Los Angeles, known for beaches, and for Hollywood, and sports teams too I guess. So, what do you do there as a human who has very little interest in that stuff. Good news! LA still has a rich history to explore, and good food to eat. Theme parks too. I was in LA late october last year for a convention with my best friend Nicole. We spent approximately six days there, and these are just a couple of things I got up to that I think are worth checking out if you are in the area.
Where we stayed
DTLA. Earlier in our trip we were in a hotel in Anaheim. We stayed in airbnbs for LA leg of the trip. During the convention we stayed in an apartment close to the center with 4 other cosplayers. Staying downtown is great if you need to be in close proximity of the convention center.
Fairfax. After the con was over, our temporary roommates had to leave to go back to their jobs and all that fun junk. Nicole and I decided for the rest of our trip to get a room in Fairfax. It was a great neighborhood to stay in. It placed it roughly a 15 minute uber ride from most places we wanted to check out throughout the week. There was also lots of great restaurants and shopping walking distance.
Where We Ate
Fleishik’s. Delicious sammies, great decor, and fantastic staff makes this place so wonderful. This had to be the best food I ate the entire freaking trip. Fleishik’s is a kosher sandwich place, also serving up whisky. Meals were more than enough food for me to eat alone. Share with a friend if you don’t have the stomach of a beast, or don’t and have leftovers for later. I got the Babasooey and would heavily suggest it.
Andante. This small coffee shop was super close to our AirBNB in Fairax. I was so happy to find a coffee place that wasn’t a large chain. Once we found the place, we went every morning until we left.
Nakkara. Okay so we didn’t actually eat in the restaurant. The day after the convention, I felt like my feet were going to fall off and I had no desire to leave our airbnb. Once we saw that this place had Satay chicken rice bowls and did take out, our fates were sealed.
Ramen Maruya. Located in Little Tokyo, we hit up Ramen Maruya for some sushi and ramen one night after the convention. I grabbed myself some katsu don and shared some sushi rolls with my pals just before exploring some of little Tokyo.
Edit Aug 2018 Turns out that both Nakkara and flesihik's has closed down since
Where We Shopped
The Grove and Farmer’s Market. If you are looking for some higher end shopping, the Grove can set you up. The farmer’s market is also super close by, where you can go ahead and grab yourself some lunch, or some really good looking steaks for dinner later.
Mood Fabric. We never managed to make it down to LA’s famous fabric district, but did get a trip into Mood Fabric. There was so much I wanted to buy, but I had so little money. Also so little room left in my suitcase. I did pick up some nice lighter green linen for my partner to use in reenactment.
Papermoon Vintage. Where I live we do not have vintage stores like alot of places I’ve been to in the states do. Truth is I just don’t live in an old as a city compared to somewhere like LA. So enter Papermoon, a fantastic vintage clothing store. When shopping true vintage you got to keep in mind that it is not cheap. That being said, I still managed to find a dress and blazer in my budget and size. Even if you don’t wear vintage, check this place out just to see the amount of fantastic pieces they have.
What We Did
El Capitan Theatre. We were in L.A over halloween. The day before we still had not plans for the halloween night, and was googling for possible movies to see in the city. Finally we stumbled upon seeing Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre. It was great to see one of my favorite movies growing up on the big screen, surrounded by lights and fog effects through the show. Bonus points for the organ player before the show.
Cicada Club Halloween Party. This is my must go place if I ever go to LA again. In this historic art deco building is the Cicada Club, a vintage themed club and restaurant with a dress code. We managed to be there the same weekend as their halloween party. The drinks were great, decor amazing, and music on point. My only regret was not springing for the added dinner.
LACC Los Angeles Comic Con (formerly Stan Lee’s Comikaze) was the whole reason for the trip down. Held the weekend before halloween, this is a convention held in LA’s convention center downtown. A great con to check out if you live in the area, but for traveling I’ve heard it’s better to wait it out until wondercon that occurs during easter weekend in Anaheim. Universal Studios. Okay, so I spent way too much money at universal. We ran around hogsmeade casting spells with our newly bought wands. We road the forbidden journey ride twice, and i totally spent almost 100 bucks on candy. The weather was great for us at 20 degrees, and managed to keep most of the locals away from attending that day it seemed. We managed to wait no longer than 30 minutes for a ride, and basically when on them all except for the simpsons and transformers ride. We even got brave enough to go on the jurassic park ride at the end of our day.
