SB-Denarau

I remember going to bed after Austin's comment---"From Shithole to Palace in 30 minutes."
I woke up around 8:15AMAll morning we watched the news and saw all the damage to Japan. Luckily we had not experienced at damage and it was quite sunny where we were. Tanoa was a beautiful hotel and very grateful we took the suggestion to relocate here. We decided to stay here for the remaining of our trip because of the deal we got. Misha brought back a  couple continental breakfast buffet plates so we shared some fruit, banana bread, pancakes, french toast, and bacon! It was delicious and we were all starving. Then we decided to go to Denarau Harbour--this was a harbour with boats/ships, shops, restaurants, and ethnic dancing.
We taxied there which took about 15 minutes and met the best cab driver ever Ali. He crammed all 5 of us into his car and would pick us up too later that evening. He was a very nice guy. On our way there, we saw some cows crossing the road randomly, a few fruit and veggie markets, little resident/school/orphanage area.
When we got to Denarau, we shopped all the local stores and enjoyed dancing, singing, and drumming of a local entertainment group--they were very colorful and fun to watch. There wasn't a lot of movement with these dancers, but the beat was incredible-very tribal.
We checked out some Island Tours and then got some pizza which tasted like home run inn pizza. I bought a Fijian wooden mask at one of the shops and kept walking around! Abby, Colin, and I stopped in a coffee shop a little later and Colin and I shared a toasted PB and J sandwich. Inside the coffee shop, they were selling bootleg dvds as well---for only 4 fijian$=US$2.5 or so.
We continued to shop around the Harbour and met the other two guys for dinner---we ate Hard Rock Cafe, but could order from 2 other sister restaurants from this one. I got a chicken stir-fry from Indigo (Asian/Indian restaurant). It was delicious!! Then we went back to the hotel, grabbed some bread, pb, and jelly to make sandwiches for tomorrow. It was only 1.50-1.60 Fijian for a loaf of bread, but 6 fijian for a small pb and 3 fijian for a small jelly.
When we got back to the hotel, we all went for a swim---it was a nice warm pool and there was even a band playing in the lounge area. After playing around in the pool, we sat in the sauna for a bit and then all went back to shower and get to bed. What a great first day in town!