Craig and Mizue’s Waikiki Wedding
Posted At: Tue 24 Jun 2008	Posted By: Derek Nobuyuki信幸 Wallace
Categories:music , life , Video , Video Blogging Podcasting

 Pre-Wedding Video Memories - First Cut [10:25m]: Play Now

Oh May 31st, I boarded a plane at kankuu (髢｢隘ｿ蝗ｽ髫帷ｩｺ貂ｯ) bound for honolulu…

Around the same time, Craig and Mizue also boarded a plane from Narita bound for honolulu.

Furthermore, Mizue’s mother, father, brother, and grandfather also boarded a plane bound for honolulu.

Moreover, Craig’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law also had, about a week before, flown to maui and would soon be bound for honolulu.

Why is honolulu so popular? Especially in Japan?

Well… the obvious reason in this case, is Craig and Mizue’s wedding.

For all those people all over the world who know Craig and Mizue and want to see their wedding,
I’ve put up a wedding website here: http://wedding.craigatkinson.org.

It was really great to spend time with my best friend, colleague, and partner in crime business –Craig– in a very relaxed environment.

Now, some may ask: Was it nice to get away from Japan for a bit of a change?
And while the climate was certainly better than Japan, most of the time I had to speak Japanese while in Hawai’i.

[Bad Tour Company Tangent]
I had booked my hotel/flight package from a big tour company in Japan, Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT!) which was a nightmare.
I strongly recommend against this sorry excuse for a company (remember if it is true, it’s not libel!)
These people messed things up SO many times; they never bother to even read their own notes, nor anything we wrote to them;
they are extremely rude on the telephone (those who think Japan has excellent customer service would have a heart-attack dealing with this company);
They don’t have anyone responsible for anything so nobody cares about client care (they are not tanto for a case); however, the WORST (#$%&ing saite kaisha!)
is that they messed up my name even though we clearly wrote it FIRST NAME: ________ MIDDLE NAMES: ____________ LAST NAME/FAMILY NAME:____________ etc…
As I’m sure you know, names MUST match your passport!! and they couldn’t even get that right. Consequently (keeping in mind I was entering the United States!), I had about 3 or extra security checks at the Kansai Airport, could not use the express check-in machines at all, had 7or 8 extra security checks in honolulu, had to go through the much longer thorough inspection from the TSA, then even more security checks back in Japan again.

However, I have to say that in Hawai’i the United States Customs and Immigration Officers, and the Transport Security Administration (TSA) Officers were all very very friendly, kind, and helpful. Plus the TSA had some funky machine where they kinda swab your bags and shoes and then put it in some sort of analyzing machine… interesting.. but i have no idea what they are analyzing.

In the end, my only beef is with the Japanese Kinki Nippon Tourist (FYI: Kinki霑醍柄 is the name of the region I live in… similar to Kansai髢｢隘ｿ however, KNT is a nation-wide company).
The KNT staff in Hawai’i were usually extremely friendly, kind, etc.. but couldn’t necessarily speak English… so it was still good practice for my Japanese language skills.

[Back to the Wedding]

When I arrived, they gave us the opportunity to have a picture taken with a kumo… however, since my family has a polynesian dance studio, i wasn’t interested in some random picture with a polynesian dancer like a tourist might be.

They took us to the DFS Galleria (super Duty Free Store in Waikiki) where they have an office/resource centre.
Here, they gave us some information packages, showed us a slideshow of interesting tours they offer as they tried to upsell us.
Personally, I think this kind of upsell, is a great thing for Japanese tourists; they offer a LOT of language support,
and tours that people would really enjoy while in the comfort of their native Japanese language.

The first chance I got, I escaped the show, and proceeded to talk to the friendly staff (縺ｧ繧ゅ�∵律譛ｬ隱槭〒�ｼ�
While my japanese is not that great, I managed to communicate with them alright.

Checking my phone, it was getting close to my pre-appointed meeting time with Craig…
So, I took the trolley over to meet craig.

We were to meet in the Prince Hotel which was close to my Hotel.
So, I found my hotel, them proceeded to Prince Hotel

Walking over there, I stopped to wait for a light when Craig suddenly appears beside me!
He stopped at an ABC (繧ｳ繝ｳ繝薙↓) or something and saw me!

We then headed over the the infamous (at least in Japan) Ala Moana Shopping Centre.
Now, I’ve seen some big food courts before, but the Ala Moana food court was HUGE!! and very american, except for it’s wide selection of asian-ish foods

We had a lot of great food in Hawai’i

Went to a lot of places like the Dole Plantation

Did a lot of relaxing and chilling… chillaxing, if you will

And of course, the wedding!!

Check out the wedding website and there you will find a link where you can leave wedding messages and check out Photos and Videos from the time in Hawai’i

Check it out: http://wedding.craigatkinson.org.

At the beginning of this post you will find my wedding pre-video to recap some of the memories that brought us to this point where we can celebrate the wedding of Craig and Mizue.

Watch the video in Flash Video here: http://media.derekwallace.com/2008/200806-Hawaii/CraigMizueWedding.flv.php
Watch the video in MP4 iPod-Ready here: http://media.derekwallace.com/2008/200806-Hawaii/CMWedding-ipod.mp4.php

Music for the Video is courtesy of the PodSafe Music Network
Wintersleep - Drunk on Aluminum

Nada Surf - Here goes something

Glen Hansard - Falling Slowly

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am
Check out the above bands for more information about them on the PodSafe Music Network.