Downtown LA Neighborhoods Adventure

The following was originally written in March 2006:

Today I meant to just go out for an hour or so to the Toy District area next to Little Tokyo to purchase some arts and crafts material, but I went on a ExperienceLA adventure instead. I didn't know the eastward Metro 16 traversed so many parts of Downtown LA (I had traveled on it westward toward La Brea for theatre, PetCo, Trader Joes, the Grove/Farmers Market, etc.).

Here's the breakdown of my Saturday afternoon:

1:00 - Metro 16 to Toy District/Little Tokyo

1:30 - Purchased craft material at a store on 3rd Street, then headed out to check out Little Tokyo - and realized it was the Saturday Little Tokyo/Arts District Farmers Market and perused through the market

2:00 - Bought some bottled Asahi Oolong tea and then headed into the Japanese Village Plaza to go to the Marukai Forum (Where East Meets West For Less) and get myself random stuff including a magazine rack (mine is currently overfilling) and a teapot (for 98 cents!)

2:30 - Remembered that I need to buy ink for my printer so I headed over to Office Depot.

3:00-ish - Passed by the Japanese American National Museum and wondered if there was a new exhibition there - and there was! I had a spectacular time at the Isamu Noguchi - Sculpture Design exhibition which was part sculpture and part theatrical installation by Robert Wilson. I also became a student member and got a Angry Little Girls bag I've been wanting at the giftshop

4:00 - Realized I needed cash, but I was told there was not an atm from my bank in the area, but I had enough money to head over to Fugetsu-do to buy some mochi/manju.

4:30 - Head over to Union Station to catch the Red Line home, but then I got distracted by tents at El Pueblo de Los Angeles and roamed Olvera Street - where I picked up some of my favorite candy. Then I felt hungry, but didn't have enough money for any of the Mexican food (I had 2 bucks on me)

5:00 - Headed to get a Vietnamese French Sandwich in Chinatown. When I headed into Chinatown, I saw a stairwell that specifically stated "No Sitting/No Sentarse" and of course the irony of the situation goes, there was a man sitting at the top of the stairs. He saw me looking back and forth at the wording and then at him and waved - and I waved back! In any case, I didn't find a decent sandwich place until I got to one of the plaza areas and got myself a Banh Mi Dac Biet (rough translation: special sandwich, essentially has all the deli meat fixings)

5:30 - Grabbed the Gold Line to Union Station then took the Red Line to Downtown and stopped at the atm there before heading back on the Red Line home.

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator