After years of longing for a tiki room I could call my own, and not being able to get off my ass to do anything about it, I called in the big gun: Bamboo Ben. Ben has spent the last several weeks transforming my guest bedroom suite into Mai Kai, jr. He has another week or so to finish it up, which he'll do in a couple of weeks. I'll post more progress pictures as the work continue. I'm completely blown away by it -- it's far better than anything I'd dreamed of. Let me know what you think!

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B04532ODWJ64eIv

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - link updated - 2015-06-08 19:47 ]

OMFG!!!!

Holy Crow!
I would hate to pay that bill, but if I could it is sure worth it. Bamboo Ben is the man!
Ben, if you need a helper let me know. I've been a carpenter for over 25 years.
Wesley

BRAVO, Bamboo Ben! Wow... the moldings, the carvings in the beam wrap, the tapa cloth... just WOW! Can't wait for the next wave of pictures. Congrats, Tiki Lee, for making your dream come true! And this is your GUEST room?? I feel a B&B starting up for out of town Tiki ohana!

Tiki Lee, First, Big Welcome to TC, second, WOW, Awesome, Unbelievable! Thanks so Much for sharing this jewel with us here at TC. SO much of BBens work is hidden away, Never to be seen by us mere mortals.
Who is that grey haired Old fart that keeps hoggin the the camera space, could it be our own BambooBen??? Why, yes it is, Hey there bBen.
Seriously this is a Fantastic set of rooms and there is No One but Bamboo Ben who could do this kind of work. It's in his Genes I guess.
Tiki Lee, Thanks again for sharing. I Look forward to seeing the completed pictures. Now if I can get my heart slowed down a bit...

I dont think I would every leave the house again !!
That is amazing . Congrats too you and to Ben on his stunning work.

Thanks for sharing your pic's Tiki Lee you are one lucky MF'er. Bamboo Ben ROCKS!!!!! Please more Pic's!!!!
Later,
Spermy

I'm a little veclempt... Ben, I take back two-thirds of everything I've ever said about OC & South Bay punks, and half of what I've said about LA punks. :wink:

I've been sitting here trying to think of how to put how great that looks, but the best I can come up with is "Arrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Even better, I bet Ben did it all himself. No helper. Way to go!

That's awesome! I can't wait to see some more pics. Great job Ben!

Josh
http://www.whollycatsband.com

That's gorgeous, Lee, thanks so much for sharing pics with us. I've been a big believer in getting rid of as many 90° angles as you can when constructing a tiki room, and your room is a great demonstration of what a difference that makes. That tapa cloth is a fantastic design, where did you find it?

Ben, your work on this room is really stunning. No surprise, of course, I've seen plenty of your work before, but it never ceases to captivate me when I see it.

Stunning! Simply stunning! WOWWWEEEE! I wouldn't know whether to genuflect or order a Mai Tai upon entering! Really worth every penny spent on hiring Master Ben! Kudos, Ben and Lee!!

WOW! Too f--ing much! Ben is da man! And Tiki Lee, great looking so far (oh fortunate wise man), can't wait to see the finish. I'm sure you can't either.

Whats all the fuss I didn't do nothing!

Ben's also going to be doing an attached bathroom -- can't say I've seen many Tiki bathrooms around here before. I'm also having Crazy Al carve a tiki to go in one of the corners. Should be magnificent. Add to that some incredible Papua New Guinea masks, figures and spears, and things should be amazing. On top of it all, I had a special electrical circuit run around the room from this place:

http://www.simflame.com/

I have a number of light fixtures from OA, some I already had, and some that Ben will be crafting -- they'll all be on this special circuit that makes the lamps look like flickering candles -- all flickering at a different, random rate.

Humuhumu -- the tapa came from OA. Ben tells me it's a wedding cloth.

[ Edited by: Tiki Lee 2005-09-29 13:40 ]

I've spent a lot of time looking into flicker control boxes, and was leaning towards building my own. That price is very good, especially when you consider that each box gives you three independent channels of "flicker." I've spent a lot of time looking at the flicker effects at Disneyland, and while it's well done nearly everywhere, I've seen a few cases where they've strung a bunch of lights into a single control, which gives a strange throbbing effect as they all flicker in unison. Thanks for the great tip.

Awesome tiki hut! Congrats Tiki Lee and props to Bamboo Ben. Love that tapa and outrigger carving. Ben's da man!

WHOOOA. The richness of that hand twined bamboo ceiling, and the natural thatched "roof" underneith the bamboo slats are freakin amazing. The carved tapa panels are so hitmotizing all lined up. Nice orchestration of the materials. It looks like an elaborate Polynesian hut for a great Chief. A full on walk-in installation. Nice work Bamboo Ben and congrats Tiki Lee.

HOLY SHIT, ben, you do some damn fine work. I've not seen any of your installations until these fine photos. I'm FLOORED. Not just a kick ass bar man....

lee - you are one lucky dude to have a custom BB and I really thank you for sharing with the rest of us. I can't wait to see the crazy al tiki in there...it's gonna be awesome!

Astounding.
BB - all I can mutter is an awed arrrrrrrrrrrrr.

On 2005-09-29 13:39, Tiki Lee wrote:
Add to that some incredible Papua New Guinea masks, figures and spears,

p.s. Tiki Lee forgot to mention that the above masks, etc. are the "real tiki deal" and he hand picked them out/up from the Trader Vics warehouse in Oakland.

