And the luau!

Let me just say that a trip to Hawaii is not complete without a luau, and I think we went to the best one possible. Kristopher's friend Kapena hooked us up - and it was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!!! Here are the highlights:

right when we arrived at the place we got treated like VIPs - leis around our necks and private photos with the performers. This dude had some rad Samoan tattoos on his body all underneath his garment here. Kristopher was especially freaked out by his belly button tat!


We did some crafts, like learning how to do traditional Hawaiian weaving techniques.


My finished woven crown!


Kris and Mel's!


Then we did some good old fashioned spear throwing. WOOHOO! Kapena was a crazy spear throwing fool!


And of course, it was tattoo time for the boys. First Kapena got one on his face, then Kristopher. By the end of the night these guys had started a trend - and you could see face tats all over the place!


And of course we girls wanted one too! Actually I just wanted that cute muscular Hawaiian boy to rub oil on my arm and draw pictures on me ;)


Aren't we so tough? LOL


It was finally Rick's turn...


And the boys... all done! hee hee!


The sun set on the horizon and we heard the sound of a conch being blown, which signalled us to the amphitheater where we were told the tradition of the luau and the kinds of foods we would be eating tonight.


And then a couple of very strong men took the pig that had been roasting out of the ground!


After that, dinner was served - we went to our table where we found these little plates awaiting us. Dessert was first! Pineapple, coconut cake, and a square of a sort of coconut-jello-ish thing that I can't remember the name of... Melissa does, though. Ask her.


Our salad course - with a raw salmon ceviche sort of thing on the side. I really liked the salmon. The salad wasn't anything spectacular though.


Bread! Made with taro root so it's purple! Awesome!!


We were in a rad VIP eating area (THANK YOU KAPENA!!) and got to have a personal visit with the Girl With The Coconut Bra Which Plays The Queen :)


And also The Cute Tattooed Boy That We Met Earlier Who Plays The King!


Finally it was time for dinner - pulled pork (MMMMM), a chicken wing, fish, green veggies, and THE MOST AWESOME RICE EVER. Sticky, flavorful... I had like 3 helpings of the rice!


Then the boys went up with 98 other people to learn the Hukilau. They even got certificates for graduating their "Accelerated Learning Course in Hula" haha


This was when Kristopher had already consumed several crazy drinks, including this one - called "The Slimer". Of course here he had taken a coffee that was on the table and had added it to the drink for what he called "extra flavor". Um. OK.


Me? I had plenty... plenty of Mai Tais. I think this was #5.


After dinner - the show! It was a beautifully entertaining piece with several dance numbers and costume changes. I was getting accused of only wanting to take pictures of the cute Hawaiian boys, so this one is evidence that I also took photos of the girl dancers!!


Boy With Tattoos was also the Samoan Fire Dancer! WOOHOO!! This part of the show was phenomenal!


It was an amazing night that not even the random rainshower could dampen. Rick and Kristopher drank too much (again!), so of course they were paying for it the next morning. Melissa drove us back to our hotel (which was literally blocks from this cove) and we got our swimsuits on and went in the hot tubs. The boys liked scaring people with their tattoo faces. They were like total 9 year olds! We were *so* not ready to have to leave this place tomorrow.