Stay in LA
Ricky Wong
I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
Vegas
Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
My question is : where should I stay in LA (for 3 nights) ? I've two
choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
What sort of area of downtown looks like ? Is it a commercial place ?
Or have many places for tourist to walk around ? Some people said it
isn't safe at night, is it ?
Some agents strongly recommend me to stay in Lincoln Plaza but it is a
bit far and it will cause extra inconvenience on day 2 and 3 (and may
be day 4 as well) because it takes almost an hour to travel from
Monterey Park to download with MTA.
Look forward for any reply. Any suggestions on hotel is welcome too.
Keith Willshaw
"Ricky Wong" <ric...@myrealbox.com> wrote in message
news:fb7da791.03012...@posting.google.com...
> I've posted a message on this forum about my coming trip to LA. Now
> I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
>
> Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica, there really isnt much
for a tourist in the downtown area, its a business district.
You can probably pick up an LA Tour in Santa Monica
if you dont want to drive
> Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
> Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
> driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
Why not stay in Anaheim local to Disneyland ?
> Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
> Vegas
> Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
> that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
>
Why not catch a SW Airlines flight from LAX to Las Vegas ?
> My question is : where should I stay in LA (for 3 nights) ? I've two
> choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
> Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
> Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
>
> What sort of area of downtown looks like ?
Office Blocks
> Is it a commercial place ?
Yes
> Or have many places for tourist to walk around ?
Not many
> Some people said it
> isn't safe at night, is it ?
>
It used to be a bit flaky but may have been cleaned up
but its not a place for nightlife
> Some agents strongly recommend me to stay in Lincoln Plaza but it is a
> bit far and it will cause extra inconvenience on day 2 and 3 (and may
> be day 4 as well) because it takes almost an hour to travel from
> Monterey Park to download with MTA.
>
Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica the first 2 nights
and then move to Anaheim where most of the hotels
operate a free shuttle to Disneyland and offer
tours to Magic Mountain , Vegas etc
Keith
Peter L
that area, or tour around that area?
I'd suggest Lincoln plaza, which caters to Asian tourists, rather than
downtown LA. You can just walk to plenty of excellent Chinese restaurants
from Lincoln Plaza. And you can catch tours to all the places you mentioned
from Lincoln Plaza.
"Ricky Wong" <ric...@myrealbox.com> wrote in message
news:fb7da791.03012...@posting.google.com...
Ricky Wong
> > I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> > regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
> >
> > Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> > Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> > either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> > Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
>
> Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica, there really isnt much
> for a tourist in the downtown area, its a business district.
>
This will be my 1st time to visit US and I want to see how a big city in US
looks like. In addition, aren't those places like Hollywood, Century City
and Getty Center in west side worth visit ?
However, I do agree that there are not much places to be visited in downtown
area ...
> You can probably pick up an LA Tour in Santa Monica
> if you dont want to drive
>
> > Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
> > Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
> > driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
>
> Why not stay in Anaheim local to Disneyland ?
Anaheim is closed to Disneyland, but not anything else. As I only plan to
play around Disney for one day. I'm not sure whether it is worth to stay
there overnight.
>
> > Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
> > Vegas
> > Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
> > that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
> >
>
> Why not catch a SW Airlines flight from LAX to Las Vegas ?
>
Besides the core parts of Las Vegas, those local tour also include visit to
Grand Canyon, Lenwood outlet, etc. These places do look interesting to me
but I'm not sure whether I can manage the entire trip myself given my
limited time and I don't plan to drive.
y question is : where should I stay in LA (for 3 nights) ? I've two
> > choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
> > Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
> > Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
> >
> > What sort of area of downtown looks like ?
>
> Office Blocks
>
> > Is it a commercial place ?
>
> Yes
>
> > Or have many places for tourist to walk around ?
>
> Not many
>
> > Some people said it
> > isn't safe at night, is it ?
> >
>
> It used to be a bit flaky but may have been cleaned up
> but its not a place for nightlife
>
>
> > Some agents strongly recommend me to stay in Lincoln Plaza but it is a
> > bit far and it will cause extra inconvenience on day 2 and 3 (and may
> > be day 4 as well) because it takes almost an hour to travel from
> > Monterey Park to download with MTA.
> >
>
> Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica the first 2 nights
> and then move to Anaheim where most of the hotels
> operate a free shuttle to Disneyland and offer
> tours to Magic Mountain , Vegas etc
>
I'll consider your suggestions ... at least consider to stay in Santa Monica
for 1 more night. :)
> Keith
>
>
Ricky Wong
For local tours, it seems that it is not easy to find one for Six Flags
Magic Mountain. I've checked a few Chinese agents over the Internet and they
only organize tours to this place with at least a group of 5 people.
