Post #634492 by ikitnrev on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 8:17 PM

This year was my 9th year of attendance at Hukilau, and I found myself enjoying this year's event more than I had expected to. I had just done a dream trip to the Marquesan Islands this past December, and I wasn't sure on whether I would enjoy yet another Hukilau so soon after that South Pacific trip. But with my birthday falling on Hukilau weekend, I realized that there was no place I wanted to celebrate other than the Mai Kai, and be with friends who would be there.

Having attended eight previous Hukilaus, I've met and remet many friends over the years. Many of them, for whatever reasons, could not or chose not to attend this year - and this includes friends from the D.C. area, friends from Florida, friends from Texas, friends from California, and friends from Chicago, Ohio, and numerous other locations. I missed you guys, and hopefully our paths will cross again, sooner rather than later.

But it was wonderful, as it is every year, to meet new people, to sense their enthusiasm at discovering the Hukilau event. And it was good to hug and talk to people I have not seen in several years, to say things that have more meaning when spoken face-to-face than via some text message over a computer screen.

I did something this year that I had not done before. Usually for the Saturday night Mai Kai dinner, I prearrange to be seated with friends. But this year, I thought to myself 'I want to do a Mystery seat assignment', so I went to the maitre-d and said 'a party of one' and was the initial person seated at a table.

I ordered a Test Pilot, and waited to see who would be seated with me - first it was another friend from Colorado, then a group of four from Canada that I had met two days ago, and finally it was a couple from Key West I had never met before. (I told the woman that I had been hoping that a beautiful woman would be seated next to me for my birthday, and that the wish had just come true - I received a nice birthday kiss in return for that comment!) It was a completely wonderful dining experience, with companions provided via tiki roulette style. And I felt that if I was seated at some other table, with other people, that it would also be a wonderful dining event. And that is kind of what Hukilau, and what I believe most other tiki events - even the ones I've never attended - is like. If you allow it to happen, and leave yourself open to possibilities, then good things will happen.

So thanks to all the organizers, vendors, and participants of Hukilau, for creating an environment where good things happened. The ambiance of the Thursday night Best Western event was wonderful, the free drinks offered by PKNY and Lani Kai were amazingly good (I need to make a return trip to NYC soon), and I did enjoy that each evening was capped off by a shuttle ride to the Mai Kai.

I regret that there were a few friends I was not able to spend as much time talking to as I would have liked - that seems to happen with every Hukilau. And I regret that my body is a bit older, and doesn't have the stamina to seek out late-night parties like I used to.

But I am glad I chose to attend this year.

Vern