LOST Tour: Eight Story Fall

While wandering Honolulu between LOST locations I snapped various photos of buildings I found appealing.  One of these shots turned out to be the Waikiki Landmark which doubled as the building housing Anthony Cooper's condo in season 3's The Man from Tallahassee.

It seems that the interior scenes were actually filmed within one of the condos rather than on a soundstage.  I believe the glimpseout the window is a genuine view of Honolulu rather than CGI.

It took two-and-a-half seasons but we finally found out how Locke became paralyzed!  A shocking moment very well executed.

The same instant is revisited in the season 5 finale -- it is revealed that Jacob was present on that day and it is highly implied that Locke would have died if not for Jacob's intervention.

LOST Tour: Love Canal

The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial waterway built in the 1920s that serves to drain several of Oahu's streams and rivers into the Pacific Ocean.  More importantly, it stood in for the area of Seoul where Jin and Sun first meet.

In the second season episode ...And Found, shortly after Jin quits his job as doorman at the Seoul Gateway Hotel he walks somberly along a waterway in Seoul.  The bridge behind Jin is in reality the bridge that crosses the Ala Wai Canal at Kalakaua Avenue.

 

The view below is more or less what Jin would see in the screenshot above.  He is walking along the "right" side of the Ala Wai Canal.

Jin has been alerted by his buddy that he will soon find love, and that it will be orange.  Jin's spirit soars when he spots a lovely young lady in the requisite hue approaching him.

 

Sadly the lady walks past, but Jin has nary a second of disappointment before he collides with a second beauty, one who will play a very important role in his future...

 

The Ala Wai Canal shows up again in season 2's follow-up Jin/Sun-centric episode, The Whole Truth. This time Sun walks along the left bank of the canal.

 

The shot below was taken from the bridge along Kalakaua Avenue towards the ocean.  The buildings to the right of Sun in the first screenshot below are those on the left side of the photograph (since the LOST camera is pointing inland).

 

 

 

A canopy of trees lines the right bank of the Ala Wai Canal between Kalakaua Avenue and Ala Moana Boulevard.  For me they served as a welcome respite from the scorching hot midday Honolulu sun.  For Michael Dawson they set the scene for a sad farewell to little Walt in season 2's Adrift.

 

 

Couple more shots from the area ... this one from the right bank, looking out to the left bank, immediately adjacent to Kalakaua Avenue...

...and this one standing on the Kalakaua Ave. bridge looking down the left bank towards the ocean.

 

LOST Tour: Sydney Airport

The Oahu 4 landed at Honolulu International Airport early in the afternoon on Tuesday July 26th 2011.  By Thursday evening we had completed a 2-hour ride through Kualoa Ranch with KOS Tours and a full-day excursion throughout Oahu with Hawaiian Escapades, enjoying dozens of LOST locations in the process.  So what to do on Friday?  Search out more LOST locations, of course!  This time I set out solo on a walking tour of Honolulu.

One of the very few disappointments of the trip occurred as I approached the Hawaii Convention Center which served as a stand-in for Sydney Airport in several episodes of LOST.  Unfortunately the center was closed for renovation so I wasn't able to poke about inside.  However I still managed to get a few exterior shots of this very interesting and attractive structure.

The glass facade is showcased in several episodes including White Rabbit and House of the Rising Sun from season one as well as season 3's Further Instructions.

The main escalators within the convention center have also enjoyed their share of screen time.  (Alas there wasn't much to see on this particular day.)

The escalators are visible in the background of several powerful season 1 scenes as well as the confrontation between Mr. Eko and Richard Malkin's daughter in season 2's ?.

Riding the escalator are Shannon and Boone and, to great comic effect, Hurley in the season 1 finale Exodus.  Equally memorable is Locke's prone and shirtless upward journey.

The architecture of the convention center is quite stunning; we get a quick glimpse of the upper level with Shannon in Exodus.

It's funny that Shannon dupes Sayid on their first meeting but they later become a couple.  It reminds me of Juliet's shocking first encounter with Sawyer.

The posterior of a bronze sculpture located a few meters in front of the building can be seen briefly as frantic, frazzled Hurley hurries to catch his plane.

Speaking of backsides, the rear of the convention center is also very impressive.  (Insert Kardashian joke here.)

 

Through the magic of television, Sydney Airport can be seen from a canal walkway in Seoul!  More on the latter coming up in the next post.