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Arrived in Fukuoka!

dad — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:30:04 +0000

Aloha, everyone! We arrived in Fukuoka a couple of hours ago and have already tried their delicious ramen – it was awesome. Plus, you could get extra portions of noodles at 25 yen a pop! We ate so much that now we had to come back to the hotel to take a nap! We’re right in the middle of all the action – shopping, dining, entertainment … you name it! They’ve got a lot of cool little boutiques that you could spend hours shopping in!

The past two weeks in Tokyo and Yokohama went by so quickly … I’m already missing all of our friends & fans! Thank you for making us feel so welcome and for sharing our music & aloha with your friends! Our final stage in Aoyama was AWESOME … it was definitely one of our finest performances and the audience was wonderful! If you missed our live stage, I hope you will come to see us the next time we’re in Japan!

Take care, “D”

Thunderstorms in Tokyo!

dad — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:10:41 +0000

Good morning! There was thunder, lightning, and rain last night here in Tokyo but it really didn’t cool things down … just more humid! I had lunch with my good friend, Kazuyo, at a great tempura restaurant near the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. We’ve had dinner there with Kazuyo and her family several times before, and the fresh tempura bar is UNREAL! For dinner Mark & I went to eat at the katsu place across the street from our hotel and I ordered their jumbo katsu-don dish (pork cutlet w/ egg & vegetables over rice). It was ok, although a little too salty for my taste … but it doesn’t even compare to the quality of the tonkatsu which we eat at Katsu-kura and Meisen restaurants – our favorites!

I’ve found a new favorite snack here in Japan … Cheeza snack crackers! They come in Cheddar, Camembert, and Gorgonzola (my favorite) flavors and they’re AWESOME!! You can find them in any market or convenience store here in Japan, but they only come in small, snack-size packages. I bought about 10 packs already and will probably get another 10-20 more to bring home, although I’m having trouble finding the Gorgonzola flavor. If you like Pepperidge Farm’s Goldfish, you’ll LOVE Cheeza!

We have a meeting this afternoon before we head on over to Eats & Meets Cay in Aoyama for our final performance here in Tokyo. Tomorrow we have a couple of more radio interviews and then we’re heading over to Alex’s favorite restaurant, YAMA-CHAN! Then it’s on to Fukuoka for the final leg of our summer tour … sigh! Although I’ve complained a lot about the heat & humidity here, Japan is still an amazing and wonderful place! Our fans are THE BEST, and the food, beer (naturally!) and service are second to none!

Aloha, “D”

Quiet Monday in Tokyo!

dad — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:42:58 +0000

Konnichi wa, everybody! I had a nice leisurely day today .. the boys went sightseeing to Mt. Fuji so I cruised around Tamachi for awhile and then had lunch with our good friend, Kazuyo, at my favorite tempura restaurant near the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. I had a delicious chirashi dish (assorted sashimi on rice) along with some miso soup and tsukemono. I decided to walk back to our hotel – big mistake! It only took about a half hour, but in this heat it seemed like forever! By the time I got back, I was soaked in sweat and had to change all my clothes! But I did find a great tonkatsu restaurant and beer garden across the street from our hotel, though!

Lea brought over some fresh peaches and mochi (sorry … can’t remember from where) and they were ONO!! I can’t get over how fresh and sweet all the fruits are here in Japan … much better than the tasteless, overpriced stuff we find in our markets back home. I just don’t get it …..

Aloha, “D”

Air conditioning works!

dad — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:10:08 +0000

Aloha, everyone! We moved to another hotel today and I am happy to say that both the air conditioning and the internet access are working flawlessly! It was another hot day here in Tokyo and we spent most it in our rooms since it was too hot to walk around. We ate ramen near our hotel and checked out the area, but it was pretty quiet since it’s Sunday. We’re going to Vance K’s CD release party at Millions Deli in Yokohama tonight, so it should be pretty fun. Tomorrow, Ann is taking the boys to Mt. Fuji to sightsee for the day while I hang around here in town. I might go do some shopping and also meet my friend Kazuyo who has a store near by in Shinagawa.

One thing we noticed right away was that things get more expensive as you move closer to the city. You’re much closer to all the action, but you’re gonna pay for it!

Aloha, “D”

Just cruisin’ today ….

dad — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:41:37 +0000

Good morning, everyone! It’s day #10 here in Japan and the heat and humidity still sucks … I’ve been taking a couple of showers a day and drinking a ton of water and sports drinks so I don’t get dehydrated. Today we’re just cruising .. we’ve been on the go since we landed in Japan last week so it’s nice to have a couple of days of doing nothing. I have to do laundry this morning and catch up on my emails, and then we’ll probably head in to Ginza to eat & shop later today.

Disney Sea was a blast yesterday! We saw a couple of short performances in the Indiana Jones’ and Little Mermaid sections and I was totally blown away! The shows were awesome – just the Cirque du Soleil shows you see in Las Vegas except on s smaller scale! I was amazed at how sophisticated these little productions have become … boy. Disney has sure changed from when I was a kid!

