‘Morning, everyone, and a very happy Aloha Monday to all! It’s the start of another week here in Hawai’i nei, and I hope all of you had a great weekend … I know I did!
Saturday was very bittersweet for me … it was a great day because ManoaDNA got to perform at the Punahou Alumni Luau and we got to see many of our former classmates, but it was also a very sad day because my buddy, Gary Kondo, passed away that morning from his brief but valiant fight with cancer. A lot of you don’t know this, but Gary was the main reason why ManoaDNA was created. Back in the summer of 2005, he and his partners had just opened a new restaurant in Ward Center called the E&O Trading Company and they wanted live music. Since I was performing with Cecilio Rodriguez at the time, Gary asked whether Cee & Company would be interested in playing there. Somehow things didn’t work out so he asked whether Nick, Alex, and I would want to do it. I was very surprised and hesitant since I had never really performed with my boys before, but the timing was perfect since both boys were home from college. I decided to leave the decision up to them . Of course they said yes, and the rest is history – ManoaDNA was born! We’re really going to miss you, brother Gary … “Hotel California” will never be the same …
Sunday was pretty mellow … we performed earlier in the day for a graduation party over at Ft. Shafter (congrats, Larissa!), before heading home to watch the Dallas Mavericks win Game 6 and the NBA championship. I just puttered around the house for the rest of the afternoon, then ended up ordering some take-out dinner from Asia Manoa … a great way to end another very relaxing day!
Aloha, “D”