Hawaii Anniversary Day Two: The PCC

Sunrise Over the Canal
Originally, the idea (R's idea) was to go somewhere warm and just relax on beaches, since we have typically taken our trips to places like Manhattan, Quebec City, London and Caen, where you mainly walk around looking at stuff and wearing yourself out (my idea). Well, old habits die hard, and dawn found us up, fed, and waking down to the canal to take sunrise photos.

The photos turned out really nice, and in the end I submitted one to the Alaska Airlines photo contest, in the off chance that they might award me a free pair of flight tickets. Even if it doesn't make it into the magazine, the photo is my new screen-saver at work.

PCC bus ride
Taking the bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie was our first venture beyond Waikiki in the daylight. The views were pretty spectacular as we crossed the center of the island. I have a fairly nice collection of blurry landscape shots out the window of a moving vehicle. I was a bit discerning in my choices, and added a few beauties to the collection.

Temple open house
When we picked Oahu over places like Bermuda, part of the reasoning was that we would like to visit the LDS temple in Laie. We were a bit sad when we learned that the temple was closed for renovations; however, we were thrilled to find out at the PCC that we arrived on the last day of the public open house. So first off, we headed out there for a tour and a healthy dose of photos. We held the camera for a young Polynesian couple that were engaged to be married once the temple reopened. The temple grounds were absolutely stunning. Heaven on earth.

Canoe pageant
We gained some notoriety during our visit to the PCC, and the Canoe Pageant is where it all began. The MC for the pageant asked the crowd lined along the canal to cheer when she called out the place they were visiting from. Cheers went up when she called out the states of California, Washington, Arizona and Utah. When she called out Canada, I let out a whoop that was louder than them all, and I could see the whole crowd looking around for the source (the elderly lady sitting next to me nearly fell off her chair).

Tahitian Village
Each of the ‘villages’ along the canal represents a different Polynesian group, and we visited several; however, at the Tahitian Village I was pulled out of the crowd to help demonstrate the hula dance. I was taken backstage with another guy and a girl and given a lava-lava to wear and a short briefing on what to do: “do the steps they just showed you.” “What do I do with my hands?” “Just do whatever comes naturally.” I volunteered the other guy to go out first, and he was clearly uneasy. My turn was next, and I was introduced as being from Canada (perhaps people wondered if I was ‘that guy’), and the music started. I did my best hula step and did some arm movements that I’d seen at the Tongan Village drum show, while a hula girl danced circles around me. Apparently, the crowd loved it, because they voted me the overwhelming winner by applause and I got a nice hat with a pink flower as a prize. A treasured video, for sure.

The Luau
Strangely enough, at the Luau we ended up sitting right next to the girl who had danced third in the Tahitian Village dance-off a few minutes earlier. We weren’t seated for long before the lady running the entertainment asked anyone celebrating a honeymoon or anniversary to come and dance at the front.



She went down the line with the microphone and asked each couple where they were visiting from and how many years they had been married. She guessed that we were newlyweds, and was shocked when we said it was our 10-year anniversary. Then a cheer went up from the crowd when we said we were from Canada (‘hey, it’s that guy again!’).



Walking around later than evening I had a few people compliment me on my hula performance, letting us know we officially achieved celebrity status. The food at the luau was good, but it was strangely gluten-laden. They had an allergen chart in the back, but it said that even the rice had wheat in it. What? Still the supervisor was really good about getting us a few alternate items for R.

Live Show ‘Ha: The Breath of Life’
I so thoroughly enjoyed the live show that I really don’t know what to say about it. The energy level for the performance was absolutely incredible all the way through. It even carried over to the intermission, where the servers were sprinting down the steep stairs in the aisles to bring trays laden with fruity ice-cream treats down to the crowd. The show had fire, fighting, dancing, romancing… and high-speed ice-cream. What else could you ask for?

The rain held off until we climbed back onto our charter buses with the same group of passengers we had arrived with. Those same couples that had been silent for the morning trip greeted us warmly. One lady said that she had applauded very loudly for me. It’s nice to be famous.