"Peter L" <pete...@hotmail.com> 撰寫於郵件新聞
:b16bpp$106e9d$1...@ID-110472.news.dfncis.de...
Peter L
> Sorry for my typo ... it should be "walk around". :)
>
> For local tours, it seems that it is not easy to find one for Six Flags
> Magic Mountain. I've checked a few Chinese agents over the Internet and
they
> only organize tours to this place with at least a group of 5 people.
When you check into the hotel, there'll be a display of brochures for all
kinds of tours. I am quite sure they can find 5 or more people to go to
Magic Mountain with you. They'll pick up from several hotels in the area
and organize a tour, probably on a daily basis. No problem.
Keith Willshaw
> Sorry for my typo ... it should be "walk around". :)
>
> For local tours, it seems that it is not easy to find one for Six Flags
> Magic Mountain. I've checked a few Chinese agents over the Internet and
they
> only organize tours to this place with at least a group of 5 people.
>
see
http://www.specialeventsservices.com/sixflags.htm
http://www.allanaheimtours.com/Body.asp?Page=TourDetails&tour=ANA-B0014
http://a-zanaheim.com/attractions.htm
There really should be no problem ,companies
typically pick up fom a number of hotels in the Anaheim and
Santa Monica areas
Keith
Miguel Cruz
> This will be my 1st time to visit US and I want to see how a big city in US
> looks like.
Then go to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia - even Boston.
Los Angeles is more typical of a suburb than a big city.
miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu
Latest addition: 80 photos from Guatemala
azz...@olypen.com
Keith Willshaw wrote:
>
> Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica the first 2 nights
> and then move to Anaheim where most of the hotels
> operate a free shuttle to Disneyland and offer
> tours to Magic Mountain , Vegas etc
>
I'd second this. You really don't want to stay in either downtown LA or
Monterey Park.
Peter L
<azz...@olypen.com> wrote in message news:3E36D939...@olypen.com...
Why is that? I can understand downtown LA. But why not Monterey Park,
where there are some of the best Chinese restaurants in the US?
Paul Tauger
> I've posted a message on this forum about my coming trip to LA. Now
> I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
>
> Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
> Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
> Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
> driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
> Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
> Vegas
> Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
> that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
>
> My question is : where should I stay in LA (for 3 nights) ? I've two
> choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
> Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
> Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
>
> What sort of area of downtown looks like ? Is it a commercial place ?
Downtown LA is mostly office buildings on the west side, and cheap
stores/commercial buildings/skid row on the east side. With the exception
of the area around the music center, it is mostly deserted at night.
> Or have many places for tourist to walk around ?
Definitely not.
>Some people said it
> isn't safe at night, is it ?
It depends on where you are. The Music Center itself is perfectly safe. I
wouldn't venture far from it, though. The office building area is probably
okay, but there's nothing open at night. Definitely avoid the
commercial/skid row area.
>
> Some agents strongly recommend me to stay in Lincoln Plaza but it is a
> bit far and it will cause extra inconvenience on day 2 and 3 (and may
> be day 4 as well) because it takes almost an hour to travel from
> Monterey Park to download with MTA.
Monterey Park is a small city to the east of Los Angeles. It has a huge
Chinese population (along with Alhambra, an adjacent city). Monterey Park
is not particularly convenient to downtown Los Angeles, or to the west Los
Angeles, which is where most of the LA attractions are to be found. It is,
however, a relatively safe area and features the best Chinese restaurants in
Southern California.
I believe you mentioned you were coming from Hong Kong (sorry if I got this
wrong). If so, you'll find Monterey Park disappointing -- it's
architecturally uninteresting, and Hong Kong has much better restaurants.
However, for most western visitors to LA, Monterey Park itself can be quite
interesting to visit because of the number of Asian shops and restaurants.
> Look forward for any reply. Any suggestions on hotel is welcome too.
I wish I could suggest something specific, but I'm not sufficiently familiar
with specific hotels to make a recommendation. My usual advice is to look
for something on the west side, either West Los Angeles or Santa Monica.
Hollywood might be a better altenative to downtown LA, though parts of
Hollywood can get rather dicey at night.
Paul Tauger
> > > I've posted a message on this forum about my coming trip to LA. Now
> > > I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> > > regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
> > >
> > > Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> > > Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> > > either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> > > Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
> >
> > Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica, there really isnt much
> > for a tourist in the downtown area, its a business district.
> >
>
> This will be my 1st time to visit US and I want to see how a big city in
US
> looks like. In addition, aren't those places like Hollywood, Century City
> and Getty Center in west side worth visit ?
All of these locations are west of Los Angeles, and not particularly close
to downtown.
