Dem nuh ready!

 I have now added frontier airlines to my list of undesirable Airlines that I will never use again.

Number 1 6, (American), number 2 Air Europa, (Spanish) and now Frontier (American).

The first leg of my flight to Colorado for Christmas was, FLL to Cleveland and it was a small airplane with tiny seats that  could not be adjusted, back straight up. Luckily I had paid $20 extra to get a seat in the emergency exit row, so luckily it had leg room.

But can you believe we couldn't even get a cup of water unless we bought it! 

That flight was over 2 hours long.

Denver airport has a kind of magical look to it.

Loved the sunset coming into Denver.

The connection in Cleveland was smooth and this time it was on to a large Airbus for the next flight which was scheduled to take more than 3 hours.

The seats on the aircraft were bigger and softer but like on the smaller plane, they were non-adjustable.  

I again paid extra for better leg room at an exit row.

On a three hour flight, not even a drink of coffee or a soda unless you bought it. I requested water and got a cup and expected to be asked to pay and nearly died from shock when told there was no cost!😁. 

The flight was smooth however. That is after we had to de-ice after taxiing in Cleveland, for it snowed as we waited for permission to take off.

Because of de-icing we reached Denver about an hour late. (Not complaining.) But would you believe that when my daughter who was picking me up, checked Frontier's web page, it showed the plane had landed early although it was a whole hour late because of the the de-icing!!!!

Then there was the baggage madness!

We patiently waited and waited at carousel 7 where the board showed the 3 or 4 frontier flights that came in, would be unloaded.

Then a lady touched me saying she recognized me from her flight and she had gotten her luggage at carousel 8!

We headed there and that's where my bag came out.

That capped it for me. No more Frontier.

No sah, Dem nuh ready.

Missing the sunset

 Mr. Haton, my tuk tuk driver in Anuradhapura, took me to the Abayawewa Resevoir to view the sunset.

 Unfortunately it was heavily overcast, so there was no sun to set! 

That's not a bad thing though, for since I came to Sri Lanka it has rained every day except today. So just overcast was good.

The government here has wisely built numerous reservoirs to harvest the rainfall, so they have no water lock offs here. (Can Jamaican politicians learn from them? I doubt it😡)

Besides with the amount of rice they eat here they have to grow lots of rice so water is always needed.

From this reservoir you can see all the major temples so people come here to meditate, enjoy the scenery or simply exercise, as there is a nice trail built beside the bank.

With no sunset to view, we went to Isumurini Raja Temple.

All the temples are more or less the same, with  passionate devotees, lots of shrines and the sweet smell of incense burning and the flowers and blooms the devotees bring ng to their prophet.

                 Abayawewa resovoir.

I don't think you can go anywhere in the Anuradhapura and not see an imposing statue of Lord Buddha so here he is right beside a meditation center across from Abayawewa reservoir.

Light from the incense rooms. Naturally, you see these better at night. 

Missed the sunset but enjoyed the beauty and fabulous art in and around another temple in Anuradhapura.

Polynesian Culture

 If a Hawaiian tells you he/she does not eat pineapple, it's because it's usually because the person still associates it with the evils of colonialism. For can you believe that Dole, the company that basically symbolizes pineapples, was one of  13 American companies led by Caucasians, which organized the coup against the Hawaiian Royal Family  led by Queen Liliuokalani, in 1893. 

And can you believe that once the Americans colonized the island, for over a hundred years, the teaching or practicing of Hawaiian Culture and language were not allowed!

I missed my trip to the Polynesian Cultural Village today  (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-maximum-disappointment.html?m=1) and took a Hawaiian cultural cruise instead. 

Thankfully, we learnt a lot about Polynesian culture there.

This was aboard the Kamoauli, a catamaran on which interesting, educational excursions are held to teach young people about their culture. 

On board, they explain and demonstrate cultural traditions, poi pounding, food preparation, their musical instruments, teach you the hula, how to make the lei and go in depth about the real meaning and origin of the now touristy word, aloha.

Really good stuff and enjoyable too. We even  saw Diamond Head crater from a different angle and caught a beautiful sunset on the way back.

The Kamoauli

A typical Hawaiian dish

When we got back to shore, we took in a fireworks display on Wakaki beach which hotels put on to draw visitors to see craft items made by local people.

The household staff at the Hilton Hawaiian hotel has been on strike for weeks and some attended the fireworks event  with their bullhorns,  to draw attention to their cause.

Hope had an impact.

These chopsticks not for me😬

                        Michelle made me a lei.❤️