The City of Angels - Los Angeles

Having lived and loved LA for many years I almost feel guilty for not writing a piece on LA. So here it is, my to do list in LA.

1 Day in LA: Must Visits

Universal Studios - Who does not know about universal studios. A fun place for both kids and adults. Rides, movie-sets, excitement, all packaged in one. This place is packed with fun and is doable in a few hours. It's an exciting place and a must do for anyone interested in movies/sets/entertainment. CA residents get a discount on tickets so ask your friends and family in advance

Santa Monica - My favorite place in LA. Visit the Santa Monica pier, take a ride on the solar powered ferris wheel. Enjoy the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. Then walk to 3rd street promenade where performers and stores will keep you entertained and busy. This is the place to go if you only have a day in LA. It's got it all, the romantic setting, shopping, views, ocean, restaurants and the BUZZ. A must see for all.

Santa Monica Pier

3rd Street Promenade

 Hollywood - If you are a movie aficionado, a visit to the Kodak theater is a must. Each year the Kodak theater hosts the famous Oscars and the red carpet greets hundreds of movie celebrities and fans. Right next to the theater is the world famous Grauman's Chinese theater. There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theater's forecourt. You can also spot the famous Hollywood sign and walk on the Hollywood walk of fame.

Walk of Fame

Kodak Theater

2 Days in LA: Must Visits
Everything in Day 1 +

Rodeo Drive - If you are a shopaholic and love brands, Rodeo drive is your mecca. This world famous street is lined with high end designer stores. Ferraris and Lambos zoom past every minute and if you get lucky, star sighting is not uncommon too.  A beautiful street, with all the glitz and glamor that can definitely leave a big hole in your wallet but a smile on your face!! 

Getty Museum -  Perched on a hill, this museum stores some of the most exquisite collections of all times. It houses paintings, drawings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photographs. Love the view of the city from the top of the museum. The entry is free and it's a perfect spot to spend an hour or more with your family. They also have a Getty villa which is smaller in size located in Malibu. Here are some more pictures.

Getty Museum Gardens

View from the Getty Museum

Malibu - The drive on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to Malibu has the most breathtaking views. Driving along the coast line, this 2-3 lane highway will make you want to stop every few minutes just to absorb the wonderful views. Once in Malibu you can dine at my favorite restaurant Geoffreys which not only has spectacular views of the pacific coast but some scrumptious food too. Check out the beautiful campus of Pepperdine university or just stroll in this beautiful park right next to the ocean and enjoy the fresh air and a great picnic

Geoffrey's Restaurant, Malibu

3 + Days in LA: Must Visits

Hollywood movie star homes tour - If you are a big movie buff like me, I definitely recommend the Hollywood movie star homes tour. It's extremely exhilarating to drive on the beautiful Sunset Drive and see the beautiful mansions - I love a good house!! It's another story that you might not see anything past the main gates but you can definitely admire the gorgeous and luxurious neighborhood. There are plenty of tours out there who will be happy to take you on a ride.

Star Homes on Sunset Blvd

The Grove -  Another absolute favorite spot of mine is the Grove. This open air shopping mall has it all. The charm, the romance, the musical fountains, movies, and shopping. It's a beautiful space and perfect for a day trip or an evening stroll. Tonnes of stores, restaurants and even a great farmer's market. You can walk around and just enjoy the buzz, or shop till you drop. It's got a beautiful European setting to it and I just love spending time here. Shop, grab a bite, walk around or watch a movie. Perfect place for kids and family.

The Toy train in Grove

Some other places to see in LA depending on your tastes and preferences:

Century City mall - Great shopping and food

Melrose Avenue - A good hang out place with unique boutiques and restaurants

Griffith Observatory -  For beautiful views of the city and for some star gazing...a perfect spot
 

Griffith Observatory

Venice beach - Famous for its boardwalk,  the mystique that lured Jim Morrison to find 'The Doors,' and a culture that gave birth to modern skateboarding. Venice Beach, California, is a unique destination unto itself, where shopping, dining, sports, recreation, and entertainment abound.

Venice Beach

LA is also very conveniently located and driving distance from these famous tourist spots:

Disney Land (40 minutes drive) - The world's happiest place :)

Las Vegas (3.5 - 4 hours drive) - The sin city, famous for gambling, shows, beautiful hotels and spectacular entertainment.

