A Very Sunny Halloween

Writer's Note: This is a continuation of Halloween at Disneyland.

Jess and I woke up late a day after Disneyland. It's Halloween! But do we have a special plan? Maybe not a specific Halloween-themed plan. We'll figure it out later.

Our original plan to start the day was to have brunch at Central Park Cafe, but we woke up slightly late. So instead of brunch, we would just have lunch. Jess mentioned she wanted to eat at Tatsu. We were initially going to Tatsu Ramen the next day but we switched it to tomorrow. That day was supposed to be a little more relaxing than the day before, since we spent too much time (more than a day) at Disneyland.

So I drove to Tatsu, all the way in West LA. We had a quick lunch there – we both had Naked Ramen, which is the signature menu of the restaurant. Then from Tatsu, we went to Venice Canal since Jess wanted to see the infamous canals. The neighborhood at Venice looked incredibly cozy, especially since it was sunny. I bet most people who live there either own a private boat or a surfboard. The beach is only a couple blocks away. The roads are narrow and the neighborhoods are divided into sections connected by small bridges, allowing the canals to flow through.

This seems to be a convenient – and yet expensive – area to live.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long since there are no street parking. Parking can be a hassle in LA, especially since the enforcements linger very often in the city. So we barely even stopped. I suggested that we went to Abbott Kinney, a tourist attraction nearby. It's less of a tourist spot and more of a hipster one. It was a sunny day and we both wore sundresses, perfect for the weather. We dropped by from one unique store to another, while thinking what to get for our friend as a birthday gift. It turned out almost everything was very costly there, so we just chose to stroll in the street, take some pictures, and sat down for a while to enjoy pressed juice at Kreation.

Due to another parking duration issue, Jess and I couldn't stay for so long there. So after an hour, we returned to the car. The next destination would be adjacent to Abbott Kinney, which is the Venice Boardwalk. We got a parking spot very close to the boardwalk, which is very fortunate. We went for a walk in the Boardwalk but we could barely get around. The place was too packed and whenever we stepped on the sand, it would seep through our heels and wedges (Yep, we totally didn't wear flip flops). Jess and I were also thinking to rent a bike but it was too late, as we wouldn't have enough time going around.

Anyway, we didn't spend so much time there. I took a few pictures before we returned to the car. But I love the energy there since it has a strong Socal and Bohemian vibe. Some street musicians and performers attracted the crowd and I took a glimpse. The place was simply full of expressions.

It was three o'clock and we got plenty of time before we had to head to the Americana in Glendale for Steve Jobs. We were still in West LA area, with plenty of places to check out. I instinctively drove to the Getty Center (not the Villa, that's all the way in Malibu). Unfortunately, we stopped right at the entrance and made a U-turn to go to another place. The admission ticket is free, but the parking is costly. I was kind of on a tight budget so we decided to check out other places.

Since the sun was almost setting down and we didn't want to get stuck on a Saturday night traffic to Glendale, Jess suggested we went to Lady M Cake Boutique in Beverly Hills. Lucky enough for us, the wait didn't take so long. Twenty minutes after putting our names on the list, we were soon seated. I ordered a slice of Checkers cake and Jess had a Green Tea mille cake.

Both Jess and I enjoyed on our dessert while the cold breeze was blowing past us. This couldn't be any better.

After we finished up our slices of cake, we went to the Made in LA wall, located just a few minutes from Lady M. Made in LA wall is one of the photo-op locations in LA, exactly at Melrose. It simply is a wall on the side of a buiding with Made in LA displayed in Neutra. I'm not sure when it became a tourist's spot, but words spread. I haven't been there either so might as well.

When we reached the spot, apparently there were a group of Indonesians taking a couple of group pictures with the wall. So Jess and I decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood, which was surprisingly quiet despite the fact it's a pretty popular one. We went windowshopping at Nasty Girl a couple blocks from the wall. Everyone in the store seemed to be in Halloween Spirit and even the staff dressed up.

After a while, we returned to the wall and saw the Indonesian kids were gone. Jess and I then took turns taking pictures. Too bad the sunset shadow overshadowed a big chunk of the type. It created a gigantic silhouette of an adjacent pole.

At least we still gave it a shot.

The sun was almost down when we finished taking pictures. It was around five thirty. We still had loads of time, but instead of going straight to Americana, Jess and I decided to go home first to get changed. Our movie starts at ten thirty and we'd most likely be strolling around the Americana for hours before that. It's an outdoor place, mostly, so the later the evening gets, the most chilly it'll be. We needed to change our sundresses to something warmer.

The traffic back to Pasadena wasn't so bad. Since it's Halloween, I thought it's time for me to dress up a little. I'm not going to go crazy on the costume, but I had this beige turtleneck sweater that looks like Sadness in Inside Out. My hairstyle is similar to hers (I just had to make mine more asymmetrical then it's perfect) and I wear thick-rimmed glasses as well. Sure I didn't paint myself blue or wear a blue wig, but that's not my intention this year. I wanted to go a more gestural approach instead of a literal one (actually, this is just another way of saying I've not budget of being blue. Body paint and wig might be costly).

I told Jess she'd make a great Joy seeing I already dress up as Sadness. I'm pretty short compared to her tall height. If she ended up being Joy, we'd be the perfect Inside Out cosplay duo all Americana visitors have ever seen.

