The Luau

We went to the Luau last night. What an experience.

Getting out tickets itself was interesting. I had reserved it online for $62 a person, so it was already cheaper than what most people were paying, but we got up to the ticket girl, and gave her our voucher from the hotel (the guy at check in really hooked us up.. the luau voucher, 20% off to the restaurant coupons, and a room upgrade from a $92 a night room to a $230 a night room at no cost.. seriously.. it pays to be nice!)... So I gave the ticket girl the voucher, and we paid considerably less for the luau than most people. Hence.. I bought a fresh flower lei they had there.

Amazing. It was yellow plumeria with a few deep pink ones thrown in.

Aside from the fact that I wore a white sundress with yellow and brown hawaiian flower trim... and it matched perfectly.. the scent of the plumeria alone was .. well there really are no words. The lei wasn't all that pricey, and yet... after wearing it all night and smelling it.. I would have paid much more.

The temperature wasn't all that high, as it's been cloudy almost the entire time we've been here, but the humidity was unreal at the luau.. we were ready for some cool drinks. But first!

The luau is put on by the hotel we're staying at, and it's held in a grove of coconut palm trees. Right behind the entertainment stage is... the ocean. So if the sun had been out, it would've been setting right in front of us. Needless to say.. we were almost glad the sun wasn't out. It was warm enough. The ambiance was spectacular. All the palm trees and tiki torches surrounding it, the Imu Oven where the kalua pig had roasted all day, and the natural setting made it very beautiful.

So we get our tickets and were immediately greeted with shell leis. Mine went over the flower lei I was already wearing, and it made a pretty combination. We were then directed to the picture takers.. Set in with the trees and the ocean, and had our luau photo taken. They charged us 20 dollars for the photo, but wow... it was worth it. We bought their photo, and had the guy take ours with our own camera.

Theirs was better ;) So it was worth it.

After the photos we were directed to the drinks table where Ros would mix you up any drink you wanted with what he had available. There was also HUGE bowls of mai thais already mixed up, so we started with those.. The mai thais were not strong, but wow they were so so good. So we got a cup o mai thai and headed off to find a seat.

Our seating area was pretty decent for seeing the show, and the people we sat with were very nice, and helpful with neat things to see around the island.

It wasn't long before they called everyone over to see the unearthing of the "Imu" from the earth oven, he'd been cooking in since morning. They pulled out the pig, and the feasting began.. and my did we feast.

It started with a green salad, which I went without due to the sheer number of things I wanted to try. I ended up with the kalua pig, a small cut of the beef (really good.. it was roasted with black beans in a sauce.. wow), the chicken luau (chicken mixed in with a spinach and dressing... YUM), the Ono fresh fish, AND the teriyaki roasted chicken (My favorite... it was so tender it fell apart, and practically melted in your mouth!)

Then it was on to the rest.. poi. Yeah.. I tried poi, and I agree. It's terrible. Really, really terrible. One small, tiny dab on my plate was plenty.

But they had coconut jello, hawaiian (PURPLE) sweet potato, coconut rolls, tasty macaroni salad, pineapple, Lomi Lomi Salmon (which I liked), some interesting looking bean salads, steamed rice... and Coconut cake.. Let me just say I have no idea why I ate my cake last. It was by far one of my favorite things.

I was PUSHING hard to eat everything, and I still did not finish what was on my plate.
It was so, so good. Mouth wateringly good.

And then the entertainment started. There had been a group of guys playing Hawai'ian music before, and they were really good. The head guy started his show, and it was great. He was humorous, light, and great with the crowd. He sang in between a few of the dances, and introduced them all telling us what stories they were telling.

It was a full Pacific, polynesian revue.

Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, Hawai'ian, and others I didn't know. All sorts of island hulas and dances that told stories of that island's people's cultures. Some of them were very moving, and I was surprised to think that.

Surely this is all just a nice show put on, by skilled entertainers right?

But the point of coming here isn't just the ocean, or the beach and the vacation.. I've loved this place for years without coming here because of the history, and the culture. It was so apparent that it's really another country.. without leaving the US, Hawai'i is a whole different country.

The men's dances were full of tribal drums, the movements and the expressions on their faces.. everything was all out. It was an experience, not an entertainment. They depicted hunts, lost loves, and joyous times; but the overall tone was so masculine. The headdresses, and body paintings. The different culture's costume according to which island's heritage they were portraying were all so masculine. The driving tribal drums.. it was undeniably male. Strong, manly, and yet emotive. It was very moving.

The female ones were stunning. The dancing has so much body language to it, and the women were so expressive. They depicted love, marriage, loss.. so many things. Their hands were what amazed me. They danced with their entire bodies, and their hands were always moving too.. fingers fluttering, moving like waves.. it was very neat. There were a few to express the power of femininity. The Tahitian Tiare Flower dance was incredible. Three of the women were in pink doing their dance until Tiare came out. She was in this stunning headdress, a white sarong from the waist down, and a flower lei stuck to her front... it was beautiful. The music of it, and the reverence they showed for the beauty and power of the Wahine was spectacular.

The male/female dances were neat too. The men still manly, the women still feminine, and instead of clashing, they complemented each other so well. Balancing out the qualities of both.

It was funny, because there was this little guy dancing, and he was great, but I didn't think much of him.. Until he came out as the fire dancer. WOW.

That was the best part. He strung a screen across the dance stage to protect the crowd, and started.. It was like nothing I have ever seen. His movements were so precisely timed to the drums. His concentration was intense.. the fire went so fast I was breathless. He touched it, he ate the fire, he laid back and put it ON HIS FEET. I don't know how.. I really have no idea how. Then it was like he was finished... and they brought out a second torch, and he danced again with two torches.. It was stunning. Spectacular. He is skilled. Intensely skilled. I've never seen anything like it.

Which is happening a lot here. I'm seeing new things every time I turn around, and it's only been one day here. I can't wait to see what today brings..!