Luau Entertainment

It happened that we went to our luau on Tricia's birthday. I thought it made for a pretty great birthday party, but I still feel like we owe her a cake. :-) We went to a family-style luau, very near our hotel, in a very picturesque, tropical garden kind of setting. The peacocks were a LARGE part of the pre-show entertainment, because there were so many, strutting right on the walkways along with us. After the imu ceremony (Morgan posted a photo - guys blow conch shells, then use shovels to unearth the kalua pig (& rice pudding at this one)), we had a good meal - and I was happy that the food was really good and there were things that everyone liked ... we ate kalua pig, sweet & sour fish, lomi-lomi (salmon), Chinese rice, cucumber slaw, poi, breads, salads, tropical fruits (got my mandatory papaya), haupia (coconut dessert), ... free drinks (Hawaiin punch, mai-tais)... And during it, some live dinner music by the local family who does this luau. At one point, Nicole went up on stage and re-learned the universally-taught-to-first-timers hula dance called "the Hukilau".

This Polynesian Revue was unique, both in its setting (a very cool stage, with a "live" volcano, waterfalls, the sun setting and stars coming out over the mountain in the background) and in its choice of international dances... It paid homage to ALL the main peoples who came to populate/work in the the islands, so it included dances from the Philipines (step-dancig between bamboo poles), Japan (fan dancing), and China (a dragon). :-) My camera/flash wasn't up to the challenge, but here's one of the Moari poi balls - on fire.

The nice setting... and the "volcano" announcing Pele (fire goddess).

And THIS "entertaining luau" photo is for MICHAEL. Ha!