Mile High Club

ALOHA, THIS IS HAWAII !!!

I have awesome cursive thanks to my many summer days decorating cakes at Carvel. :)

I need to say one thing before I start this post --

MOM DON'T FREAK OUT ABOUT THE PLANE -- the opportunity just presented itself and I had to give it a try. There was a flight instructor sitting in the front, so if we went down in the ball of flames at least someone would know what to do. Like Stop, Drop, and Roll. Hahaha okay not funny... back to the show!

I touched down at Honolulu bright and early on Wednesday 7am, which meant that I had an entire glorious day to kick-off this holiday. :) Chris, one of my favoritest people in the world, picked me up from the airport and we headed over to our rental house at Ewa Beach. We shared this house with my "cousin" Shaun, and the always lovely couple Jerry and Shawna + Baby Bump "Jer-ju"! (Jerry Junior, real name still undetermined)

Shaun has been taking flying classes for quite some time already, and had booked out a small plane + instructor during his stay in Hawaii. His goal was to touch down on all 20+ airports on the Hawaiian archipelago, which meant I could hitch a ride with him to another island! We ended up at Kauai, where we had lunch at the Hilton and then hopped back to Oahu. :)

It's a wee little plane. Like a Mini Cooper!

I should have been more scared. But Shaun had enough confidence for two people. Plus I was totally jetlagged and passing out the entire time. :p

TAKEOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just skip to the 1:15 area, the first minute is just us sitting on the tarmac.

Beautiful breathtaking Honolulu.

If Christopher Columbus' detractors could see the world from this vantage point, it'd be obvious that the Earth is NOT flat! 

You can understand the appeal of flying now, can't you?

To be honest, I told myself that I'd never get on a small plane with Shaun piloting because it seemed way too dangerous. You're just a little sparrow in a sky full of Canada Geese, who knows if you're going to get run over by a 747!!!! However, it seemed surprisingly effortless for this Little Plane that Could to take off and to land... when we landed it seemed like the speed was pretty much similar to what you'd experience on the highway. Plus, the cockpit itself was equipped with a parachute that we could pull in case something happened, so at least we wouldn't meet a vertical demise (another story if we hurtled ourselves into a mountain). 

Being in a small plane makes you feel like the clouds are all the more reachable.

Fluffy, springy, cushy clouds... you just want to open your mouth and take a bite!

My best Maverick expression.

And this is why I love aviators. They can make everyone look semi-badass. :p

As you can see in the video, the propellers were quite loud... but all that noise were blocked out once you put the massive headphones on. With the headphones I could hear the control towers guiding our plane, as well as Shaun and the flight instructor doing profeshunal planetalk. It was super cool to get a glimpse on how the aviation system worked with pilots and control towers figuring out how to coordinate traffic in the airspace. As a pilot, you get so much freedom to go whereever you want to (except military restricted areas, and of course places with bad weather) -- no real traffic, no mountains, no bodies of water blocking your way. The control towers tell you when you can take off and land, as well as to watch out so we don't accidentally plow into the "meat popsicles" (skydivers). Yech... I may think twice before skydiving now...!

A huge mahalo to the wonderful and talented Shaun Ting for this unforgettable adventure in the sky. :)