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LA Anaheim Trip, 3 of 5
Apr. 6th, 2024 11:59 pmSATURDAY
Woke up about 7:30 to pee, and got up for the day after Gary's alarm went off at 8:20. Going through my morning routine was unusually difficult, starting with the toilet not working properly (I did eventually get it to go) and just everything mechanical going to pot due to my clumsiness, which put me in a foul mood until I sat down to write my journal and chill. As we'd left it a bit late for breakfast, we went to a little hole-in-the-wall Japanese place called Jist Diner. Gary got French toast again, with a chicken sausage patty this time, and I had the Tokyo Tots (Tater Tots covered in steak strips, cheese, and gravy with two fried eggs on top, drizzled with two sauces and sprinkled with rosemary). I had a butterscotch latte which was very nice, and Gary had juice. The place was so small it was completely occupied by the kitchen, and diners were ushered onto a plaza where tables were set under tents.
From the restaurant we caught the 30 bus to 3rd and Spring, then walked down Broadway to 4th to check out the Bradbury Building we'd toured in 2022 and the Precinct where we planned to have dinner and drinks tonight. From there it was another block and a half around the corner to Angels Flight, the funicular railroad up Bunker Hill. On the way I noticed a little pocket park between Pershing Square Station and Angels Flight had been completely fenced off, and thought it sad. As I later learned, the park was planned to be temporary and the plot of land on which it sat is slated to be developed into a residential building with apartments, condos, and two hotels. The development will include park space at the top of the hill on a level with the Angels Flight station and amphitheater on Olive Street. We rode the Angels Flight to the top, took pictures, and followed the map to the Walt Disney Concert Hall a block over and a few blocks down.
We had an hour or so before the doors were to open for our pre-concert talk, so I suggested we have coffee and sweet cakes on the plaza outside. As we finished our coffee break, a nice-looking blond dude with a thick beard sat near us and seemed disappointed we were leaving. We got some pictures of the concert hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion across the street before venturing inside. We used the bathroom on the lower level, then went upstairs for the pre-concert talk. This featured the chorus director, Grant Gershon; the composer of the opening world premiere work based on a business improvement blog, Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles; and the guest artist, Lara Downes, a pianist and commentator on KUSC radio's classical music program.
After the talk we ascended the elevator to the top for the balcony and found our seats. Gary and I had a little stream-of-consciousness banter before the show and mixed a few metaphors on the way: "Don't lean forward, the people behind you won't be able to see the puck. Why are the sopranos and the altos fighting?!? Shane Wright put in a great solo performance last night. That bass gets two minutes in the penalty box for embellishment. I'd like to thank the Academy for this award." 😊 The performance was excellent, especially the first piece and the last two movements of the final piece. The penultimate movement featured a bass-baritone solo by Jamal Moore, who collaborated with Beyonce and was a finalist on NBC's The Sing-Off; he also had his picture on the program cover. The final movement is "I believe in patience" and it's a lesson I need to learn for the rest of this trip. The Bach works which filled out the middle of the concert worked out well, and it was easy to draw parallels with the more recent music that bookended them on today's program.
After the concert we walked past the Chandler Pavilion to get some pictures, and took a break on Jerry Moss Plaza before returning to the Disney Hall and catching the DASH bus back to the hotel. As the bus waited for the last traffic light before reaching our stop, we noticed a group of older sk8r dudes making their way to a disused fountain on the corner by the hotel, including one with a thick, dark beard. After we left the bus and took a shortcut past the sk8rs, I turned to Gary and channeled Avril Lavigne: 🎶 He was a sk8r bear, I said "see you l8r, bear"... 🎶 Gary suggested we stop at 7-Eleven for drinks but I was a little confused and we ended up just going back to the room, arriving about 4:30. We took the time to recharge before heading out to the Precinct. I actually snoozed a bit, waking up about 6:30.
