Oahu, Hawaii: Hā: BREATH OF LIFE SHOW at the Polynesian Culture Center

Remember how I said that whale watching was one of my favorite parts of Hawaii? This show was the other. Oh my gosh! It was soooooo incredible! Mike and I are huge fans on going to Broadway shows in New York and this show was much better than a lot of the shows we have seen on Broadway. I highly, highly, highly recommend it. I don't think a luau/night show can get much better than this!

So when you visit the Polynesian Culture Center in the day you can visit different islands: Samoa, Aotearoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Marquesas, Tahiti, and Tonga. They teach you about their culture and perform for you. They are fun, upbeat, and really interesting. I loved all of the ones that we attended (and we actually visited the PCC two different days so we saw most of the shows). The  Hā: Breath of Life Show combined all of the different island cultures and dances and traditions to create a story of a couple giving birth to their first child, a son. Throughout the show, you watch dances of this boy's life and of him growing up. The adventures of a young kid, when he becomes a man, finding his love, courtship, and then we watched him get married. After his marriage, there is a battle and his father dies. I was already totally in love with the show but it hit new heights of amazing at this point. I think because they depicted it so well and it felt so real. Family members surround the father's body weeping and moaning their loss then angels walk out of the woodwork and surround the body as well. The father's spirit rises from his body and he begins to greet angels, as though they were his family members who had previously passed on. (There are no words so family or friends - he greets his loved ones who passed on before him.) He leaves with them, and his family is still there surrounding his body, and mourning their loss. Time passes, and this boy and his new wife are now expecting a baby. You watch as she gives birth and a new generation is born. The deceased father comes back (as an angel) and greets his new grandchild and watches over his wife and son. I can't tell you how many times I cried throughout the show. Possibly because I within the last 5 months I had my first baby and my grandpa passed away so it stirred up all the emotions from these events. I do think I would have loved it either way. It is so engaging and I don't think I have ever seen another performance that highlights the circle of life as well as this one.

The Polynesian Culture Center website describes the show like this: Hā: BREATH OF LIFE. A STORY OF PASSION, IGNITED BY FIRE, SONG AND DANCE.

The symbolic story of Mana and his beloved Lani, punctuated by Polynesian dance, music and blazing fireknives, is told in “Hā: Breath of Life,” a stunning, new evening show featuring over 100 Polynesian natives, special effects, animation and surround sound. It is a Pacific isle saga of birth and death, love and family, triumph and tragedy.

I guess that's all they really say about it, "It is a Pacific isle saga of birth and death, love and family, triumph and tragedy." No wonder I was so blown away by the story and show. I had never really heard anything about it, so I had no idea what to expect, but dang, I fell in love so fast!

Following typical show etiquette - no photography is allowed so I waited until they were taking their bows to snap some pics to remember it by.

Madison was a little rock star throughout the show. Our original seats were the front row of the center section, second level. But our little section was only filled about half way up, so we moved to where we were behind everyone, that way I could stand up and bounce her if I needed to. But she was totally enthralled with the show and especially loved the fire portions (which I can't blame her - they had some incredible fire tricks). I think no matter where you sit, you will kind of get lost in the show and love it no matter what. 

Breath of Life Show Photos from the Polynesian Culture Center Website:

While I was super impressed with the whole show, I loved the fire portion. The performers are so talented and are able to do some crazy things while playing with fire. They sat on it, the slid across it, they twirled it with both hands, held it in their feet, they twirled it while standing on each other and creating pyramids (as shown in the photo above), at some points they made it comical but I really think everyone in the audience was watching in awe at their fire skills.

Us after the show with the father (left) and his son as an adult (right):

It was going to be our last time visiting the PCC so I thought, "Shoot, I should take a picture!" As we were driving away... photo fail ;)

Amazing night, amazing show, best in Hawaii hands down!

Oahu, Hawaii: Parasailing

I really wanted to try parasailing. Just once to see what it was all about.

I tried to convince Mike to go with me, but he isn't a fan of heights so I went with his dad. We went with a fairly small group of us - 6 in total - 3 couples. We were the first ones to go. I really wasn't sure what to expect and they didn't give tons of instruction. Just, "Slide your legs through these holes. Now sit here." And off we went.

Our ride was for 5 minutes and our line was 500 feet. I think that if I were to do it again, I would go to the max line/height allowed. When we came back everyone asked, "How was it!?" I said, "It really wasn't what I expected. I don't know what I expected, but it was more than that. There wasn't an adrenaline rush. Basically you sit on the back of the boat, the boat takes off and they extend the line until you are sitting in the air at the designated height. Then after your time has elapsed, the begin to retract the rope, dip you in the water, and you end up sitting on the boat where you started. It't definitely not like sky diving or bungee jumping where you have to be brave and take that first initial step. (That first initial step is what gets the adrenaline pumping.)" I think it was just more smooth than I anticipated I guess. No bumps, no landing in the water, just sit to take off, sit in the air, and sit back on the boat.

(Getting dipped into the water:)

It probably sounds like I would never do it again, and of course, I would. But I would definitely want to go higher to make it more worth it. Otherwise, it's not really worth the money to me. I do think that it would be the perfect amount of adrenaline rush for someone who is afraid of heights though. I really hope that if I do go again, that Mike will go with me ... <3

It's always nice to be on a boat in the water. The ocean and the shoreline are so picturesque.

