LA Adventures

Hello friends from sunny Los Angeles!

My friend @LuisaPreissler and I have been here for a week now, and while the main event and purpose of our trip is definitely Lightbox Expo, we've also taken this chance to explore the city. We figured it'd be fun to write a collaborative post where we each share our favourite adventures so far.

Djamila:

Indisputably, my highlight of this trip have got to be the Huntington Gardens, Library, and Art Galleries. The place is an amalgamation of different cultural influences, all concentrated in this microcosm that's completely removed from its surroundings; you step insidem, and suddenly you're not in LA anymore. On grounds, you'll see these big classical buildings with marbel floors, statues, columns, and fountains as far as the eye can see, and they house collections of European and American art (we even spotted a John Singer Sargent painting!). As we explored the area, we wandered through a wide variety of botanical gardens, from desert gardens, to Australian flora, all the way to a Chinese and Japanese garden, with the latter two being my favourite because I'm just a sucker for Asian aesthetics. That being said, I have already shared so many impressions from Japan and other botanical gardens with you, so this time around, I'd like to give you a gilmpse into the classical Greek architecture and flair of the place.

Columns everywhere.

Luisa in the European Art Gallery.

Pomegranate and sunshine.

One of the many, many statues in the gardens.

Symmetry.

Luisa admiring the John Singer Sargent painting in the American Art Gallery.

The beautiful view from the European Art Gallery.

My second highlight was the Griffith Observatory. From there, you get a beautiful view over Los Angeles, you can see the infamous Hollywood sign, and even learn a thing or two about the stars and universe. Even though there were warning signs of rattle snakes in the vicinity, the walk up was absolutely worth it. We visited the planetarium inside the observatory, and were taken by the beautiful narration and visuals. Then we walked outside again, waited for sunset, and took some moody photos.

The obligatory tourist photo.

The Griffith Observatory at sunset.

A group of strangers that became part of the scene.

Los Angeles and its night lights.

Luisa:

An afternoon in Little Tokyo

We  happened to be dropped off by our Uber driver at a Buddhist temple in  Little Tokyo, one of LA's districts. We could hear chanting and drums -  apparently the service was in full swing. A lovely Japanese lady ushered  us in and before we knew it we were blessed by the God of Wealth by  chanting monks swinging bells. The master of the ceremony was  unexpectedly sweet and funny, explaining their traditions to us.  Afterwards, they treated us with little snacks and fruit and we were  even given the chance to do a little prayer. This exact ceremony is only  held once a year, so we were extremely lucky that fate, chance or  whatever you want to call it, brought us to the God of Wealth. :) I'm  truly thankful for this unique experience.

Later we went through the little Japanese supermarkets, souvenir and book shops, and while Djamila was totally in her element, for me, it was as  close to Japan as I've got so far. :D We couldn't get to an agreement about the taste of matcha and motchis, but I was charmed by all the cute  packaging everywhere. Even crackers and bottled lemonade had cute faces on them. I'm a sucker for everything cute and sweet, so I really had to  restrain myself not to buy cute brokkoli plushies or icecream with animal faces on it. Djamila urged me to try Yuzu lemonade (delicious!) and I grabbed a vanilla crêpe sort of thing with a dozen of layered  crêpes. Yummy!

I also bought an artbook from Kinokuniya book and a hand-knitted  sheep/plant sort of thing from one of the street vendors (I cave!). I don't know why, but these strange cute things just speak to me.

We also drove to Universal Studios and basically went straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I'm afraid of heights and get motion sick really fast, so the rides weren't really for me - but strolling through Hogsmeade was truly magical.

We took lots of photos of the little nooks and crannies where some of the original props were hidden. It was a bit strange walking though the alley in the California heat with all the glittering fake snow on the rooftops of the crooked houses, but the omnipresent soundtrack really enhanced the atmosphere. There were even Moaning Myrtle sounds in the restrooms. :D

I hope you enjoyed out little stories. Talk to you soon!