat at the bar. As the walk-ins were running at 45 minute waits, I was really happy to find two seats at the bar where we could order at. Once we sat down and let ourselves finally stop, we both felt wiped. All the travel had started to really hit us!
We both ordered a drink off the draft menu - I had a
Maui Brewing Company Bikini Blonde he had a
2 Towns - Bright Cider and looked at the menu. My husband wanted an appetizer of the garlic truffle fries for his meal but when I ordered my pulled pork sandwich the bartender told us it was cheaper just to add the fries on, so we decided to split that.
Monkeypod Bar
Pulled Pork Sandwich w/ Garlic Truffle Fries - Topped with Fried Onions Straws, Butter Lettuce and MPK Slaw
The slaw/lettuce was super easy to remove if it isn’t up your alley. We both were super happy with our food! This pork was very tender and not greasy in any way. The crispy onion straws had good flavor. My husband ate all his fries quickly and quietly which means he liked it. If we both weren’t so wiped, we may have ordered something closer to a real meal but why force it when your body is screaming SLEEEEEPPPPP!!!
We paid for what I assumed would be our cheapest dinner of the trip - $31.10 + tip and headed to the Island Country Market to pick up some drinks before heading back to the room.
Once we settled in, we each had a slice of cake which we both were really happy with. It was lighter than what we expected it to be despite all the mousse on it!
I wanted to try to stay up until 8PM - that thought failed and I was fast asleep by 7:15PM.
The flights and the hotel are the most important parts of vacation planning! Gotta have those! Have fun at DLR! 
My 2nd flight is going to be a long long time but so worth it!
