Hong Kong's newest resident, a 54-foot inflatable yellow rubber duckie, went from bobbing happily in the harbor on May 14 to floating helplessly deflated on May 15, having lost its wind overnight, according to news reports.

Was it fowl play?

City officials called a duck crisis meeting. A tweet from the official Harbour City association reassured Hong Kongers that "the Rubber Duck needs to freshen up. Stay tuned for its return."

However, organizers later said it was planned deflation.

The duck, a creation of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, arrived in Hong Kong on May 2 as part of a global journey to bring a message of peace and harmony, according to the artist.

When it is reinflated, it will be be on display until June 9 before it moves on to its next port of call.

Previous temporary residences include Osaka, Japan; Sydney; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Auckland, New Zealand; and Amsterdam.

The duckie has not always enjoyed clear sailing. During a port call in Brussels in 2009, it was stabbed 42 times by a vandal.

— Gay Nagle Myers
 

Rich Manhattan moms have hired disabled people to pose as family members, so they can avoid long lines at Disney parks, reports the New York Post.

The Post notes that Disney “allows each guest who needs a wheelchair or motorized scooter to bring up to six guests to a ‘more convenient entrance.’”

The wheelchair scam is reportedly a lot cheaper than buying Disney’s VIP passes. Hiring a disabled “guide” costs $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day, while Disney offers a VIP guide and fast passes for $310 to $380 per hour, reports the Post.

Long layover? Missed connection? Need some shuteye?

Tired travelers at Abu Dhabi's airport now have an option other than hunkering down on the terminal floor or stretching out on an unforgiving chair at the gate.

They can crawl into and curl up in a cocoon-like, private pod in the midst of the hubbub of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

The airport recently installed 10 Finnish-designed "GoSleep" pods — chairs that convert into flat beds with sliding shades that fully enclose slumbering travelers inside and isolate them from noise, light and curious fellow travelers.

Travelers can rent the pods for approximately $12 an hour using a credit card.
Another 35 pods are on order.

Still in the launch phase, the chairs soon will be upgraded with Internet access, secure storage for luggage and charging stations for electronic devices.

Abu Dhabi is the first airport in the world to install the pods. The introduction "is another step towards exceeding customers' expectations and delivering world-class levels of service," according to Mohammed Al Bulooki, chief commercial officer of Abu Dhabi Airports Co.

All that's missing is an alarm clock.

— Gay Nagle Myers

Little Rock, Ark., gained a Marriott on Wednesday but lost one of its star attractions with the conversion of the property from the former Peabody Hotel, known for its signature ducks.

The Peabody in Little Rock, modeled after its namesake in Memphis, had featured the twice-daily red carpet march of the ducks through its lobby and into its fountain since 2002.

The ducks have retired to a farm in Scott, 20 miles from Little Rock.

Not to worry. The quacky rituals continue on at Peabody hotels in Memphis, where it all started more than 60 years ago, and in Orlando.

In 1932, Frank Schutt, then general manager of the Peabody in Memphis, and a friend returned from a hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had imbibed a bit too much of Jack Daniels Tennessee sippin' whiskey and thought it a great idea to plop some of their live duck decoys in the hotel's lobby fountain.

Three small English ducks were selected. The response was immediate and enthusiastic. The original three were later replaced with five North American mallard ducks.

In 1940, bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus trainer, offered to help deliver the ducks each day to the marble fountain. He taught his charges the now-famous Peabody Duck March and served as the official Peabody duck master until he retired in 1991.

The Peabody ducks (one male, four females) march at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily at the Memphis and Orlando hotels, spend a few minutes splishing and splashing before returning to their royal duck palaces on the hotels' rooftops.

Each team of five mallards lives in the hotels for three months before being retired from their Peabody duties and returned to duck farms to live out the remainder of their days.

Duck is not served in any of the Peabody restaurants.

— Gay Nagle Myers

Add mile-high flirting to the in-flight entertainment options now available on Virgin America, thanks to a cheeky new seat-to-seat ordering system, the brainchild of founder Richard Branson.

  

Without corralling a Virgin America flight attendant to act as a go-between, a passenger can order a cocktail, a snack or a meal, pay by credit card and have the treat delivered to a fellow traveler somewhere on the plane, thanks to Red, the airline's touch-screen entertainment system on the back of the headrests.

If that approach seems to go well, both passengers can then chat (text) using the seat-to-seat feature on Red, the airline's equivalent of Match.com.

What happens once the plane lands is off Red's radar.

— Gay Nagle Myers