We caught the 40 bus but I called for a stop a block early. It wasn't that much farther to walk, especially after I recognized the pedestrian passage we'd used after the walking tour in 2022. At the far end of the passage there was a crowd of people waiting for tables at the restaurant, along with a fire department ambulance and crew. A restaurant patron joked with an EMT or paramedic, "Did you have a reservation?" She took the remark in good humor. As we waited to cross the street, someone near the corner diagonally opposite us muttered nonsense and showed their ass to all present. We passed the Lüstern leather shop on the way to the bar, and I asked Gary if he wanted to shop there, but he wasn't interested.
We were greeted by a cute cub at the door, who looked like he was going to ask us for ID but clearly thought better of it and invited us upstairs. The young bartender, who sported an interesting haircut with short patches and braids, greeted us with a smile and served us our Angry Orchards, which we took out onto the open-windowed patio and drank while we watched the parade of street traffic. Early on there was an antique car out front, which Gary spotted in one direction and I noticed on the return trip. I finished my drink quickly while Gary nursed his. We decided to order dinner while I was getting my second drink. I pulled up the menu on my phone and showed it to Gary. He ordered chicken tenders and I tried the steak sandwich, which was very nice. After dinner, I ordered a third cider and a cola for Gary and closed my tab. There was a huge parade of bicycles passing by that appeared to fill the block and then some. After that, a little boy riding a scooter alongside his dad fell off; he was more shaken than injured, but it took a while to figure that out.
We left about twenty after eight and caught the 40 bus, which we had to flag down (for the second time this trip). When we reached the hotel, a large motorcoach was unloading and we had to walk through the crowd on the way to the 7-Eleven across the street where Gary had suggested we shop earlier. We purchased bottles of water, beverages, and snacks, then returned to the hotel, seating ourselves in the corridor outside the hotel bar to allow the mob queued up for the elevators to subside. A couple of big bears and a lady rode the elevator with us; they spoke among themselves in what sounded like Russian and to us in heavily accented English. At least they were friendly. We got settled in the room by nine and spent the rest of the evening watching TV, surfing the net, and planning the next day. We were in bed by eleven and asleep around 11:30.
Woke up about 7:30 to pee, and got up for the day after Gary's alarm went off at 8:20. Going through my morning routine was unusually difficult, starting with the toilet not working properly (I did eventually get it to go) and just everything mechanical going to pot due to my clumsiness, which put me in a foul mood until I sat down to write my journal and chill. As we'd left it a bit late for breakfast, we went to a little hole-in-the-wall Japanese place called Jist Diner. Gary got French toast again, with a chicken sausage patty this time, and I had the Tokyo Tots (Tater Tots covered in steak strips, cheese, and gravy with two fried eggs on top, drizzled with two sauces and sprinkled with rosemary). I had a butterscotch latte which was very nice, and Gary had juice. The place was so small it was completely occupied by the kitchen, and diners were ushered onto a plaza where tables were set under tents.
From the restaurant we caught the 30 bus to 3rd and Spring, then walked down Broadway to 4th to check out the Bradbury Building we'd toured in 2022 and the Precinct where we planned to have dinner and drinks tonight. From there it was another block and a half around the corner to Angels Flight, the funicular railroad up Bunker Hill. On the way I noticed a little pocket park between Pershing Square Station and Angels Flight had been completely fenced off, and thought it sad. As I later learned, the park was planned to be temporary and the plot of land on which it sat is slated to be developed into a residential building with apartments, condos, and two hotels. The development will include park space at the top of the hill on a level with the Angels Flight station and amphitheater on Olive Street. We rode the Angels Flight to the top, took pictures, and followed the map to the Walt Disney Concert Hall a block over and a few blocks down.
We had an hour or so before the doors were to open for our pre-concert talk, so I suggested we have coffee and sweet cakes on the plaza outside. As we finished our coffee break, a nice-looking blond dude with a thick beard sat near us and seemed disappointed we were leaving. We got some pictures of the concert hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion across the street before venturing inside. We used the bathroom on the lower level, then went upstairs for the pre-concert talk. This featured the chorus director, Grant Gershon; the composer of the opening world premiere work based on a business improvement blog, Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles; and the guest artist, Lara Downes, a pianist and commentator on KUSC radio's classical music program.
