#26 Eating

Oh my goodness!  Here we are at week 26 - half way through 2012...  Where is the time going?

Sorry I'm late this week but have had a nice break in Toronto with my big sister, to watch her in a hula recital.  Yes, she's taking hula lessons, well actually re-taking them.  She and I, along with the rest of our family, lived in Hawaii from 1951 to 1957 and took hula lessons practically from the day we arrived until we left.  Our grand finale was performing at Kapiolani Park and we loved it. 

Last year, as a birthday present to her, I took us back - she for the first time in 54 years - for a sentimental journey to our past.  We did everything in as big a way as we could afford and the biggest splurge was getting Super Ambassador tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We were given our own personal guide for the whole day, front row seats at all performances as well as at the luau and the spectacular "Ha - Breath of Life" evening show.  A real treat and well worth paying extra.

At the luau, we tasted our first taro bread rolls.  Poi (pronounced as "boy") is made from the taro root and was a staple of the Hawaiian people for centuries - a starchy root that looks like a sweet potato but is slightly purple in colour.  You can see what happens when taro is baked into something like a roll.

Sitting immediately alongside the stage for the hula show that accompanied the luau, here I am about to sample my first (and last of the trip) taro roll - very much like a regular bread roll.  (Not my best side, I'll be the first to admit!!)

Oh, and BTW, the "tattoo" is a henna one (temporary) that we had done in the Fijian village.