>
> However, I do agree that there are not much places to be visited in
downtown
> area ...
>
> > You can probably pick up an LA Tour in Santa Monica
> > if you dont want to drive
> >
> > > Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
> > > Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
> > > driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
> >
> > Why not stay in Anaheim local to Disneyland ?
>
> Anaheim is closed to Disneyland, but not anything else. As I only plan to
> play around Disney for one day. I'm not sure whether it is worth to stay
> there overnight.
I wouldn't think it would be worth the trouble of moving hotels just for one
night.
>
> >
> > > Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
> > > Vegas
> > > Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
> > > that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
> > >
> >
> > Why not catch a SW Airlines flight from LAX to Las Vegas ?
> >
>
> Besides the core parts of Las Vegas, those local tour also include visit
to
> Grand Canyon, Lenwood outlet, etc. These places do look interesting to me
> but I'm not sure whether I can manage the entire trip myself given my
> limited time and I don't plan to drive.
My god! The drive to Las Vegas in a fast car is 4 to 4-1/2 hours when
there's no traffic. Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon (north rim) is another 4
or 5. Busses will take much longer. This sounds like an exhausting tour.
The flight to Las Vegas takes 50 minutes or so. You can leave from LAX or
Burbank airport. Burbank may be more convenient for you, particularly if
you're staying downtown or in Monterey Park. Once in Las Vegas, you can
take a day tour to the Canyon via bus, or even take a helicopter tour that
will take you there.
Paul Tauger
"Miguel Cruz" <m...@admin.u.nu> wrote in message
news:B9AZ9.19326$uR.1...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> Ricky Wong <ric...@myrealbox.com> wrote:
> > This will be my 1st time to visit US and I want to see how a big city in
US
> > looks like.
>
> Then go to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia - even Boston.
>
> Los Angeles is more typical of a suburb than a big city.
I'll second what Miguel says. Los Angeles is one of the less interesting
cities in the U.S. As you're finding out, it is very spread out, and quite
inconvenient to get around without a car. All five cities Miguel mentioned
are easier to navigate, have more charm, and more things to see and do.
Paul Tauger
> Sorry for my typo ... it should be "walk around". :)
>
> For local tours, it seems that it is not easy to find one for Six Flags
> Magic Mountain. I've checked a few Chinese agents over the Internet and
they
> only organize tours to this place with at least a group of 5 people.
Is Magic Mountain someplace you really want to go on your first visit to the
US? It's just a big amusement park, and tends to attract a lot of gangs and
low life. I'm not suggesting it isn't safe, and wouldn't be fun, but,
particularly if you're going to Disneyland, I'd think that there might be
other things you'd like to do more.
JoeC
Lincoln Plaza in Monterey Park... I did stay there once more than 10
year ago. It was so-so and ran by Taiwanese. You can find some very
good Chinese resturants around. But unless you are joining tours and
they are will willing to pick you up at the hotel, I don't see why you
would want to stay there (especially if you don't drive). BTW, I still
remember it took me 90 minutes from LA downtown to the hotel by bus.
Bruce Bowe
> Then go to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia - even Boston.
>
> Los Angeles is more typical of a suburb than a big city.
>
big cities. If you're coming from Asia, I'd suggest San Francisco, since
your original post seemed to give me the impression you wanted to be in
Asian areas. In San Francisco, there's lots of ethnic diversity and not
only is there Chinatown, the whole western half of the city is largely
asian. In addition, there's a sizeable Japanese area (Japan Town), although
probably not quite as large as LA's Little Tokyo. Plus, it's a beautiful
city with lots more than just Asian stuff to do and see.
L. A. is a great big freeway .... or so the song goes(apologies to Burt
Bacharach/Hal David), and you can do way better on the west coast..
All that from one who was born and raised there..
Bruce
Me
ric...@myrealbox.com (Ricky Wong) wrote:
> I've posted a message on this forum about my coming trip to LA. Now
> I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
>
> Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
> Day 3 - Goto Disneyland via MTA 460
> Day 4 - Goto Six Flags Magic mountain via local tour (other than
> driving myself, I can't find any other means to go there)
> Day 5 - Check out hotel in LA and join another local tour to visit Las
> Vegas
> Day 7 - Local tour will bring me back to LA and I'll then goto Airport
> that night to catch up a freight at 11:30 PM
>
> My question is : where should I stay in LA (for 3 nights) ? I've two
> choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
> Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
> Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
Why would ou want to stay down town? There's nothing particularly
interesting in down town Los Angeles unless you have to conduct some
business there. Why not just stay in the same Santa Monica hotel for
your entire visit to Los Angeles? Santa Monica is an excellent area.