Glad you're all diggin' the room.

Arrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Yes, I did neglect to mention that I got some amazing things from the Trader Vic's stash. I added five photos to the gallery of some of the masks and spears. After we finish the shell of the room, and we see what we have to work with, we'll probably head back and pick up a few more things.

http://tiki.unkrich.com/tiki_hideaway/index.html

[ Edited by: Tiki Lee 2005-09-29 20:17 ]

Just a Minor Oversite, but we'll forgive you. I believe everyone is still in shock and you could get away with more yet.
Just Beautiful.

All I can say is Luckee!

Bamboo ben is the greatest tiki cunstucter in the world...

Very nice Tiki Lee.......Bamboo Ben does some great stuff!

On 2005-09-29 19:46, RevBambooBen wrote:
p.s. Tiki Lee forgot to mention that the above masks, etc. are the "real tiki deal" and he hand picked them out/up from the Trader Vics warehouse in Oakland.

Is the TV warehoure in Oakland open for the public or do you need to know sombody to buy items from there?

[ Edited by: Rob Roy 2005-09-30 10:07 ]

Unfortunately, you gotta know someone. Or know someone who knows someone, which in my case was Ben.

Which is why I didn't mention the TV stash in the first place, but since Ben mentioned it, what the hell...

It's actually not as dramatic as what you might be envisioning. I had been envisioning something along the lines of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it's actually just a back room full of shelves in the rear of an Asian antique business. Apparently the turnover is so high with stuff coming in and then going right back out to new TV's that they don't need much stoarge.

Consider my timbers shivered! Arrrrr-mazing!

Is the man in those pictures the man who makes the Bamboo Ben tiki things? My mom and I went by the Bamboo Ben store but they weren't open. I wondered if the man who is working is from that store. Maybe that is why the store was closed. It looks like he needs some help when he is on the ladder. It is very pretty with all those decorations. That seems like a lot of work, but it is really neat with all the shapes and the things that look like they are carved with a knife.

That man on the ladder is none other than The Revrend Bamboo Ben Himself. There should be a # at the store to call, or better yet here it is. 714-960-1860. That is to the shop/store and you can leave a message or listen for hours.
Welcome to TC btw.

What a space Ben. Thanks for sharing Lee and welcome to TC for sure. Would you consider funding our addition conversion? You could write it off as a charity donation!

Amazing room.

Mahaloz

Thanks for posting the detail shots. So, a few questions, where did the tapa cloth mural thingy come from? did Ben make that? did he carve all the ceiling panels? Those are really cool! Also - Ben, did you haul all that stuff up from HB? or did you find someplace up here that you got supplies from? please tell us if you did, we've got Ona running to Oceanic Arts for our baby room supplies, and if there's a place up here to get stuff, we'd like to know!

Really amazing room Ben, and thanks for the pictures Lee!
mrs. pineapple

Wow! I'm speechless, without speech!

On 2005-10-02 09:35, mrs. pineapple wrote:
Thanks for posting the detail shots. So, a few questions, where did the tapa cloth mural thingy come from?

Tonga via OA

It's a beauty!!

did he carve all the ceiling panels?

yes

Those are really cool! Also - Ben, did you haul all that stuff up from HB?

yes-via OA

or did you find someplace up here that you got supplies from? please tell us if you did, we've got Ona running to Oceanic Arts for our baby room supplies, and if there's a place up here to get stuff, we'd like to know!

Sorry Mrs. P. OA, OA, OA.

Really amazing room Ben, and thanks for the pictures Lee!
mrs. pineapple

mahalos

wow, such a glorious room, the work put into that is amazing and the result is going to be amazing

Wow! That's absolutely spectacular. I'm sure most us only dream of having such a room. I'm curious, what is the function of the room going to be once it's complete? Still a bedroom or is this going to house a tiki bar? I vote for the tiki bar personally.

It's still going to be a guest bedroom, but a damn fine one. We've had a lot of people tell us to hold off on putting the furniture in, and have a party to celebrate its completion. Ben's going to be building a bar-like shelf across the side windows. I could hire a bartender to stand outside my house, mixing drinks and serving them into the room.

My family loves going to Hawaii, so we figure this is a way for us to have some of that at home. It'll be the perfect hide-out when we need to escape from the screaming kids...

Ben's been slaving away building furniture for the room this week, including a tiki hutch for the TV. He'll be back soon to complete the room and do the bathroom, so expect more progress photos soon!

Speechless....and jealous! Freakin' awesome!!

I've added a few photos of the TV cabinet Ben's been building in his shop. It looks amazing. He continues to outdo himself. BTW, in that last photo, Ben's doing an uncanny homage to Jack Nicholson in The Shining ... "Heeeeeeere's Tiki!"

He'll be back up here on Monday to finish the room and do the bathroom -- I'll post progress photos as the work continues.

http://tiki.unkrich.com/tiki_hideaway/index.html

Just make sure no one smokes in bed in that room. One little spark and... poof!

On 2005-10-07 10:12, GatorRob wrote:
Just make sure no one smokes in bed in that room. One little spark and... poof!

It's got Fire Srinklers in the ceiling. And, the house is smoke free. We're actually using a finish on the matting that I call Nicotine in a Can, to give it that old school tiki look.

Wait till next week. Pics can only say so much. This room will win awards.

alOha!