Our trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center took place on Wednesday. The cultural center is done in conjunction with BYU Hawaii as a work study program for the students. The main goals of the center are to preserve the culture of Polynesia and provide scholarships for the students. We took a big tour bus to the cultural center in Laie. We originally did not purchase a formal tour when we bought the tickets online. Our guide on the bus convinced us to spend a few extra dollars for a guide. I am so glad we did. The cultural center is soo big and has so much going on and I am proud to say we made it to each of the shows throughout the day. Here are some of the pictures from the day.
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| Barry, Cousin Dennis, and me | Tahitian dancers like to shake their booty | Tapas:fabric made by pounding the bark of the coconut tree |
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| Royal Court of Hawaii | Aotearora (New Zealand) | Samoa |
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| Tahiti | Hawaii | Tonga |
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| Fiji | Californian, Japanese,and Australian | Samoan entertainer |
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| One of the tour guides taking the scooter for a ride | Hi Dum Dum want some Gum Gum? | RIP Dum Dum |
The canoe parade was one of my favorite parts of the day even though it rained during 95% of the parade. After the parade, we went to Cousin Dennis's native country of Samoa. Cousin Dennis sang for us. The entertainer was extremely funny and taught us to make fire using coconut husk and rubbing sticks together.
After Samoa we visited the Tongan village. The entertainer picked three people from the audience: a Californian, Australian, and Japanese. He told them to mimic what he was doing. The Japanese guy did not understand English which made things highly entertaining. We also had ice cream because the sun came out and we were too hot.
Cousin Dennis made it possible for us to go on a canoe ride. The guide on the canoe ride tricked us to believing that it was Cousin Dennis's birthday. We even sang him Happy Birthday. After the canoe ride we found out that we had been tricked and it was not really Cousin Dennis's birthday. The scooter picture is funny because the lady who needed the scooter to get around didn't want to go on the canoe ride originally because she didn't want it out of her sight. She reluctantly agrees and then the other guide goes speeding off in it :).
After the canoe ride we had about an hour before dinner so we decided to take the tram tour over to BYU Hawaii, the Laie temple and visitors center. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures because our camera died when we got to the temple. No worries, we came back on Saturday and got our pictures.
The conclusion to our day was a buffet dinner and Ha the Breathe of Life show. The show was about a boy who grows up and has a family. I wish there was more wholesome entertainment like this out there! Unfortunately for the safety of the performers we were not allowed to take pictures. Did I mention our camera was dead anyways!!
We saw and did a lot in one day but if we ever go back to Hawaii, I am sure we will go again. Cousin Dennis told us "It is physically impossible to go and do everything at the PCC in one day. The PCC is somewhere where you can come over and over and do different things each time."
I read your blog! Keep blogging! I love to hear about what you and Barry are up to! Love ya!
ReplyDeleteWhatever... I read it, too. ;) But I know what you mean. I feel the same way about our blog. We used to have a lot of readers, but they've declined and declined over the years. We must be boring.
ReplyDeleteYour PCC adventure sounds awesome! That was one of our favorites, too. Your experience was very similar to ours, actually. We had a tour guide as well and saw most of the same stuff.