Kokua Market

The Michael Jackson tribute mural gets the attention, but it's the other mural that gets to my heart.








Kokua Market moved in years ago, but before that, the location was the site of Mo‘iliæili Store. Good memories of that place and the nice ladies who worked there. My mom always liked shopping there.

Mo'ili'ili Mochi & Candies (circa 1975)

There's so much to reminisce about, it can feel overwhelming. But I'll start with Mo'ili'ili Mochi & Candies.

On those days when mom would have me and my little brother, Kimo, walk with her from our block (where the fire station used to be) to Star Market, I suppose we dreaded it. Mom always made sure we went shishi before we left, and also had a glass of water. She was concerned about hydration that way. I was about 8 to 10 years old when we did these walks to get groceries. It felt like 10 miles away, but we seemed pretty healthy now that I look back.

On the way home, we stopped by Mo'ili'ili Mochi & Candies sometimes. Most of the time, she kept walking and we kept begging, "Ma, let us get chichidango! Please!" And our mom, being deaf (literally) just kept going. She'd turn back, knowing what we wanted, but also knowing that her wallet was almost empty and that the mochi store doesn't take food stamps, haha... she kept going and Kimo and I would grunt and catch up, those bags of groceries slumping in our arms.

But the times when we got those chichidango were GREAT. Those pink, yellow and white colors just called out to my stomach so much. To this day, I don't turn down a chance to get some, even though I prefer the regular bean mochi.

It was a sad time, of course, when the mochi shop closed down. After decades of serving the community, gone. Turned out the store moved across town to Liliha, of all places. Still the same name, but might as well have been on Mars for a youngster like me. It was later, during college, that I learned that my part-time on-campus job led me to the new owner of the mochi shop. Her name was Eva, can't remember the last name. The nicest lady you'd ever meet.

I came across this story online at MidWeek in December 2006 that covered the gamut of great mochi shops on Oahu. In the story, I see that my favorite old mochi store has new ownership, still located in Liliha. I should go there sometimes, just for old time sake, and support an establishment that was an apple in my youthful eye. Where the store once stood, Kuni Dry Goods now exists. That's a whole 'nother story, how Kuni used to have the bigger space on the corner, but the demand for sewing material and classes diminished over the years as society changed. Now Kinko's is there, busy day and night.

I would love to go back in time to the mochi store, with my grown-up wallet and a few more bucks in it, and buy all the chichidango I want to my heart's content. And I'd buy a ton of mochi for Kimo and mom, too. That would definitely make them smile.

Note: I'm searching the net for a photo of the exact kind of chichidango that was at Mo'ili'ili Mochi. Very tough to find. Other mochi shops have pink and green chichidango, but none have the pink, yellow and white that I see so vividly in my mind's eye. Maybe I'll have to go to the store in Liliha and see if they make the same kind that was in the store 30 years ago. This is becoming a little bit of a mystery hunt.

Landmarks of Mo'ili'ili

There are landmarks, real shrines of my childhood, that are about to come crumbling down soon.

Bowl-O-Drome. Varsity Theater. It's sad, it's progress. It surprises me that there are longtime residents of Mo'ili'ili (and Ala Wai) who readily accept change so easily. I don't. The building has been in disrepair for many years, hasn't been occupied just as long.

I already lived through the destruction of adjacent Honolulu Stadium, which has turned out to be a great thing for folks who enjoy walking through its replacement, Old Stadium Park. However, there's a need for a sizable, central and affordable sports facility — particularly for the high schools, small colleges and even winter league baseball. Central and East Honolulu have been devoid of this niche since the old stadium was razed in 1975, which for a kid at the time (like me), is a lost era that hasn't been replaced.

And there's my beloved Varsity Theater, used for art films in recent years. My first film there was "Rokcy" in 1976 and I can never drive past the place without a bit of heartbreak stirring in my heart. The theater closed shop last month and is slated to come down as Bishop Estate, its owner, plans to build student housing for nearby University of Hawaii. I'm not against housing. It's in major shortage and has been since I was a student at UH in the 1980s. However, a little creativity would spare the facade of Varsity Theater — arguably Mo'ili'ili's best known and most handsome landmark. I suggest that the facade be saved and used as the entrance for the housing development's offices. Or better yet, use the facade as the entrance for a restaurant.

The location is in proximity of Manoa Valley, Makiki, even Waikiki, and a trio of new restaurants would be a magnet for the neighborhood economy.

Same can be said of Stadium Bowl-O-Drome, which is in a more residential area of Mo'ili'ili, but would be a fitting spot for a new Big City Diner. Though the popular eatery has another location in Kaimuki, a 10-minute drive away, Bowl-O-Drome is built with retro design all over it. It's just my personal fantasy, I know, but it's close enough to Waikiki that it could offer an alternative for tourists while still catering to local tastes.

Just some rambling thoughts about landmarks of Mo'ili'ili, and how they affect my soul. I don't ever expect to hear the sound of pin action in Bowl-O-Drome again, but that doesn't mean we can't attempt to preserve the grandeur and classic beauty of the place. I'm not so willing to let go of these places.

Look, I know that it can be hard to equate anything from a concrete jungle to anything soul. But it's true. Though the watershed of Ala Wai was virtually destroyed and covered with concrete, the spirit of the people who remained, who arrived, lives on no matter what is constructed and torn down. And it will live on.

I think of the Varsity Theater and how it survived through 70 years of Mo'ili'ili's development — a leg East in the development of then "suburban" Honolulu — and I wonder how much of a miracle it would be to see the memories and beauty of the place live on.

Check out a wonderful ode to Varsity Theater here.