Tiki is dying fast in Waikiki - International Market

I haven't seen this mentioned, but with all the lamenting about the loss of tiki in Waikiki and changes at the International Market Place, I'd like to let you know some of the "treehouses" have actually been restored and reopened..there's a post office & an Internet cafe opened recently, PLUS...
A GREAT new very-tiki coffee/espresso bar called "Lava Flow Cafe." They carry a full line of tiki mugs, have reasonably priced coffee drinks and croissant sandwiches, and a killer seating area where you can sit in the most comfortable padded director's chair I've EVER sat in, sipping your latte overlooking all the shoppers in the market place. The place is full of tikis as well. It's quite lovely for the Polynesiac.
The food court has just recently re-opened on April 1st. I'm not sure what's different about it. I guess they just had a major cleaning & repainting..otherwise, no changes I can see.

Paradise is a state of mind.

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2007-04-10 15:28 ]

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2007-04-10 15:30 ]

All this is so sad, nothing like destroying the past to make room for modernization. It sounds like Waikiki is trying to take a page out of Las Vegas and destroy everything from it's past...

On 2007-04-10 15:27, Kaiwaza wrote:
The place is full of tikis as well. It's quite lovely for the Polynesiac.
The food court has just recently re-opened on April 1st. I'm not sure what's different about it. I guess they just had a major cleaning & repainting..otherwise, no changes I can see.

Really?? I'm finding that difficult to believe. Pictures. Show us pictures.

On 2007-01-24 13:15, bigbrotiki wrote:

These crude vessels are maybe not the prettiest Polynesian pop pottery ever made (in the 1970s, nearing the decline), but nevertheless are a piece of its history (even the "Red Pants", I'm afraid! :) )

Bigbro, If the "Red Pants" can be classified as Polynesian Pop would the same go for this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Trader-Vics-Ceramic-Pig-Mug_W0QQitemZ120191483254QQihZ002QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

On 2007-12-02 16:57, TikiPhil wrote:

Bigbro, If the "Red Pants" can be classified as Polynesian Pop would the same go for this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Trader-Vics-Ceramic-Pig-Mug_W0QQitemZ120191483254QQihZ002QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Polynesian Pork,of course. :)

On 2007-04-10 15:27, Kaiwaza wrote:
I haven't seen this mentioned, but with all the lamenting about the loss of tiki in Waikiki and changes at the International Market Place, I'd like to let you know some of the "treehouses" have actually been restored and reopened..there's a post office & an Internet cafe opened recently, PLUS...
A GREAT new very-tiki coffee/espresso bar called "Lava Flow Cafe." They carry a full line of tiki mugs . . .

Excellent. More tiki to see will get me back there!

I haven't seen this mentioned, but with all the lamenting about the loss of tiki in Waikiki and changes at the International Market Place, I'd like to let you know some of the "treehouses" have actually been restored and reopened..
The food court has just recently re-opened on April 1st. I'm not sure what's different about it. I guess they just had a major cleaning & repainting..otherwise, no changes I can see.

Yep Waikiki decor/entertainment is now sadly directed toward those tourons who like the las vegas crap. and the days of kodak hula show and old complete Polynesian Revues have gone the way of the wind.

"Treehouses" have not been restored. The most that can be said is many of the upstairs shops that were vacant for so long, are now open. Dennis has the Lava cafe that overlooks the makai portion of the I.M.P. and the ewa side where we would be able to pop over the 'bridge' to spok da Trader Vic's building. Now all demolished and paved. This area now houses about 10 or so kiosks to make available to you, the tourist with expendable, indiscriminate income, a plethorah of junk made in China and da Phillipines. (Ertatz tiki knows no bounds. Come and get it!) Dennis has alotta tiki hoohaa up there. The usual mugs. carved tikis for da tourist trade of good size. But you will NEVER see the old treehouses up anytime within your lifespan, Nor your kid's. Nor theirs.

and the upstairs structures are no where near the lineage of the treehouses. In fact they, to a purist, can be justifiably rebuked, for they have supplanted alotta what made D. Beach's locale very special. (More on that later.) But of course, i can't begrudge Dennis' business, nor his efforts. he is providing a bit of an oasis in an otherwise dreary overly commercial shopping center.

[ Edited by: PrimoDakine 2007-12-05 00:26 ]

I have been watching those doors! I put in a dozen calls trying to find out who to talk to about saving them. The people who run the market said they already handed over control of the whole place to the demo people, so they couldn't help. Most of the demo guys didn't speak English, so they weren't much help either. I talked to one of the head guys a couple times, and he was suppose to get back to me... then all of a sudden, they're gone!

At least my calls may have saved them from the bulldozer... but I should have just stole them myself when I had the chance!

---

Please tell me someone saved those tikis.
hodadhank, you'd better have them after the pictures.

This is the kind of thing that directly affects the amount of decor and carvings, tiki and otherwise, that is seen, or as is now the case, NOT seen, any longer, there at the I.M.P.
mamangement gets wind of this, or views carvings being abused or pried from their resting place, or hears of tikis being swiped from places thru Waikiki... and they say "phukkit. Why bother." and hole them up and away from the area. far removed from the aforementioned.
demo guys don't speak english?! they talked story jes fine with me. got ta know them well, in fact. prolly helped that i didn't convey an air of; "Why aren't my calls being returned!? Why did you NOT get back to me?" "well, YOU certainly aren't much help to ME!" But then i may be way off base. Probably am. I'll blame it on da maitais across da street at Duke's.

I Hate those bulldozer shots above.

Found this little 1978 era ad so I am sticking it here.