the underwhelmed, the overwhelmed and the plain whelmed
saturday afternoon (may 27) dinky and i had a 1/8 of a day walking around downtown LA trying to find little tokyo. as it was kinda late (530pm) when we started looking for the place, we were a little disappointed when we find the area almost deserted and is composed of several restaurants and small japanese stores. so, okay, maybe we were expecting a lot but, considering that it is called "little tokyo" we should have prepared ourselves a little huh? oh well, so we were underwhelmed of the place.
on the other hand, walking from the fashion district to the civic center and then to the previously mentioned little tokyo, was a little overwhelming (an exaggeration true, but in keeping with my theme for this update). the transformation from the grimy and dirty 5th and 6th street to the almost pristine and shiny 1st street was well...overwhelming (there's that word again!)
i don't have anything to say about the whelmed thing, but here's a keen observation: the best way to visit downtown LA (or any interesting place for that matter) was to walk around, not take the bus, drive around in a car or take the subway, but to just walk around, get lost, ask around and just enjoy the thrill of walking even if your feet are hurting.
walking also will make you discover some of the funniest thing about city people. they are almost always tourists in their own cities. case in point, we asked three people that worked/based in/around the civic center area but not one of them knows where the metro train station is, all of them told us to go to the union station. but hey, it was fun trying to look for the station. we saw the lapl, the disney concert hall and the directions for LA's sister cities in front of the city hall.
on the other hand, walking from the fashion district to the civic center and then to the previously mentioned little tokyo, was a little overwhelming (an exaggeration true, but in keeping with my theme for this update). the transformation from the grimy and dirty 5th and 6th street to the almost pristine and shiny 1st street was well...overwhelming (there's that word again!)
i don't have anything to say about the whelmed thing, but here's a keen observation: the best way to visit downtown LA (or any interesting place for that matter) was to walk around, not take the bus, drive around in a car or take the subway, but to just walk around, get lost, ask around and just enjoy the thrill of walking even if your feet are hurting.
walking also will make you discover some of the funniest thing about city people. they are almost always tourists in their own cities. case in point, we asked three people that worked/based in/around the civic center area but not one of them knows where the metro train station is, all of them told us to go to the union station. but hey, it was fun trying to look for the station. we saw the lapl, the disney concert hall and the directions for LA's sister cities in front of the city hall.