Aloha, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

dolphingirl47

In Search of the Tag Fairy
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Day 1

And finally the day has come. After seemingly endless months since our May trip, we are now officially on holiday. I still had to work until 15:30 and then I had booked an airport shuttle service to take me to the Crowne Plaza at Manchester Airport. I had arranged to meet Graham there. Towards the end of my shift, I had a lovely surprise. My colleagues presented me with a birthday card and some spending money for the holiday. This would be turned into something nice later in the trip.

I had booked the shuttle for 15:45 just in case I could not get away promptly. I did get away on time and the shuttle arrived slightly earlier than scheduled as well so I was soon on my way. Leaving the office was a little bittersweet as this would be the last time I would be in that office. By the time I get back, we would have moved to the new office. I was really looking forward to working in the new office, but nearly 9 years worth of memories are connected with the old office.

When I got to the Crowne Plaza, I checked if Graham had arrived. He had not, but arrived shortly after me. We got checked in and headed up to our room. After relaxing there for a bit, we headed down to the Club Lounge. We both had some juice. Graham went with orange juice and I decided that I may as well get in the mood for Hawaii and had some pineapple juice, which was actually really nice. We also had a coffee each. Graham went with the Latte and I had a double Espresso. It was still just over an hour until Happy Hour so we decided to head back to our room for a bit. Graham had a short nap and I tried to finish reading my guidebook.





We headed back down to the Club Lounge just before 18:00. By then we were both thoroughly relaxed and in full holiday mood. Graham had a Newcastle Brown Ale and I had a really nice Gin and Tonic. We also got some really delicious crispy prawn won tons with sweet chili sauce. We took our time over our drinks, but then decided that we better do something about dinner. They have a new grill restaurant in the hotel and initially we thought that we may give that a go, but then we decided that we were not that hungry. So we ended up in Sampan's Oriental Restaurant again. Rather that the set meal that we normally go for, we just had an egg fried rice each and a main course. Graham went with the special, which was roast duck in hoi sin sauce and I had the Chicken Massaman Curry. We were both happy with our choices.







After dinner, I quickly sent a couple of emails and then we both had a very early night. It was only 20:00, but we were both tired.
 
Thanks for letting me know that you started!

I love your tradition of spending the night before the flight at an airport hotel. Just makes for such a much more relaxed start! :thumbsup2 Since I only live 15 minutes away from the airport, it does not really make sense for me. But I kind of keep hoping that one day I will find a fabulous deal out of Frankfurt ot Munich in order to justify a pre-flight hotel night!
 


Lovely start Corinna, there is nothing better than the first night in the hotel prior to the trip. it really relaxes you and gets you in the holiday spirit.

Your meals sound delicious - despite the fact that I am somewhat unadventurous when it comes to food, I do love a good Chinese and we are actually considering going to PF Changs in Miami on our arrival night at the end of April.

I am interested to hear the details of what must have been an incredibly long journey.
 
Love staying over the night before we fly but don't think we'll be doing that this time.

I love duck so I think i'd have gone for that as well.

Your meals sound delicious - despite the fact that I am somewhat unadventurous when it comes to food, I do love a good Chinese and we are actually considering going to PF Changs in Miami on our arrival night at the end of April.

We enjoyed our meal at PF Changs.
 
Off to a good start! Thanks for posting a link in the Christmas superthread. We'll be staying at the DVC in Hawaii in September after our cruise so I'm excited to hear about your experiences there.

TK
 


I'm here :) great start to the trip! How nice your coworkers gave you some birthday money, looking forward to seeing what you got.
 
Off to a fantastic start! That was so nice of your coworkers to give you the card and money! Dinner looks very good.

I sometimes think about staying close to the airport but being only 20 minutes away it doesn't make sense!

BTW, if you like PF Changs, they have a fast casual concept called Pei Wei which has same or similar food at a cheaper price. I swear the lettuce wraps are the same recipe!

Jill in CO
 
How lovely that your colleagues gifted you some money for your trip. I can't wait to find out later what you got with that. The Chinese sounded nice and don't you just love that feeling of the holiday starting at the airport hotel the night before. Can't wait to read more as it unfurls.
 
...great start to be sure, but coffee with orange juice? Or pineapple juice??? BLECCCHHH!!! :crazy2:
 
WOW !! I love the night at a beautiful hotel BEFORE a long trip !!:cheer2:
What a nice start !

Adventurous food too !

