You are not logged in. Please login or register.
So it looks like I am going to be visiting LA in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of things I should do or see etc.
I'm staying with a fellow VFX artist who lives Hollywood Blvd area by the looks of it.
Any must-do activities for Friensinyourheafsers?
Cheers!
M.
Vasquez Rocks is a pretty cool way to spend an afternoon. Good pictures, cool area, not far out of LA, and then for the rest of your life you'll see it popping up in movies and TV shows way more than you had ever noticed before.
If you're staying near Hollywood Blvd, then obviously there's tons to do in walking distance.
Amoeba Records World famous record store with an impressive collection of Vinyl, rare dvd's, cd's etc. They often have live music by sometimes well known acts. It's also a good pre game before you walk next door to the....
Arclight Cinerama Dome One of two remaining Cinemascope screens on the planet, and also the mechs of fancy theater going in LA. If you're here you gotta check out one movie there. There or...
The New Beverly Theater This is the theater Patton Oswalt writes about in his most recent book. It is now owned and programmed by Quentin Tarantino. Mostly revivals, 100 seats tops, and the popcorn isn't the best. But damn if it isn't the most charming theater in the city.
Meltdown Comics I'm a bit biased because I'm friends with the owner, but this is the comic book mechs of Los Angeles. I literally ran into Frank Darabont doing his weekly pull here. Also, Nerdist has their theater in the back and they do the weekly MELTDOWN COMEDY Show with Kumail Nianjani and Jonah Ray. THere's something awesome happening literally every night.
Santa Monica Pier/Venice Boardwalk I'm a beach kid, and I'd be remiss without mentioning the Golden Coast. If you want a fairly safe, slightly touristy fun time, including some carnival style hoopla, Santa Monica is the way to go. If you want a hippie explosion of street artists mixing with street basketball players and old school, territorial-as-fuck surfers under a thick cloud of weed smoke, Venice is for you. Both are equally fun.
Restaurants Near Hollywood, I would recommend Blue C Sushi, Chandara, Petit Troi, Pizzeria Mozza, Maude, Ink, and Red Medicine. If you want to drive a bit, the best Ramen on the entire west coast of this continent is Tsujita off of Sawtelle in Santa Monica. If you want the closest thing to Texas BBQ, Barrel and Ashes up in Studio City. If you want the whole of Los Angeles summed up into one place, POT in Koreatown.
Last edited by Eddie (2015-05-20 17:36:23)
Okay, same again but for San Francisco, as apparently we will be spending a few days there. The stuff above is exactly the kinda thing I'm after.
Also there is talk of tours of ILM & mebbie Pixar via friends of my hosts -- I'm resisting as I can't imagine them being very much more than large offices with computers in. I mean, I work at one of the (non-ILM) London VFX houses already... I'm pretty familiar with the score! Am I wrong wrong wrong? Will I regret forever not looking round ILM when the opportunity presents itself? IIRC there's an optical printer in the lobby...
Cheers in advance! I land next Wednesday!
*cracks knuckles* Lets do this.
Fisherman's Wharf Touristy as fuck but also goddamned gorgeous views of the bay. You can see Alcatraz, Golden Gate, Berkley, even Oakland. If you're down with shellfish I recommend Hog Island Oyster Co. (they actually own their own Oyster farm, and everything you eat there was farmed that morning) and Crab House. That's not far from the....
Embarcadero Which is just goddamned serene. If you ever want to know why Hitchcock called SF America's Paris, this is part of the reason why.
Chinatown It is the largest Chinatown in the US, and it actually has real historic value. And unlike LA's Chinatown, it actually has great Chinese food (OOOhhhh Burn!). You could easily lose a whole day here. I don't recommend that because you still need to see..
The Haight What was the epicenter of the hippie counterculture is now a good cross section of crunchy granola culture and silicon valley bro culture. Still, there's lots to see and do in the Haight, and that is set evident once you get there.
The Metreon I mean, yes, it's a mall. But its unlike any mall you've been to. The food court is better tasting and healthier than most restaurants, the theaters there are great, and it is SPECTACULAR people watching.
Berkley Would you like a glimpse of a utopian society? Then take the BART (the subway, which is vastly superior to LA's and like a million times cleaner, except for the Mission District and the Tenderloin). Trees as green as Oregon, everyone is shockingly friendly, most everyone is of mixed race. If you need to chill and get away from the city, there's no better place to sip coffee, do some yoga, and/or get blazed as fuck (if that's your thing).
Everywhere It bears repeating that San Francisco's public transportation is the best on the west coast. Just get out there man and explore. It's technically a small city (40 square miles) but its so packed people an deplanes and refreshingly diverse.
Resteraunts In addition to the two on the Wharf I mentioned, I recommend Tartine Bakery, Ryoko's sushi, Chotto Ramen, La Taqueria. Canela Bistro, Slanted Door, Rich Table.
+2
God help you if you ask me for travel tips to either San Diego or Honolulu.
I know nothing about SF but I believe I've heard of Hog Island from a friend, had nothing but good things to say; so secondary source backing up a primary?
Go to the Golden gate bridge and pretend you're in Star Trek 4, then go to Alcatraz and pretend you're Sean Connery in The Rock. 
Powered by PunBB, supported by Informer Technologies, Inc.
Currently installed 9 official extensions. Copyright © 2003–2009 PunBB.
