Local Event! - Chinatown 71st Anniv. Fest Thing

What T'Was:

7-11pm last night in the Central Plaza, dancing, retro 1940's lounge muzak live, martial arts show (missed that dangit), speeches (missed that yay), endless fortune cookies, small fireworks show, etc.

What T'Was Encountered:

Biked into Chinatown 'round 9:45 or so to catch the tail end of whatever the celebration wound up being. A small fireworks show launching off the LA River was just finishing up, caught enough of it to make me smile, then rounded the corner into that uber-tacky but oh so awesome Central Plaza where the fest' was taking place. A lone spotlight was rigged up at the entrance, I really wanted to climb onto it and make a shadow-puppet-bat but alas the security was too tight. Too bad.

Inside the neony plaza, which for those who haven't been is basically the China exhibit at EPCOT Center airlifted from Disney World & plopped into an LA warehouse district, was a solid crowd of all ages, mostly middle aged, swinging and watching others swing dance to the live Sinatra-esque lounge band on stage. The neighborhood was founded in the late 30's so they (the Chinatown Business Improvement Board or something) were appropriately going for that classy WW2-era retro theme.

After having my fill of jazz I started poking around the plaza a bit more. There were some candle-lit dinner tables set up here and there for VIP guests, pamphlet booths advertising the local Chinese American Museum and other attractions, a fortune teller (tacky!) and heavier than usual foot traffic in all them little souvenir shops. The outside of the Hop Louie Jazz Club was the greatest attraction though: two vintage mobster cars and a makeshift outdoor casino! The casino was obviously the main awesomeness there. Alas though I had no money to gamble. The atmospheric also-retro Mountain Bar, the best reason to come to Chinatown on a normal weekend night, was disappointingly dead 'cause of all this other cool stuff going on outside.

Strutted out of the plaza's rear, across Hill St and into Chung King Alley, an art gallery row where various hipsters were doing their art gallery thing. It was cool for a minute or two. The random strutting and poking around continued for the ensuing few minutes... mostly strutting because I could still hear the live blues from here and, you know, there's just something about that vintage saxophone lounge music that just makes you feel on top of the world. This music continued playing in my head on the (very downhill slopish) bike ride back, during which I got cocky and crossed said slope way too fast, lost control of the steering and... was biking one minute, rolly-pollying across the ground the next. Owie.

Bike Ride! - Alhambra

Downtown Main St. > Valley Blvd./Atlantic Blvd. (1hr each way)

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Rode Main St straight thru past Union Station, Phillipe's The Original & into Chinatown, on across that sorta gnarled section of the LA River beside the train tracks. Came upon "The Historic San Antonio Winery!" a few blocks later, a large & fancy (on the inside) complex offering free tours and lots of expensive wine. It will be added to me increasingly long list of "spots to return to when the wallet is fatter." A giant shady-looking beer brewery from what must've been the early 1900's was down a dirt alley a few streets over and has been added to my only one-item-long list of "spots to google the safety of before returning to."

Then things took a turn for the random... As this is West-ish East LA, the neighborhood was obviously turning a bit ghetto & industrial and amidst the freight trucks, freight trains and century-old graffitied factories was a strange sight. Groves of trees, grassy knolls, what looked like a real lake (not a hole dug in the ground & filled with sewage & called a lake ala McArthur Park), seagulls chirping, an old fashioned fair ground etc etc. This was, as I soon found out, a place called Lincoln Park... now my favorite park in all of LA. Granted it's competing with like, nothing, but alas it was still quite a romantic little spot.

Continuing the theme of randomness was a giant (about as big as Leavey) pagoda situated between a bunch of truck warehouses a few blocks farther. This was the "Los Angeles Center for Buddhism" or something like that, forgot the exact name, really wanted to go inside but opted out due my gym shorts & tattered t-shirt seeming inappropriate attire for a religious building. It wasn't that far past the LA River, I'll return here sometime too.

The warehouses and freight trucks disappeared, the street changed its name from Main to Valley, wound over a hill past some nifty pottery shops and through a bunch of old battered houses, and whalla I was now in residential East LA. It was badly run-down but not in a ghetto dangerous-looking way. Expecting to be biking another hour or so to reach Historic Alhambra I started peddling faster, but turns out the Metro Map was a bit off scale and Alhambra wasn't so far out after all. The little "500 Places to See Before they Disappear!" Fodors guide hyped this as a charming time capsule back to 1930's half-developed SoCal and under threat of demolition, sounded purtty neat. What I found was a delightful, very well kept middle(?)-class suburb no different than any of a dozen similar neighborhoods in San Diego (Coronado in particular) and elsewhere-LA. It was nice and all but a bit anticlimactic, though I'm no architecture buff so maybe some of the historical charm flew over my head.

Stopped at the local CVS to refuel with some chocolate milk (my last $2! omgz) and turned back the way I came. Nifty if minor discovery on the way back: passed a bustling Mexican restaurant across from the USC Health Sciences campus, was like "hmm this place looks really good", turned the corner to check it's name, lo and behold: "The Original Chanos." Every USC campus must have its own Chanos I guess, heehee.

Overall... the journey was definitely better than the destination here, but a pleasant journey it was.

Bike Ride! - Hollywood to the Ocean

West Sunset Blvd: Bel Air, Pacific Palisades & Malibu
via Metro Rail > Hollywood/Highland > Sunset Blvd > The Beach!
ETA from 23rd St = 4.5hrs
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Click for Map

Used the subway to skip most of the mid-city area, got off at the farthest-west station (Hollywood/Highland mall.) Rode me bike down Hollywood Blvd to its merge with Sunset then followed Sunset down the entire long remainder of its length. The ride was easy enough through West Hollywood & Beverly Hills but got a whole lot worse once UCLA hit.

