They blew into town last Wednesday and will be leaving this coming Wednesday. I caught up with them on Thursday evening. We all sat in their hotel room reminiscing about old times. I am the oldest and then comes Rocky, Sandra (she never comes....hates to travel), Stacey, Stan and Paul. Rocky's husband, Kimo, is like the patriarch of the family and what a guy. He is loving, giving, caring and super funny! Stacey's son Kea is here too. Mana, Rocky's son, is a local here just like me.
Well on Friday night after I got off work, all of us met at the M Hotel for their fabulous seafood buffet and free booze dinner. We were a party of 20 people....what an experience. Since I arrived early, I alerted the cashier that we were a huge party. Paul came next and he had the job to corral everyone off of the slot machines and table games. Thank god for cell phones! Everyone started trickling in. Kimo took charge and made an executive decision for Paul to put the dinner on his credit card. Paul looked astonished, but bless his heart he "stepped up to the plate." Kimo then handed him all the cash and tip he collected from everyone.
Local style, we always hug and kiss each other. Now granted, the group was so huge because their friends from Hawaii joined us. The buffet staff members that are originally from Hawaii, greet us with an immediate feeling of camaraderie. That is the beauty of the "Aloha Spirit."
We went through the buffet that seemed never ending. Two plates later I still hadn't gone through all the stations of food selections. This buffet was so huge, I had a hard time finding my way back to the table! We laughed, we ate, we drank, and ate, and drank......
The next morning, Rocky, Stacey, Kimo, Stan and I went for an hour massage. Rocky and Stacey wimped out and chose women masseuses....not me! Having a man massage my feet and body for an entire hour? Such bliss.....Silly me!!!
Kimo and Stan felt so good that they are adding getting a massage to their list of things to do the next time they are in town! Oh wait.....they are coming back next month!!! The guys golf at least 2 times in the week they are here...but this time it is more like 3. They take the girls shopping and to the movies too. The girls don't gamble so we hang out and talk for hours on end!
So this is what we did yesterday. After the massage we take Mana and Kea to Chinatown to pick up poke' (Hawaiian style marinated raw fish) and beer with ice and coolers. We drop them off at the UNLV stadium for their tailgate party prior to the UNLV/Hawaii game. Rocky, Kimo, Stan, and Mana's three year old son, and I head out to In 'N Out for burgers and fries. Kimo orders a #1 animal animal....WTF? There's no such thing on the menu! I find out that it is the following items added to the burger and over the fries....melted cheese, sautéed onions and their special sauce. Kimo also got us some chili peppers! After eating, we head back to the hotel. Stacey and I chat in her room. We cried talking together...about her life after the death of her husband.
Next thing...I find myself headed to the Catholic church near the Golden Nugget downtown. OMG....I haven't been to church for 35 years! WTF....WTF? Would you believe the church was packed? Rocky, Stacey and I are rummaging through our purses for money for the collection basket. We are laughing because Stacey and I are looking for small bills rather than putting in the $20 bills! Rocky was so smug to point it out to us....we chuckled! Now the girls had been laughing at me because I always valet my car and give a dollar tip. Rocky said that I should give a minimum of $3....her reasoning? $1 (too cheap), $2 (bad luck)....ah $3 (just right).....WTF....WTF....WTF? Wait here comes the funny part...We were about 5 minutes late and Rocky and Stacey hurried into church while this "unbeliever who strayed from the church years ago" frantically finds a parking garage. $6 to park for an hour! Bleep Bleep Bleep!!! After the service was over we go back to pay at the machine so that we can get the ticket validated and get out of the garage. Both machines are not working. I have these visions of us not being able to get the car out and us being stranded in the seedier side of town. Long story short....we get the danged ticket validated and it turns out to be only $2.....Hallelujah, Hallelujah.......Hallelujah....a miracle has happened! Oh wait is it bad luck according to Rocky's reasoning? Nah....I don't believe that hokey stuff.
We go back to their hotel room at the Orleans to meet up with the guys, then jump in the van to go back downtown for dinner at the California Hotel - Aloha Specialties restaurant. It is full of locals watching the last 5 minutes of the football game. We hurried to order our food. I ordered the Beef Stew with extra gravy (aka "sloppy"), Rocky orders the hamburger steak...there's extra spam musubis and the huge meals that the guys ordered. Kimo treats us to dinner. More friends find us sitting and come back to say hello. After dinner....Paul gives me the great news that he and his partner of 11 years, are going to be married! WOW! How wonderful!!! Paul is a full time pilot in the Air National Guard and is also a part-time musician in the world renowned group called the Sons of Hawaii. He plays the steel guitar, an instrument that is slowly becoming extinct in Hawaiian music. He has played and travelled around the world with such greats like Genoa Keawe. She was known for her sweet falsetto voice during the singing of my favorite song of hers, Alika. It is just amazing how long she can hold her breath on the word Alika in the second to the last verse. Here she is.....
I've watched Paul perform this song and he does a magnificent job of it!
After that we head back to the Orleans and Mana's son while running down the hallway bangs his head just above his eye and it starts bleeding and he starts crying. We rush him to the room and Kimo and Rocky doctor him up and bathe him.
By then I am in need of another massage! I am just wiped out and head home (about 3 blocks away). Rocky always wants me to call when I get back home so that she won't worry about me....ahhh what a sweet person she is!
Tonight we are going to see the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil performance at the Mandalay Hotel. I told them that I would "be in Korea" and catch up with them at 5:30pm......just have to get some R&R time in order to keep up with this bunch!
No comments:
Post a Comment