MLK day

Long weekend is always everyone's favorite. It's simply the perfect time to loosen up a bit from your work aka procrastinating. I just finished Type 2 homework, but I think I need to put some more effort to  it since I did it a little too fast. Homework starts coming and I'm currently and slowly gathering my determination to work on them.

Anyway, tomorrow, we have a day off. It's Martin Luther King Day. I'm glad we finally have a day off despite the fact that it's going to be the only holiday of the semester, and that we just kicked off the semester last week... at least for my school. Probably other universities and schools will have more holidays later in the semester. I was surprised that the semester kicked off really well. Well, I was sick - completely bedridden for three days - last week when I just got here from Indonesia, but the week after was surprisingly amazing. I hung out two days consecutively.

On last Friday, I went out with my graphic design people to laser tag, but it was actually a farewell event to one of the greatest and most talented graphic design students of my term who withdraws from the school :(. But it turned out to be fun. We beat the opposing team, which were composed of children. We felt so bad at it but well, they were pretty good too! What also really interesting is that it was actually my first time hanging out with the graphics people!

Unfortunately, I couldn't hang out with them late as I had another plan that started early the next day. I didn't want to go home drunk and have a hangover the next day. So here's the plan I'm talking about!

It's a one day trip to LA with Agnes Lulubee!!!!!

Darn I miss that now-USC girl. Last time we met was during Thanksgiving when we went to see Skyfall and then attended an ISV Thanksgiving party the day after. Now that she lives in a neighboring city, LA, we decided to meet up again to celebrate the long weekend. Since she has come all the way up to Pasadena the other day, I thought I should return the favor by going down to LA. At first, the plan was only to see Les Miserables since both she and I haven't seen it...and we were also movie-buddies back in Cupertino (we went to see movies nearly every week). But Agnes suggested that we should go visit some places in LA before and after the movie!

On Saturday at 11 am, I took off from my apartment and hopped on a train to Civic Center, where Agnes would pick me up.

First stop: Urth Caffe!!

My friends in LA recommended me to go to this place and even Agnes liked it too! For brunch, we decided to stop by at this small yet crowded cafe in Beverly Hills. The line was pretty long but they had quite a fast service as we could order right from the line. It wasn't even hard to find a good spot to sit either, despite the cafe always being crowded and all.

Poach Di Parma, two poached eggs that I shared with Agnes. The portion is hella huge!

My own brunch of the day: Heirloom Breakfast Potatoes, which are actually...appetizers. But it's all enough for me.

We also had bubble tea, which came out really nice along with our meal. I got to say that the bubble tea doesn't taste as good as other places are, probably because it's not their specialty. However, the whole meal and atmosphere we had were pretty promising.

After lunch, we strolled for a while along the streets of Beverly Hills and see what's good. The day was pretty hot and we bumped into many good restaurants along the streets. They're mostly fancy restaurants and what not.

We surely didn't forget the original plan of going to LA: watching Les Miserables! I looked up the showtimes in Regal Cinemas at L.A Live the night before, and we chose to watch the 3.10 pm. So, right after lunch in Urth Cafe and strolling in Beverly Hills, we took off to L.A Live which was located at the downtown.

I have to say, I reaaaallllly love this cinema. I wish it was near my school so I could go there often. The cinemas were located in one of the busiest points in Downtown LA, surrounded by Nokia Theatre, Staples Center, and a shopping center. It definitely has a lot of activities and events going on there. Not to mention,  the theatres were located in the upper floors while the ticket box and lobby were at the ground floor. So right after the movie was over, through the corridor's window outside the theatre on the way to the elevator, we could see the bustling lights of LA downtown. It was just so beautiful.

Anyway, Les Miserables eh? One word: mindblowing. I'm not even kidding. I love the whole cast, the acting, art direction, and the cinematography. I'm not usually into musicals but this one really nails it, especially I haven't actually read the novel nor watched the stage musical.

Then we went off strolling around L.A Live. They have mesmerizing atmosphere that makes me fall in love all of a sudden with LA. I mean, LA, not Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard, and all the other tourist attraction. This time, just Downtown LA.

Afterwards, Agnes and I went to one of the places I'd been anticipating that day: LACMA! I've been to LA several times and this place has never been on my must-visit list. So I was really ecstatic I finally got to visit it. LACMA is famous with the urban lampposts installation that has been featured in many films. Probably it's another reason why I'm so excited to go to one of the most renowned movie sets in LA.

But seriously, these lampposts make good photography objects. Some people even use it as a photoshoot set.

We chilled for an hour or so in LACMA. After taking so many pictures among the lampposts, we sat at the side of the installation and just started talking, gossiping, and what-not. It was a fun time, before at around 8.30 pm, we took off to another downtown attraction: Grand Park!

I was so surprised that the park was like no other. I usually thought a park would be so boring, quiet, and nothing to see, but Grand Park was just different. It was quiet, but they had gorgeous, pudding-like fountain at the center of it that changes color every a few minutes. The park offers the subtlest vibe that I just wanted to stay there longer.

Woman in Black, yeah

Before we left Grand Park, we strolled to a corner of Grand Park that faces right to Walt Disney Hall Concert. The building would have looked shinier and more glorious in the afternoon because sunlight would reflect on the surface of its decorative roof. But the lights in the evening also made one of the attractions in LA look promising.

It was around 9 pm. Quite late. We headed to Little Tokyo where I would be dropped off at the Metro Station to take a train back to Pasadena. Beforehand, we had a quick udon dinner in Oomasa Restaurant. The restaurant was still, surprisingly, crowded even at around 10-ish. More people were still coming. I was a little anxious that I wouldn't be able to catch a train back to Pasadena, considering it was late, but last time I checked that Metro would still be operating until midnight! So, we quickly munched on our udon so I could catch a train back. Having udon to call it the day is I think a great choice, since the night was getting colder and we needed something warm.

Alrighty, Agnes and I parted ways. I went to Little Tokyo Metro station where I hopped on a train back to Pasadena. It was an adventurous day! I probably wouldn't do stuff like this until...when I'm free from  my homework or at least have less workload. It was just the first week and I guess everyone's still having fun, so I'll be sure to miss a day like this :').

If it weren't because of Agnes, I wouldn't fall in love with Downtown LA like this. So far, I've never visited any of the places I mentioned in this blog, except for Little Tokyo since I've been there a couple of times. But places like LACMA, Grand Park, Urth Caffe, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and LA Live were just amazing. How come I didn't spot those places back then? I was too much drawn to explore the other, more known attractions in LA - I'm talking about ones that globally attract a lot of people to come by - like Hollywood areas. I personally think Hollywood is a little overrated for a place to visit, so I'm glad Agnes has brought me to the other side of LA, which is the downtown, that I rarely explored.

Wishing you guys a great one day holiday. Have fun while you can before reality takes you back in!