Long Weekend Getaway in L.A

I’ve been to L.A many times mostly for Disney park visits in Anaheim but didn’t get to explore the city as much. So on President’s Day weekend, I booked a flight to L.A for a three-days getaway and did a little sightseeing. Some highlights, if you’d like to see..

Where we stayed

We stayed at Tuck Hotel, a newly opened (we stayed there last year) boutique hotel in Downtown L.A with modern interior and European chic feel to it.

Love the decor and the furnishing of its lobby.

What we ate

First up: food! Went to Konbi because I’m obsessed with Japanese egg sandwich and apparently so was everybody else in L.A. I ended up waited for almost 2 hours just to dine there. The food was decent but definitely not worth the 2 hours wait!

One afternoon, we went to Little Tokyo and had these amazing red bean pancake. Seeing this lady skillfully poured out the pancake batter into each hole was so satisfying.

In the evening, I made a dinner reservation at Kasih, an upscale Indonesian restaurant in Little Tokyo. When it comes to the food of my hometown, I get a little picky. Kasih was definitely a more western take on Indonesian cuisine but I really enjoyed the food. There’s not much Indonesian food option back in the Bay Area so I was just happy to have some sambal with my food!

One morning, we went to Pitchoun! for a quick breakfast run before our trip to Universal Studio. They offer a great selection of breakfast pastries and cakes. I couldn’t really remember anything about this place so I’d say the food was probably just mediocre?

Where we visited

Having an extra day on the weekend gave us more time to do some exploring. I’ve been to L.A many times but still there are some spots that I have yet to visit.

The Last Book Store
If you love books, this will be a fun place to visit. It’s quirky and sort of whimsical, kinda gave me the Hogwarts vibe a little, especially with all the flying books decor.

Every corner of this book store makes a great photo spot.

Did I mention about the ‘book tunnel’? Didn’t get to take a photo of its inside because there’s a line of people on the other end waiting to take their Instagram shot.

I found a collection of Mandarin comic books! When I was young, my dad used to buy me mandarin comic books after his business trip to Hong Kong. Mandarin comic books have better paper texture and seeing these books gave me all the nostalgic feels.

Bradbury Building
The next day, we went to Bradbury Building, a famous 19th-century Italian Renaissance building located in Downtown L.A.

The interior has beautiful skylit ceilings and the stairs structure are gorgeous.

Row DTLA
The latest addition to Downtown L.A’s creative scene is these warehouses that were restored to urban beauty. There are plenty of restaurants, shops and wide open spaces. You could easily spend an entire afternoon here, which we did.

I was mostly excited to come here for a visit to Hightide Store. They carry a selection of stuff from one of my favorite Japanese illustrator, Noritake.

Plenty of great backdrops for taking a selfie!

Row DTLA's window shopping game is 100%!

They have a Poketo here as well.

Universal Studio Hollywood
I have actually never been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter since its opening in 2016. About 3 years too late, I finally visited and was so blown away by the whole thing.

All the details were spot on. 12 years old me would have squealed so hard! The area itself was definitely bigger than I expected and we spent a good half a day going into every single shop. The 2 rides were fun too.

Melrose Avenue
On our last day, we went to Melrose Avenue for a quick afternoon shopping in the sun. There are many great backgrounds for photo ops, including this pink wall.