BOOM. CHI. BOOM. BOOM. CHI. BOOM. CHI. BOOM. BOOM.
I’ve never really done my homework on much history. Of course being of living in Hawaii, we grow up learning Hawaiian history. Being of Hawaiian descent also makes it a personal exploration. Unfortunately, I’ve never done much homework on other cultures. My knowledge was a bit here and there; like I said, quite unfortunate.Over in Lahaina, Maui, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation created what I hope will be a tradition, the Plantation Days Festival. It’s to raise money to keep the history alive with Old Lahaina’s once booming sugar plantation. It closed down awhile back and all that stands is a lone smoke stack that hopefully will never falter. It was a night full of great food, great music, and great cultures coming together as one.
I joined my dad with Damien (who left early), as we helped my mom and Anabelle promote their non profit organization, The Friends of Moku’ula. It was a hot and muggy afternoon with dust flying like crazy. But no one was really bothered by it, at least we weren’t. The Friends of Moku’ula had a tent that a ton of people were interested in; both young and old, both local and tourist. The now Mayor of Maui, Alan Arakawa even stopped by and gave them his best wishes being that he’s familiar with their cause.
As the day progressed and Anabelle and I were able to get away and do our own thing while checking in from time to time with my mom. We had a chance to check out the other tents and see what they were about. In the corner was the Chinese tent, the only tent we stayed away from until the end of the evening (there were tons of kids running all over the place). Finally when we went in there, they had a lot of things going on. They furnished it really nicely. At the entrance, beside the Chinese arch, they had a Chinese drum that they let people bang on. Being that we were there the last 15 minutes or so before everyone was packing up, we had the chance to bang on the drum all we wanted. They had a Chinese lion dance costume on the other side for people to take pictures with. When I seen it, I thought to myself, “Man, I’d love to put that on and dance around”.
Hawaii is a diverse place with many cultures floating throughout the islands; Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, etc. There were many times I’ve seen Chinese lion dancing. It’s a tradition still used to spread good fortune. I’ve enjoyed watching these dances and am always impressed. However, I’ve always wondered what it’s like being in the lion, as opposed to being on the outside. Hmmm.
Before we knew it, one of the guys in charge of the Chinese booth asked us if we wanted to try it on. I immediately thought, “Yes sir!” I was so in there. I wanted Anabelle to get her pictures first. I didn’t realize how ecstatic she’d end up being but she for sure was. Then came my photo op. I was really enjoying my moment in there. I jokingly said that I should go around and collect money from everyone. It’s not something that may be big on other people’s Bucket Lists but I think my intrigue was the spark of this being brought up. I had the chance to shake the head around, lift it up and down like the dancers do, make the eyes blink, and just have a ball being in the lion.
It’s weird the places and times that you get to live out certain special moments. My goal as of recently was really to live a procrastination free life. I’ve come to realize that I need to really broaden my horizons. Fortunately for me, I love it and love that I’m doing it. I went to the Plantation Day Festival in support of The Friends of Moku’ula and I came out with this great story and being able to cross off #114 from my list, WEAR A CHINESE LION DANCE COSTUME.
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