Post #191821 by Formikahini on Tue, Oct 11, 2005 11:48 AM

Gee, Kanekila, I just can't imagine HOW y'all could have been tired - you only performed and hauled loaned gear EVERY DAY for us!! Thanks for perfect volume, perfect taste, and perfect attitudes. You really enhanced Hukilau in every way.

And huge mahalos to Kern and family, Pia and Tiing-A-Ling, Christie, and Chip and Andy for having us in your lovely homes.

My personal fave moments:

** Our greeting at Kern's door by his gracious children, all placing, um, lei's (sort of) 'round our necks.

** Seeing the photo album of his mom dancing in the seventies, posing with the tourists in their white pants, moustaches, sideburns, etc. What beautiful woman and what a wonderful son she raised, one who completely represents the aloha spirit.

** The rain dance at Pia's, who incidentally has obviously watched a number of Mai Kai shows, cuz that woman can SH-SHAKE it :o.

** Her umbrella dash to protect us as we reluctantly left her home to board the bus is forever etched in my memory. Too kind and too funny.

** The pulled pork ROCKED. As did the cellophane noodles. And the chicken. And the vegetables with the yummy dip.

** Winding our way through Christie's patio to find the always debonair Captain Jab awaiting us, then plopping that sunken pearl into our Sunken Pearl cocktail at The Sunken Pearl home bar. Do I detect a theme?

** I covet most every item in Christie's impeccably furnished home, so I'll just stop here before I turn green. But the Bamboo Ben shelves to display her mugs - WOW! And Tikivixen and I are both trying to figure out how to steal the couch and chair set.

** Chip and Andy's little pleasure-palace hut buy by the pool. OHHHhhhhhh. It was MADE for naps....and other stuff....

** The Esther Williams syncronized dive. I haven't laughed that much in a pool since Oasis II (the airborne pool-toy game after the Dive-In Movie). WHY didn't we FILM the damn thing?! (Probably because it felt a whole lot more graceful than I'm sure we looked!!).

** Maybe best of all, James T calling in a request from the back of the bus to King Kukulele. I can't even remember what the song was, but Casey was laughing so hard next to me - that "I WEPT"! The bus ride was maybe the best part of the the whole thing. The King was SO ON, Charles Phoenix did such a great job of impromptu narrating the strip malls we passed, and Crazy Al's "'Coconut Island' as Done by Charles Phoenix" was dead on.

Thank you Christie and JT (and Chip&Andy and Kern and Pia and Liz and Tikilicious) for all your hard work and organization. With the many many yummy cocktails, comfortable bus ride, gorgeous homes, PERFECT dinner, swimming party, and surprise super-cool souvenir glasses, I certainly got my money's worth. And made some swell new friends to boot.