LA Story, Part 1

The first leg of my trip began witih 2 days in LA for Ani and Hitesh's big fat wedding and big and fat it was, but I'll get to that.

It all started with my cruisy arrival into LA after a 14.5 hour flight on V Australia's 'new' business class seats. This was followed by my check in at the awesome The Standard Downtown Hotel. After checking out Takami restaurant and the hotel bar that night, I attempted an early night.

I woke up nice and early since I hadn't adjusted to the new time zone. Saturday was going to be a busy day since I had to be at my friends' Ani and Hitesh's wedding by 6pm.

I went to Grand Central Market for breakfast which equalled Grand Disappointment. The Lonely Planet pocket guide wrote about it like a must-see and I expected some gourmet treats. Far from it. This place was like eating in Paddy's Markets with food, worse than what you'd get at a suburban mall. Think cheap and greasy Chinese food, oily American roasted meats and nasty fluorescent Mexican, all of these things cooked unauthentically by weird, shifty looking people. Here's how it looked:

I was starving so I opted for what I thought was a cup of yogurt mixed with bananas, berries and granola. It turned out to be a cup of what tasted like melted ice cream filled with at least 2 chopped bananas at the bottom with a few slices of strawberries and granola only on top. Ok, so it was pretty yummy but ice cream is not the first craving I have in the morning. I didn't finish it obviously!

Next up, it was off to MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was an awesome purpose-built space by some well known architect whose name I've forgotten (how come I only remember what I ate so well but not these important details?). I discovered some awesome new artists that I really liked. Tickets were $10 and entitled you to entry to the other MOCA building downtown near Little Tokyo and a free shuttle bus to it. Check out the awesome exterior of the first building:

I hopped on the shuttle and encouraged the chatty bus driver to take the trip down under which he had been lamenting for some time (this was a common theme!). The Geffen MOCA had an exhibition of art created and curated by screen legend and all round awesome actor, Dennis Hopper. It was interesting but I would not say a 'must see' by any means. He was a painter and photographer before he took acting seriously and there were a number of works on display there. He also met Andy Warhol and was inspired by him to create some pop art works.

After that, I explored Little Tokyo - such a cute name, instead of just 'Japantown'. There were lots of Hello Kitty and KeroKeroKeroppi shops all around. It was also full of Japanese food outlets but I wasn't ready for lunch after that creamy brekky. If I was though, I might have tried this:

Alas, I did not, but instead hopped back on the bus and explored the exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry. I do remember his name because of his association with designing Tiffany jewellery. It was beautiful:

After all that, I headed off to lunch at an American diner that was owned by a former mayor of LA and a real institution, again according to the trusty LP. The menu was elegantly displayed on the wall:

I went for the Pantry Set-up of coleslaw, soup and bread. The soup of the day was beef and vegetables. The mound of coleslaw I received was the largest I'd ever seen. It was the size of a large take away container. It was also surprisingly delicious since it must have soaked in that sweet mayonnaise for a while and taken on those flavours. The 1/4 of a bread loaf was also way generous. The soup itself was surprisingly delicious. The meaty broth was full of flavour and again, a generous portion. Looking around me, I noticed that most people over-ordered since the portions were know to be massive and then all received large white foam take away trays to take leftovers home in. The couple next door to me ordered pancakes, bacon and eggs, French toast, steak, coleslaw and bread!

Then it was time to head back to the hotel and then set off to Pasadena for the big wedding. Pasadena is miles away even though the taxi only took 20 minutes to get there. He was hurtling along at full speed on those freeways. It was nice to see the hills surrounding LA though. The church was lovely and the happy couple were positively glowing! Congrats again guys! It was gorgeous.

The reception was held at the Dream Palace in nearby Glendale. There were copious amount of food served. More than I've ever witnessed at a wedding by about 10 times. Put it this way, Ani told me that there were 22 appetisers or entrees! Yes, TWENTY-TWO! They weren't just ordinary entrees either, there was a big bowl of caviar, cured meats, 3 types of smoked fish and bottles of vodka and J Walker on each table that was constantly being replaced! My new Indian American friends informed me that it was very common in India to invite Mr Walker to weddings.

After the appetizers I was done. I had had enough to feed a small family. Since my table was graced with the presence of the lovely bride and grooms’ mothers, we were given extra Indian food which I did not see on other tables. Think paneer, dahl, samosas and naan bread for a start. Still, we had not come to the main meals yet.


A short while later, 3 enormous platters were placed on our table, each one filled with mixed meats. There was the schnitzel and quail, the rolled baked fish fillets and the roasted beef and roasted pork platters. I had a tiny bit of each for the sake of trying them and the uniquely seasoned and prepared fish was my favourite.

Dessert lived up to the rest of the meal with 3 options being provided. Incredibly light and delicious little cakes that the bride’s dad had painstakingly prepared individually, soaked liqueur sponge and cream cake and fruit. All that food fuelled everyone up for the fusion of Armenian-Indian dancing which took place all night long. It was an awesome night! Thanks again to Ani and Hitesh!

The next morning, I was rudely awaken by my alarm clock. I had a quick breakfast at the Standard’s Restaurant (original name). The gorgeous lemon yellow interior was sunny and at least woke my eyeballs up a little. I only had time for coffee and toast, both of which were average, before the bus came to pick me up for my flight to Chicago. LA had been wonderful to me and downtown was a pleasant surprise after all the surprised comments I received when I told people I was staying there. There was certainly enough to keep me busy and entertained for 1 or 2 nights so I’d recommend it if you’re after a short and fuss free trip for modern art, a funky hotel and some nice food.