Surfer girls get stoked with Learn to Surf LA

November 9, 2011

VENICE, USA – A recent exchange of Tweets on surfing has led me to recall my own foray into the world of surfing a few years ago. Though surfing was once dominated by men, women have been making serious waves in the surfing world in recent years with their own… (more)

Star gazing (and navel gazing) on Rodeo Drive

September 24, 2011

BEVERLY HILLS, US – By now, the Pretty Woman references are wearing a little thin, but the film is such a convenient shorthand for capturing the fairytale ethos of Rodeo Drive that it’s hard to resist the mention. Who hasn’t watched Julia Robert’s “hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold” character transform into a thing of… (more)

Boho chic with a beachy backdrop in Venice

September 3, 2011

VENICE, US – When you think of shopping in LA’s Venice Beach, images of street vendors hawking string bikinis, knock-off bags, and el-cheapo sunglasses on the Boardwalk may be the first to pop to mind. While it’s true that loads of tourist shopping dollars are carelessly disposed of in this… (more)

Voluptuous views on Mulholland Drive

July 7, 2011

LOS ANGELES, US – In Hollywood, it’s no coincidence that the most beloved bombshells are also the most curvaceous (cases in point: the timeless Marilyn Monroe and current Mad Men darling Christina Hendricks). Curves are way more interesting and offer, shall we say, way better views than the straight and… (more)

Frauleins, fireworks, and the Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl

July 2, 2011

LOS ANGELES, US – One of the things I most look forward to in June in Los Angeles is the annual opening of the Hollywood Bowl season. The nation’s largest outdoor amphitheatre tucked into the Hollywood Hills is in full swing (or shall I say “full song”?) June through September.… (more)

“Pardon our dust” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

June 24, 2011

LOS ANGELES, US – In a city where appearances are everything, it’s not surprising that the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)–the largest museum west of the Mississippi–is undergoing a massive, decade-long exterior renewal project dubbed the Transformation. The hulking museum campus is cluttered with a mismatched collection of… (more)

A shortcut through LA’s heart along Sunset Boulevard

June 22, 2011

LOS ANGELES, US – Whenever I turn onto Sunset Boulevard, I can’t help but hum the opening lyrics to Steely Dan’s song “Babylon Sisters”: “Drive west on Sunset to the sea… “. This bit of lyric wasn’t just another drug-induced riddle by the groovy 70s rockers. As far as excursions… (more)

Nature and culture, minus the car, at Griffith Park

February 7, 2011

LOS ANGELES, USA – When I’m visiting LA from New York, I tend two miss two things the most: the ease of the subway (LA traffic–need I say more?) and the green escape of Central Park. Luckily, at Griffith Park, I can ditch traffic and get my green fix all… (more)

Walk in red carpet footsteps at the Kodak Theatre

February 2, 2011

LOS ANGELES, USA – If the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood were a song, it would be “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion: dramatic, over the top, and all about Oscar. The theater, inspired by the grandeur of European opera houses, was built in 2001 expressly for the Academy… (more)

Take a ride through LA history at the Petersen Automotive Museum

October 30, 2010

LOS ANGELES, USA – Of all of man’s technological inventions, there’s no denying that cars top the list of man/machine attachments. Maybe it’s because the front of a car looks not unlike a human face (headlamps as eyes, grill as mouth) or because the car functions so much like the… (more)