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Food, glorious food! - Los Angeles
Food, glorious food!
by Stasigrace
Off the Beaten Path in Los Angeles: Downtown LA tips and photos posted by real travelers and Los Angeles locals.
Downtown LA
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Downtown LA: Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall - Los Angeles
Walt Disney Concert Hall
by Dabs
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I was wandering around LA with a 2002 guide book so when I looked over and saw this building I thought it was kind of peculiar that it wasn't included since it looked an awful lot like Frank Gehry's structure in Millennium Park in Chicago. Well, it turns out that it is a Frank Gehry design, built in 2003 which is why you shouldn't walk around with a 3 year old guide book even if you did check it out of the library for free.

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Downtown LA: Do an "Only in L.A." thing- FIDM
If you like original L.A. kind of fashion, you should stop by FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and merchandise). Located in emerging South Park, FIDM is one of those "only in L.A." attraction. Each year, there is a showcase of Academy Awards winning costumes and accesories for any Oscar fan to see. If not the Oscar, there is often some kind of fashion on display that is related to Hollywood glamour and glitz. The FIDM Museum and Galleries house exquisitive and all-original works by designs, clothing and beyond. Exhibitions are free usually. FIDM is by the intersection of 9th St and Grand Ave. Parking is available underground but there is no validation. The parking cost can run up to about $6 unless able to find outside meters for parking.

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  • Website: http://www.fidm.com

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    Downtown LA: Japanese Street Food
    It wasn't off a cart but this came pretty close to being street food as I can see. Food on a stick, in the window. We ate some chicken balls - they were pretty good and a croquette (pronounced in Japanese as koh-roh-ke) - a mashed potato ball, breaded and fried. They also had octopus balls, shrimp balls, fish cakes and some other items.

    There was also a small restaurant inside if you prefer to dine in.

    Located at 117 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Los Angeles.

  • Phone: 213.613.1028

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    Downtown LA: The downtown "Bukowski" Post Office
    Terminal Annex Post Office - Los Angeles
    Terminal Annex Post Office
    by David_trip
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    Just in between the old mexican core of LA and Chinatown, in Alameda, you will find the Terminal Annex Post Office. What is special about this one? It's here that Bukowski gathered inspiration and material for his worldwide known underground novel “Post Office”. The inside of the building has been recently renewed so don't expect to find anything of what was told in his book. Just have a concious look at the building while passing by.

  • Other Contact: Address: 900 N Alameda, LA

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    Downtown LA: Los Angeles Tofu Festival
    Little Tokyo - home of Tofu - Los Angeles
    Little Tokyo - home of Tofu
    by Stasigrace
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    Little Tokyo is home to the LA Tofu Festival, one of the largest of its kind.

    This year they featured Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto and a sake/beer/wine tasting, as well as 40 vendors hawking intriguing Tofu dishes.

    If you're going to be in town over the summer and want an unusual experience, check out the Tofu Fest!

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  • Website: www.tofufestla.com

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    Downtown LA: See South Park (not the cartoon)
    Soon, I will capture shots here. For those who seek intriguing, inspiring architecture when sight-seeing, come to South Park, a growing design/fashion industrial part of downtown LA South Park is in the zone of Staples Center, Convention Center, FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise), the popular Original Pantry House and is close the Financial District.

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    Downtown LA: Downtown LA - "Financial District"
    Relinde is having a look around in New Down Town. - Los Angeles
    Relinde is having a look
    around in New Down Town.
    by Jerelis
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    The "New Down Town" (or "Bunker Hill," or "Financial District") in Los Angeles is largely the product of the efforts of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City. Beginning in the 1960s this agency coordinated the investment of millions of dollars to develop a "new" downtown with a tall skyscraper profile that would contribute to Los Angeles' world city status.

    Having major office buildings and hotels, today the area is a focal point for international capital and international travellers.

    Directions:
    Downtown Los Angeles is generally thought to be bounded by the Los Angeles River on the east, the U.S. Route 101 on the north, the 10 Santa Monica Freeway on the south and the 110 Harbor Freeway on the west.

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    Downtown LA: Los Angeles Times Building
    The Los Angeles Times Building, designed by Gordon Kaufman, opened in 1935. At the time it was the largest building in the western US designed and occupied solely as a daily newspaper publisher. The Times, now owned by the Chicago based Tribune Company, is Los Angeles' major newspaper.

    I didn't get inside to see the Globe Lobby but if you should get a chance you'll find 10-foot-high murals painted in 1935 by Hugo Ballin, who also painted the Griffith Observatory rotunda and the mural in the Edison building. The lobby also has an historical exhibit from the first 100 years of The Times.

    Located at 1st and Spring Streets in downtown Los Angeles

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    Downtown LA: Downtown LA - Climb towards world city status.
    The Opera House is where every year you'll see the Academy Awards winners and the Los Angeles Opera created a sensation with its debut production of Verdi's Otello starring Placido Domingo in October 1986.

    Finally we saw the Los Angeles Central Library, which its cylindrical structure on the left was completed in 1989 using plans from J.M. Pei and Partners. At 1017 feet, it is the tallest building west of Chicago and east of Hong Kong, and perhaps symbolized the final rung in Los Angeles' climb toward world city status.

    Directions:
    Downtown Los Angeles is generally thought to be bounded by the Los Angeles River on the east, the U.S. Route 101 on the north, the 10 Santa Monica Freeway on the south and the 110 Harbor Freeway on the west.

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    Downtown LA: Subway Terminal Building
    The subway tunnel running under this building has long been closed but when the Subway Terminal Building was built in 1924-1926, there were over 1,000 miles of interurban Pacific Electric railway lines transporting some 65,000 workers daily. The subway line running into the Terminal building stopped running in 1955 and altogether in 1961, not because of earthquakes as you might think but because Americans were starting to fall in love with their cars.

    The building has been renovated and reopened in 2005 as loft apartments. But you can still see some remnants of the original building, "Svbway Terminal" printed on the sidewalk leading into the building and the two transportation motif mosaics on the two entry doors. You can enter the lobby and see some of the remnants of the original buildings such as the elevator doors in my photo.

    You can see the similarity in architectural style between this building and the nearby Biltmore Hotel, this Beaux Arts building was designed by the same architects, Schultze and Weaver. Our guide pointed out though that the decor that you see on the south side of the building (along 5th Street) isn't nearly as ornate as the Biltmore because at the time it was built, the Philharmonic Building was in front of it instead of a parking lot.

    Located at 417 S. Hill Street between 4th and 5th Streets.

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