Labor Day Weekend

Friday Labor Day weekend, I walked over from my place with some friends and had dinner at Bottega Louie. The food was good, but the two tiny pastries were dry and way overpriced. I suggest Viktor Benes at Gelson’s for higher quality, reasonably priced deserts. 

Saturday, I was sitting in my apartment, thinking I should take a picture to keep as a memory. Below are some pix. Sorry about the blur, shadows and etc. I really need a good camera and photography lessons.

 View from my apartment

Before moving to downtown, I used to panic when I got lost here because there are some scary areas. But now when I get lost while driving, I just look up and see the couple of tall buildings I recognize and I just drive in their direction. So easy…

  Click on the photo to see the chopper that landed on this roof with an American flag. About 8 people got off shifting back and forth for a longtime. Of course I didn't have any binoculars to see exactly what was going on and have no idea what is this building but will find out later.

After having dinner Saturday night at BJs with my brother, his in-laws and the family of his in-laws, I was given the task of keeping my nieces overnight so that my brother and my sister-in-law could get a break. So there we were the three of us at my rented apartment which feels more like a hotel than a home. We stayed up until 3:00 a.m, watching Pretty Little Liars as my nieces oohed and awed over the hottest guy followed by watching and talking about Miley Cyrus’ disturbing behavior at the MTV video awards.

Time spent with my nieces is rarely uneventful. They always ask the inevitable question - what’s next - before we have even finished with what we have been doing. Sunday, my older niece wanted to go to the Staples Center at The LA Live because it reminded her of the night we went to see Justin Bieber. My younger one insisted on going to see The Walt Disney Concert Hall. I kept explaining to her that there is no mickey, mini or any other characters there, but she didn’t believe me. She said that they have a wall made of Lego. No idea from where she got that idea, but I decided to indulge her. First we walked from Figueroa to The LA Live.

 

Touching the surface of the statue to see what it feels like.

Unfortunately, many places were closed, but at least there wasn’t a huge crowd and we were able to take some pix.

 It was a hot day. Sodas at the JW Marriott were a must. We then headed in the opposite direction toward the Disney Hall until the two were just too tired to walk. We stopped by the Westin Bonaventure – beautiful inside by the way – and took a short cab ride.

We went in and signed up for a guided tour - highly reccommended

She was telling us that even with all the materials they used, there is still some echo in this area where musicians play.

The architecture is breathtaking.

The organ pipes were simply amazing. It was so peaceful here. The guide told us that during the concert you are able to hear the smallest noise. They hand out cough drops so that people won’t cough. She said at one time the conductor stopped the entire orchestra because someone’s phone rang! 

The Blue Ribbon Garden – on Disney’s rooftop tribute to Lillian Disney. It is a gift from individual members of blue ribbon, an organization of women devoted to the support of music center and its resident companies. To join this organization, not only do you have to give $2500 every year, you have to be approved by the board of directors! Hmmm...

The Large rose is made of Royal delft broken porcelain vases and tiles.

The guide said that they had to sand down some of this because the glare from the sun was bothering the nearby drivers.

By this time, my younger niece wanted to go home. She said she had no idea there was no Lego here :)

 

The back of the structure

The view from the top

We headed back after this and had a late lunch. The girls went shopping and later for a swim on the roof followed by a dip in the jacuzzi. I wish I had an aunt like me who spoiled me the same, but unfortunately my aunts were not so nice. In fact, I never spent a day alone with either one of them let alone a sleepover.