Dreams, Moments, Travels
On our way back home from Santa Barbara to Phoenix, Arizona, we again stopped in West Covina, California, at the Hong Kong Plaza. This mini-mall is a treasure trove for culture seekers. Not only do they have an Indonesian restaurant, but they also have Malaysian, Korean BBQ, and a variety of Chinese restaurants, a Sushi bar, a Shabu Shabu restaurant, and a Boba Tea store. In between all of these dining choices are small shops, a grocery, gift stores, and this Tokyo 99 Cent Plus store.
Stopping in West Covina, California, on our way to Santa Barbara, we were hungry for some Asian food and took in a meal at a small Malaysian place. Caroline had the Nasi Goreng while I opted for the Bami Goreng – hers was a rice dish, mine noodle.
When we lived in Germany, we would make frequent trips to Amsterdam, where we often ate at Mr. Moto’s, an all-time favorite Indonesian fast food joint, which now seems to have merged into a new Asian-style Mongolian BBQ.
Two old animal skulls gather moss perched high on this shingle rooftop.
On my way home to Phoenix, Arizona. First, some shopping in Little Tokyo. Today is our 12th Anniversary. While I found some things Caroline would enjoy, I couldn’t find ‘the’ gift to celebrate our getting married. I had to go further east to an Asian shopping center off the 60 freeway at the Fullerton offramp, where I spotted a cute little set of 18k white gold Hello Kitty earrings.
Update: here we go again fooling around with the history of this blog by expanding what was originally posted. As I’ve said in other posts, this update is years after the fact, 2023, to be precise. Previously, I’ve shared that I’m updating some older posts with extra photos as they were relevant back when I shot them, but internet bandwidth limitations during those years dictated that I keep things small and simple. Now that this isn’t a concern, I present more of the past. This is our great Aunt Ann Burns.
These old photographs were passed countless times, and now I have no idea what happened to them. My father is in the top left I’m in the photo with my sister Share, her in the white wedding dress, and me in a white shirt over toward the lower right of the frame. The largest photo is of Jerry Burns, Uncle Woody’s brother.
Great Uncle Woody Burns at home in Goleta, California.
On the way home to Phoenix, I had to stop at Original Tommy’s, famous for their chili cheeseburgers.
Nothing left but desert ahead.
This trip to Disneyland was supposed to be made for Caroline’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, but this is working out perfectly, too, at the beginning of an 8-day coastal road trip that will take us to Monterey and the aquarium, San Francisco, Alcatraz, Point Reyes, and right back down the Big Sur coast.
First up was Space Mountain, as it always seems to have the longest lines later in the day.
Time warp to tomorrow.
Taking a picture of the point where a camera takes our picture so I can exit Space Mountain and take a picture of the monitor showing me our picture without us having to buy it…meta.
Well then, pencil in 2007 to come see Nemo.
From heart racing to heart swooning at It’s a Small World.
Getting on Big Thunder Mountain.
Another time warp, this time into the past.
The mix of Christmas and Halloween at this time of year is the best time for us to visit. We are in the Haunted Mansion for those who may not know.
Yep, catching all of our favorites because who knows how long things like the Jungle Cruise will remain at Disneyland.
Same for the Tiki Room. Can these old-fashioned attractions still be appealing to kids growing up on the internet, superhero movies, and video games?
Can’t say anything has changed here inside the Tiki Room, even after 42 years since it opened.
It was still quite foggy when we entered the park. Obviously, the weather has improved.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to share that this is the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
I find her cute.
Back to the Haunted House for an encore performance before…
…a final journey into It’s a Small World. Merry Christmas from Disneyland.
Attention: This post was modified from its original two photographs and a minimal amount of text and updated in November 2022 to better represent what we did over the course of the day.
Something left out of the original post was the motivating idea behind this day in and around Los Angeles. You see, we were avid Giant Robot magazine subscribers back then who loved everything that was being produced out of the founders’ shop on Sawtelle Boulevard in Los Angeles. One particular feature in the magazine with which I was enamored was their “Perfect Day” articles that would have artists from various places describe their perfect day and send the guys photos depicting that day. This has inspired many of our days out traveling in America, and this particular bolt to Southern California is one of those Perfect Day adventures.
We were up and gone early this Saturday morning, getting out of Phoenix by 6:00 a.m.
