LA Weekender

I just got back from LA! Was a short trip, but surprisingly I saw more of LA than I've seen my past trips combined ~

I flew in Saturday night (this is what happens when you book your flight two months in advance, and then change jobs) and Julian and I went straight to The Hat! Gosh, the pastrami is sooo greasy there, but soooo good. I felt mega guilty but it was definitely worth it. After eating, we went to Tony's surprise party! And boy was I in for a surprise. When I got there, I soon realized that 7 or 8 friends from SF had moved down to SoCal and all still hang out down there. So, it was like a party with more than half of the people from SF, in LA! That was weird!! But it was also great, to see so many familiar faces :) SO the drinking commenced, and there were lots of ridiculous, hilarious moments.

On Sunday, we went to Orochan to get ramen for lunch. MMmm it was good, I think I like their noodles better than Santa! We looked around in the Japantown area for a little bit and then we went to DISNEYLAND!!! I usually don't have all that much fun at Disneyland because I hate waiting, but since it was only two of us we didn't have to wait for anyone. And lucky us, the lines weren't long. We were able to get on Indiana Jones in 15 minutes, and Pirates in less than 10. We rode Tower of Terror for the first time, and OMG it was really terrifying. I couldn't believe how awesomely violent the ride was, I thought it was going to be really gentle because they put it in California Adventure next to the kiddie park..

We watched a bunch of shows and went through the animation museum. The zoetrope for Toy Story was so freakin' cool. I LOVED the Monsters Inc ride also. And we bought cool pirate swag :) We even stopped at the winery area and got a sweet buzz going. After drinking was TURKEY LEGS OF COURSE! And we ate them with salsa this time, I couldn't believe how TASTY IT WAS! I looooove turkey legs, NOMM! The weather was perfect, it was hot but there was always a breeze. We stayed until pretty late to watch the World of Color show, and it seriously took my breath away. The Pirates of the Caribbean segment and the Little Mermaid segments were my fave. But of course, it was ALL GOOD!

After Disneyland, we headed back to Hollywood and had a late dinner at Cafe Aroma. It was a snazzy place with a heated outdoor seating area and fantastic food. Their menu was huge and their desserts were awesome to the max. Before heading home, we drove around LA and looked at all of the different areas. I can't say that LA is very pretty, but it sure is lively. Even at 1:00AM on a Sunday night there seemed to be LOTS of nightlife still happening.

Sunday I got to check out Xino and it had SUCH a gorgeous view! We ate at a wine bar next door - the view and the weather were perfect, and we relaxed with our super rich food. The truffle fries were REALLY good there, but I didn't like everything else. The oysters though, were also good - and the wine was excellent.

After lunch we checked out Santa Monica and Venice Beach. We saw the canals, I recognized it from Valentine's Day where! The canals are so gorgeous.. now THAT'S somewhere I'd like to live one day. Everywhere else in LA just wasn't as amazing. We had Kbbq for dinner and everybody knows that korean food in LA is ALWAYS good. Yum, what a delicious trip! It was short but sweet, and it was a nice little mini-vaca. SO many good eats, love it!