another life blog

No more requirements, it’s pure vacation earlier today and tomorrow! Started off the day by going back to the Little Tokyo and had myself an authentic “ramen set.” Yes, ramen set from the dreams of Yukito! The set came with 4 gyoza (fried dumplings), fried rice (really good), and the ramen itself. I have to say, I like my own creation more than the ramen. It did not impress me at all with the taste/flavour. Maybe I should have tried the funky curry flavoured one.

I went into the plaza next, and grabed a box of yakisoba to go. And unfortunately, yakisoba disappointed too. The noodle was too uneven/thick and overcooked nastiness. Maybe I shouldn’t judge ramen set and yakisoba from just a couple restaurants… but this brings up the issue of my possible visit to Japan in the near future. If the ramen set and yakisoba in Little Tokyo did not impress me, would I be overhyping myself when I visit Japan? Mmmmm!

After gorging myself, I went to look for more Japanese store, and found myself at a nice bookstore. Bought me a pen/pencil combo, and found myself out of time. I want to watch V for Vendetta today, and had arranged for a ticket at the Pacific Theatre. The drive wasn’t long, but damnit, the traffic is always horrible it seems! The parking system, though complex, did not come anywhere near the insanity that’s Taiwan metropolitan area. For some, they’d be impressed with the ticking counter saying how many slots are still open on each level of the parking garage. However, in Taiwan - they take it a step beyond… with traffic controllers, each level of the parking garage is double stacked. ie, there are machines to lift up a car, so a second car can fit under. CRAZZZI!

The Grove is a rather upscale mall. Soon as I stepped into the plaza like area, live music floats by, and people all dressed up rather classy-like. I thought I’ll take a look around, but when I check the movie time, I had to go into the theater immediately. As I looked about, I decided it’d be easy to movie hop here. I really enjoyed V for Vendetta and will be reviewing it in a subsequent post.

After the movie, I had to rush to ArcLight Cinemas, where I reserved my 7:30 ticket of Thank You for Smoking. I barely made it, but this theater is truly grandiose. Inside reminds me of Greek styled architecture, with high dome ceiling to accentuate. It’s really beautiful, and there are so many bouncers all over the place. Each ticket is assigned a seat. Each ticket is examined as you enter the theater. There is no way to movie hop at all and the freaking ticket cost 14 dollars.

Throughout the day, I been thinking about what I should do with the night after both movies. Initially, I wanted to go visit Star Shoes ~ but the idea of find the place, but finding out they need names on list, with long line, just kinda turned me off to it. I also thought of going to a “gentlemen’s club” to see how it’s different from a “strip club.” I really didn’t want to drive around Beverly Hills at night, nor go looking around at Hollywood. I suppose what decided for me, was a billboard sign telling me where the “gentlemen’s club is at.”

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by Jack in the Box (never been), and had myself a Jack Burger, curly fries, and a large shake. Yes, I did spend money at the gentlemen’s club, but not so much that I can’t afford dinner ^_^ Anyway, the day was fun, and tomorrow, I’ll be checking out of the hotel before 11, then go visit Beverly Hills and check out the shopping before hopping back on a plane going back home!

Spearmint Rhino looked nice from the outside, with an upscale feel. It’s a stand alone location without any busy things going around the building. With a nice parking lot, parking ushers, door man, etc… it seems like a good place to go and not very dangerous. Unfortunately, all damn parking lots cost money in LA, and this place is no exception ($5). Inside, the set up is still very classy, and everyone dressed in a business suit. No gangsters hanging out and making threatening gestures — it loooked all good (cover $20). Inside, there’s a stage, and very nice sofas set up around the perimeter. There are back rooms for dances, and also front row seats for dollar customers. It is not crowded at all, and everything is extremely clean. Unlike Mons Venus where the air is so smoky, Spearmint Rhino is just really clean (is it a non-smoking establishment? mmm, catch-220!) and without any alcohol. The girls are really beautiful and perform on stage, one at a time. Most toss it all aside by the 2nd song, some keep bits on — either way, the dances come in two flavors ~ swinging free ($20) and birthday suits($40). The DJ sets it up so in between events and performances, you can pay once and get 2/3/4 songs. Whatever the case, most people just sits and have a relaxing time sipping on…. WATER! I won’t say how much I spent — only that Angel allowed me to break most of the rules and I got a T-shirt! =)

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 19th, 2006 at 5:58 am and is filed under my life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.