With only minutes to spare, we just barely made the last tour of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery at 12:00 p.m., led by the Art Deco Society. While I certainly enjoyed the Ramones from 1976 through about 1978, the Sex Pistols and Black Flag were channeling the kind of anger that was coursing through my veins growing up here in Los Angeles. By the time I was 16 my thinking at the time was less than flattering concerning the Ramones. To this day, in 2022, I still do not feel nostalgic for their sound. I’m opening our visit to the cemetery with this because the gravestone for Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer was sad and weedy.
Can’t say I ever understood the appeal of Valentino, but then again, I wasn’t around in the early 20th century to witness it. Maybe this thing about dying young (he was 31 years old) when audiences think you’ve barely made a mark cements people into extended fame as their death denies the world knowing the extent of their talents?
Most of the names here will be unknown to a majority of people who visit, except for Quentin Tarantino.
Funny, at one moment, I’m saying I have no connection to Valentino and the early 20th century, and yet here I am sharing the simple gravestone of Charlie Chaplin’s mother, Hannah Chaplin. Regarding the Little Tramp, I think I could identify with Chaplin as there always seemed something mischievous and rebellious about not only his famous character but also the man.
The grave of Cecil B. DeMille and his wife. This guy was one of the greats of Hollywood and one of the founders of Paramount Pictures. You didn’t grow up in Southern California and not know of his stature.
As I said, the Art Deco Society put on our tour; great job to the actors who brought us into Hollywood’s past.
It just so happened that a place – not often open to the public – had, for a forgotten reason, unlocked its doors and allowed those of us on this special tour a peek into the Clark Mausoleum.
And that voice from my childhood seems like a good place to leave the Hollywood Forever Cemetery; rest in peace, Mr. Mel Blanc. For those who may not know it, he was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble, Tweety Bird, Daffy Duck, and Mr. Spacely from the Jetsons movie, which was also his final performance before life told him, “That’s all folks.”
Our friend Mark Shimer then joined us for a bite to eat at GR/Eats, a little cafe opened by the guys behind Giant Robot.
Across the street, it was obvious that we’d visit the Giant Robot shop.
In retrospect, I’m happy we didn’t buy these as they didn’t increase in value.
Boarding a tram for a short ride and our last stop with Mark for the day.
We are at the Getty Museum.
I’ve tried telling Caroline for years that a little “slappy-slappy” has always been enjoyed by damsels and people who live on thrones. She reminds me that she’s not a f$&@ing damsel and that I can dismount my throne and high horse, and still, there will be no “slappy-slappy.”
While it’s not the Trevi Fountain in Rome, there’s something quite elegant about this corner of the museum grounds.
The Deposition is the kind of art from the Middle Ages I can get into.
The Getty Museum is here because Mr. John Paul Getty left his estate to his J. Paul Getty Museum Trust with a mandate that they spend his money.
I’m telling you that Jan Brueghel the Elder knew something about psychedelics; I’m certain of it. This piece is titled The Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark, but if you really want to be taken by this man’s work, visit his altarpiece in Colmar, France. You’ll know firsthand that he was dabbling in mushrooms or something.
Striking colors, hints of otherness, the guy in the background wildly gesturing, lots of insects, it all smacks of something dramatic about to happen if you ask me. I can’t be sure that’s what Jan van Huysum tried to convey in this Fruit Piece, but that’s what I’m getting.
Until today, I didn’t even know who Franz Xaver Winterhalter was, but now here I am looking at his work titled Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.
It’s been gray all day here in the Los Angeles basin, but as you saw from the first photo at the California state line, we did have blue skies to begin with, and it doesn’t matter as we love gray and fog because they are two things almost non-existent in Phoenix, Arizona. And with leaving the Getty Center, Mark bids us adieu, but our Perfect Day is far from over.
Oh yeah, to go where few white men and women tread lets Caroline and I know we’ve found the right place. Dinner is at Ramenya – a Japanese Noodle Shop.
A perfect bowl of ramen.
We have a short bit of time left before the final act of the day, so why not head out on the Santa Monica Pier to listen to the surf roll in, listen in on Arthur Nakane’s 1-Man Band, who was even on Jimmy Kimmel this past February, watch some kids on Dance Dance Revolution, and just enjoy the cool California coastal air.
We ended the night watching Naked in Ashes at the Nuart Landmark Theater and stayed at the Ramona Inn in Little India. This was our Perfect Day.