San Diego ( 2.5 hours drive) - Visit Sea World, beaches, San Diego Zoo etc. Check out these top 25 things to do in San Diego

Santa Barbara ( 2-2.5 hours drive) - Things to do

San Francisco (6-7 hours drive) - For Golden Gate bridge, Napa Valley, Silicon Valley and much more

Temecula - (2 hours drive) Famous for its vineyards

Favorite Restaurants in LA - there are hundreds of great restaurants in LA. For some quick suggestions refer to my earlier post here

I hope you enjoy this beautiful city and come back for some more!!

Oprah Winfrey's Oscar Taping in LA

I have applied for ticket's to Oprah winfrey's talk show numerous time and never made it to Chicago. Every year after the Oscar's on Sunday, Oprah does a special taping at the Kodak theater with a select few Oscar winners in LA. So once again i tried my luck and guess what??? I got selected to attend the taping!!!!! I couldn't believe the confirmation email and kept reading it again and again. It was the OPRAH WINFREY show and to top it all the OSCAR taping :) could it get any better?

It was fabulous and overwhelming event :) My day started at 4am, (u'll see pics), by the time i reached the parking lot (which was 5:30am) there were already a couple of hundred people standing. We stood in line freezing our buttss off (yes it was 39F) for an hour an a half till we finally reached the check-in table. After another 45 mins of waiting in line, we were finally transported to the Kodak theater.

I think there were probably about 3100 people for this show :) it was so much fun to watch girls/ladies/oldies all decked up from top to bottom clinging to their designer purses, strutting around in high heels and looking their best lol. It was like a mini fashion event going on. Quite a few generous and patient men accompanied them too :)

After the long wait we were seated in the Kodak theater and i was totally blown away!!  The theater is SPECTACULAR !!! Its beautiful all around and the majestic Oscar statue standing at the center of the stage is a piece of art. I am glad i got an opportunity to see the theater from inside. What a wonderful feeling it must be to stand on that stage amongst the best of best and accept that award for all your hard work. Just sitting there and feeling the energy gave me goosebumps.

It was loads of fun thereafter, great music, energy, excitement. Imagine a hall filled with 3000 high energy women. Everywhere you looked around it was an ocean of colors. Oprah was fabulous as ever she interviewed the winners from the Kings' speech, we had Collin firth, Anne hathaway, Melissa, Geoffrey rush....all there for the interview. I was so glad King's speech won, it was my favorite movie and I loved it  the moment i watched it. Collin Firth did an amazing job and deserved every bit of that award.

The show ended with Katy perry's performance. All in all it was a super looooooooong, tiring but a fun day. A great experience. But nonetheless i would not have missed the experience :) Oprah + Oscars was double fun!!

Here are some pics which i tired to take, not very good as i was sitting up there but still a few memories.

Manchego on Main

Manchego on Main was where we spent our saturday evening with a few friends. It's a really small (10 tables) Spanish tapas place. The really cool thing about this restaurant is BYOB (1ith no corkage fee!!).

Since they don't take reservations, the wait is really long (an hour and a half) but in the meantime you can walk around on main, grab some drinks else where, there are options! They offered us some hummus with pita while we waited, which i thought was a nice gesture.

My recommendations from the menu include:

Goat cheese, honey and dried figs on bread (might want to save this for the last, its the best and a bit sweet)

The Penelope bocadillo was good. It was hot and the combination of the basil with the sun dried tomatoes and cheese was scrumptious.

The chicken and mushroom skewers just melts in your mouth. A must eat if you like chicken

For desert we tried the cheesecake, which was tasty but a bit frozen. So that dampened the yumminess. The chocolate mousse cake is a killer. Simply amazing!!!

The service is ok, a bit on the slower side (considering they have only 10 tables). Other than that a neat place to visit if you are in the neighborhood. Just be prepared to wait for a while on a busy weekend.

2510 Main St

Santa Monica, CA 90405
Neighborhood: Santa Monica

(310) 450-3900

manchegoonmain.com

The Tasting Kitchen

This weekend my husband and i decided to spend our saturday night dinner at Gjelina. We discovered this restaurant a few months ago and loved their food. The only annoying part is the long wait time (generally 45 mins to an hr) if you don't have reservations. So as luck would have it, we were asked to wait for an hour + for a table.

While walking around in Abbot kinney and waiting for a table at Gjelina, we decided why not try some other place. And we walked into a cute, fairly chic restaurant The Tasting Kitchen. OMG!! as luck would have it, someone did not show up for their reservation and we happened to get their table. Yaaay!! No wait and we decided to bunk Gjelina!!

