A little sightseeing,


a bit of shopping,


cheesecake,


sleeping beauties,


two little mermaids,


Mary and the little baby Jesus.



Timothy and the Case of the Missing Mattress

I had a very interesting experience on this trip. I have to say that it was a first for me. Nicole and I were staying at Outrigger Hotel. Frommer's called it "One of the best budget hotels in the South Pacific". I agree. At the least, it's quaint, clean, close to town, and has a pool. We'd already spent one night there, and we spent the day out and about and at the pool at the Kitano (where Nicole's parents were staying). We came back to the hotel to get ready to go out to dinner with Marques, and I entered my hotel room to find no matress on my bed. It was not like the bedframe was bare. No. The bedsheets were put over the frame very neatly to look like a made bed, but there was obviously something missing. I almost did not believe my eyes, so I went over to feel the hard wooden slats that ordinarily would be supporting the matress, holding it in place. So I went to find the receptionist.

I found her in the lobby, and I explained to her that the matress was gone from my bed. She looked at me with total confusion on her face and asked, "Are you sure?" Could I make it up? She insisted that she go to my room and check for herself. After she was satisfied that there was indeed no matress on my bed, she said, "Maybe it was not there last night, and you just thought it was." WTF! I assured here that there was, infact, a matress on my bed the night before, I'd slept on it, and I would really love to sleep on it again that night. She came back with, "I'm sorry. We had other guests arrive this afternoon. They needed a matress, and we gave them yours. There is another bed in your room, so we did not think you would mind." Yes, there was another bed in my room that would be used by the other person sleeping in my room. We'd booked and were paying for a double room because there were definitely going to be two people staying in the room, and we wanted two beds.

After a little negotiation and an ultimatum, a matress was again placed on my bed. I slept fantastically well that night. Case closed.