Charlie Chaplin Studio in Los Angeles

On February 27, 2010, in Travel, by laura
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A good friend of mine recently received notice that he was accepted to participate on a lecture panel at a convention in Los Angeles this summer. He is incredibly excited about the opportunity and while it is a great career move for him, which he is well aware, he is also looking forward to having a great time. He is already planning some of the activities he would like to do and is seeking out some quality entertainment options that will be occurring while he is there. Meanwhile, he invited me to join him and even offered to pay for the airfare. I am welcome to stay with him in the hotel and from what I understand there are some pretty fancy hotels that are Los Angeles’ best and I think he is being put up in a pretty nice one for this event.

I really like Los Angels, well, I mean I love it and would love to go though I just started working for a new advertisement firm and it’s a pretty competitive position. Technically I’m not eligible to use any vacation time for six months and I don’t want to risk my job or my reputation by disappearing so quickly after having been hired. Meanwhile I could go for the weekend only, my friend will be there for a full week, but I hate to accept the offer of his purchasing a plane ticket for that amount of time, when I think he meant for me to stay the entire week.

Anyway, I’m really kind of torn because some of the things he wants to do sound incredibly fun and I haven’t been to Los Angeles in years. Of course one of the first things we’d do would be to head straight to the beach. Heck there is always so much going on down along Venice Beach that we could actually come back everyday and find something new. But he also wants to tour Watt’s Towers, which I had heard about many years ago, but have never seen. Plus, there are a whole slew of historic buildings that neither of us has ever been to that would be great to tour. One of the main and first priority stops will be the Charlie Chaplin Studio. I have always been such a huge Chaplin fan I can’t imagine how exciting it would be to visit the studio in which he used to work. Oh, to heck with it, I have to go to Los Angeles this summer. Who knows when I’ll get the opportunity to do so again.

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Buddha Tooth Relic in Singapore

On February 25, 2010, in History, Travel, by laura
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A few years ago, I learned about the idea of relics.  Most of us know relics by its general definition: something that survives the passage of time, in particular a custom or object that has been lost to us.  A religious relic, however, refers to an object or possession of an individual that has religious significance.  For instance, there are pieces of jewelry, rings and necklaces, which actually contain a part of the revered deceased person, such as a piece of bone or a finger.  More recently, I learned about a museum established in the 21st Century in Singapore that stretches far into the past, known as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum!

Founded in 2002, the BTRTM serves both as a place of worship for those devoted to Buddhist beliefs, as well as a cultural museum emphasizing Buddhism.  It houses the Sacred Buddha Tooth Relic inside an amazing Relic Stupa, which is made of 420kg of gold, made possible by donations from devotees.  The architecture inside the museum is based on the architecture of the Tang Dynasty, when Buddhism was most popular in China.  Legendary tales from Sri Lanka say that when the Buddha died, the body was cremated, but his left canine tooth was retrieved.  People began to believe that whomever had the tooth had a divine right to rule the land.  It’s fascinating to think that this one tooth was the source of several wars, as kingdoms fought for that divine right.  Once, when a king came in possession of the tooth, he became a Buddhist and worshipped the relic.  This upset the people and they asked another king to come help them, saying their king stopped believing in God and now worshipped a tooth.  However, when the second king arrived, he also became a Buddhist.  This prompted a history of battles and fights, and people escaping with the relic.

After seeing the Sacred Tooth Relic, you may ponder its history and wonder whether or not the tooth is even real.  Back at the hotel, which you can find by going to www.singaporehotels.com, you may consider this idea:  There is at least three other places which claim to have relic of the tooth of the Buddha, one in Lingguang Temple in Beijing, China; one in the reliquary hall of Engaku-ji in Kamakura, Japan; and one in the Fo Guang Shan monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

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Dallas Night Life

On February 23, 2010, in Culture, Travel, by laura
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Dallas is a lot of fun.  One of those cities that has a little bit of funkiness during the day, but the night time opens up to become something extraordinary.  That’s the time when you can see the local cultures here, where self-expression is high, proud, and constantly in flux.  The city is one of the largest in the country, and there are very diverse populations, made even more diverse with the inventions of culture.  Looking for an interesting time in a new place, then, only requires a reservation at one of the hotels in Dallas, and lots of adventures await you.

