Hey guys … remember me?? Yups, it’s been a loooooong time since my last post … lots of stuff has happened since then. To start off, MDNA completed another very successful Japan tour earlier this month and announced to our fans that ‘IOLANI will be collaborating with Japan retailing giant UNIQLO on their 2014 Spring / Summer Collection – HUGE! While on tour we performed in the town of Onagawa in Miyagi prefecture which had been devastated by the 2011 tsunami, where I was so inspired by the amazing spirit of the people there. I am definitely looking forward to going back again next year! Let’s see .. what else … oh yeah, the food was awesome as always although we didn’t get a chance to eat at a katsu restaurant this time. We did eat okonomiyaki in Hiroshima after our concert and finally had ramen on our last day in cold Sapporo. Speaking of cold, Sapporo was FREEZING! I even went and bought new gloves and ear muffs because it was so cold … such a contrast to the vog and humidity that hit us when we landed in Honolulu the next morning .. ugh! Jet lag was a killer … took me over a week to finally get back to normal. When you add in the fact that we were gone during Thanksgiving and that Christmas was a week earlier, it’s amazing that I can still remember what planet I’m on! By the way .. what year is it???
So New Years is a couple of days away … it’ll be “Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!” This has truly been a year of emotions for me - there were some definite high moments, but losing my mom pretty much wiped them out. I had never experienced such sadness before .. it’s awful, especially now during the holidays which she always enjoyed with us. She always made kinako mochi for us on New Year’s Day, so I’m going to get some fresh mochi on Tuesday so we can carry on the tradition …
It’s also great that we’re taking a couple of weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s to rest and re-energize … a well-deserved break after such a busy, volatile year. Although MDNA is scheduled to perform on New Years Eve over at the Sheraton Waikiki, that’s it for us – we need to be rested and healthy for 2014!
Finally, if I don’t get a chance to blog you in the next couple of days, have a safe and happy New Year and see you all in 2014!!
Aloha, “D”