Our table was at the upper level of the restaurant. The decor was very minimal but very smart. The room was buzzing with loud chatters. The wall behind us was adorned with torn pages of random books (What a smart and inexpensive way to cover the wall!!). A huge black board showed us the map of Italy, had various pictures of types of glasses and today's special. Right across from it, a black and white Italian movie reeled in the back ground.

Since this was our first visit we promptly asked our server for recommendations. Let me just warn you, this is one of those places where you can never go wrong. Everything we tried was fabulous. We started with wine, i had a glass of Riesling. We quickly ordered our appetizers. The butter lettuce (with blue cheese and tarragon) is the best. A burst of fresh flavors in your mouth. Toast (figs and fromage cheese) just melts in your mouth. The cheese was super fresh and light. Skip the castelvetrano olives (they are good, but just olives, so unless you want to eat a handful of olives i would not order it) . The french fries were nothing unique!!

We then moved on to the main dishes. I ordered a halibut (with beans and vermouth) and Sid ordered a simple pasta. (Warning!!! - There is not a whole lot of choice for vegetarians. Most of their dishes have pork!!) The halibut was small in portion but one of the best i have ever had. The soft silky fish just melted in my mouth. Full of flavor, the beans were an unusual but good accomplice. Sid's pasta was simple but another feather in their cap. It was homemade and bursting with flavors.

For desert we ordered the sticky toffee desert (apparently it was their best selling desert) and i could see why. It was a small warm toffee pudding topped with a yummy cold ice cream. Warm and comforting...made me wanna eat some more and more.

We had a wonderful but "dear" dinner. We did eat a lot (i mean between the two of us 4 appetizers, 2 entrees, a desert and 3 glasses of wine). I would definitely look forward to another evening there. It's a young vibrant place full of energy. The staff is warm and friendly and the food scrumptious. Do visit it soon and share your experience with me.

Great Breakfast place in Santa Monica

So one of my favorite breakfast places in Santa Monica, CA is 'Jack N Jills'.I like it for two reasons:

1. Tasty food with a pleasant staff
2. It's right around the corner and conveniently located (Between 5th and 6th street & Santa Monica)

While they have two locations, one in Santa Monica and the other one in Beverly hills, I find myself in the SM location almost on a daily basis. Some of my favorite dishes include the House Scramble - scrambled eggs (called house scramble) with Goat cheese, spinach, sun dried tomato, avocado & fresh basil...mmmm. The blueberry mini muffins which come as a side with most of the dishes are perfect bite size and just melt into your mouth. The Evangeline Crepe with Artichoke hearts, tomatoes, fresh pulled chicken and cheese in a basil cream sauce is scrumptious. For salad lover the chicken cilantro lime salad is very satisfying.

They have a full breakfast/lunch menu and open till 4pm everyday. A wide variety of Sandwiches, salads, pancakes, eggs, coffee etc makes this place perfect. The only thing really missing is Waffles!!!

I would not recommend their cupcakes, they kind of suck!! Yes i am comparing them to Sprinkles cupcakes :) so if possible stay away from their deserts in general. It is definitely not their forte. The tea and coffee menu is large but i have never really enjoyed their coffees that much. It's either tooooo hot to burn my tongue or not the most tasty i have had.

In terms of pricing, they are moderately priced. Not too cheap. A meal on average can cost around $15-20 per person, unless you are just eating side dishes (under $10). They are always packed on the weekends with a wait time of 15-20 mins. It's not that bad considering you can walk around in SM and the food is good. Parking can be a pain as they do not have a dedicated parking lot, its mostly street parking so you might have to look for one. But there are plenty of 2 hr free parking lots around the corner!!

All in all i would definitely give it a try ...imagine a Saturday morning scrumptious brunch followed by a walk on the sunny SM beach...could you start your day any better?

Oxy campus 2010

Occidental College is tucked away in east LA - Eagle Rock and is one of most beautiful campuses around. It is here that i truly experienced teaching in a small liberal arts college. I served as an adjunct in the economics department for the academic year 2009-2010 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The campus is comparatively small but beautiful. It is blooming with flowers everywhere. Students and staff are warm and friendly making this a perfect place for anyone looking to either study or teach in a liberal arts college environment.

Amongst other things what is different at Oxy is the personalized attention that each student is given through a small class environment. It not only makes a class more interactive but also enables different teaching styles. Their Diplomacy and World Affairs program (DWA) is what sets them apart from other institutions.

So if you are looking for a more intimate setting to either teach or learn...Oxy might just be the place for you.