The sidewalk began playing hide-&-go-seek with a road clearly not intended for pedestrian traffic and dangling branches/vines threatened to behead. Flatness gave way to what felt like an endless, sometimes pretty steep uphill climb through the otherwise gorgeous Pacific Palisades area. This along with Bel Air is the legendary exclusive domain of celebrity mansions and Star Maps/Tours, the windy road was so densely lined with fairy talesque old trees it probably came as close to "enchanted forest" as LA can.

Following the peak of Endless Uphill Climb, the road swerved and dove down into Malibu, revealing... the ocean! It was an epic view that made the whole struggle worth while. From here I merged onto the beach bike path, following the sand and water down to Santa Monica Pier. In this neighborhood I rendezvoused with Mr Wheeler, some beers were had and I enlisted his chariot to carry me and my now battered bike home.
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Verdict = A gorgeous ride that was totally worth it but so grueling at points that I may never do it again. Definitely a one-time thing.
Difficulty = Ridiculous
Discoveries = Nothing really.

Bike Ride! - Chinatown

Downtown: Chinatown
via 8th > Alameda
ETA from 23rd St = 30min

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Rode north beyond Little Tokyo on Alameda St, past Union Station. The road lead straight to the Chinatown Metro Rail stop, two blocks to the side of which was a long strip of knick-knack shops, potent incense fumes and banks shaped like pagodas. The area was run-down but full of character. Was asked by a salesman if I wanted "Lady Boom Boom" (see Vietnam blog), then asked by another if I wanted a "free" Chinese medicine reading. Regrettably I turned him down.

Turned down a small covered alleyway lined with clothing stores to find that it was the entryway into a vast, convoluted flea market of sorts built into the alleys between the two main streets. Most of the booths were clothing sellers, one of whom had scantily-clad ladies poll-dancing in front of his shop.

Farther east, I came upon what I think was named "Central Plaza," Chinatown's main landmark and the filming location of Big Trouble in Little China. Tis a neon-lit small plaza designed like a medieval section of Shanghai & draped with red paper lanterns. Old Chinese men playing Mah Jong around picnic benchs and random white tourists split its population. Every building here had a Taiwanese (not Chinese) flag fluttering above, thought that was sorta interesting. There was a bar in this plaza staffed by a particularly gorgeous bartender who will one day become my royal mistress. One day.

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Verdict = Quirky, slightly sleazy & bustling neighborhood that makes for a good destination if you want more of an adventure than Little Tokyo but don't have time to go too far.
Difficulty = Easy
Discoveries = Secret Swap Meet, Medicine Shop Row

Bike Ride! - East-of-Hollywood Sunset Blvd + Lil Tokyo

East Sunset Blvd: Echo Park & Silver Lake
via Figueroa > Bunker Hill > Cesar Chavez > Sunset
ETA from 23rd St = 3hr
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Details =

Click for Map

Went straight up Fig/Flower where I was thwarted by a steep uphill in the Bunker Hill area of Downtown. Walked the bike up it, discovered an art museum or two I never knew existed once up there. Far northern Figueroa led to a bridge over the 110 where it ended and forced me onto a quiet side street or two lining a pretty residential hill overlooking the skyline. Biked in the general direction of USC, intending to return home when I stumbled onto the eastern terminus of Sunset Blvd. Decided to follow it as long as I could.

First passed through an old Hispanic neighborhood where Sunset was lined with neat looking Mexican restaurants and buildings that must've all been built in the 50's. Twenty or so minutes down Sunset the road reached a summit and started going downhill from there, adding the surrounding hills to the view. Passed Hoover, resisted using it to return home (the steep hill it led up helped), continued onward. Neighborhood transformed with the flip of a switch into trendier, hipster Silver Lake. Made a pit stop at an Army Surplus Store here, was disappointed by it, continued onward toward Vermont. Boarded the Red Line at Vermont/Sunset and took the subway home.
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Verdict = Breezy, surprisingly quiet, quirky neighborhoods, fun downhills and some good views; perfect length too. Probably my favorite ride yet.
Difficulty = Medium
Discoveries = LA City Ballet Museum, cool looking Mexican cafes of unverified quality, Army Store

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Downtown: Little Tokyo
via Figueroa > 8th St. > Broadway St. > 3rd St.
ETA from 23rd St = 20min

Click for Map

Details = Turned off Fig at 8th St, passed through the gentrified, newly built loft area of South Park. Area declined rapidly into "normal ole run-down downtown" at Broadway. Broadway's central stretch was a deranged, trippy mess of bootleg clothing stores, shady music shops, offers of fake-IDs and the highest concentration of pedestrians I've seen anywhere in LA, all alongside decomposing theatres from the 1920's. Fled off the sidewalk & onto the street, only to be nearly rammed by a bus. Returned to sidewalk and proceeded cautiously through the people-minefield which subsided around 5th St. Continued north until turning on 3rd St. The Little Tokyo section of 3rd (or 4th?) was lined with a mildly hilarious row of smoke shops.
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Verdict = A short but pleasant trip that always ends in good food. Reliable but nothing epic.
Difficulty = Easy
Discoveries = "Little Tijuana", Smoke Shop Row

It's hard to see here, but they're dressed like 1950's maids. Weird Japanese fashion, sigh