This is the continuation of this post about my trip down to LA in September 2013.

It was Sean, Chris and my second day in LA and we joined up with the rest of the gang and drove to Griffith Park to hike up to Griffith Observatory.

The hike wasn’t very strenuous or long. The weather however wasn’t very pleasant. The sun was beating down on us and there was very little shade. One bright side of the hike was the great views of the Hollywood sign we had.

From the top, we also had some good views of downtown Los Angeles. I find it weird to see tall buildings in such a vast, low density city.

A rare photo of me! I don’t know why I am making this face. o.O My hair is short because it was still growing back from when Eric and I shaved our heads for Burning Man.

This is the courtyard in front of the Observatory.

After some group photos and exploration. We set our course for lunch.

The destination we chose was Ocean Star dim sum.

During lunch, I discovered this great technique for taking videos using 餐桌转盘 (dinner table turntables) at Chinese restaurants.

The food was delicious and surprisingly affordable. It was my first time eating dim sum after I quit being a vegetarian (I’ll post about that sometime).

Look how much the 10 of us ate!

After eating, we walked downstairs for some bubble tea at Half & Half.

The kitchen area is completely closed off and you don’t see your drinks until they hand them through the curtain. o.O I wonder why they do that.

The beautiful women in our group.

Look at those cups! What a unique form factor.

The tea there was good. I’m no bubble tea snob, but I can at least tell you that it is on par with most good bubble tea we find here in the bay area.

Our next destination after getting bubble tea? Of course, the beach!

A view that I wouldn’t mind seeing every day.

Beach volleyball! We are the Mecha Bananas after all! ¹

I had a great time in LA. To be honest, I never really liked LA before this trip. I had only visited for business, Disneyland and my last marathon. I hated driving everywhere and how suburban everything felt.

This trip however, I saw a completely different side of LA. I learned that it really is a great place to live, especially when you have good friends in the area.

Thanks again Cindy and Laura for being such great hosts and letting us stay at your place. Thanks Phil and Lynn for taking time out of your busy medical school schedules to hang out with us. Thanks Sean for volunteering your car and driving most of the way to and from LA. Chris, Bo and Krista, as corny as it sounds, this trip wouldn’t have been the same without you guys. Vinny, you should start a blog! You could probably write a few blog posts about all the stuff you did in LA.

I’m hoping that the next time I drive down, I’ll do it in an exotic car.