Aloha, everyone!
We just arrived back in Honolulu this morning after a relaxing overnight flight from Narita. I must’ve been really tired because I passed out before we took off and then woke up as the plane was descending into Honolulu. The airport and customs personnel that greeted us were very welcoming and professional, but I knew it was too good to be true when a pushy, CSS traffic a–hole hassled us while we were trying to load our luggage in the car. Trying to load a bunch of suitcases along with instruments isn’t easy, but this idiot must’ve wanted us to set a new speed record. Hey brah … brush up on your social skills (and English) or get another job – you’re an embarrassment to your company and to the State of Hawai’i!
Our last day in Tokyo was pretty uneventful … spent most of the day packing and then went to say goodbye to the HTJ staff over at their offices near our hotel. It was kinda sad since this is probably the last time that we’ll see most of the staff because HTJ was not awarded the new marketing contract from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority. Most of them will probably move on to other jobs so we want to send our fondest aloha and mahalo to Takashi Ichikura and his team for allowing ManoaDNA to proudly represent Hawai’i in Japan for the past 4+ years! We wish you the very best in your future endeavors!
Since we hadn’t flown out of Narita for a while, I immediately noticed that the shopping area had been upgraded with new vendors which even included a UNIQLO shop! Of course, we made a beeline for our favorite sushi restaurant and enjoyed some toro, ikura, amaebi, saba, and hamachi sushi, along with a couple of mugs of ice cold nama beeru before heading to our gate. Man, I’m really going to miss all the great food!
Anyway, we’re now home and it’s time to get ready for ManoaDNA’s next new adventure. But before I sign off, I want to once again thank all of our great ManoaDNA fans in Japan for their wonderful support and aloha – you guys are truly the best, and we look forward to seeing all of you again real soon!  Please take care!
Aloha, “D”