It was fun. I am glad that I went and experienced it for myself. :)

Oahu, Hawaii: Humpback Whale Watching

Whale watching was one of my favorite things that we did in Hawaii. Hands down. Apparently every year between January and March humpback whales come to the waters surrounding the Hawaiian islands to have babies (whale calves)! We went whale watching with an incredible company. The captain of the ship reminded me of Matthew McConaughey from the movie "Gold Rush." He was super fun. He would have his whole body, minus his foot, hanging out of the cabin window looking forward and all around for whales, and with his one foot, he drove the boat. After we had all seen a plethora of whales, he would walk around the boat talking to people and then all the sudden he would be running into the cabin to veer the boat in a proper direction. He definitely made it a fun/unique experience.

Another thing that I loved about this particular company is that they have an underwater microphone that they dropped into the water and we were able to hear whales talk - it was incredible. We were able to hear whales from 3 to 5 miles away, so there really was quite a bit of talking.

I recorded it with my phone, but apparently lost the file. So here is a portion of the talking from someone we went with...
We saw the humpback whales, their spouts, and humpback whale tails over the place. I can't imagine how many were actually surrounding us in the waters. But I had three distinct favorite experiences from the trip:

Favorite Experience #1: The first whale we spotted was off to the right of the boat. Of course everyone was excited. So when the humpback whale dove down and flashed its tail at us, everyone got antsy to see more. They asked the captain to start driving elsewhere. He said, "We wait 8 minutes to see if they will surface again." Although we don't know if it was the same whale or not, a few minutes later the captain's helper, who was assisting in spotting whales from the top of the boat, shouted, "THERE IT IS!" and pointed directly to the side of the boat. Sure enough, the (or a) whale was swimming under our boat, close enough to the surface that we could see it through the water. So awesome!

Favorite Experience #2: We were watching some whale spouts off in the distance. There was at least two of them, and then a smaller one (not so high) in the middle. Others told the captain, "Drive closer!" He said, "They are coming towards us. Within minutes the whales surfaced approx 50 feet from our boat. I tried so hard to get photos of all of them swimming, but I couldn't zoom my camera out enough to capture all of them in one shot so I just had to take pictures of each one separately. But seeing them so close was so amazing! We all got "whale spit" on us coming from the whales spouts.

Mike watching the humpback whales (loving every minute):

Me photographing the humpback whales... well that's my arm...:

Watching the whale spouts in the background and waiting for them to come closer to our boat:

Favorite Experience #3: This one is my ultimate favorite. The boat was moving forward, almost time to call it a night, so everyone was looking forward. I was standing on the right side of the boat and all of the sudden I heard something so I looked over. About 75 feet away from our boat was a whole entire humpback whale out of the water! It was mid-jump and I felt like time was standing still, like I was looking at a picture. But all of the sudden the whale crashed into the water, and it was gone. Everyone else was like, "Did you get a photo? Did you get a photo?" Only one other man saw it. Everyone else only heard the splash. Darn that all I got was the water remnants of the whale crashing back into the water. It truly was one of the most amazing things in the world though, and something I don't think I will ever forget.
The Humpback Whale I saw looked something like this, but since I didn't get a photo, this one is from Holualoa Inn's Blog:

Humpback Whale Facts (from Wikipedia):
*The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was designated by congress November 4, 1992 to protect the endangered humpback whale and its habitat.
*Almost 2/3 of the North Pacific humpback whales (Wikipedia estimates between 4,000 and 10,000) migrate to Hawaii each year to mate, have babies, and begin nursing those babies.
*Compared to other whales, the humpback whale has extremely long flippers which reach up to 30 percent of its length of up to 40 feet (12 m). At their full grown length they can reach up to 55 feet long, and weighs about one ton for every square foot.
*Humpback whales are air breathers, rising to the surface every thirty or so minutes. Their exhale can rise up to 15 feet into the air, clocking at a speed of 300 mph(the human sneeze at its fastest is about 100 mph).
*When born, calfs are generally 10 to 15 feet long. They feed off their mothers milk, which is produced and fed to their calfs through mammary gland slits. The calf is able to roll its tongue into a tube and siphon in the milk that is ejected into the water. Occasionally pods of dolphins are found trailing mothers and their calves, and it has been speculated that they are consuming be leftover milk that the calf does not eat.
*All efforts to attach tracking devices to these whales have failed because of their constant movement. These whales are known for "breaching", in which they throw their body out of the water. Scientists have only been able to speculate as to why they do this, theories include using the motion to knock barnacles off, show of dominance, mark personal space etc. There is generally a lot action when there are groupings of males, anywhere from two to ten whales, that come together in what's known as a competition pod. In these groupings the males are showing off and sometimes fighting over the position of being a females escort for the season. Many times the whales will use their pectoral fins and flukes to slam each other, leavening bruises and cuts from the barnacles attached to their skin.
*Male humpback whales produce vocalizations described as "songs" over 10–20 minute periods. Whales in different areas of the world sing different songs, but those in the same area sing the same song. A song can be repeated for hours. They change slightly from year to year.

Loved this little diagram on the right of the whale positions and the whale size facts. This photo is from the Maui Information Guide on Whale Watching:

I loved being so close to these huge creatures. I think the only things I want now is to be scuba diving and to happen upon a family of them. (Humpbacks are supposed to be nice, and not hurt humans.) That and they said that sometimes they actually see the whale calves nursing. We, unfortunately were not able to, but I guess that leaves something to be desired for another trip. We saw so many though. It was a very worthwhile trip and I am afraid every other whale watching trip after this will pale in comparison. The captain and his assistant were even raving because apparently this is the closest the whales have ever come to the boat.
It was a beautiful sunset boat ride back to the island as we spotted more whales off in the distance.

Definitely a night for the books.