Aku Aku moist towelette, from the collection of Tikiranch
This is one of the more divine mementos from a Polynesian restaurant I have ever come across. There are so many little things in life that bring me joy well out of proportion of their small role in the universe: Bottle Caps, cocktail umbrellas, capers… but perhaps this is best exemplified by the moist towelette. I still get silly-happy when I get them, and even more excited when I get to use them. I love that fake-lemony-alcohol scent (so much so, in fact, that I have an embarassing predilection for Mike’s Hard Lemonade on those rare occasions I’m not up for hard liquor — please don’t tell anyone).
This one comes from the Aku Aku in Las Vegas, which was once at the Stardust. It’s the first time I’ve seen a custom moist towelette from a tiki place, and it’s especially great since it also has not just any tiki on it — it has a drawing of one of Aku Aku’s massive moai, which were carved by Eli Hedley; one of them resides today at Sunset Park in Las Vegas. I really love the drawing of the waiter, offering the individual “Just for You” towel. So fancy!
I found this at the blog of Tikiranch — there are actually scant tiki things on the blog, but he does post many highly covetable flea market finds (check out the Hacienda Barmobile postcard!).
- AKU AKU just for you [Tikiranch]
- Aku Aku, Las Vegas [Critiki]
- Sunset Park, Las Vegas [Critiki]
September 11th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Mmmmmm — I love Bottle Caps.
September 11th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
I’m fiendish for them. I buy a bunch of packs of them and open them all at once, and arrange them in one long line of each color, always facing up. Then, I start eating them, starting with the flavor I have the most of, and eating them in this order: grape, cherry, orange, cola. For instance, if I have 7 cherries, 5 oranges, 5 grapes, and 4 colas, I would eat them like this: cherry… cherry… grape, cherry, orange… grape, cherry, orange, cola… grape, chery, orange, cola… etc. You’ll notice I don’t eat the root beer ones — I save all of those in one long line, and I eat them all only when I’m done eating all the other flavors.
It’s one of my odder traits. I think perhaps I have an unusual variant of OCD that only pertains to candy.
September 15th, 2006 at 11:37 am
[...] This great big moai is perhaps the most famous of all of them — after the originals on Rapa Nui, of course. This moai was carved by Eli Hedley for the Aku Aku restaurant, at the Stardust casino. There were two of them, and they stood guard at the front of the casino, looking over all the tourists passing by along the strip. The moai were such a strong visual that even in a city defined by its strong visuals, they were a standout, and became icons for not just the Stardust, but for Vegas itself. It is depicted on the moist towelette from the Aku Aku I posted on Monday. [...]
September 19th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Definitely, the root beer are the best. God… it’s been forever since I had a root beer (can’t get them in Korea).
May 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
[...] — I haven’t been so tickled to see an Aku Aku souvenir since I saw that extra-fancy moist towelette. Mr. Bali Hai is on the hunt tho help AkuAku learn more; hopefully we’ll get to see pictures [...]