A Vagabond Weekend in Los Angeles

After two weeks in LA, I actually managed to explore LA proper…kind of…but seeing as LA is a urban sprawl, what is proper? What is downtown? Where do the suburbs start? Where do they end? These are the real questions in life.

Thursday
Tito’s Tacos! Guacamole, salsa, enchiladas, tamales, burritos, chips! Enough said! (oh yeah…never did eat a taco…)

Friday
Note to self: Don’t sync your phone to your computer that’s still on EST time, your phone will change times, and you will wake up at 7am EST for your 7am Pacific Time meeting. Yes people, that’s 4am in the morning. No wonder no one else was on the call! After the false start, I managed to re-wake up on time and make the meeting. Then it was off to Circa 55 (retro décor fitting for 1955) in the Hilton for LA’s Restaurant Week. The apps were simple, but had some clean, complementary tastes. Nice mozzarella, good ham, miniscule pieces of artichoke heart (slightly tasteless, sorry Circa). My goat cheese and sundried tomato ravioli weirdly fell apart, the pasta being too dry. The cream sauce was choking and the sautéed mushrooms were decent. The panna cotta was tasty if a bit too sweet, and although cute, the dried fruit and nut tart was just plain odd.

For dinner, I met up with Sai and her fiancé Azan, and we headed to Culver City for Korean food at Gi____. DELICIOUS! Ventilation was built into the bbq grill! Lots of kimchi, pickled cucumbers, salad, veggies! Scrumptiously seasoned beef and chicken. And lots of it. YUUUM! And the most un-cumin-y cumin pear bread pudding. Ehh?
Saturday
I drove in LA. Yes I, Kiyomi Laura Hayashida drove in LA. Scary thought huh? Actually I’m a great driver, although all too slow and cautious for Amy’s LA standards. I can’t help it. I don’t like the idea of driving through the city streets at 50mph, fifteen miles over the speed limit. No thank you.

Where did this driving take me? Well to the Annenberg Space for Photography, which as a cool albeit small photographic journalism exhibit. What was the most amazing experience though was the parking garage. I couldn’t find where I was supposed to park, so I parked a few LOOONG blocks away and then walk (unheard of!) to the building. I couldn’t figure out how to get to it, since I was on the side street, so I went into the parking garage (that’s where I was supposed to park) and tried to find my way up. It was eerie. Desolate, unmanned cars, dark corners, garage noises. This structure was immense. I got completely lost in the story after story of parking garage. I wish I had busted out my camera to document my experience. After actually making it up to the photo space and then amazingly finding my way back to Amy in a very roundabout, lost way, I picked up Amy, and we took off to 3rd Street promenade. Who knew that California’s sales tax is almost 10%?? I didn’t. Sorry, CA, I’m going to spend my money in NY!

Dinner was at a Peruvian Chinese place that serves horchata! The fried calamari, shrimp, fish platter with sautéed purple onions and lemon was amazing, and the chicken, veggie, fries dish wasn’t half bad. Better than most of what I ate in Peru (sorry Peru). But then again Peru had the most amazing street meet and potato on a stick and 15 cent tamales! How can you go wrong with that.

Sunday
OOPS! We woke up around noon and caught a bus to the Getty Center, which is perch up on a hill, overlooking LA. Currently on exhibit is Irving Penn’s Small Trades, Penn who incidentally passed away a few weeks ago. These photos were all about capturing the characters of these Parisian, Londoner, New Yorker workers. Clothes define a man, but a man is a man dressed or undressed.

Dinner with my cousin at Hide (that is Hee-De (long e, short e, not hide and seek)). We sat at the sushi bar and had our own personal chef for the meal. I discovered the wonders of Uni, creamy, buttery, melt in your mouth uni. Think salmon and avocado in one!!! The giant clam was pretty damn good too.

I have to say, I forgot how good the food is in California. Especially the Mexican and Japanese and Asian food. Damn. So good.