Post #242728 by kingstiedye on Thu, Jul 13, 2006 1:52 PM

i just returned from 10 days in hawaii with my wife and daughter. i had the great fortune to have dinners with mike (gecko), his beautiful fiancee ailie and their good friend freddie at la mariana sailing club last monday and at mike and ailie's house last wednesday. their aloha spirit at these fabulous dinners were two of the biggest highlights of our trip. we got to honolulu on july 3. i called mike to let him know we were there. he immediately invited us to meet them at la mariana that night. i was thrilled! it's an amazing old school tiki restaurant and bar. annette was sitting at a table having dinner while the piano player played. we had a nice dinner and great conversation. we walked out onto the pier where a guy on a boat told us it was the last marina open to the public in honolulu. we could see yellow tangs swimming and the people on the boats were very friendly. on wednesday we were invited to mike and ailie's house. mike and ailie prepared a fantastic dinner of bbq'ed steaks with mike's mom's hot sauce, rice and gravy, corn, bbq'ed onion, green beans and cookies. freddie brought sashimi, spicy tuna, poki and a pastami like beef (i can't remember what it was called, but da buggah was ono!). a wonderful feast that really broke da mouf! i got to tour mike's studio where he does his magic. mike was very informative about how his mugs and bowls are made. i also marvelled at mike's extensive tiki collections. i had no idea he was such a serious collector. his items were beatifully displayed throughout their house. later we sang karaoke and had great conversation. freddie told us about antique shops, a swap meet and a thrift store we never would have known about. we almost bought out savers thrift store! he also had gifts of a coco joe's pipe holder and an unmarked lava menehune for me. i got to see "da bull" bowl mike made for me and acquire a few more one of a kind pieces. i also got the "pele in the volcano" bowl and mailed it home. it was here when i arrived yesterday. the amazing aloha spirit these three locals showed my haole ohana made this an unforgettable trip. mahalo mike, ailie and freddie!!

la mariana sailing club

mike and ailie sitting at the table where they became engaged.

my wife sandy, daughter bekie, mike, ailie and freddie enjoy an ono dinner.

me, showing off "da bull" (mike's nickname for me) with its creator in his living room.

freddie enjoying a cold one in mike's new marquesan mug.

here i am brutalizing radiohead's "creep".

ailie, freddie and bekie look on as sandy croons.

mike's don the beachcomber collection in one of his two rattan aquariums turned display cases.

mike with a new bowl he's working on in his studio.

where mike works his magic.

in mike's studio.

mike and me in his studio with his new maori canoe. shaka brah!

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2006-07-13 13:54 ]

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-08 12:22 ]