Los Angeles, 11–16 Oct 2022
/After Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the second half of our trip was to Los Angeles. Melody was at a conference for the American Translators Association, so I did a combination of playing tourist and seeing family.
Tuesday, 11-Oct
On the way out of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon area, we planned on filling up the car. We thought we had the route all set up using WiFi from the Airbnb, but as it ended up, we were having trouble getting the car to recognize my phone. Fortunately, Melody had some offline maps, and her phone connected fine.
Once we filled up, we figured we would arrive at Santa Clarita around lunchtime. I set a route to somewhere in the city, figuring we would research a place to eat on the road.
We eventualy got to The Grapevine, a pass that is notorious for bad traffic. We lucked out in that regard since there was very little traffic going south. Northbound, however, was very slow. The road splits around the city of Grapevine, and eventually, the two sides cross, so the northbound direction, still slow, was to our right. It wasn’t until a bit before the sides crossed back over on the other side of the pass that the northbound lanes were clear again.
We eventually settled eating at a dumpling house in Santa Clarita. We ended up with some leftovers, which we figured we would have no trouble eating in the coming days.
When we got to Los Angeles, we filled the car one final time, then went to check into our room in Little Tokyo. I was able to find a spot right around the corner, which was lucky. After we were in our room, Melody started up a load of laundry while I went to return the car.
You would think dropping off a rental would be straightforward, but it took me over half an hour to find the location. It did t help that there weren’t signs anywhere close to the address. After circling several times, I ended up parking, finding the rental desk, and getting directions on where to go. Even then, it took a couple of tries, but I finally pulled into the return area. I had a few minutes left before they closed.
Once I got back to the room, the laundry was just out of the dryer. We put our clothes away and then went looking for groceries. There was a Marukai (a major Japanese store, similar to Uwajimaya in the Seattle area) a couple of blocks away, so we went there. We picked up some dinner, more breakfast items, and snacks, then went back to put things away, have dinner, and settle in for the night.
Wednesday, 12-Oct
This was a light conference day for Melody, just checking in and the opening reception. She went to The Broad in the early afternoon, however. The night before, she was able to change her ticket to include the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room (tickets get released the night before), so she was happy to be able to take a look at that. Before going to the museum, she had a pupusa at Grand Central Market, which we both enjoy checking out. And of course, she got ice cream at McConnell’s.
In the meantime, I hopped on the light rail and made my way to Downey to see how my dad was doing. We went to the bank to take care of some deposits and other paperwork he wanted to be done, so it was good we could do it all in one trip. I would have suggested picking up burgers at In-N-Out across the street, but it was closed. The whole building was under a tent for termite mitigation. We ended up going back to the house.
I decided to go out to find lunch, then went to a café to both get something to drink and do some paperwork for my dad. Having finished everything, I went back to the house to explain what I had done and see if he needed anything else that day.
After getting back to Downtown L.A., I went to a store to do a bit more shopping and grabbed a quick dinner. The timing worked out that I was able to go to the Bonaventure where Melody’s conference was, and we took the bus back to our room. I had picked up some dessert, so we prioritized eating that before calling it a night.
Thursday, 13-Oct
This was Melody’s first full conference day, and a tourist day for me. The only timed thing I had set up was going to the Kusama Infinity Room at The Broad (I got my ticket the night before), so I would mostly be playing things by ear.
After breakfast, we headed out at the same time then parted ways a few blocks later. My original plan was to start the day by going to the City Hall observation deck, but the skies were quite overcast, so I put that off until later. Instead, I went over to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. It was built after I left Southern California, and even though Melody had been there before, this was my first time.
The church is very modern, with wide-open spaces, lots of windows, and lots of non-square angles. A lot of art is all over, including paintings of the Father Junipero Serra missions by Howard Anderson. After wandering around, I went downstairs to take a look at the mausoleum. Since the church isn’t very old, there are a lot of spaces open.
I then walked around the grounds, finding a sculpture garden and some water fountains. On my way out, I got a good look at the campanile which is built into a wall instead of a tower.