Me
"Ricky Wong" <ric...@myrealbox.com> wrote:
> > > I've posted a message on this forum about my coming trip to LA. Now
> > > I've almost finalized my plan but still have something outstanding
> > > regarding where to stay in LA. Below is my schedule :
> > >
> > > Day 1 (Sat) - Arrive LAX -> Stay and tour around Santa Monica
> > > Day 2 - Check out hotel in Santa Monica, then goto another hotel in
> > > either LA downtown or Monterey Park -> work around LA downtown,
> > > Hollywood, or other places near centre of LA
> >
> > Personally I'd stay in Santa Monica, there really isnt much
> > for a tourist in the downtown area, its a business district.
> >
>
> This will be my 1st time to visit US and I want to see how a big city in US
> looks like. In addition, aren't those places like Hollywood, Century City
> and Getty Center in west side worth visit ?
Yes, they're definitely worth a visit, but none of those places is
located in down town Los Angeles. Other than a munch of tall office
buildings, some restaurants, and a few stores, there's nothing worthwhile
for a tourist to see during the day in down town Los Angeles, much less
spend the night there. You can see all those places while still staying
in Santa Monica. You would definitely do well to consider renting a car
though. No matter where you stay, the public transportation in the Los
Angeles area is not extensive enough for most tourists' needs.
Todd Kunioka
> choices - either near downtown (e.g. Holiday Inn City Centre,
> Figuorea) or near Monterey Park (e.g. Best Western Monterey Park,
> Lincoln Plaza, etc.).
>
> What sort of area of downtown looks like ? Is it a commercial place ?
> Or have many places for tourist to walk around ? Some people said it
> isn't safe at night, is it ?
It is not particularly safe at night for walking around. Monterey
Park is safer to walk around. However, there's nothing there but
shops and restaurants. No museums or other destinations of note. So
you would certainly have more and cheaper options for dinner in
Monterey Park, but any actual excursion will take you longer.
> Some agents strongly recommend me to stay in Lincoln Plaza but it is a
> bit far and it will cause extra inconvenience on day 2 and 3 (and may
> be day 4 as well) because it takes almost an hour to travel from
> Monterey Park to download with MTA.
Yes, that's the rub. And that's why I originally suggested you stay
downtown. Then you're already near several potential destinations,
and with rail or bus routes either express or direct to most other
points of interest.
If you're dealing with Chinese travel agents, they may be pushing
Monterey Park because of the large Chinese population in Monterey Park
[and in adjoining towns: San Gabriel, Alhambra, and, to a lesser
extent, Rosemead]. Could be they're thinking in terms of "comfort
zones." Monterey Park used to bill itself as the "First Suburban
Chinatown." There, and in those neighboring towns I mentioned, there
are areas where the majority of signs in a strip mall have Chinese
characters.
Kind of a sight to see, actually. There's a large shopping center on
Valley Blvd, near Del Mar (Ave?). This is probably in San Gabriel. I
used to call it the Great Chinese Mall. That place really hopes on
weekends. Parking is nearly impossible, so I don't go there any more.
But if I were visiting the area, it would be worth a visit.
Todd
RetiredPilot2000
in the Southern California Aerospace Industry I can see how a tourist would be
more impressed with San Francisco, the city by the bay. If you are determined
to visit Los Angeles, I would visit Disneyland's new California Adventure and
see the new 40 minute Aladdin stage show in the park. I would also visit the
Universal Movie Studios. Something not mention yet are the two U.S. Presidental
Libraries in the area, The Ronald Reagan Library in Ventura County and the
Richard Nixon Library in Orange County.
David Gibson
And the Getty Art Museum!
--
(Go Fish!)
Ricky Wong
Google in the office (which has significant delay in showing up new
postings), I just read most of the messages after I back from a
meeting.
Btw, thanks for any advices being given. :)
Instead of making reply to each of you, let's try to response at once
:
- We intend to tour around LA because the freight ticket of my wife is
from HK to LA, and then to Dallas (you will work in Dallas for ~1
week), and I'll join my wife at LA by a direct freight to LA. The
freight schedule has been confirmed and cannot be changed.
If we decide to tour around other places, we probably need to take an
extra freight from LA. Given the limited time we have, we decided not
to do so. Remember we only have ~4 days to be spent in LA (another 3
days in Las Vegas and Grand Canyon).
In addition, when we read those book about US tours, it seem that LA
has sufficient stuffs for someone like us to visit.
That's basically the reason why we picked LA for our 1st tour to US. I
think we are unlikely to change it (as I said all frieght schedules
have been confirmed), but I can make adjustments from your advices.
- We want to visit Disneyland because there is a new Adventure Land
there - something which we believe has differences from Disney in
Tokyo (we have visited there once). We decided not to visit Universal
Studio because it seems to be exactly the same as the one on Osaka.
