Rattiki's Tiki Tour of South East Asia :-)

Well I know generally the South Pacific namely Polynesia, Fiji, Samoa etc. is considered the home of "Tiki culture", but I can't afford such destinations on my budget :wink: So it is off to the Philippines, Indonesia (with a month in Bali) and maybe mainland Indochina for 13 weeks, come the 8th of July.

Why am I telling you this other than to brag? hehehe Well I see that there is a great cross section of posters here, some artisans, and travelers that may have some insight suggestions and other tid bits of all things Tiki to see and aquire in this region. One of the things I plan on doing is having some articles made up whist in Bali (and maybe in the PI) as I will be meeting up with my folk there who are going to be sending back a container load of stone carvings (so I can piggy back some of the stuff with theirs). I have some ideas and am even thinking of having some cool tiki bars and other goodies that I will design to be made up to sell on ebay.

Any positive input would be greatly appreciated!

[ Edited by: Rattiki on 2003-06-14 06:26 ]

On 2003-06-12 18:49, Rattiki wrote:
Well I know generally the South Pacific namely Polonesia, Fiji, Samoa etc. is considered the home of "Tiki culture", but I can't afford such destinations on my budget :wink: So it is off to the Philippines, Indonesia (with a month in Bali) and maybe mainland Indochina for 13 weeks, come the 8th of July.

Actually, Rattiki you're not too far off the home of "Tiki culture." Much of the old-school carvers and bartenders of the Polynesian Pop era were Filipino - Andres Bumatay, Milan Guanko, etc come to mind and Ray Buhen opened the Tiki Ti after mixing for Seven Seas and Don the Beachcomber.

Also, much of today's tikis sold around the world come from PI. As a matter of fact, if you go to Hawaii and buy something from the ABC Store or other street vendor, most of the handcrafted items they sell come from the PI. And those shell necklaces they hand out at Germaine's Luau? They're from PI too.

So, you're actually hitting a pretty good source if you're looking for tiki stuff! Have fun on your trip and take lots of pics for us to see.

Those wicker peacock/fan/queen chairs are from PI. So are those crazy carved monkeypod, multi-tiered, lazy susans with the pineapple on top. Also, San Miguel beer.

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2003-06-13 09:52 ]

Didn't someone say here on TC a few months ago that the Giant Fork & Spoon comes from the Phillipines?

Tiki carver "Mang Lee" is from PI too. It's funny that "Mang" is like "Mr.", and most peeps are thinking that is his first name.

Rattiki,

50% of our Tiki Central Special Agents are of Philippine origin!

Adobo Forever!

Yes the more I read of Svens book, the more I realize that what we consider "TIKI" is not really Polynesian or South Pacific, but a hogg-pogg of Pan Pacific culture with a dash of 50s-60s cartoons.....no wonder I love it so! :wink: Seems the 'A' frames used for many a tiki bar was originally taken from New Guinea or Indonesian not Polynesia. I think I am going to just pick up a bunch of cool stuff like I did the last two times I was in the PI and I will have some crazy bars and other things made up when I am in Bali.

BTW I will shoot some videos while I am there and I will put them up on my server space when I get back. My last trip I shot a video of a really cool and truly South East Asian 'tiki bar' that sat on the Mekong River side in Vientiane, Laos. The place was heaven! I'll try and upload it again and post a link.

Oh yes, Adobo RULES!