Next on my list was to do a self-guided tour of Walt Disney Concert Hall, but it sounded like they weren’t offering them at the time. Knowing I still had quite a bit of time before my ticket for The Broad, I went further south to The Last Bookstore. It had been a while since I was last there, so it was fun to rediscover the various features, such as the old bank vaults and the odd-shaped bookshelves upstairs.
It was time for lunch, so I went to the Spring Arcade Building, which has several places to eat and is much less crowded than Grand Central Market. It's a long open-ended mall with skylights above, so it has a very airy feeling. Even so, I couldn't resist going to Grand Central Market for some ice cream.
I still had time to spare, so I went across the street to the Bradbury Building. It's a very popular location for filming, most notably for Blade Runner. Even though I’ve seen the building several times already, it’s always fun to poke my head in. After that, I walked by the 3rd Street and 2nd Street tunnels, then went up the hill.
Even though I had quite a bit of time before my time slot to go into the Infinity Room, I went into The Broad to look around the rest of the building first. While the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room and gift shop were on the first floor, the rest was closed due to construction. I took the escalator through the organic shapes of the walls to the third floor.
The design of the floor echoes the exterior of the building. The ceiling is a grid like the building’s exterior, and the exterior walls are glass so you can see through the building's exterior from the inside.
The first thing that catches your eye is the Jeff Koons sculpture, Tulips. There’s also a whole room of Koons sculptures. Turning around, there are two large pieces by El Anatsui; we saw another one in Ontario, so I immediately recognized the artist.
In one of the corner rooms is a giant table and chairs by Robert Therrien. I keep thinking I’ve seen the work before, but I can’t remember where. There were, of course, lots of people wandering around and underneath.
The museum has several pieces by Roy Lichtenstein. His best-known works are probably the ones that look like huge panels of a comic strip.
In another corner was a Yayoi Kusama piece, Longing for Eternity. This is one of those large boxes with mirrors on the outside, and lights and mirrors on the inside. You look in through holes and see reflections of not only the changing lights but what’s in the other holes. There was a short line to see the piece, and each group got the “please don’t touch” spiel.
I started going down the stairs and going past the second floor, you can see several pieces of artwork in storage. Back on the first floor, I still had a few minutes before I could line up for the Infinity Room, so I loitered in the gift shop for a bit.
The line for the Infinity Room was longer than the mirrored box, but by limiting how early you can line up, it didn’t get too long. Once again, there was the “don’t touch” spiel, but since this is a room, they also warn that you have only one minute inside. Since I was by myself, that was plenty of time, but I can see how it would feel fast with four people all trying to take pictures.
The one-minute restriction is from Kusama. Even though I was the only person for the Infinity Room in Toronto, I still had just one minute. In the Seattle exhibition, there were so many people (and this was a members-only day), they would even combine groups of people to get to four so the lines would move more quickly.
After I was done at The Broad, the skies looked about as clear as they would get, so I went over to City Hall. That’s the first place in the better part of a year that checked vaccination cards. After I took the express elevator up, then switched to another elevator to the 22nd floor, I got out, walked up a flight of stairs, and was at the Mayor Tom Bradley Room (to give an idea how long ago he was mayor, that was when I still lived in Downey).
Surrounding the Mayor Tom Bradley Room is a balcony that wraps around all four sides so you can look in each direction. There was quite a bit of haze, but I could still see the city. However, I could only kind of make out blobs which were the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory. It helped that I’m quite familiar with them, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be able to make them out. I took a picture with a long lens, and cropping/enhancing later, I could make both of them out.
After I was done, I went down to the third floor to take a look at the rotunda. Just off of that is a small collection of items given to the city of Los Angeles from other nations. Japan was quite well represented.
On the way back to the room, I stopped by Fugetsu-do, a Japanese confectionary. They sell lots of kinds of mochi, and it was fun to look around. After that, I went back to the room to work on photos and writing while Melody finished up her conference. We met up for dinner at the Grand Central Market, where she ran into a couple of people she knew. After chatting for a bit, we picked up some pasta and ice cream (adulting means you can do ice cream more than once a day) and went back to the room.
