Fire Dance!

October 18, 2012

Last night was super rad! Katy and I got to celebrate Koni Leka’s 20th birthday by going with him to the Ohole Beach Resort for the buffet/ fire show! The resort is the one we all go to on Fridays sometimes and we have know that one of their big touristy things is a buffet and traditional Tongan dance show, so I have been looking to go for sometime. The resort is nice from what I can see except it is really small and I have not actually seen any of the rooms (I don’t know where they are), most of what we have seen is the outdoor eating/ bar area and the cave where they have the show. The show coast 40 pa’anga, which is a little steep but I figured, when is the next time I will be able to do something touristy? Although Koni did offer to pay, I thought it would be too much so I settle for the beers he bought us all instead (-; We got their and met up with Chiara, Mandy, Mark and Alissa who had also planned to go. It was great, we started off with a nice ice cold beer (something that doesn’t exist in real Tonga…). I was nursing the beer until one of the servers brought out a round for the table, and then another- Koni being Tongan, drinks like a Tongan, which means a lot all at once. After the long-winded, yet touching speech and prayer from the hotel owner we got to attack the buffet! The whole time during the speech and prayer, I was thinking how unique it was to do at such a public place, I had never hear of a group prayer before a meal at a hotel before- granted the hotel is very small and I guess it offers a traditional Tongan experience! The spread was awesome at the buffet- seaweed salad, ota ika (raw fish), BONELESS chicken, a roast pig and even salad! I made about four trips, filling up my banana plate every time. I tried to impart my buffet knowledge (inherited from my dad) - don’t waste time with root crops and things you have all the time, hit the expensive stuff first and then work down- the rest of the group was not down and the suckers filled up on root crops… The feast ended with me trying to shovel the dessert into my mouth while the rest of our group headed for the caves.

We got front row seats (which wasn’t that hard because there was maybe 20 people in total). The show was really cool, there were several different dances performed, each of the traditional Tongan fashion like the to’olunga, the war dance and of course the fire dance. The owner would introduce every dance with a little routine and he was actually pretty funny and entertaining. What was really cool is all the staff and performers are actually from the villages; I guess the owner said that when he rebuilt the hotel, his grandfather (the founder and operator until a hurricane took the hotel) asked him to hire all the grandchildren of his original employees, so he did. All the dance were great of course but beside the fire dance the best part of the show was when Koni got called up for his birthday. We all sang happy birthday and then Katy, being his moa, went up and got to put a lay on him. It was pretty awesome how embarrassed they both were. After the show the owner thanked each individual group of guests for coming to the show and supporting his place, which was cool except when he thanked us he mentioned that it was nice for us Americans to leave our mansions and come help the people of Tonga. I was kind of annoyed but I guess that is one of PC’s goals- to educate the people on America as well…

All of us

Trying to eat my banana plate

the war dance

Fire dance