For Six Flags Magic Mountain, it is actually not my cup of tea, but my
wife love exciting games (in fact, we have visited a number of famous
parks with world record exciting games in Japan) - and we have been
told that Six Flags Magic Mountain has the most excited games in LA
among all theme parks.
- We are come from Hong Kong. And that's why I shared similar view as
one of you - if you are talking about having Chinese food, I think HK
is the best among almost all other places in the world, i.e. I really
doubt I can find something interesting in Monterey Park.
On the other hand, I do have a little preference to go with Chinese
local tour for my Las Vegas trip even though we both speak English
pretty ok - because I can confirm my tour in HK before I go (there are
agents which have local office in Hong Kong). In other words, I can
arrange everything for my trip before I go - I was a bit worry for
find local tour after I visit LA. I'm not worry about can't find local
tour, but it may waste some extra time.
- While I still haven't completely made up my mind, I probably won't
drive in US because my driving skills is so poor and my friends told
me that driving in LA (Dallas is even worst according to him) is not
as easy as I expected.
On the other hand, I also don't want to carry my luggage around
everything with my tour - that's why I want to limited the number of
hotels which I'll stay.
- I originally plan to stay in Downtown for at least 1 night because I
can easily travel from there to Disney with MTA 460. Except for
relying on local tour, I don't know any other means to goto Disney
from other places.
Taxi may be an option, but isn't it too expensive (Disney seems very
far from the center of LA) ? For example, how much approximately if I
take Taxi from Santa Monica to Disney ?
- If downtown is really not that worth visit, I'll stay the day (day
2) in Hollywood and westside. Fyi, I do want to visit some very large
book stores or CD/Video shops in LA.
- The tour to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon is a 3 days 2 nights tour. As
some of you suggested that I may choose to take a freight from LA to
Las Vegas and then join local tour there - I'm not sure this is the
correct choice for me ... even planning my trip in LA is not so
"trivial", I'm somewhat worry if I need to do this for my Las Vegas
and Grand Canyon visit too.
This's probably everything I want to response ... I'll review your
opinions carefully and fine tune my plan accordingly. Any further
suggestion is welcome.
Icono Clast
> Is Magic Mountain someplace you really want to go on your first visit to the
> US? It's just a big amusement park, and tends to attract a lot of gangs and
> low life. I'm not suggesting it isn't safe, and wouldn't be fun, but,
> particularly if you're going to Disneyland, I'd think that there might be
> other things you'd like to do more.
You're quite right, and this from a roller-coaster freak. If you're
going to DisneyLand and must visit another amusement park, stay in
Anaheim and go to Knott's Berry Farm in nearby Buena Park that has
Ghostrider, a quite good roller-coaster, and several steel-coasters,
among them the best single loop, Montezooma, of them all as well as
the best mine ride (probably older than 30) I've ever seen.
____________________________________________________________
ICONO CLAST - A San Franciscan in 47.335 mile² San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ IClast at SFbay Net
RetiredPilot2000
free shuttle (G) from LAX to the Metro Rail Green Line Aviation Blvd station.
You can then take the Green Line to the Norwalk station and pick up the bus to
Disneyland (460). See www.mta.net.
Or you could take the Airport Bus to a Disneyland Hotel. It cost about $10. If
you stay at the airport, there is Chinese food available at the Bradley
International Terminal. It is a little bit more expensive than a neighborhood
chinese food restaurant. If you are looking to save some money on hotels with
the understanding that you must accept what you are given based on the quality
level and the area of Los Angeles you selected, And it is nonrefundable. check
out www.biddingfortravel.com. This is a forum for Priceline.com bidders. I have
generally been happy with using Priceline.com. On average, they usually save me
from 40 to 50% off the lowest available rate from an internet travel web. For
example, recently the Hyatt Regency Orange County Hotel near Disneyland has
been accepting bids of $27 USD/night. This is a three star hotel in Anaheim.
They have done a nice job turning the Disneyland area into a resort area with
unlimited bus service for $2. You could probably find a bus to Knotts Berry
Farm Amusement Park. They have some exciting thrill rides.www.knotts.com. In
fact, your wife might not want to go to magic mountain after going to Knotts.
The Knotts family is an American success story turning a family restaurant and
small farm into a successful amusement park and food line.
Paul Tauger
> Google in the office (which has significant delay in showing up new
> postings), I just read most of the messages after I back from a
> meeting.
>
> Btw, thanks for any advices being given. :)
>
> Instead of making reply to each of you, let's try to response at once
> :
>
> - We intend to tour around LA because the freight ticket of my wife is
> from HK to LA, and then to Dallas (you will work in Dallas for ~1
> week), and I'll join my wife at LA by a direct freight to LA. The
> freight schedule has been confirmed and cannot be changed.