Friday, 14-Oct
While Melody was at her conference, I once again boarded the train and went to Downey to drop in on my dad. After we chatted a bit, I drove to Long Beach to have lunch with my aunt Frances. We had a good time chatting about things both current and past. We also went to the store so she could pick up some groceries, and on the way back we took the long way back so we could take a look at Halloween decorations.
After dropping off my aunt, I went over to take some flowers to my mom’s grave. I was surprised that, after a bit over a month, her grave marker was already in place, and the grass was already starting to grow back. While I was there, I stopped by to see other relatives, too.
Next up was going to a nearby (at least what counts as “nearby” in the Los Angeles area) mall to pick up a new phone for my dad. Once I got back to the house, I set it up for him and made sure it was working.
With all the driving and errands, I ended up being out later than I thought I would be. I picked up part of dinner on the way to the train, and once back in Little Tokyo, went to Marukai to do a bit of shopping and get the rest of dinner. After that, I hung out in the courtyard until Melody was done with dinner with other people from the convention (we had only one key, and with me being out all day, she held onto it).
Saturday, 15-Oct
Melody was up early to try to catch a session being given by a friend, and I stuck around the room in the morning, doing more photos and writing. I thought I would have an early lunch at Phillipe, a French dip joint that I’ve been to many times, both growing up and in later years. Much to my surprise, there were fewer than a dozen groups ahead of me; normally the order area is packed, but at least it was in the pre-pandemic days.
Satisfied with my sandwich and cole slaw, I wandered over to Olvera Street to walk around while eating a churro. Then it was across the street to Union Station.
Melody and I had been trying to figure out the best way to get to the airport since I had a heavier bag than usual (with boots and poles for hiking in Sequoia/Kings Canyon). We thought it would be good to take the LAX FlyAway shuttle from Union Station, so I wandered around to see if I could find where you board. As it ends up, I entered the station on the west side, but I had to go under all the tracks to the east side to reach the bus transportation hub. However, I saw a couple of buses that went to Little Tokyo.
I decided to take one of the buses back, but the bus took a different route than what was marked on the map, and the first stop was quite a ways east of where I wanted to be. I found that odd, but I shrugged and figured I would take a look at the maps later. I walked back and saw that Fugetsu-do was not only packed but over a dozen people were waiting on the sidewalk to go in. Glad I went the other day.
We were going to meet some cousins for dinner, and we were going to try to eat at Daikokuya, an extremely popular location. It’s so popular that during the whole week, for lunch and dinner, there were always people waiting outside. All day Saturday, however, there were even more people. I had taken a look at the waitlist and figured I should go early to put our name in. Good thing I did that; after my cousins showed up, we didn’t have to wait too long before we were led in. We all had the Daikokuyta ramen, and enjoyed noodles and conversation.
After freeing up the table for the next group, we walked through Japanese Village Plaza to look at the sights and people. We then went over towards Marukai, but first headed upstairs to Kinokuniya Bookstore to browse and look at the latest things imported from Japan (there’s also one in the Seattle Uwajimaya). We then made a quick tour through Marukai so they could pick up a couple of things, then sat in the courtyard and chatted some more. Once we said our goodbyes, it was back to the room for us where Melody and I made sure we were mostly packed.
Sunday, 16-Oct
We had plenty of time in the morning since our flight didn’t leave until after noon. We did, however, check on bus options to Union Station. That one bus that I had taken back still looked like it should be the best option, but one block further was a stop for another bus that went there.
After checking out, we walked the half block to the first bus stop, and the sign did say the bus we wanted should stop there. I looked up and saw it arriving, so we hopped on. Once at Union Station, we went straight to the shuttle stop, where bags were already being loaded. Since we had purchased our tickets the night before, it was only a few minutes before we showed them as we boarded the bus.
The trip to the airport was uneventful, as was dropping off the bag and going through security. We lounged around for a little bit, got some lunch, then boarded.
Back in Seattle, we didn’t have to wait too long for our bag (it was one of the first ones out), then went to the train station. The train showed up in less than a minute, and our bus transfer was also less than a minute. With all of our transfers being so short, we figured we would take it ad not question our luck.