First stop, Santee Alley. Let me start by saying that I had no idea what it is. All I knew is that it's in the fashion district in LA. Basically Santee Alley is rows and rows of shops selling new discount clothes, fabric and cosmetics. The prices are so low bc just down the road are the local designers and their wholesale shops. Most of the shops are sort of makeshift and have tiny dressing rooms, or a closet to change in. Anyways, needless to say, shopping here is chaos. It's like Harajuku St. in Japan. To add to the stress of shopping in SA, my intern, bless her heart, kept calling me to ask about an assignment I gave her. The whole thing was a recipe for disaster. Towards the end of the alley, in probably our 17th little shop, I got an legitimate urgent call from my intern while I was trying on a dress in an unlit closet. I worked with her on the phone as I grabbed my stuff and went to pay for the dress. It wasn't more than 10 mins later when I realized my stuff feels light, hmm, odd. Wait, where's my new camera?! Crap! I ran back to the store and asked the owners if they saw it. Of course they said no. They claimed that two other people were there after me, one Mexican, and one white, who was there by the time I ran back. My cousin and I searched the room, but I knew there was foul play. I asked the owner to describe again the first lady that was in the dressing room, this time, she was black. I could tell by the way the shop women would not meet my eyes and their reaction when I told them I am an attorney that they had it and did not intend to return it. I left my card to give them a chance to come clean in case the "mexican/black" woman returned it. About 30 mins later, we were ready to leave. As we head back down the alley, we saw two cops. My cousin Esther and I thought the same thing, she suggest that we ask the cops if there's anything we could do, I agreed, couldn't hurt. The cops said they could make a report, but it was unlikely to help, then they offered to go back to the store and ask the owners for me. As soon as the cops walked in with me, the shop women's face turned white and the woman I originally spoke with headed back to the dressing room closet before the cops said anything. Magically, my camera reappeared. I assume she had it behind the counter and that's why she went back to the dressing room when we showed up. Naturally, I was pissed. I guess I'm naive when I assume that store owners who would prosecute theft would not themselves steal from their customers. I gave them a big fuck you and left Santee Alley.
Next, we went to Little Tokyo. A 180 degree change in atmosphere, prices and overall cleanliness.
While in Little Tokyo, we came across Qpop, a store and mini gallery specializing in unique art and gifts from Japan and Thailand. I love this store. I bought my first (surprisingly) piece of art here
Cat Circus by Victoria Ying. I loved the print when I saw it. Not surprisingly, my research shows that the artist is a visual designer for Disney. How perfect. There was another piece I really liked, but passed on at the gallery. I found that print online and that artist is also associated with Disney, he illustrated their It's a Small World book. I'm ordering a print from him next week.
Where's the food? I'm trying to be more selective with my photos. I had to get this though. 85 degrees celsius is a Taiwanese bakery with the best bread and best price. I bought 8 buns and two drinks for $14! we stopped here three times in two days.
My favorite was the green onion bun. It's sweet and savory and 90 cents!
Next up, Venice beach.
Made a stop in South Central for some Roscoe's. Yeah, this lives up to the hype. The chicken is soooooo freaking good! The waffles were ok, i like a crispier waffle.
Candied yams are a must.
And so are the greens. It was a delicious feast.
This is fried chicken smothered in gravy. My dark meat did not need any gravy, it was very moist inside.
Another 180 flip to Bottega Louie. A gorgeous restaurant and bakery known for its French macaroons.
This is the earl grey. Just beautiful.
Now I'm headed to SD for the Del Mar races with my firm and I'll be spending the rest of the week with Jeff and the kitties. This is the fun half, the following two weeks are going to suck... Stay tuned!
- Posted from my iPad
Location:LA
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