Wow … we arrived back in Hawaii yesterday, and boy am I exhausted! The flight from Osaka was quite comfortable since we each had our own row of seats and were able to catch a few hours of restless sleep …
The last two weeks were filled with hard work, good fun, and great food and camaraderie. A big mahalo to musicians Sonny, Kamuela, and Ryan, along with dancers Jackie, Malu, Jimbo, and Ashley for making this trip a blast! Sonny guys are great musicians, and we had some awesome jam sessions, especially the one at the Hiroshima Hawaiian Club dinner! But their best “performance” was during the final set at the Osaka Hawaii Festival - we were supposed to stay on stage after our final song and then everyone was supposed to come out and sing “Hawai’i Aloha”. Well, when Miss Hawaii (Ashley Layfield) was introduced, out came Kamuela blowing a conch followed by Sonny dressed up as Miss Hawaii!! Talk about hilarious! For a moment, the audience (including yours truly) looked stunned & confused then burst out laughing and clapping … I sure hope somebody got photos of this one!
We really enjoyed the audiences in Japan … they were so appreciative and many came to several of our performances. I hope that many of them will eventually come to Hawaii to see us and the other Hawaii musicians & entertainers. My only complaint (besides that rude bellman at the Osaka Nikko Hotel) is that everything is sooo expensive because of the weak dollar. We ate a lot of ramen and katsu, which were cheap, plentiful, and very, very ono … and oh yeah, lots of Japanese “beeru” and chu-hai! While in Tokyo, Alex even found his beloved Yama-chan restaurant which served their signature fried chicken wings - so good!
Yesterday morning, the Manoa DNA troops woke early for another video shoot! This time it was for XTERRA Planet’s Eco-Adventure TV series, and featured us-truly in our element: the water. We met early at Outrigger Canoe Club, got setup with 3 fine boats lent to us by some great members, and were in the cold water by 9am. The weather wasn’t too great, and it just so happened that there was head-high surf that day, so we decided to stay in the bay and get the shots we needed there.
Dad checking his boat before heading out into the water.
Then it was off to our house where we were individually interviewed and live recorded “White Birds” and “Down in Paradise.” The whole day was a great success and even though it wasn’t the typical, sunny, Hawaiian weather, we made it work and I think it will come out great. Thanks to the whole XTERRA Planet film and crew, and the guys down at Outrigger Canoe Club for hookin’ us up with some nice boats.
I will let you all know when and where you can catch the show as soon as we find out!
We have just finished a whirlwind tour of the mainland, hitting Portland & Boulder lu’aus. Here’s a slight recap of the action:
First it was over to Portland, Oregon for the University of Portland (WOOT! GO PILOTS!) Hawaii Club’s Annual Lu’au celebration. Being an alum of this school and club, it was my immense pleasure to venture to the rose city for another performance at this great annual event. Let’s not forget, your’s truly got his start at this fine institution. Anyway, we performed for the crowd of about 700 for an hour before the show, and then accompanied the dancers on their journey through the islands. Guests were privileged to some Hawaiian-home cookin’ starring kalua pig, lomi salmon, and the whole gang! They also featured a couple of boys from Portland State who wowed the crowed with a fire-knife dance. All-in-all, a great show. Thanks to Emi, Kristi, Christine, and the whole Hawaii Club for their hospitality!
2008 UP Hawaii Club Lu’au “One Love”
Then it was off to Boulder for the University of Colorado’s Hawaiian Lu’au. Talk about a whirlwind trip; we left Friday night on the red-eye to Los Angeles, and by the time we arrived in Colorado, we barely had enough time for a little nap and it was off to rehearsal. 48 hours and one completed lu’au later, it was back on a plane heading for home. Our liaison, Pua, treated us great and put on a great lu’au for family and friends. Thanks to the whole Colorado crew, especially Pua, Tyler, Reid and Amanda for being our surrogate chauffeurs.
Alex posing with the beautiful lady dancers of the University of Colorado
In other news, Japan is on the horizon, and that means that we will have details up about our two-week excursion to the land of the rising sun! Stay tuned.