Can't wait to read more !! :wave2::wave2:
 
:banana:yeah Corinna you've started your TR :banana:

We stayed in the Raddison Blu the night before we went away (transport problems so booked on the last minute) but we :lovestruc it & would totally want to do it again when we go this year :woohoo:

Can't wait for the next instalment :worship:
 
I'm along for the holiday, sounds like you're off to a relaxing start.
 
I'm in! Looks like a lovely start.

Welcome on board.

Thanks for letting me know that you started!

I love your tradition of spending the night before the flight at an airport hotel. Just makes for such a much more relaxed start! :thumbsup2 Since I only live 15 minutes away from the airport, it does not really make sense for me. But I kind of keep hoping that one day I will find a fabulous deal out of Frankfurt ot Munich in order to justify a pre-flight hotel night!

We are only about the same distance from Manchester airport. My office is actually right across the road from the airport so this is my daily commute. We don't have a car or anybody to take us to the airport. With the timings of the flights to the USA as well, it just makes more sense to be already at the airport rather than braving the morning rush hour.

Great start, Corinna! I can't wait to see more!! :hyper:

Welcome on board.

Lovely start Corinna, there is nothing better than the first night in the hotel prior to the trip. it really relaxes you and gets you in the holiday spirit.

Your meals sound delicious - despite the fact that I am somewhat unadventurous when it comes to food, I do love a good Chinese and we are actually considering going to PF Changs in Miami on our arrival night at the end of April.

I am interested to hear the details of what must have been an incredibly long journey.

I agree. There have been a couple of trips recently where for one reason or another we ended up staying at home the night before the holiday and it took me ages to get in the holiday mood.

Even though we both love Chinese food, we have never tried PF Changs. I think that may need to go on the to do list.

Love staying over the night before we fly but don't think we'll be doing that this time.

I love duck so I think i'd have gone for that as well.



We enjoyed our meal at PF Changs.

What a shame. Graham is quite partial to duck, but I rather stick to something safe like chicken or beef.

Off to a good start! Thanks for posting a link in the Christmas superthread. We'll be staying at the DVC in Hawaii in September after our cruise so I'm excited to hear about your experiences there.

TK

Welcome on board. Will this we your first trip to Aulani? If it is, you are in for a real treat.

Coming along for the ride....thanks for the bat signal

Welcome on board.

I'm here :) great start to the trip! How nice your coworkers gave you some birthday money, looking forward to seeing what you got.

Welcome on board. Yes, the birthday money was a nice surprise. It took me a long time deciding what I wanted to do with it though.

Can't wait to read along!

Welcome on board.

Off to a fantastic start! That was so nice of your coworkers to give you the card and money! Dinner looks very good.

I sometimes think about staying close to the airport but being only 20 minutes away it doesn't make sense!

BTW, if you like PF Changs, they have a fast casual concept called Pei Wei which has same or similar food at a cheaper price. I swear the lettuce wraps are the same recipe!

Jill in CO

Welcome on board. Thanks for the heads up about Pei Wei. I will have to look out for this.

I am here and looking forward to this trip report.

Welcome on board.

How lovely that your colleagues gifted you some money for your trip. I can't wait to find out later what you got with that. The Chinese sounded nice and don't you just love that feeling of the holiday starting at the airport hotel the night before. Can't wait to read more as it unfurls.

Welcome on board. Staying at one of the airport hotels the night before gives me an opportunity to decompress. Usually the last two weeks before a holiday are mad busy at work and if I spend the last night at home, I suddenly think of a 1001 different things that need doing as well. When we stay at a hotel, I am forced to relax.

...great start to be sure, but coffee with orange juice? Or pineapple juice??? BLECCCHHH!!! :crazy2:

Welcome on board. We did not have them together, but one after the other. We spent a good hour there. But then again, when we are on vacation we usually have coffee and juice with our breakfast.

WOW !! I love the night at a beautiful hotel BEFORE a long trip !!:cheer2:
What a nice start !

Adventurous food too !

Can't wait to read more !! :wave2::wave2:

Welcome on board. Staying the night at a hotel ensures a much more relaxed start to the holiday.

:banana:yeah Corinna you've started your TR :banana:

We stayed in the Raddison Blu the night before we went away (transport problems so booked on the last minute) but we :lovestruc it & would totally want to do it again when we go this year :woohoo:

Can't wait for the next instalment :worship:

Welcome on board. The Radisson Blu is nice. We normally stay at the Crowne Plaza as I get travel industry rates there. We had our Christmas ball at the Radisson last year and decided to stay over as I did not fancy taking to the trains in my evening gown.

I'm along for the holiday, sounds like you're off to a relaxing start.

Welcome on board.

Corinna
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts







Top