Aloha, “D”

Great day!

dad — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:13:24 +0000

Good evening everyone! it’s Friday here in Japan, and we spent our day-off at Disney Sea here in Tokyo. Although it was hotter than hell, we still had a great time with the some of the cool rides and shows. Afterward, we went with Vance K to eat sushi at this place near the Yokohama station and it was awesome and really cheap! They had maguro sushi for $.50 a piece and it was some of the best I’ve ever had! The hamachi and ikura (salmon roe) were also excellent as was the hotate (scallop). Thanks, Vance, for introducing us to that restaurant!

Last night, we had a very nice izakaya dinner at a restaurant called “Kawakami-An”! Yup .. we actually ate at a restaurant with our name! The food, beer, and sake were all quite good, and it was nice to spend time with Kawasaki-san and his staff. Mahalo, Makoto!

Ok .. it’s almost 12:30am and I’m beat. Talk to you tomorrow …

Aloha, “D”

Awesome night!

dad — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:48:17 +0000

Wow .. ManoaDNA rocked the house last night at Thumbs Up in Yokohama! It was a fun-filled evening of music, hula, and plenty of aloha! This was the first performance in Japan where I felt like we were back home at Lulu’s or Kani Ka Pila … just making music and having a great time with the crowd. Big mahalo to Vance K for sitting in with us on uke … see you Sunday at your CD release party, brah! Also want to send mahalos out to Hiroyuki for the awesome pizza and omiyage, to Mika & Miki for all their help, to Noriko for my birthday present, to Shino for the pictures, to Aiko for the ice “spray”, and to all the rest of you who brought such kindness and aloha to me and my sons! And of course, I can’t forget our “ohana” – Akio, Eriko, and the Lei Hale gang, the Taguchis, the HTJ gals, Masako, Mari, Tomomi, Noe, Shino, Chinami, Yuriko, Junji, Etsuko, Keiko, Yuka, Yumi, Maki, Yuko, Chie, Arare, Sachiko, Eri, Hiromi, Aoka .. and the list goes on and on …

MAHALO, everyone, for your wonderful support and aloha! We love you guys!!!

We have a few days off so we’re going to try and play “tourist” for the first time! It should be a lot of fun, although I’m not sure how long I can last in this heat!

Aloha, “D”

Thumbs Up! tonight ….

dad — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:30:59 +0000

Aloha, peeps! We had a great time at the Hawaiian Breeze event at Moon Romantic in Aoyama last night. We performed with Churamana and the Vance K band in front of a packed house and our friend, fellow local boy Zanuck Lindsey, even dropped by to say hi. I’m always impressed by how well the Japanese do their sound no matter what size venue, and last night was no exception. Moon Romantic is not a large venue, but they have great stage sound and lighting ,,, even a smoke machine!

Meanwhile, the heat’s still on! It’s so hot here in Tokyo that it’s very difficult to walk a few blocks – and walking is one of the things that I love to do in Japan. We were constantly ducking into air-conditioned stores along the way to try and cool off, but the heat just drains all the energy from you.

Our little hotel is located right next to the subway station so the boys and I took the subway to Gotanda to have lunch at our beloved MOS Burger! Yummm! I could eat there every day (especially since it’s air conditioned!). I also tried these potato chips which were seasoned with habanero chilis – big mistake! These chips were so hot, they were the only things hotter than the weather!

We have an interview with Konishiki today before heading on over to Yokohama and Thumbs Up!. See you guys there … mata, ne?

Aloha, “D”

I’m hot!

dad — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:45:44 +0000

It’s 4:30am and the air conditioning in my room is not working so well. Ir’s on high but barely keeping the room cool … not good in all this heat! We went to Chinatown in Yokohama last night to have dinner with our dear friends, the Taguchis, and they took us to the great Chinese restaurant that we ate at the first time we came to Yokohama. Their shark fin soup is out of this world and the kau yuk pork and walnut shrimp was also pretty awesome! Mahalo, Taguchis!

I tell you, this heat is killing us. It really wears you down both physically and mentally and I have to make sure we stay focused and sharp for our performances and interviews. Oh, and by the way, the internet at our hotel restricts access to Facebook and Twitter, so we apologize if you don’t see the usual updates and photos. I will try to resolve this as soon as I can.

We’ll be at Moon Romantic tonight at 8am in Aoyama, so I hope to see you there!

Aloha, “D”

Back in Tokyo!

dad — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:55:36 +0000

We just checked in to our Tokyo hotel and it’s kind of tiny … The door to my room is only 6ft. high so Nick & Alex will have to duck every time they enter! it’s ok, though, since we won’t be spending too much time in them (I hope!). And it’s probably hotter here than in Yokohama since we’re not by the ocean anymore ….

We went to a great udon restaurant in Gotanda – I can’t recall the name, but it’s part of a large chain. After you order a small or large size bowl of udon noodles, you can then pick whatever toppings you want and also choose from an assortment of tempura. I had the curry udon and it was great, but now I’m full and very sleepy! Plus, we’re meeting our friends, the Taguchis, in Yokohama’s Chinatown for dinner in a couple of hours! I’ll let you know how our first night goes here in our new location …

Hope to see you guys tomorrow or Wednesday!

Aloha, “D”