Day 4
Grammy Museum > Staples Center > Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive > LACMA at night
The Grammy Museum and Staples Center are located right in the centre of LA downtown, and the first thing we did was to find parking! Fees are very expensive and parking on the side of the road at metered parking is really not a good idea as it can be as expensive as $6 for 15 mins. We decided on all day parking lots which are like around $10.
We visited the Grammy Museum first and the reason why I wanted to go there is because there was a special exhibit about Taylor Swift. However, there's also lots of information about music in general, about the development of American music and all the different genres. There's also a special exhibit about Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and his songs, which is interesting because I probably wouldn't have listened to his songs but being able to see all the notebooks and sheets of lyrics he wrote, it's inspiring.
On another level there's an exhibit about how music is made in the industry and also about the Grammy Award event.
Lastly (we went from the top floor down), we reached the floor with the Taylor Swift Experience. There are all the dresses she wore for music videos, award ceremonies, guitars that she's performed with, lyric sheets etc. There is even a recording booth where you can record yourself singing a Taylor Swift song. Lots of fun!
Then we walked a block down to the Staples Centre where we just took a photo outside because there are no basketball games going on as none of the LA teams made it to the NBA finals this year..... :(
We stopped at a McDonald's for a late lunch and found that they had a deal where you get 8 burgers, 16 pcs of mcnuggets and drinks for USD 15!!!!!
Afterwards we made our way to Beverly Hills to walk along Rodeo Drive. We didn't shop at all, but just admired the nice cars parked outside the stores.
After dinner, we made a stop at LACMA because at night the installation of lamp posts that they have out front lights up.
Day 5
Malibu: Zuma Beach & Point Dume > Nobu > Getty Villa > Sunset Strip > Hollywood & Dolby Theatre
We set off on Pacific Highway, which runs right along the California coast, and drove north to Malibu. We went to Zuma beach and Point Dume to get a view from the bluffs.
Then we went to Nobu for lunch. The food was much more simple than I thought and not really the Japanese cuisine or dishes that we would expect. The environment was quite nice, right by the sea.
After lunch we went to the Getty Villa which is located in Pacific Palisades (between Malibu and LA). Parking is $15 and there's no additional admission fee. You just need to call ahead to make a reservation.
The Getty Villa was built based on J.Paul Getty's vision of having an Italian villa built to house his collection of art. The architects also made the place look like an excavation site by making different stratified layers so you would see zigzag stairs. There are also workshops and free guided tours offered on site, you just need to check the time table - I wanted to go to a jewelry making tour, cooking class, herb garden tour and architecture tour, but unfortunately missed them.....
Then we timed it to drive back to LA downtown around sunset time, so we could be on the sunset strip.... it's a long drive and traffic is bad, but you just take this road and drive straight onto Hollywood boulevard which is where the Dolby Theatre (formerly Kodak Theatre) plays host to the annual Oscars Award Ceremony and Avenue of Stars is located.
above: the house in the background is called The Magic Castle - entry is only given to its members and their guests.
who knows what goes on in there..... well you can read about it on wikipedia! :D
The Dolby Theatre was a disappointment.... I thought the Oscars' location would be somewhere really impressing, but the theatre was part of a shopping centre, and the entrance was really narrow... I'm guessing they block off the whole street when the Oscars happen, but what about the businesses on that street? Also just a few steps away from the Dolby Theatre, the streets are very shabby and there's not much else around there.
For the place where the stars make their hand print in cement, just go to the theatre next to the Dolby Theatre, it's Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Day 6
Disneyland
We didn't plan to go to Disneyland (which is in Anaheim and located about an hour away from LA), but we went to see it anyways because we had some time free and were thinking of going to an outlet that was near there. We got down there, but it was actually very confusing where to go to get to the main entrance. I think most people who go there will end up checking into a hotel and taking a shuttle to the entrance. But for those who are just going down for a day trip, there's a drop off spot in front of the main entrance and just next to the shuttle bus drop off point (so follow the signs for buses and you should see it around there).
There are parking lots but they are far away and you will need to take a shuttle from the parking lots.
We took photos and walked into one of the gift shops in Downtown Disney but didn't buy any souvenirs.
Then we went to the outlet nearby and since I didn't want to shop, I watched a movie instead.
To end the day, we drove to Monterey Park and had Vietnamese food as this area has a large Vietnamese community.
Day 7
Venice Canal Walkways > Santa Monica Pier > Airport
Last day! We went out to the Venice Canal Walkway near where we were staying, it's really pretty place and interesting that they made these canals there. Each house had it's own personality.
Santa Monica Pier was a busy place, there's actually a huge shopping area there too - we didn't have enough time to walk through it..... Third Street Promenade. We could have probably spent a whole day there.
Day 4