Okay, LA it is, then. ;)
> If we decide to tour around other places, we probably need to take an
> extra freight from LA. Given the limited time we have, we decided not
> to do so. Remember we only have ~4 days to be spent in LA (another 3
> days in Las Vegas and Grand Canyon).
3 days is about right for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Though you could
spend more time in Las Vegas, you'll get plenty of the flavor, and be able
to see all the major attractions in that much time.
> In addition, when we read those book about US tours, it seem that LA
> has sufficient stuffs for someone like us to visit.
It does. You won't be bored, and you'll have a good time. It's just not a
typical American city, and there are others that are more interesting. That
just means you'll have to come back and visit us again. ;)
> That's basically the reason why we picked LA for our 1st tour to US. I
> think we are unlikely to change it (as I said all frieght schedules
> have been confirmed), but I can make adjustments from your advices.
>
> - We want to visit Disneyland because there is a new Adventure Land
> there - something which we believe has differences from Disney in
> Tokyo (we have visited there once).
Disney has opened California Adventure, which is a separate park right next
to Disneyland. I'm not a Disney fan, so I don't have much to say about
either.
> We decided not to visit Universal
> Studio because it seems to be exactly the same as the one on Osaka.
Universal Studios is, in my not-so-humble opinion, a complete waste of time.
It has nothing to do with how movies are made (and I say this from the
perspective of a former professional actor who has worked on projects that
were shot at Universal Studios, the _real_ film studio next door to the
identically-named amusement park.
If you are interested in how films really get made, take the Burbank Studios
tour. You'll see a real, working film studio, probably get to see a movie
or television show being shot, get tours through real prop departments,
custom departments, etc. You need reservations in advance, which can be
made by telephone.
>
> For Six Flags Magic Mountain, it is actually not my cup of tea, but my
> wife love exciting games (in fact, we have visited a number of famous
> parks with world record exciting games in Japan) - and we have been
> told that Six Flags Magic Mountain has the most excited games in LA
> among all theme parks.
Well, according to the television advertisements it does. I don't like
thrill rides, but the ones pictured in the ads look absolutely terrifying.
>
> - We are come from Hong Kong. And that's why I shared similar view as
> one of you - if you are talking about having Chinese food, I think HK
> is the best among almost all other places in the world, i.e. I really
> doubt I can find something interesting in Monterey Park.
My wife is from China, and we go to Monterey Park all the time for dinner.
We've found some good restaurants, but none as good as what we can get in
Hong Kong (or Guangzhou or Beijing, for that matter). You won't be
impressed by the restaurants in Monterey Park, but you'll be satisfied.
>
> On the other hand, I do have a little preference to go with Chinese
> local tour for my Las Vegas trip even though we both speak English
> pretty ok - because I can confirm my tour in HK before I go (there are
> agents which have local office in Hong Kong). In other words, I can
> arrange everything for my trip before I go - I was a bit worry for
> find local tour after I visit LA. I'm not worry about can't find local
> tour, but it may waste some extra time.
>
> - While I still haven't completely made up my mind, I probably won't
> drive in US because my driving skills is so poor and my friends told
> me that driving in LA (Dallas is even worst according to him) is not
> as easy as I expected.
If you can drive in Hong Kong, you probably wouldn't have much trouble in LA
(provided you don't mind a left-hand drive car). The main difficulty in
driving around LA is poorly marked freeway exits -- by the time you realize
you have to get off the freeway, you've already passed the exit. However, I
suspect it's considerably less difficult for someone from Hong Kong to drive
here, than for someone from here to drive in Hong Kong. We've been to Hong
Kong many times, and for quite long periods. We always take taxis -- all
the turn-offs and bypasses confuse me.
> On the other hand, I also don't want to carry my luggage around
> everything with my tour - that's why I want to limited the number of
> hotels which I'll stay.
Good idea.
>
> - I originally plan to stay in Downtown for at least 1 night because I
> can easily travel from there to Disney with MTA 460. Except for
> relying on local tour, I don't know any other means to goto Disney
> from other places.
>
> Taxi may be an option, but isn't it too expensive (Disney seems very
> far from the center of LA) ? For example, how much approximately if I
> take Taxi from Santa Monica to Disney ?
I don't think that will be feasible. Disneyland is in another city, and
about an hour from LA (in Southern California, distance is measured by time
of travel, rather than actual mileage). It wouldn't surprise me if a taxi
ride would cost $100 or more, one way.
