It’s funny how a person, place or thing will trigger memories of long ago; most of us will reminisce the best or worst part of that experience and revel at the fact of how we’ve improved from that moment in time.  We all at some point in our lives will stroll down memory lane, not because we have to but because it’s an inherent trait in us as humans.  The reason why I bring this up is because my family and I stopped by Ala Moana Shopping Center last night and for once I was totally clueless as to what stores were left from my childhood.  It used to be you’d pull up the ramp into the parking lot and you could see the stores but now you almost need a map to maneuver your way around the center.  As we strolled about the place, the pantheon of glitzy and glamorous stores there were staggering.  The sight of “local” people hanging out had now been replaced by the cornucopia of tourists from various countries scuttling about like busy bees.  Being in the middle of this mob, I couldn’t help but be flustered.

What happened to the good ‘ole days where Ala Moana Shopping Center looked like this:  

As we passed store after store, a sense of nostalgia crept into my somnolent mind.

“Damn, I really missed this place.”  

“Didn’t there used to be that big ‘artsy’ stuff here?”  

“Wasn’t there a sand place here?”   

 “There had to be a Woolworth’s here right?”  

“I remember shopping here for my clothes.”  

“Didn’t we have a cooler more inviting koi pond structure here?” 

I was questioning myself, searching every image that I could find in the recess of my vast memory vault as if to piece together some mythical place that only a few select were given access to.  I know change is inevitable but sometimes it can be detrimental as well.  What was once my haven had now become something unrecognizable; something I now avoid like the plague.  The sense of everything “local” had now become a multi-million dollar conglomerate catering to the tourist…SIGH.  But alas, that’s just my personal view…or wanton need to cling to my childhood past.  Although unsettling, it was truly great to walk down memory lane and see how Ala Moana Shopping Center was in my mind’s eye.

Our family now goes to Kahala Mall 

where the “localness” still exists;

hopefully this’ll be the place where my children can add favorable memories to their “nostalgic vault”, I know that I’ve added it to mine.