After the talk we ascended the elevator to the top for the balcony and found our seats. Gary and I had a little stream-of-consciousness banter before the show and mixed a few metaphors on the way: "Don't lean forward, the people behind you won't be able to see the puck. Why are the sopranos and the altos fighting?!? Shane Wright put in a great solo performance last night. That bass gets two minutes in the penalty box for embellishment. I'd like to thank the Academy for this award." 😊 The performance was excellent, especially the first piece and the last two movements of the final piece. The penultimate movement featured a bass-baritone solo by Jamal Moore, who collaborated with Beyonce and was a finalist on NBC's The Sing-Off; he also had his picture on the program cover. The final movement is "I believe in patience" and it's a lesson I need to learn for the rest of this trip. The Bach works which filled out the middle of the concert worked out well, and it was easy to draw parallels with the more recent music that bookended them on today's program.
After the concert we walked past the Chandler Pavilion to get some pictures, and took a break on Jerry Moss Plaza before returning to the Disney Hall and catching the DASH bus back to the hotel. As the bus waited for the last traffic light before reaching our stop, we noticed a group of older sk8r dudes making their way to a disused fountain on the corner by the hotel, including one with a thick, dark beard. After we left the bus and took a shortcut past the sk8rs, I turned to Gary and channeled Avril Lavigne: 🎶 He was a sk8r bear, I said "see you l8r, bear"... 🎶 Gary suggested we stop at 7-Eleven for drinks but I was a little confused and we ended up just going back to the room, arriving about 4:30. We took the time to recharge before heading out to the Precinct. I actually snoozed a bit, waking up about 6:30.
We caught the 40 bus but I called for a stop a block early. It wasn't that much farther to walk, especially after I recognized the pedestrian passage we'd used after the walking tour in 2022. At the far end of the passage there was a crowd of people waiting for tables at the restaurant, along with a fire department ambulance and crew. A restaurant patron joked with an EMT or paramedic, "Did you have a reservation?" She took the remark in good humor. As we waited to cross the street, someone near the corner diagonally opposite us muttered nonsense and showed their ass to all present. We passed the Lüstern leather shop on the way to the bar, and I asked Gary if he wanted to shop there, but he wasn't interested.
We were greeted by a cute cub at the door, who looked like he was going to ask us for ID but clearly thought better of it and invited us upstairs. The young bartender, who sported an interesting haircut with short patches and braids, greeted us with a smile and served us our Angry Orchards, which we took out onto the open-windowed patio and drank while we watched the parade of street traffic. Early on there was an antique car out front, which Gary spotted in one direction and I noticed on the return trip. I finished my drink quickly while Gary nursed his. We decided to order dinner while I was getting my second drink. I pulled up the menu on my phone and showed it to Gary. He ordered chicken tenders and I tried the steak sandwich, which was very nice. After dinner, I ordered a third cider and a cola for Gary and closed my tab. There was a huge parade of bicycles passing by that appeared to fill the block and then some. After that, a little boy riding a scooter alongside his dad fell off; he was more shaken than injured, but it took a while to figure that out.
We left about twenty after eight and caught the 40 bus, which we had to flag down (for the second time this trip). When we reached the hotel, a large motorcoach was unloading and we had to walk through the crowd on the way to the 7-Eleven across the street where Gary had suggested we shop earlier. We purchased bottles of water, beverages, and snacks, then returned to the hotel, seating ourselves in the corridor outside the hotel bar to allow the mob queued up for the elevators to subside. A couple of big bears and a lady rode the elevator with us; they spoke among themselves in what sounded like Russian and to us in heavily accented English. At least they were friendly. We got settled in the room by nine and spent the rest of the evening watching TV, surfing the net, and planning the next day. We were in bed by eleven and asleep around 11:30.