>
> - If downtown is really not that worth visit, I'll stay the day (day
> 2) in Hollywood and westside. Fyi, I do want to visit some very large
> book stores or CD/Video shops in LA.
Then you definitely want to be on the west side. Are you looking for new or
used books, CDs and videos?
>
> - The tour to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon is a 3 days 2 nights tour. As
> some of you suggested that I may choose to take a freight from LA to
> Las Vegas and then join local tour there - I'm not sure this is the
> correct choice for me
I really think this is a better option than going by bus. Once you're in
Las Vegas, you don't need a tour at all. Most everything you want to see is
in one of two places: the Strip (this is where all the major hotels and
casinos are found) or downtown (cheaper hotels and casinos). If you want to
see Hoover Dam (interesting both historically and because it is a huge
public works project), you can easily get a tour at your hotel. You'd also
have no trouble getting a tour to the Grand Canyon.
Las Vegas gets a lot of visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Many of
the majors have reasonably good Chinese restaurants (real ones, not the
weird western version of Chinese restaurants that most Americans like).
There are almost certainly hotel staff that speak Cantonese at the major
hotels (possibly Mandarin, as well).
>... even planning my trip in LA is not so
> "trivial", I'm somewhat worry if I need to do this for my Las Vegas
> and Grand Canyon visit too.
Your travel agent will have no trouble booking a flight to Las Vegas for you
(and you can even do it yourself on line). All airlines in the U.S. use
"e-tickets" as well as paper tickets. E-tickets require nothing more than
showing your identification (in your case, your passport) when you check in.
Nothing else is necessary.
Flights to Las Vegas are at an all time low right now. Southwest Airlines
is advertising flights for $29, one way. Personally, I prefer America West,
but Southwest is perfectly fine for a short flight like that.
You can also book hotels in Las Vegas on-line, though your travel agent may
be able to get you better rates. I'd bet, though, that the major Las Vegas
hotels have booking offices in Hong Kong.
>
> This's probably everything I want to response ... I'll review your
> opinions carefully and fine tune my plan accordingly. Any further
> suggestion is welcome.
Good luck, and enjoy your visit to the U.S.!
Peter L
would not say that there is nothing to see. There is the Central Library,
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Central market, the Mexican village (forgot the
name of the street), and Little Tokyo and Chinatown nearby.
"Me" <sr...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:srhi-B9758A.1...@news.comcast.giganews.com...
Peter L
the US and esp. on this ng. I would ignore it. I have lived in LA for 20
years, and I am also originally from HK. LA is a great place to visit. You
made the right choice.
While HK certainly has the best Chinese food, I know lots of HK visitors are
not used to eating western style food (big piece of meat, cheese, etc.), and
they all want Chinese food wherever they go, even second rate Chinese food.
So eventhough Monterey Park is a little far for some locations, it is a very
nice place to stay. We've never stayed at Lincoln Plaza, but I know it
caters to Asian tourists a lot. And in the evening you can walk around to
many Chinese restaurants nearby.
In terms of getting tours, I would not worry about it. Wait till you get to
LA. Most hotels have connections to tour companies. All you have to do is
to call a number on the brochures and they'll pick you up. There are tours
to all the popular places. I can assure you that you won't have any problem
finding tours to Disneyland or Las Vegas and Grand Canyon.
You are correct in not wanting to drive in LA. Even people who live in LA
don't want to drive in LA. Also in terms of shopping at a large record
store, you should do that while you are in Santa Monica. Ask you hotel
about the closest record store in your area. There should be a number of
them (Best Buy, Virgin Superstore, are a couple of the names).
Have fun.
"Ricky Wong" <ric...@myrealbox.com> wrote in message
news:fb7da791.03012...@posting.google.com...
Peter L
"Paul Tauger" <ptauger...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:b18vff$107p03$1...@ID-101118.news.dfncis.de...
>
>
> If you can drive in Hong Kong, you probably wouldn't have much trouble in
LA
This is entirely an incorrect assumption. First of all, as you've pointed
out, the left hand drive vs right hand drive is a huge adjustment to make.
Second, unfamiliarity with street signs and directions adds to the
confusion. Also the driving speed in HK is much less than that in the US,
esp. on freeways. It would be quite dangerous for him to attempt to drive
in LA.
Paul Tauger
"Peter L" <pete...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b1954g$104ebp$1...@ID-110472.news.dfncis.de...
>
> "Paul Tauger" <ptauger...@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:b18vff$107p03$1...@ID-101118.news.dfncis.de...
> >
> >
> > If you can drive in Hong Kong, you probably wouldn't have much trouble
in
> LA
>
> This is entirely an incorrect assumption. First of all, as you've pointed
> out, the left hand drive vs right hand drive is a huge adjustment to make.
