Tiki Festival Long Beach – Ohana by the Sea

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with Bow-Tiki, Festivals, Long Beach, Tiki Festival, Tiki Stores, Tikis August 22, 2012

Last weekend was Tiki Oasis in San Diego, the biggest Southern California tiki event of the year, but again I wasn’t able to muster the forethought or finances. (In related news: We bought a house!) Coincidentally, August 18 & 19 also happened to be the 12th annual Tiki Beach Festival in Long Beach, which was free, closer and being attended by some good friends.

The event featured an island marketplace, food stands and Polynesian dancing and music performances throughout the day. Also mentioned on the Tiki Festival web site were tiki carvers and canoe racing, but somehow we missed those. Parking in the Belmont Shore area is not fun, but we were able to snag a space in the Granada Beach lot (free for the festival) since people were starting to pack up by the time we arrived around 4ish.

Hawaiian chef Sam Choy’s food truck, Pineapple Express, has just started roaming the streets of Los Angeles so it was fitting for it to be there. The truck was serving up ahi poke, loco moco, pineapple upside down cake and several other dishes.

The rest of the “Aloha Food Court” had a good range of grub, from sausages and garlic fries to Hawaiian BBQ, authentic shave ice and malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts) from Dough Dough’s. The only bummer was several vendors ran out of food by late afternoon.

I had prepared myself for the kind of price gouging we encounter at the L.A. County Fair, but was pleasantly surprised to find that spam musubi was just $2.50. It was a perfect mid-afternoon snack.

This late summer heat wave was still in full force, so the best way to keep cool was with a frozen piña colada ($5). They were non-alcoholic, alas, but I did appreciate the effort they put into garnishing each drink.

The sidewalk leading to the food court and stage was lined with booths for island-inspired jewelry, aloha shirts and Astroturf (?!). A few folks were selling handcarved tikis, while others displayed the common imported tiki masks similar to the ones I see at Terry’s Palms & Tikis at the fair.

In my eyes the most interesting of the vendors was Bow-Tiki, which operates a vintage boutique that opened earlier this year in the East Village Arts District of Long Beach. I liked how they blend tiki with turn-of-the-century style.

They had set up their space to look like a bazaar tent with bohemian rugs, antique storage trunks and tiki and nautical trinkets. Erin, one of the owners, told me it was sort of a mini version of their store.

Their wares were a mix of vintage, handmade and new but retro-inspired attire. My favorites were the girly t-shirts from Japanese company Queen Bee. There were several cute designs, including mermaids, fish, cat-eye glasses and corsets.

Around 7 p.m. we brought out our blanket and beach chairs on to the sand to relax while we waited for the sunset and the finale of the fire knife dancers.

Next year, if we’re not at Tiki Oasis, we might just be back here.

Aloha from Hanalei – Ching Young Village Shops

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with Aloha from Hanalei, hawaii, Kauai, Shopping, Tiki Shops, Tikis, Travel August 15, 2012

While we were in Kauai we did some souvenir shopping in Hanalei, stopping first at Ching Young Village. On the other side of the highway are the Hanalei Center shops, including Havaiki Oceanic and Tribal Art and the vintage store Yellowfish Trading Company. (That area is more picturesque as the boutiques are housed in restored historic buildings.)

But Ching Young Village has its fair share of nice shops too, such as Hanalei Strings & Things (where Mr. Baseball bought me a uke!), Robin Savage Gifts & Gourmet, and the one I’m featuring in this post: Aloha from Hanalei.

The New York Times travel section included it in a great article from a couple years ago about shopping on Kauai, “Hawaiiana, Beyond the Hula Doll.” Aloha from Hanalei has a cozy tiki hut vibe with bamboo, thatch and surfboards on the walls, plus a few tikis and run-of-the-mill tiki masks.

You’ll find an interesting and varied selection of wares, from locally made soaps to Hawaiian salt and spices to vintage aloha shirts to framed Hawaiiana sheet music like “Drowsy Honolulu Moonlight.” Like several other stores we visited, they also stocked typical tiki items like salt and pepper shakers, magnets and figurines.

The purple Ku on this tiki photo album was on the cusp of what I’d classify as an ugly tiki, but I liked the natural materials on the cover. I don’t recall seeing this particular tiki scrapbook before, but there are somewhat similar ones for sale on Amazon.

I was also pleased to see they sell tiki postcards from Brad Parker a.k.a. Tiki Shark, who resides in Kailua-Kona. (I’ve mentioned his awesome “Monsters on Vacation” paintings on this blog before, and he just had another show at La Luz de Jesus gallery that I’ll be writing about at some point.)

We were staying nearby in Princeville, so we had a few opportunities to hang out in Hanalei and do the tourist stroll. But if you have limited time on the North Shore, your two must-dos should be browsing at Havaiki Oceanic and Tribal Art and drinking at Tahiti Nui. (More on them soon.)

Why did the wild chicken cross the road? To get to Havaiki!

Aloha from Hanalei
Ching Young Village
5-5190 Kuhio Hwy.
Hanalei, HI 96714
808-826-8970

DVD of Tiki Vol. 1: Paradise Lost – Tiki Night at The Egyptian

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, Tiki, Tiki Films August 7, 2012

This weekend was the annual Tiki Night at Grauman’s Eygptian Theatre in Hollywood, a historic venue celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. There was barely more than a week’s notice to the public for this event, but it still had quite a good turnout.

Neighboring restaurant Maui and Sons apparently catered the meal that included a skewer of teriyaki chicken that had a weird, powdery texture, bland mini pulled pork sandwich, potato salad, mandarin orange green salad with a tasty sesame vinaigrette, and half a brownie square. For $20 a plate, it paled in comparison to what they served a few years ago. Meanwhile, Maui and Sons was also offering $5 mai tais and pina coladas in little cups — not much of a deal considering the serving size.

But it was easy to overlook those minor issues thanks to the festive atmosphere and tiki tunes provided again by King Kukulele and the Polynesian Paradise dancers (and impromptu little soloists). On a few numbers they were joined by Judd Finkelstein of The Maikai Gents on ukulele and Crazy Al contributing coconut percussion and exotica-style animal sounds.

A number of tiki artists and authorities had been interviewed for the film being screened that night, and some of them were there to support the event and see the final product. Tiki tOny and Crazy Al were also among the vendors that set up their wares in the courtyard. (I tweeted a photo of the purple tiki mask I picked up from Tiki tOny.)

A documentary project several years in the making, “The DVD of Tiki Volume 1: Paradise Lost” is an impressive and entertaining exploration of all things tiki. Filmmaker Jochen Hirschfeld traveled around the world to illustrate the origins of tiki in Polynesia, how the fantasy of a tropical paradise turned into the tiki bar craze in mid-century America, and why it fell out of favor not long afterward. (The last scene of the film is just gutwrenching — you’ll understand when you see it.)

There will be another screening in San Diego at Tiki Oasis, but for the next few days you can purchase the DVD through PayPal. (Ordering info can be found at the bottom of this Tiki Central thread.) It really is a must-buy for anyone that’s into tiki. Plus if they raise enough funds, we’ll hopefully be able to look forward to the release of “Tiki Volume 2: Paradise Reloaded,” which will focus on today’s tiki scene with interviews from Shag, Sven Kirsten, Beachbum Berry, Kevin Kidney and many more.