The reason for being in Hawaii was the wedding of Yuji's sister, Miyuki. We were honored to be invited as the only non-Japanese guests there. It was a small gathering of about 22 people. Japanese weddings are interesting. It is fashionable to get married in a Christian church, not for the religious aspects but because it is viewed as "Western." So, they had a Christian ceremony followed by a lovely reception in the most beautiful spot you can imagine -- the Kahala Oriental Mandarin resort, about halfway between Waikiki and Hanauma Bay. The 4 course sit down meal included lobster and steak and the entertainment included a hula dancer and a ukelele player accompanying her. It was quite a mixture of Japanese custom, American custom, and Hawaiian custom.

We had quite a nice time reconnecting with Yuji, Greg's college roommate as well. Yuji's American nickname is "Ug" since Yu (U) and Gi (G) phonetically sound out to Ug. It was great that Christopher understood the joke now that he is learning his letters. He became Uncle Ug to the kids, which made Yuji's whole family chuckle.