It is for some, but not for all. Many people in Hong Kong commute, by car,
to Shenzhen in China (it's a 20 minute drive). China is left-hand drive,
like the U.S. My brother-in-law lives in Shenzhen and drives a right-hand
drive car. His office is in Hong Kong. He has no trouble whatsoever making
the transition.
> Second, unfamiliarity with street signs and directions adds to the
> confusion.
The same can be said about driving anywhere else in the world. I drive in
Europe all the time, and have no problem with the street signs (which are
not always in langagues I can read -- the OP, on the other hand, reads
English very well), or directions.
> Also the driving speed in HK is much less than that in the US,
> esp. on freeways.
That's not true. Have you ever driven from Hong Kong to Lantau? That
highway is at least as fast, and in my experience, faster, than anything in
LA.
> It would be quite dangerous for him to attempt to drive
> in LA.
I don't agree. It depends on his skill and comfort level.
Paul Tauger
> Umm...excuse me, while downtown LA is not a major tourist destination, I
> would not say that there is nothing to see. There is the Central Library,
> Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,
The Music Center is only interesting if you're going to attend a performance
there (which isn't a bad idea at all).
> Central market, the Mexican village (forgot the
> name of the street),
Olvera Street. That is worth a visit, as is the whole Pueblo area around
it.
> and Little Tokyo and Chinatown nearby.
Little Tokyo is . . . well . . . very little. There are some good Japanese
restaurants there, but it's not going to convey any feel of Japanese
culture, as would a visit to Japan.
Chinatown would, I'd think, be of little interest to a visitor from Hong
Kong. It's restaurants are second-rate compared to Monterey Park and
Alhambra, and a lot of it is geared to western tourists.
Peter L
jet lag as he commutes daily from Canton, does he? And most of the driving
in HK are done at much lower speed than that in LA, with the exception of
one particular stretch of road you mentioned.
"Paul Tauger" <ptauger...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:b197fu$10ipgi$1...@ID-101118.news.dfncis.de...
Ricky Wong
> We've found some good restaurants, but none as good as what we can get in
> Hong Kong (or Guangzhou or Beijing, for that matter). You won't be
> impressed by the restaurants in Monterey Park, but you'll be satisfied.
>
How do we get to Monterey Park from Santa Monica ? With carrying two
big luggages ? Originally I plan to go with Taxi, but because on the
distance shown on the map, I think it will cost $50 or more, isn't it
?
> >
> > Taxi may be an option, but isn't it too expensive (Disney seems very
> > far from the center of LA) ? For example, how much approximately if I
> > take Taxi from Santa Monica to Disney ?
>
> I don't think that will be feasible. Disneyland is in another city, and
> about an hour from LA (in Southern California, distance is measured by time
> of travel, rather than actual mileage). It wouldn't surprise me if a taxi
> ride would cost $100 or more, one way.
>
Then my only choices are either local tour or MTA 460.
p.s. I won't goto Disney on day 1 or 2 because I want to go there
during weekday, rather than weekend.
>
> Then you definitely want to be on the west side. Are you looking for new or
> used books, CDs and videos?
>
Primarily those selling new books, CDs or DVDs. I just found this site
and it seems to have a lot of good suggestions :
http://losangeles.citysearch.com/section/shopping/?brand=yahoo
>
> I really think this is a better option than going by bus. Once you're in
> Las Vegas, you don't need a tour at all. Most everything you want to see is
> in one of two places: the Strip (this is where all the major hotels and
> casinos are found) or downtown (cheaper hotels and casinos). If you want to
> see Hoover Dam (interesting both historically and because it is a huge
> public works project), you can easily get a tour at your hotel. You'd also
> have no trouble getting a tour to the Grand Canyon.
>
> Las Vegas gets a lot of visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Many of
> the majors have reasonably good Chinese restaurants (real ones, not the
> weird western version of Chinese restaurants that most Americans like).
> There are almost certainly hotel staff that speak Cantonese at the major
> hotels (possibly Mandarin, as well).
>
Having Chinese restaurants around is not an essential requirement to
us, we can live with western style food happily.
>
> Flights to Las Vegas are at an all time low right now. Southwest Airlines
> is advertising flights for $29, one way. Personally, I prefer America West,
> but Southwest is perfectly fine for a short flight like that.
>
I've checked Expedia and the Web site of South West airline. It seems
that a typical round trip ticket from LA to Las Vegas costs at least
US$100 (not sure whether this includes tax or not). Where can I find
those cheaper tickets ?
In fact, this is the reason why I prefer to go with those 3 days 2
nights land tour - for those Chinese American operated agencies, they
only charge about US$100 to US$130 for transportation and hotel fees.
This will save us a lot of $$.