Post #61859 by pablus on Mon, Nov 24, 2003 11:17 AM

I strolled into a place called Cha Cha's in the trendy, strip-mall-filled corrider of south Knoxville. Seated at the corner of the bar was a dapper young man wearing a vintage Hawaiian shirt and a pristine and glamorous looking lady cradling a smallish 60s era purse.

It's Swanky and Tiki Kiliki.

I had been traveling for a few days now and had mixed work with pleasure up to this point... but now the work was over. It was time for that other thing.

Immediately, I'm presented with some gifts from the last Hukilau and a few CDs with Hawaiiana/Exotica music on them.
Very tasty. These people are nothing but first class... as their events and website and presentations make clear.

Throughout the evening, between the tapas plates and adequate drinks, we discuss many things that revolve around the Hukilau and the Mai Kai. I'm not going to discuss any of the plans but they sound fantastic and 2004 promises to be even more of an event than 2003... which this ignorant sap missed.

Kiliki's tatoo is a wonderful piece of artwork.

Our conversation and laughter were punctuated with moments of reflecting on our being hooked up through TC and we agreed that Hanford should be immortalized in Tiki form.

All in all a great pleasure and friendships made that I hope to continue to cultivate for many years to come.

Also, Swanky turned me on to a liquor store that had some exotic rums and the difficult to obtain (in Tampa) Licor 43. I just put them on the shelf for the next Tiki-time, which will be this evening or whenever I can get home.

Mahalo, Swanky and Tiki Kiliki...
You're welcome at my hut anytime.

Well, so far I've met 3 people from TC and all were astute and sincere. Exactly as I expected. This place is a blast.