Monday, August 09, 2010

hawaii culture

It's Bon Dance season in Hawaii. I think it starts in July.

Anyway, the bon dance in Hawaii is great to experience because not only are you able to welcome your ancestors home with dancing, but there is also lots of great food too.

Many churches in Hawaii have their own bon dance groups, they dress up in their church happi coat (short jacket) and go around dancing at other bon dances.

Some churches feed these dancing groups afterwards.

In Japan, they have bon dances but they are not held at temples or churches (at least the ones I've seen in Osaka are not). And the types of foods are different.

Anyway, my cousin is here from the mainland for a really, really short visit and we haven't seen each other in 4 years.

We checked out the Bon Dance at the Koganji and my Aunty M, who goes to this church and was working there, gave us scrips to buy our dinner.

We shared this mixed plate with homemade beef stew and sweet sour spareribs. So good, comfort food at its best! A scoop of mac salad and 2 scoops of rice...Yum!

We also tried their "Kimono Dog" which is like a corn dog except that they use a Polish sausage and the batter for the andagi (Okinawan donut)...different but good!

It's been awhile since my cousin had a spam musubi so we got one for her.

And we had to have some andagi (Okinawan donut) so we got one each.

It was nice spending time with my cousin and being able to see what the bon dance was like. (When we were growing up we used to work in the booths, so it was nice to see it from a "guest" perspective.)

It was also nice to see this rainbow. It was as if our ancestors were smiling down at us. (Thanks again for the scrips, Aunty!)

10 comments:

Dennis K. said...

Wow I remember these bon dances but haven't been to one in forever. Looks really fun and oh my god the kimono dog sounds quite delicious. Spicy savory polish sausage with a sweet andagi batter??? I must try one! :)

K and S said...

It was good Dennis, though I think I would've preferred a beef sausage instead of the polish one.

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

One of these days i am going to have to go to one of these--to eat! ;-) Looks like you had a fun dinner and a nice time with your cousin.

jalna said...

Beauuutiful last shot with the lanterns, blue sky and rainbow!

Jude said...

This is so great! I haven't been to a bon dance since my teens - and it was on Kauai too, not Oahu - so it was super-memorable. Glad you had a nice time with your cousin & some ono-looking eats!

Rowena said...

Awwwww lucky you! I miss going to bon dances, the food is always good, lots of people having fun, and watching the dancers never fails to put you in a great mood. That kimono dog sounds yum!

KirkK said...

Hi Kat - This brings back some nice memories! I used to love the food at all the Bon dances....

K and S said...

I hope you get a chance to check these out Debinhawaii!

Thanks Jalna, my Flickr friend got a double rainbow the next day at the same bon dance!

Thanks Jude it had been awhile since I had been to one also, good times!

The kimono dog was different Rowena, spicy from the dog with the sweet from the batter.

Thanks Kirk, hope you can come back during Bon Dance season next time.

Take care everyone.
Kat

K said...

Yum that corndog sounds/looks interesting!

K and S said...

It definitely was different K :)

Take care.
Kat