There are plenty of exciting entertainments to enjoy in town, with lots of local music and theatre acts, as well as a whole slew of national and international performers always coming through.  Some of the best local music can be found playing side by side, collaborating with the larger bands, and it seems as though people from here just have a knack for getting along.  Some of the coolest clubs in the country are right here, or at least you’ll probably think so.  The Lizard Lounge is one of the more well-known places for going out to drink and dance, although this isn’t the usual club.  The DJs are very deft, and there is also a whole lot of full bands that play here.  Trance, Indie, and underground hiphop are always on the menu at some point during the week.

The Church is on Thursdays and Sundays, and it’s a focused version of the Lizard Lounge’s usual line-up, specializing in Neo, Gothic, Electro, and Industrial, and there is a definite aesthetic here of darkness and slickness.  Famous goths like Trent Reznor and Marilyn Manson play here when they’re in town, and this is a fantastic place to have an interesting night.  It’s a Dallas that might not be seen in travel magazines, but it’s one of the most exciting scenes in town.

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Desire and Bibles in Austin

On February 19, 2010, in Travel, by laura
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From the moment I saw the city of Austin, Texas, as my commercial flight turned high above the University of Texas campus, I fell in love with this city.  In those days, it was the late 1980s, about twenty years ago, but in all my trips since, this the one city in the Lone Star state, at which I love to arrive.  It’s not just for the music (which is great), or for the food (also great); largely, it’s for the people.  I have many friends who, once they saw Austin, they simply stayed and have yet to leave.  I have that impulse myself; it’s almost unfortunate that my life is elsewhere, because there’s fewer cities that appeal to me more.

I’ve been to the city so often that I hate to impose on the friends, so I generally find one of the best hotels in Austin, and camp out there for a few days.  In my early days, though, I’d often stay at my friends’ homes somewhere near the University of Texas at Austin.  This campus has been around since 1883, for one hundred twenty-seven years.  Located in-between Guadalupe Ave and the I-35, Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, and 26th Street, the campus is ringed by a number of interesting little restaurants, coffee house and shops.  Walking the campus gives you a place to relax in a city that’s, well, for many, already quite a relaxing place.  On campus, there are at least two places you should make time to see: The Blanton Museum of Art, and the Harry Ransom Center.

In the Blanton Museum of Art, you’ll find three intriguing exhibits: Goya’s Prints: The Dawn of Modern Art (running until March 7th), Workspace: Pablo Vargas Lugo: Eclipses for Austin (running until February 21st), and Desire (running until April 25th).  The latter, perhaps, is most interesting as the museum pulls together work from various artists all dealing with the subject of desire.  At the Harry Ransom Center, you’ll find almost the opposite extreme: instead of desire, you might discover piety, when you take a look at one of the five existing copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the United States.  The Gutenberg was the first major book printed  on a printing press with movable type and was created sometime within 1450 and 1455 in the 15th Century.

If you haven’t been to Austin yet, what are you waiting on?  Find your way to this terrific small city and enjoy its hospitality.

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New York has the Best Restaurants

On February 17, 2010, in Travel, Uncategorized, by laura
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My body clock has finally adjusted to New York time, but it still took me most of the morning to get over my hangover. I decided to wander around lower mid-town and visit Grand Central and then the Chrysler building.

Afterwards, I caught the subway to Queens so I could take some pictures of New York from across the river. While I was in New York the sky was clear and the temperature was at negative 3 degrees. I came back into upper mid-town and visited the Museum of Modern Art, which turned out to be a very cool place, they even let me take pictures of the painting, which I never could do in other museums. Later, I walked through the Rockefeller Center before heading back to my hotel to put on warmer clothes and to see where there’s a great place to eat.

When I came back down to the lobby of my hotel, the concierge told me about a Global Music Festival, called Globalfest, which was at Webster Hall that was only a few blocks away, so I decided to pay the music fest a visit. The concierge also told me that most of the better restaurants in New York are booked for months, but they had there connections and managed to get me a reservation at ‘Gotham Bar and Grill’, they told me about this site: and how working with the concierge of that site has great connections with the higher end restaurants. I was really grateful for all the efforts my hotel made in order just to please me.

