Aloha, everyone! It’s Tuesday, May 24th, and another gorgeous but breezy morning here in Manoa! Got a busy day lined up … four meetings and some pau hana with my old friend, Roy Sakuma. Roy and I have been friends a long time … he was Alex’s ukulele teacher and mentor for many years and later became ManoaDNA’s manager when the group first started. I don’t get to see Roy too much these days but the boys and I still have a lot of aloha for him and his wife, Kathy. By the way, the annual Ukulele Festival which was started by Roy & Kathy over 40 years ago will take place on Sunday, July 17th, down at Kapiolani Park. It’s a great event and it’s free – so don’t miss it!
We gathered with some friends at Tsukuneya last night for some pau hana and the food was great as usual. I think this restaurant is originally from Nagoya which is famous for its tsukune (ground chicken on skewers w/ various sauces) which is grilled robata style. Nagoya will be one of our stops when we return to Japan in July, so please check our website schedule for the time and place of our performances.
Photo corner: Here are some shots from our recent trip to Hiroshima – with our Nomi relatives at the train station before we left for Fukuoka, Alex with a “friend” outside our hotel during the Flower Festival, and a shot of us during sound check at the Phoenix Hall. Ahhhh … such great memories!
Aloha, “D”
