AX2012 - LA Exploration

Our last day in LA (and the last day of the con) was actually spent... exploring!  I think it was my favorite day of all of them, even though AX was fun and full of interesting things to see and do.  I guess there's nothing like hopping in a car with a bunch of awesome friends and going to visit tourist spots ^ ^

First off, we finally got to see the super special rooftop pool of our hotel.  It's smaller than I'd imagined (of course, I was imagining a pool you can do Olympic laps in, complete with palm trees and a waited bar service like the super rich people have in movies), but the view was still beautiful.

After getting poster tubes (note to future self: bring poster tubes to out-of-town conventions) and some breakfast at the bakery across the street, we went to get our ZipCar -- a pretty cool and convenient rental car program, courtesy of our friend Richard's membership.  First stop: lunch in Little Tokyo!  We decided to get ramen at the famousest ramen place in LA, Daikokuya.

And the ramen did not disappoint -- it was AMAZING!  Tiffy and I thought it comparable to the ramen we had in Japan.  We went right around when they opened (11 AM on a Monday), and we got in right before the crowd.  It's not an excellent place for groups, but we got good seating at the bar.  If you want to try, you should go for lunch right when they open, and it's better if you go in a small group of 2 to 3.

We all got ramen; I have the stomach of a sparrow, so I got the half-size portion.  Yes, fellow light eaters, they have a half-size!  It's not a bad deal, either: $6.50, and I still couldn't finish it.  The full size is this huge bowl for only $8.95, so if you eat a lot, this place is good for your tummy, too.

After lunch, we perused the shops in the Little Tokyo Plaza and got some yummy mochi ice cream/mochilato (mochi with gelato).  They had vanilla and red bean for the ice cream and toasted almond for the gelato.  Apparently they had more flavors earlier, but I guess they only make them at certain times.  I love red bean mochi ice cream, so no complaints from me :) 

Next stop, Santa Monica pier and promenade!

Of course, we took off our shoes and dashed across the (hot) sand into the (freezing) Pacific.  It was so much fun running barefoot with friends across the beach.  It was chilly enough for me to wear a hoodie, but the weather was beautiful and sunny.  I can't imagine doing any kind of running on a TX beach.

We meandered the pier and promenade, got Dippin' Dots and fed pigeons with them, went shopping in H&M and Forever 21, checked out the Tesla store (the boys were such good sports about the two of us girls shopping in girly stores, Tiffy figured it'd be nice to stop by to look at the nifty cars there), and got Wetzel bitz and Pinkberry (the original frozen yogurt place).  I realize that my stomach is made for sweets and junk food :P

After that, we headed to Hollywood!  We saw Madam Tussaud's wax museum front, the Chinese Theater, the stars and handprints, and we even got a glimpse of the Hollywood sign from far away.  Oh, and Daniel and Jordan struck an amazing Marilyn Monroe pose.  Aren't they stunning? :P

It's really hard to see, but I promise the little white blob in the top right corner says "Hollywood."

Because parking is expensive and CityWalk isn't much but restaurants, we decided to forego CityWalk and had dinner in Hollywood instead.  My cousin recommended a place called Umami Burger, so we walked there (a pretty long walk -- 1 mile -- though we were used to that after walking to/from the convention center).  In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea to walk since it was nighttime in downtown Hollywood, and it was kind of shady, but oh well.

The burgers were pretty good, and the fries were amazing.  They had a special of truffle fries, and we also got sweet potato fries and onion rings.  The Umami burger was pretty good, but I think I liked the Cali burger better (more stuff inside).

Our final stop was at Bottega Louie, where we'd had dinner on Friday, to get some stuff from their super sparkly awesome looking bakery.  (One day I will make things that look that beautiful.)  Thus concluded our day of exploration, and our LA/AX trip.

We've all made it safely back home... just in time for Independence Day.  I really miss hanging out with everyone!  Tiffy and I are still trying to figure out what con we want to go to next year, and what costumes we want to do.  Stay tuned!