Going West

crazy funky hippy lights around LAX

Last Friday I boarded a plane to Los Angeles.  It had been a while since I had caught up with my friend  Irene, so this was a great opportunity to see her as well as check out Tinseltown.  When I told people I would be going to LA, they were, to put it kindly, less than enthusiastic about the city.  Boo.

My perception of LA (and any large U.S. city) had always been closely linked to my experiences in NYC - just on a smaller scale.  My recent trip to Dallas proved me wrong - it was a lot less densely populated and of a slower pace than I had imagined.  Similarly, my perception of LA was a little off as well (I blame this on Hollywood and too many episodes of NCIS LA).  

As Irene best put it, LA is more of a collection of neighborhoods (e.g., Venice) of a suburban feel than a connected city.  For the Quakers out there, an analogy would be Penn Park - it's more of a collection of fields that serve their own purposes as opposed to being a true park.  

Here are some pics from around town!

the famous spicy miso ramen with pork
 

this picture doesn't do it justice, but like this building, there are very neat architectural deisgns around the area

 

venice

home along one of the venice canals, another example of the architecture i mentioned

  

cloudy day on santa monica beach

we look so frighten! 

downtown, the minimalist's skyline

i swear, that thin white line in the back is the "hollywood" sign

 

 

it's a banana, it's a macaroni, it's a big yellow... 

the chinese theater

 

little tokyo

i'm pretty sure i still smell like korean bbq

to airport back to philly

spaceship, where the aliens land at LAX