‘Morning, all!
So now it’s windy and rainy … even a bit cool! What’s with this weather lately?! Not that I’m complaining, of course, because I’ll take cool and rainy over hot and humid any day!
So how’s your week going so far? It’s been a pretty uneventful one for both ManoaDNA and IOLANI, but it’ll start picking up again next week … kinda like the calm before the storm.  One of our goals is to release a new CD later this year, so I’m hoping we’ll have the time to work on it this summer. But Alex just finished a commercial demo for Japan which we’re hoping to begin recording next month, so the schedule’s already starting to fill up. By the way, Alex will be performing solo with Mark & Seann this week at Lulu’s so go check him out. Very nice sound with a totally different vibe from MDNA.
Last night we had a meeting at Tokkuri-tei restaurant with our pal, Reiko. It’s a great place for izakaya-style dining with great sushi and assorted appetizer dishes. My favorite dish there is the maguro (tuna) sashimi mixed with natto (fermented soybeans) – yum! You either love natto or hate it – there’s no in-between. Nick and I love the stuff, Alex and Mark can’t stand it … in fact, they sit as far away from us whenever we’re eating it! hahaha! I didn’t have any nama beeru (draft beer) last night, though, because I had a bit too much the night before … which leads me to another good place to eat. Located on the top floor in Shirokiya at the Ala Moana Center is a food court called Yataimura, which has a happy hour that runs from 5:30pm to 10pm. It’s absolutely the best deal in town – large mugs of beer for a buck, pitchers for $8, and lots of food vendors selling all kinds of delicious pupu. $20 goes a long way at this joint, which is indeed a rarity these days!
My mainland cousin was in town with her kids last week, and while watching us perform at Lulu’s her daughter Zoe observed that I had “happy krinkles” around my eyes! I later asked whether that was a good thing, and was told that yes, it was, because they weren’t “stress frowns”! To quote the late entertainer, Art Linkletter, “Kids say the darndest things!”  Amen.
Aloha, “D”