Los Angeles week
Monday
I checked into the embassy suites hotel at El Sedundo for the week. While it was priced about the same as the other Hilton hotels, it was a much bigger room and felt very luxurious.
They also had a happy hour every evening for snacks. I decided to use the evening
after work to try out the snacks which turned out to be not much.
Tried out a greek restaurant nearby which was pretty good.
Tuesday
Mayura restaurant
As recommended by my college friend Remit, tried out a malayalee restaurant named Mayura.
The restaurant did not scale up to the kerala restaurants that we had tried in Atlanta
but it was good that there was one available pretty close by.
Wednesday
Venice Beach
Venice beach was one of the locations as well that figured. But I reached late and
everything was closed. But then the day I drove over there, Bruce Willis was being shot
in a movie. Over an unplanned week , I had run into two icons - the doors through
the whiskey club and Bruce Willis on the streets. Clearly celebrity is in the air.
Thursday
Sunset boulevard.
Drove from office straight to sunset boulevard. Was impreseed by the happeningness of the place.
Ate Sushi at Sushya restaurant. Strolled the boulevard. Went into some book shops which were very
impressive. Also, chanced on "The Whiskey" ( where the Doors used to play). That was a nice moment for me. Went into a childrens store to be shocked by the prices in hundreds of dollars.
Friday
Santa Monica Pier
This ranks as the best evening I had at Los Angeles. The beautiful white sands and the possibility of
making this a part of our everyday life was very very appealing. Beautiful wide stretch of white sands
and the pier with rides and life to keep the kids busy. Ideal for a family evening. I had dinner at
Bubba Gump Shrimp and I had about an hour of waiting time. Except I could order at the bar without having to wait. I took that option. Again, an atmosphere of frenzy as the waiters and waitresses catered to the heavy density of activity.
Saturday
Apartment search
Looked through apartment.com website and tried calling apartments but none of them had any units available.Finally I got one and went there. As I entered the leasing office, the stench was striking. The office in charge took me to the two bedroom that was so unimpressive that I don't recall any details from the visit. Next, I went to a town home which was much better. But hardly saw any Indians in the community. Next, went to Santa Monica to check out the apartment where Remit had stayed. I could not get to it. But I walked around and found one apartment that I liked and it was way over budget for me and with less than optimal living area.
LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
After completing my apartment search for the day, I decided to give LACMA a visit even though I just had one hour to spare before the museum closes. It was a real mammoth museum but it was well worth the visit.
Since there was no way I could see all the buildings. So I took advice from the girl who sold me the tickets and visited three spots
1) Islamic Art
2) Noah Purifoy : Junk Dada
3) Another section with unconventional stuff.
Islamic Art
Started off with Islamic art which had an amazing set of photographs. The photographs spelt out so much
life that you felt that you were in an islamic nation while in the gallery. That is when Aslam returned
my phone call. The style was nicely uncluttered and presented one poignant point.
Soon after the Islamic section was the section about India where I heard an american dad teaching his son about Vishnu. I could sense an admiration in their conversation of the gods.
Junk art ( Noah Purifoy)
Next I reached the junk art section by the artist Noah Purifoy which was pretty curious. It was less
ethereal than the islamic section and it brought out curiosity. Reminded me of my childhood when I have
played with junk stuff a little bit. To me, all pieces were successful experiments in curiosity done by
an adult who maintained his sense of childish curiosity.
Post modern gallery
I forget it's name. There was one huge section with nice curves that you could walk through. Felt like
walking through the art piece - getting into the art rather than watching it from outside as a perciever.
Then there were dead crows on the ground. Starts off actually with a grid of tvs playing one big movie of
people throwing juggling pins around. I was rushing through as there was hardly any time left.
Clearly, LACMA can take quite a few weekends should I move here.
In-and-Out Burger
This was recommended by Fodors and it really struck dirt. Probably the best burger I have had in US and priced at McDonalds level. Extremely crowded and I was struck by how incessantly all the girls had to work there and how hard it must be for the girl at the counter to keep smiling at each of her customers with hardly a few seconds break between one customer and the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment