Polynesian Cultural Center

We have been excited to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center for a long time. It is a non-profit organization run by our church, with the purpose of helping remember and continue Polynesian tradition and culture. People come from all over to attend BYU-Hawaii, and work at the PCC to pay for school. (Our waitress was from Hong Kong.)

We waited to visit the PCC until we had visitors who wanted to go with us. The experience did not disappoint. We arrived in the early afternoon to rain, so our first destination was the IMax Theather to watch a Coral Reef movie. As soon as we exited the theater, we caught the canoe show, which demonstrated the 7 cultures and their dances.

The rest of the afternoon, we went to the villages that displayed each culture. First stop, Tahiti for a tatoo:

Next, we made fish out of palm leaves in Samoa. Then, the demonstrator made my fish kiss Brady's fish. Say it together now, "Awwwwwww....."

Our favorite activity was spear-throwing in Tonga. There was a boys and girls competition to see who could get their spears in the rings--or the closets to it. Brady and I both won! Of course, nobody was keeping track except for us...

The best time of the night was the Luau. We were given a lei greeting, and then came into the festive dining area. The food was delicious, and definitely a cultural experience. We tried Poke (raw fish marinated in soy sauce), Lomilomi salmon (a spicy salmon salsa), Poi (a Hawaiian staple from taro roots and water, pounded together until it is almost a smooth sauce), Kalua pua'a (imu pork), chicken long rice (a rice noodle), island fish, and purple taro rolls.


Before eating, they demonstrated imu pork, and pulled this baby out of the underground BBQ ( or imu).

It was our treat day, so of course we went crazy and shared one of each of the desserts: Haupia (made from coconut cream), guava cake, coconut cake, and chocolate macadamia nut cake. Yum.

Pictures of our luau backdrop:

This guy did the fire dance later in the evening show. He has the largest calf muscles ever (bigger than Luke Staley's)! His name is Kap, and he is a total performer. He also sells his artwork on the side. He was flexing his pecs one at a time during this picture:

The evening show was impressive, but would have been a little more entertaining if our sweet little boy hadn't been wailing throughout much of the first half. His overstimulated body was not into the music and dancing of the cultures, and especially disliked the drums. Poor little dude.

Of course he was fine when we reached the hotel late that night:

We settled in for the night in Waikiki, in a not-quite-lavish hotel complete with bright blue and very used bathrobes. My mother and I had a ball sporting them as a joke for Brady and Dad when they came in from parking the car (3 blocks away--the hotel was THAT nice). For a mere $85, we could have taken one home. Shame we forgot...