The Globefest was great, great bands and great up and coming bands who haven’t been signed to any labels yet. I really liked the Nighlosers, the Caravan Palace,  and Namgar. this was truly global and it was great to hear all the music from different countries.

Then is was time to eat at ‘Gotham bar and Grill’, when I got there, I was in amazement. All the tables are very close together and are at different levels. The very high ceiling had these great light fixtures that looked like parachutes, which made it feel like there was more room than there really was. I ordered the Duck with Foie Gras and a seafood salad. My dishes were fabulous. I wish I had more room in my stomach for more. No wonder you have to book three months in advance. I’m so happy my concierge had connections.

The next day, I couldn’t imagine anything being able to top yesterdays experience. So, I just took a nice walk through the East Village and went down through the Lower East Side, then on to Chinatown and over the Brooklyn Bridge and then back over the Brooklyn Bridge and believe it or not, I managed to find the best falafel stand in all of New York. It’s called Sam’s, which is next to Ground Zero, and you don’t need to wait 3 months to get a great falafel.

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Separate Flights to Seattle

On February 14, 2010, in Travel, by laura
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It’s the first time Mark and I traveled on separate flights going to the same place; his flight was a couple of hours before mine. When it was time for him to leave, we walked together to his gate, which was in a different terminal from my flight. After his plane took off, I stayed in the area and did some work on my laptop. I had about an hour before my flight took off, so I head on over to my terminal, and that when I found out that there was no way back, I kind of panicked and found a security guard and told him my situation. He told him that they the airport should put up signs saying you can’t go back and he let me through.

I arrived in Seattle about an hour after Mark, we met up and got our car rental, Mark had to try out his new GPS he bought in Korea; it took him almost 15 minutes to locate a satellite, but once he did, the GPS worked perfectly. We found our hotel easily, we were fortunate enough to book this hotel via Internet when we were in Korea at this site, which turned out to be the best thing we’ve ever done. The hotel accommodations were charming and in a great area.

After we checked in, the first place we went to was the test site that Mark had to be at tomorrow, we wanted to know how long it took us to get there. After that we looked on the GPS to see what sights might be close by, and the closest was the Glass Museum in Tacoma. We’ve heard about the museum from a friend of ours that highly recommended it and are we glad we did, the place was amazing and very cool. We watched the glass makers make things, like some Chihuly work. After the Glass Museum, we had dinner at the restaurant right next door. They had very good steaks.

We were heading back to our hotel, when we found an outlet mall not to far away, so, we planned to spend tomorrow there and do a bit of shopping and Mark will be getting his Certification in Engineering Technologies.

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The Theatre of Carlsbad Village

On February 9, 2010, in Travel, by laura
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Carlsbad, California is a great place to find a peaceful and relaxing get-away.  Carlsbad Village is located just on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, and it is a quaint area where one can experience life in Southern California as it was fifty years ago.  While many people come to visit the city from all over the world, many Californians from the larger cities of Los Angeles and San Diego often make the trip to experience a slower paced life, mixed with a little fun in the sun and surfing the waves.

Carlsbad Village is also the heart of the theater district, and here one will find a plethora of small cafes and bistros, as well as some of the finest hotels in Carlsbad.  The New Village Arts theatre has been performing here for ten years.  They have always remained committed to providing incredible theatrical experiences, through their dedication to producing passionate and powerful pieces of work, be it the classics such as “True West” and “Prelude to a Kiss”, or the work of new up and coming writers, directors and players.

Carlsbad is located in San Diego county and New Village Arts has garnered the reputation of being one of the finest theatres in the entire county.  The actors who founded the theatre ten years ago came from New York, where they had recently attended the Actors Studio Drama School.  Their first show was actually performed in an abandoned chicken coop in Magee Park.

They are a company much like that of the Chicago theatre Steppenwolf, in that they are an ensemble driven group, and have been known to present powerful and intense shows.  They now have a permanent 99 seat theatre located in an old lumber yard, and they have been filling those seats for many years.  Their 2010 season will be just a thrilling as the past seasons, and tickets go fast, so get yours early and get ready for one of the best of live theatre companies today.

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