Sorry about the delay between posts but life never leaves me enough time to blog. Just think of this as a pretty badly casted soap opera. And now we continue with our story...(insert dramatic organ music *ba ba bahhhh*)
On Saturday we headed up to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We drove up the Like Like highway and stopped at the Macadamia nut outlet about halfway to the Center. I picked up some trinkets, dried pineapple and snowball macadamia cookies. They had picture
s there from when President Obama visited in 2008 which was pretty funny. We continued on to the park by Chinamen's Hat island and got out to take some pictures. There were these really neat looking birds we later found out were egrets. They were all white with some orange feathers on their tails and heads. As we drove on I mentioned I was a bit hungry. There were people barbecuing in all the parks on the way up and it smelled so delicious. Right before we got to the Center there was a stand with a sign saying "BBQ chicken, shrimp, lamb cu
rry, rice and fried banana. We turned around and went back to get a plate. I thought the shrimp and chicken would be good. I am not a fan of lamb since we have been feeding it to the dogs for their food allergy. We looked at the shrimp and they still had eyes and legs and decided against those. We ended up with one huge plate of sticky rice, teriyaki chicken and fried banana. Oh My Gosh. It was the best food I ate my entire time there. The chicken was moist and perfectly teriyakied and barbecued. The fried banana tasted more like a potato, so we think they were maybe plantains. I would fly back tomorrow for another one of those chicken plates.
s there from when President Obama visited in 2008 which was pretty funny. We continued on to the park by Chinamen's Hat island and got out to take some pictures. There were these really neat looking birds we later found out were egrets. They were all white with some orange feathers on their tails and heads. As we drove on I mentioned I was a bit hungry. There were people barbecuing in all the parks on the way up and it smelled so delicious. Right before we got to the Center there was a stand with a sign saying "BBQ chicken, shrimp, lamb cu
rry, rice and fried banana. We turned around and went back to get a plate. I thought the shrimp and chicken would be good. I am not a fan of lamb since we have been feeding it to the dogs for their food allergy. We looked at the shrimp and they still had eyes and legs and decided against those. We ended up with one huge plate of sticky rice, teriyaki chicken and fried banana. Oh My Gosh. It was the best food I ate my entire time there. The chicken was moist and perfectly teriyakied and barbecued. The fried banana tasted more like a potato, so we think they were maybe plantains. I would fly back tomorrow for another one of those chicken plates.The Polynesian Cultural Center was amazing as it always is. We were in a small group with a guide who got us to most of the island demonstrations and had us do some other cool things. We started at Sa
moa (Talofa!) where there was little shade to sit in. Mom and Pam and I sat out in the sun and I promptly turned into a lobster. The other two with their olive toned skin merely got a little pink here or there. The sun went directly through the 55 spray on sunscreen thin spots and gave me this nice mottled red-pink coloring. The island demonstration was hilarious! We watched him husk and shave a coconut, weave palm leaves and make fire. Another guy went and showed us how to climb a coconut tree (I'll get right
on that ;). After that we went to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and watched a Maori welcoming ceremony (kinda scary...) and saw their traditional song and dance. Then we went out and tried playing a Maori stick game, became experts at the poi balls and got a painted on tattoo. We moved on to a shadier spot and watched the canoe pageant. All the islands perform their traditional song and dance on these flat topped canoes. Pam especially liked the Tahitian drums. Our guide then took us over to Tahiti where we tried coconut bread, which was very tasty and recipes to make it. Tonga was our next island and we watched them beat drums and have audience members participate. Our guide to us to the Tongan spear throwing which was really fun! The sticks are long and carved to be sharp at the end that is weighted. You put your index fin
ger on the other flat bottom of the stick and aiming the spear up, not out, you take a step forward and push the spear away with one finger. He let everybody try first and then those who wanted to could try for a prize. You had to get your spear into one of the two circles on the ground some distance away. Mom ended up winning a shell necklace! After that the guide took us to Hawaii where we taught the hula. We moved on to Fiji (Bula Vinaca!) and used hollow tree stems to tamp out different rhythms, which is one of Mom's favorite demonstrations. Then it was time for our canoe ride back to the dining area. We ate at their buffet restaurant which was really excellent since we we
re starving. You could have crab legs, prime rib, chicken, mahi mahi, and all sorts of salads and sides. They had my favorite taro rolls that are purple and slightly sweet. We ran to the shops for a bit after that and got souvenirs and DVDs and some more Hawaiian Christmas ornaments for our Hawaiian Christmas tree. They had these little wooden frogs with ridges down their backs that "ribbits" when you run a wood dowel down them. Then it was time for their evening show that is more elaborate than the canoe pageant or demonstrations. I
t is one of the best shows on the island because they try to keep to the traditional song and dance and it's not all barely clothed hip swaying "hula" girls. They have an equal number of guys and girls and really pretty dances. The Samoan from the first demonstration did some fire dancing at the end which makes for really cool pictures. It was raining when we got out to go home, but as in Hawaii, it only lasted a little while and by the time we got to Waikiki it had stopped.
moa (Talofa!) where there was little shade to sit in. Mom and Pam and I sat out in the sun and I promptly turned into a lobster. The other two with their olive toned skin merely got a little pink here or there. The sun went directly through the 55 spray on sunscreen thin spots and gave me this nice mottled red-pink coloring. The island demonstration was hilarious! We watched him husk and shave a coconut, weave palm leaves and make fire. Another guy went and showed us how to climb a coconut tree (I'll get right
on that ;). After that we went to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and watched a Maori welcoming ceremony (kinda scary...) and saw their traditional song and dance. Then we went out and tried playing a Maori stick game, became experts at the poi balls and got a painted on tattoo. We moved on to a shadier spot and watched the canoe pageant. All the islands perform their traditional song and dance on these flat topped canoes. Pam especially liked the Tahitian drums. Our guide then took us over to Tahiti where we tried coconut bread, which was very tasty and recipes to make it. Tonga was our next island and we watched them beat drums and have audience members participate. Our guide to us to the Tongan spear throwing which was really fun! The sticks are long and carved to be sharp at the end that is weighted. You put your index fin
ger on the other flat bottom of the stick and aiming the spear up, not out, you take a step forward and push the spear away with one finger. He let everybody try first and then those who wanted to could try for a prize. You had to get your spear into one of the two circles on the ground some distance away. Mom ended up winning a shell necklace! After that the guide took us to Hawaii where we taught the hula. We moved on to Fiji (Bula Vinaca!) and used hollow tree stems to tamp out different rhythms, which is one of Mom's favorite demonstrations. Then it was time for our canoe ride back to the dining area. We ate at their buffet restaurant which was really excellent since we we
re starving. You could have crab legs, prime rib, chicken, mahi mahi, and all sorts of salads and sides. They had my favorite taro rolls that are purple and slightly sweet. We ran to the shops for a bit after that and got souvenirs and DVDs and some more Hawaiian Christmas ornaments for our Hawaiian Christmas tree. They had these little wooden frogs with ridges down their backs that "ribbits" when you run a wood dowel down them. Then it was time for their evening show that is more elaborate than the canoe pageant or demonstrations. I
t is one of the best shows on the island because they try to keep to the traditional song and dance and it's not all barely clothed hip swaying "hula" girls. They have an equal number of guys and girls and really pretty dances. The Samoan from the first demonstration did some fire dancing at the end which makes for really cool pictures. It was raining when we got out to go home, but as in Hawaii, it only lasted a little while and by the time we got to Waikiki it had stopped.
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