Today we joined a bunch of other journos (mainly from the US) for a tour of
Kamaka Ukulele, the home of the original pineapple uke, where the charming 90-year-old son of the founder showed us how the iconic instruments are assembled (fun fact: Kamaka has supplied ukes to everyone from Elvis and Tom Selleck to Adam Sandler and the cast of Glee).
And then we had the great good fortune to have a lesson with uke virtuoso and composer
Jake Shimbaukuro, who stunned us with his fast finger work and tales of playing for the Queen. Limited time meant we were only able to play around with a couple of chords - but it was a lot of fun and should make a cool wee yarn.
And a few snaps from the balcony of our stunning hotel,
Embassy Suites, where we lucked out with a corner room, affording us views of both the ocean and across Waikiki's main drag.
