If you’re reading this you probably love Tiki Town as much as I do. In a previous article I asked many of the people that frequent Tiki Town “what makes Tiki Town great”. I received a lot of really fabulous
responses to that question. There was a common theme to the answers that really didn’t surprise me at all: the community. It’s the people that make Tiki Town such a great place.
In the nearly four years that Tiki Town has been around it has grown tremendously and continues to grow and improve. The existence of Tiki Town is due to the hard work, enthusiasm, and imaginations of the sim owners – Teresa Tryce and Kytanna Kawanishi.
But how well do we really know these two mysterious and enigmatic figures? They are riddles wrapped in bikinis inside a whole bunch of cuteness… and I set out to find some answers.
I presented each of them with ten questions to try and learn a bit more about whom these two were and what makes them tick. Their answers to these questions are fun, informative, and interesting. Aside from minor editing these are their responses.
Jana: What made you decide to create Tiki Town?
Teresa: I always loved to build and landscape, but never got the inspiration to really dig into it in earnest until I met Kytanna. We met and got along incredibly well from the start! Then we rented a small place, then a quarter sim, and then one day I took the plunge and bought our main central sim. I was building-oriented and she was people-oriented and we always worked wonderfully together. One thing led to another and we grew slowly but steadily until we reached nine sims.
Kytanna: Well, we wanted to rent our own sim and create a place that was open and inviting to all. Originally, we just planned to rent most of the sim out, so it was just to be a quarter sim. We thought of doing a sort of “beach trailer” kind of thing. But I’d lived in a tiki-ish sort of place before and suggested (to Teresa) we could do tiki huts. Then Teresa said “we can call it Tiki Town!”, and that’s just what we did.
Jana: Did Tiki Town turn out how you originally thought it would?
Teresa: Not at all. I originally thought I would make a trashy trailer park. La Cuna is still grungy and corrupted and has a few trailers but it’s nothing like what I had originally envisioned. The tropical theme was Kytanna’s idea.
Kytanna: It’s become much more. We wanted a small cozy place, and despite its size it still has a cozy feel. But more than that, it’s become a community, not just a hangout for people. We have residents that have lived here since nearly day one, and it’s neat that our residents have also become friends and contributors in so many ways!
Jana: Is there anything you wish you could change about Tiki Town?
Teresa: As far as the builds, only constant little improvements here and there. We have put a tremendous amount of effort into making it a fun place – many places to “play”, both adult and some games; no stores to walk through, no billboard ads all around, and no clubs other than our own gathering places. One thing I do hope to improve is the rental system. Rentals help to offset the tiers, but are a LOT of work – one to three hours every day upon logging in and then sporadically throughout each day. Kytanna is working hard to come up with a system to reduce the workload on that.
Kytanna: Not really. We’re always tweaking this or that. It’s never “done”. But what it’s become is really quite special to me and to Teresa too.
Jana: What is your favorite thing about Tiki Town?
Teresa: The people and the community! I take great joy in seeing people enjoy the place, whether for the DJ events or exploring or adult fun. That makes it all worthwhile. As for the sim, I always liked caves and connecting tunnels and such so you do find some of that around.
Kytanna: The Tiki Townies! Teresa has built a beautiful place with lots of things to explore and do but it’s the people that make Tiki Town fun. The parties, the events, our DJs and security staff. Everyone that comes to just enjoy it and each other. That’s my favorite part.
Jana: Is there anything about Tiki Town you wish more people knew?
Teresa: I’m just hoping that they get around to see the things that are here for them. I started with maps and teleports, which are a LOT of effort to keep current; but a lot of people don’t use those. Then Kytanna developed a teleport HUD that I put landmarks and descriptions into. That is fantastic. We have givers here and there for the teleport HUDs for people who want to explore and see what’s here. What’s here? The Planetarium, the haunted house, the bumper zombie game, a big art museum, and of course many, many places for people to play and even some themed private rooms with security for those who prefer privacy.
Kytanna: It’s big, I mean we’re really big! Almost two full sims for the resort and La Cuna, with crossover on both of those. Plus all the public space to explore on the other sims. Teresa has put special little areas on each sim for people to visit and explore, and not just at ground level, but in La Cuna too!
Jana: Tell us something about you that most people might not know.
Teresa: Besides being really kinky? I am into art and especially into music, and have been for as long as I can remember. I do like to build and can make mesh objects in Blender, but haven’t devoted time to doing that for awhile now.
Kytanna: While Teresa does a lot of the building I help out with a lot of the scripting and technical stuff. I do IT (information technology) work in RL, mostly QA (quality assurance), but also some scripting and stuff. This has led me to try scripting in SL and it’s been both frustrating and fun!
Jana: Aside from your private home do you have a favorite spot in Tiki Town?
Teresa: I like the grungy corrupt aspect of La Cuna but I rarely get a chance to actually play there. Regarding Tiki Town… I like wherever I am at the time.
Kytanna: That would be the Grotto and the caves nearby. Back when Tiki Town was just a quarter sim the Grotto was actually our “backyard”. Teresa built it to honor a real world place we have both visited before, so it’s a very special part of the sim for me.
Jana: How did you decide on your Second Life name?
Teresa: “Tryce” was from the Second Life pick list (that was their method years ago). I chose “Teresa” because I liked the sound of how it went with “Tryce.” So, it was kind of random – no deep meaning there.
Kytanna: I love cats and I have a couple in RL. I was trying for a kitty-ish sort of name but I wanted to add something more and be a little different. So I used a “y” instead of an “i”, and added “-anna”. I didn’t really intend a similarity to “katana”. The last name I had to pick from a list, and there weren’t a lot of Asian names, so I picked Kawanishi because to me, it sorta sounded nice with Kytanna.
Jana: Favorite singer or band?
Teresa: My favorite band is Yes. I like many others: Rush, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Steven Wilson, The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Chicago, Spock’s Beard, The Doobie Brothers, Snarky Puppy, David Arkenstone, Focus, Steely Dan, Genesis, Magic Pie, Porcupine Tree – and I enjoy some classical music – Beethoven, Stravinsky, Grieg. I have weeks worth of music that could play non-stop on my computer and phone.
Kytanna: I love music, lots of it! I grew up with rock and of course pop. I also love funk, psybient and psytrance. My favorite band is “Yes” but I have lots of other favs from Progressive, Metal, New Wave and Grunge. Yes’s music is just very spiritual to me and I’m pretty sure that is Teresa’s favorite too! It’s another special bond I share with her. She and the DJ’s here at Tiki Town have greatly expanded my musical awareness too!
Jana: Tell us a joke or a favorite phrase.
Teresa: “No matter where you go… there you are!” That’s from the movie “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension”.
Kytanna: “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” From the movie “This is Spinal Tap”. I think the funniest things are funny because they’re often true!
I appreciate the time Teresa and Kytanna took to answer my questions. It was fun learning more about these two and Tiki Town as well. I hope you, the readers, learned something about them as well.