However, Jess didn't have Joy's costume. So she chose a fancy wide black dress. Her luggage – despite not having gone through the baggage claim – is literally a walking closet, you guys. I'm pretty sure she had tons more than four sets of clothing to choose from in her luggage (she only spent four days in LA. That should be one set for each day).

Since Jess and I would be working on our project too, we also grabbed laptops to Americana. We were planning not to get heavy meal for dinner (we were planning to grab popcorn during the movie). Jess and I reached Americana at 7.30 pm. There were so many kids dressing up in costumes bringing pumpkin buckets and going trick or treats. Apparently the stores in the shopping center provided candies for visiting kids in costumes. Apparently not just kids but I'd seen some adults donning costumes as well, most of them were superheroes.

Then Jess and I settled in Deluca's Italian Deli, a cozy Italian cafe with perfect lighting and vibe for working. It sounded kind of depressing to work on our laptops in this Halloween celebration. We could've just strolled around and spotted some cute kids. But we decided to kill two birds with one stone: our working spot was just right behind the window, so I could take a glimpse outside through the window and still be able to spot people walking outside the cafe.

For dinner, before getting popcorn at the movies, Jess and I grabbed a bowl of hot clam chowder, perfect for chilly weather. LA became colder in just a week. A week earlier, the temperature reached ninety degrees and for an October weather, that's pretty crazy hot.

We continuously worked while seeing kids coming in and out of the cafe, trick or treating. The barista gladly dumped a bunch of candies and chocolates into their buckets. The kids then left. The night was getting late but more kids and grown-ups in costumes seen strolling outside the window. Jess was deep into her brainstorming and research, despite the project not being a school one. That's some strong determination right there. Meanwhile, I got a little distracted with the sight of kids that kept coming in that I excused myself to go to the restroom for a little break (the restroom was located in an adjacent restaurant, more reason for me to stay outside the cafe to spot kids. Ugh, that just sounds wrong).

It was a little over nine, and it was time for us to wrap up. We still needed to go to Barnes and Noble right across the cafe to get something for our friend for her birthday. But first, Jess and I went back to the car to put our laptops and stack of papers – a result of our brainstorming session – before going to the bookstore. On our way to the car, we bumped into a guy wearing a puffy sumo costume and just bounced up and down in front of Anthropologie next to the theatre entrance. To add to the hilarity, Barry White's You're the First, the Last, my Everything played in the background. Jess and I just cracked up. There must have been something added to our clam chowder because we looked like two girls getting stoned, drunk, or somewhere in between.

Afterwards, We spent roughly half and hour in Barnes and Noble. We thought we'd only spend a few minutes there, but then we remember: it's a bookstore. For me, I never take just a few minutes in any bookstore. It'd take me more – hours, if necessary. Same goes to Jess. We were initially looking for a book for our friend but then I drifted to the fictions section, then to the Young Adult. Before I knew it, I flipped through the pages of a Divergent sequel. Then I looked at the time and we had half an hour before the movie started. Jess and I ran to the non-fiction section and decided to grab a motivational book that focuses on business life, or something like that. Jess claimed she had read the book and thought it'd be helpful for our business major friend to read it.

And finally, right at 10.15, we paid the book quickly and zoomed to the theatre. We got too distracted in not just one, but three-story bookstore. Jess went straight inside while I was getting her popcorn. She said she'd rather have a medium-sized popcorn (I told her even the small one is big). She ended up not finishing that until the end of the movie. We shared the popcorn and the popcorn turned out to be quite helpful. During intense scenes where Steve Jobs was debating with the characters in the movie, I just couldn't stop munching the popcorn.

We would've arrived on time if it hadn't been for the bookstore. I missed the trailers. I know most people would ignore trailers before the movie but as an avid moviegoer, the trailers are quite important and it's good to know what next movies should be on my radar.

The theatre itself had quite a few people – and those people clearly didn't dress up despite it was Halloween. Although you might count me as dressing up, I guess. So yeah, I dressed up as Sadness while watching Steve Jobs. It would've made sense if I had done that to see a Pixar movie or a more relevant movie. After all, Steve Jobs isn't a Halloween-themed movie unlike Goosebumps or Crimson Peak, but the buzz about the movie, plus the fact that it features my favorite writer, director, and actors (who wouldn't want to miss 2 hours of Michael Fassbender's radiant charisma and the intense gaze of his stunning blue eyes? Tom Hiddleston, you can wait, can't you?) just made me super curious. It's the kind of movie you can't bring everyone to watch, but only the people who have the determination. That very week, I heard the movie flopped, but who cares. It got rave reviews from critics.

The movie went by so fast although I found out it lasted for two hours. If you want to know what I think about the movie, go here. I made a detailed review and analysis about the movie. Steve Jobs really lived up to my expectation but it had an even bigger impact on Jess: she couldn't stop talking and reviewing every single event in the movie even after the movie ended, even till the next, and even till the next week when I went up to the Bay Area for a visit. She went as far as memorizing the lines in the movie, but that's how powerful the movie really is.

We drove home at 12.30 am. Our car rides so far had been about Disney and Disney, with nonstop Disney music. We had a long day indeed. From then on, it would be about Steve Jobs and for some reason, the movie also reignites Jess' crush on Fassbender (actually me too, but I always love him in everything he does even before this movie).

Trust me, even the next day, I woke up to Jess' “Oh God, the movie last night was so good.” It went on and on.