Before Target and Anthropologie moved in, the International Market Place was pure magic. When Don Beach opened it in 1956, two years before statehood, it wasn’t just a shopping center – it was a Polynesian fantasy come to life.

The marketplace featured authentic villages from Korea, Japan, and the South Seas, each selling unique treasures you couldn’t find anywhere else. My aunty always said this was where “real Hawaii” lived – not the sanitized version tourists see today. The tree house radio station broadcasted Hawaiian music across the grounds, and Don Ho himself performed regularly at the nightclubs.

Pro tip: The banyan tree still stands in the new marketplace, planted in the mid-1800s by a New Zealand couple, offering the same shade our kupuna enjoyed decades ago.

Walking through those winding pathways felt like stepping into another world. Vendors called out in pidgin, “Ho, come check dis out!” The smell of plumeria mixed with fresh-cooked malasadas from nearby stands. You could buy everything from hand-carved tikis to authentic aloha shirts made right here in the islands.

The transformation in 2016 marked the end of an era. While the new version is undeniably beautiful, locals mourned the loss of that hamajang charm that made the old marketplace so special. Sure, it was touristy, but it was our kind of touristy.