Mr. & Mrs. kick_the_reverb in LA Sat, November 22nd

Hi LA area centralites,
The missus and I are going to head up to LA on Saturday, November 22nd, to see the opening of the exhibit in La Luz De Jesus.
We were thinking of going earlier to OA, if they're open, and to go the the Tiki-Ti at around 18:00 when they open.

Any LA area Tiki centarlites wanna meet us?

Any locals know of a good, cheap place to stay (we can't drive back to SD in the middle of the night). By good I mean with not too many panhandlers/gang members in the area :wink:

Mahalo

Ran

Within walking distance of the Tiki Ti (about 2 blocks west and one block south), and in a fairly safe neighborhood, is the Travelodge on Vermont. There are plenty of good places to eat and drink on Vermont (N. of the motel) and nearby. Rooms are only about $50 and fairly comfortable. I've stayed there twice when I didn't want to drive or call a cab after drinking at the Tiki Ti.

Ran, Should that be Kick_ & Mrs. the_Reverb?

Thanks for the info

Mahalo
Ran

I was planning on going to La Luz that night - maybe I'll see ya there!

I'm looking forward to meeting you & the Mrs, Ran! I think I'll skip OA this time (way too tempting, I should be saving my money), but you two should definitely make time to see it while you're up here. I'll see you at La Luz for sure, and maybe Tiki-Ti beforehand.

Ran,

As I was talking with Bob at OA yesterday, he mentioned something about you going there. And also something about previously mixing up a batch of Mai Tais for you and the Mrs.

Oops!
That's what I get for assuming my thread was dead...

Humuhumu, sorry we missed you, we were standing in line for an hour in the store. We did get to meet 3 friendly Tiki folk (Spy-Tiki among them) earlier at the the Tiki Ti , and we spent the time in the line chatting with them.

Tiki-Bong - Bob wasn't bluffing, the hospitality was exquisite, I'll post later about the days event, I just have too many good things to say and not enough time right now.

The LA trip was very enjoyable, and we're looking forward to meeting more Tiki centralites on Friday after thanksgiving.

Mahalo

Ran

OK
A wrap-up post:
So we started our way up from SD to Whittier on Sat. morning. On the way to OA, we stopped over at Moon (I noticed the Moon eyes, so we had to check it out).
We arrived at Oceanic Arts, the Mecca for tropical decor, at around noon. Bob and Leroy greeted us and introduced us to staff members Daniel and Sharon (hope I got it right). We chat a little bit, and then continued on to browse the place (so much great stuff, so little money...). After we paid for our modest purchase, Bob showed us some amazing old pics of past works, and their fabolous collection of old menus. Wow - we were blown away by that. They looked great in the BOT, but to see those in real life was something else.
Then, we were taken to the lounge/dining room where Bob, Leroy and Dano sat with us for some excellent Mai Tai's that Bob prepared.
Time flew by real fast, and before we knew it it was 14:40 (OA closes at 13:00).
We had a great time there, and we felt privilged and honored to recieve such great hospitality. Thanks again guys!

We continued to the Travelodge, which was right on the corner of Sunset and Vermont. The Jab's advice was spot on, as later we were able to just stroll over to the Tiki-Ti (which just had 2 free seats at the bar when we walked in at 18:00!).
We started sampling the potent drinks (I had a Ray's Mistake , Dale had a Tiki Daquiri), when we overheard the 3 guys next to us mentioning something that starts at 20:00. When the guy next to Dale started talking to her we asked if they were going to La Luz De Jezuz, and sure enough, they were.
So -we got to meet Spy Tiki, Maui Matt and another friend who is not a TC member. We had a great time getting to know them, and I tried a Chief Lapu Lapu and a Penang. I even got to chat a few words with Mike Sr., which was nice.

We walked over to the gallery at around 19:50, and when we got there the line was inside the store (and that seemd long to us). But having our 3 new friends made the wait almost un-noticeable (almost - it was an hour, afterall). An extra bonus is that a minute after we entered the room where the Dynotones situated, they started playing, and we got to meet our good friend from the Cowabunga surf music list, BigTikiDude.
Finally we were able to get into the room where all the art was, but then realized the line was just to buy stuff, not to look at it, so we took turns at examining the cool stuff. Being on a tight budget, we couldn't afford anything we liked, but was impressed by the works. I especialy likd the SHAG mugs (the 3 set, and the one with the detachable Oar).
Since we didn't buy anything, there was no use to go up to the artists. I tried looking for Holden to say hi, but I couldn't recognize anyone that looked familiar to me, so we left.
We were invited to another great party at Koreatown, where we met some more friendly people and experienced Kareoke for the first time.
The morning after we drove down to Costa Mesa (got to listen to the Duo Tones on NPR), and went to Hi Times Wine Cellars. That is one liquor store, allright! Stocked up on St Jams, Rhum Barbancourt, Appelton Special gold, Appelton Estate V/X, Lemon Hart 80 proof, Macademia nut liqueur, Pernod, and some TV syrups (so I can whine about not being able to afford artworks).

All in all a great experience,mostly thanks to all the great people we met.
BTW - Spy Tiki has a cool website dedicated to Spy movie themes, check it out at
http://www.spyboproyale.com .

Mahalo, and looking forward to meeting some more of you on Friday!

Ran