Polynesian Culture Center and USS Arizona

The Polysesian Cultural Center. Spent a pretty expensive day and ended up with mixed feelings. We both enjoyed the bus ride there, despite traveling the same highway we'd covered the day before. The Center provided transportation all the way up to Laie. On the pretty plush bus was a cheerleader of sorts, Leon. He entertained us for the entire hour and a quarter. He told us how Texans took cabs back to their hotels but only remembered that their hotels were next to ABC stores. ABC stores are liquor stores on every block. Imagine a city dependent on tourists and Texans like Arabs are the high rollers.  He told us the 3 leading industries in Hawaii, tourism, military ( 13 bases) and then #3 starts with A, (agriculture not ABC stores). Eat a half a papaya a day (instead of an apple) to keep the doctor a away. A whole one will keep you in toilet all day.
Leon worked us over to understand that this show supports a school; the staff are mostly students. The school is a work study program. It supports students from throughout Polynesia. The Kettering of Polynesia. When they leave this Brigham Young school they leave without student loans.
Finally we got there after hearing a little sales pitch for a lunch and personally guided tour for a mere $25 each. No thanks, not til we see the layout. Besides, Liz had taken the precaution of packing a lunch, having noted the absence in the brochure. Smart girl.

I guess I was expecting a sort of Colonial Williamsburg in Polynesia. We were welcomed with leis made from orchids, no aroma but pretty. I modified expectations to something like a Reniassance Festival after seeing the large number of souvenir shops. Less expensive souvenirs mostly made in China - I checked. Still not so bad. Our first stop, I witnessed a very charming and funny Samoan who husked and split a coconut in 7 seconds flat, using a large sharp stick propped upright and a hand-sized stone. About ten seconds later he'd shredded the meat inside and squeezed the milk from it. Impressive. Even more so, he then actually did the boy scout thing by (sort of) rubbing two sticks together. Actually, he used a medium sized seasoned hemlock log and a very strong seasoned hemlock stick (wood choice is a large part of the secret), along with a very dry coconut husk , shredded for tinder. Again, he took just a few second. Very cool. And we saw a cooking demo where they baked cocoanut bread in a pit. Lots of drumming. That's nearly the full extent of Polynesian crafts I saw that day.

The Center is divided up into seven or so areas, each devoted to its own part of Polynesia. Okay, maybe more like Disney World's Epcot. As we progressed through half hour shows in Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Marquesas, and Aotearoa (New Zealand - Maori) it became more and more obvious there was mostly music, song and dance. Okay, fair enough. Just not quite what I expected or was interested in seeing more of, prompted by several museum trips in the past several days. I.E. How is that stone tool polishing done, why not knapping of obsidian into sharp flakes like the neolithic people of Europe and elsewhere? Can I see someone weave a fish net? Okay, there was a totally impressive big double canoe, made by local volunteer labor, probably very close to the craft these people used to explore the Pacific.  Really clever system of flexible woven masts. On the other hand, the music and dancing was quite entertaining, especially the Maori expressions of fierceness.
Black vampire-like lipstick that drips down to chin. We saw New Zealand's secondary school champions perform.

The Samoan theme of "happy wife, happy life" rings true; the men in Samoa do all the cooking. The women shop. The Fiji show had us rolling with laughter. He called up 3 men from audience, a Californian, an African American, and a Japapanese and had them imitate his howls, yelps, growls and drumbeats. Apparently fierceness is innate; men do not have to be Polynesian to be warriors. The Virginian was African American and added on "Who let the Dogs out". The Samoan reminded him whose show this was.

The luau was buffet. Okay. The food was tasty, exotic and nothing like Sweden House. Stuff like pickled raw salmon, poi, sweet potatoes, taro biscuits, marinated raw beef. Yes, poi is a little like library paste in consistence but not quite the same flavor of library paste that  I remember from kindergarten. You really, really need to mix it with something with a strong flavor. Onion slivers work fine. There was entertainment all through the feast, ukuleles and hula predominating. I kept expecting Dorothy Lamour and the Andrews Sisters to show up. It is real family entertainment.

Now comes the main event, the big show. Ha, the breath of life. Essentially, a child, Mana, is born, grows to adulthood and becomes a father. Dance numbers choreographed in sections reflecting different island styles. Truly a big production. More that vaguely remeniscent of Lion King with a huge nod to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Note that I didn't say I didn't enjoy it! This is one really big, spectacular show. Big production dance numbers, lots of drums.The lighted torch twirling at the end is a dazzling demonstration of skill. Sorry, no pictures of the show, all photography during the show prohibited.

Then a long,late ride home, alleviated by an in-flight (ride?) movie describing the settling of Polynesia. Was it worth a couple of hundred bucks? Not twice. Further than that, I will not say.



Next day, let's do something easy. I know, we can just pop over to Pearl Harbor and do our touristly duty at the USS Arizona memorial. Check the map. All right, the bus ride's less than an hour, no big deal. Get in line, walk through, go home. Maybe throw a lei on the water, take a few pictures. Not quite. It is indeed free to see the Arizona. Most of the other stuff is also free or quite inexpensive. The wait to get on a launch out to the memorial is about an hour and a half and the staff is anxious to make sure our time isn't wasted. I plunked for the Bowfin and the Naval Air museum. The USS Bowfin is a real WW2 hunter-killer sub with an enviable record. The whole experience was fascinating! 80 people lived aboard that cramped thing. Heads bowed to avoid the overhead equipment and squirming through hatches the size of an attic window. For months at a time! Only about a third of the crew could sleep in the available space at a time while work went on all around them. Eating out of a galley the size of the average suburban closet. This and not a great chance of survival. The Submariners of WW2 had the highest casualty rate of any service. 8th Air Force bombers included.

Bunk area - share your bed wit 2 other people

Crew mess - 70 people ate here in shifts

Sub used 4 huge GM V16 Diesels - more than a locomotive uses

5 inch deck gun

Then the obligatory movie dealing with the historical causes leading up to the attack. I wonder what any American of the time would feel about the matter-of-fact explanations of the necessity of Japan's actions. Finally onto the ferry. It was amazing watching the boat handling of these pilots. They do dozens of runs each day and have perfected turning the boat and skidding it perfectly alongside the pier. Why yes, it was moving and saddening. How else could it be? 70 years have dimmed the passion but it's still a sharp break in America's and the world's history.

USS Missouri - moored alongside Arizona memorial

Mooring slip. I seem to have forgotten to get pictires of the memorial itself.

Turret mount? note oil still leakiing after 70 years

That done, we got on the bus for the Naval Air museum. Okay, if you didn't already realize it, I get a huge kick out of WW2 machinery. Simple, not exactly crude but certainly without frills, generally rugged, designed by (usually) good engineers, done quickly. What's not to like for a former journeyman toolmaker. Hell, just look at the photos.

Japanese torpedo bomber - I thenk.

.