Hey Everyone!
Here we are on Day 3! This was our last full day in Los Angeles, which we saved for the hyper touristy things to do in Hollywood.
We woke up later than we had the other days but to grey skies, which was a bummer; though it was hot out. It ended up being a very hot day. We decided it was the perfect day to start at the pool. My husband with our oldest went to grab coffees and breakfast while our youngest and I went to scout the table situation at the pool. The Omni does have a good set up of tables by the pool, which was perfect for us to eat some breakfast. The sun did finally make its way out, so we swam till noonish as we had reservations for the WB Studio Tour at 2PM.
The WB Studio Tour was fun! A definite must do if you’re visiting LA. The tour runs about three hours, but the time definitely flies with everything you are seeing and learning. We had a great guide, Alysha, and our entire experience was pretty positive. She knew some of the most obscure things about some of the sets and sound stages The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves right from the start. Maybe because they were the only kids in the group? Or that they got to see some items from shows and movies they have watched?
Our favorite parts of the tour were:
- Wonder Woman, which we are infatuated with the movie and costumes, so this was a great stop. I am planning to be WW for Halloween, but since watching the new movie I have been stuck between wanting to be Diana from my youth (Lynda Carter) or Diana from today (Gal Gadot). Any and all ideas are welcome.
- Harry Potter along with The Fantastic Beasts; we are the uber geeks of all the movies and J.K. Rowling’s books. You get sorted by the Sorting Hat and can see all the costumes and props up close. My favorite costume is definitely Newt Scamander’s whole outfit with case.
- The Ellen Show set/stage. We were allowed to go in last-minute, and so glad we got that opportunity. The whole vibe in there was fun, and seeing the Ellen Shop was hilarious with the underwear mannequins.
- Using the HP flying broom interactive. They had Batman’s bike, too. You are set up on a broom against a green screen and they take you on a hilarious magical ride.
- Last but definitely not least, the set of Central Perk on Friends. One of my favorite shows, which I have influenced my children in watching reruns. This set was super cool, and a lot of fun. Well, that is if you wanted to act in a ‘scene’ on the set. Which my children did, we waited around forever for it (they didn’t start the scene waiting clock for a long time). Once time came, they clammed up but still raised their hands to be extras on the set. It was super cute seeing them on the screen. I don’t have the face nor body for TV so I opted to be an audience member. 🙂
My other favorite part of the tour was the cafe and gift shop! 🙂 We got some Central Perk coffee and fun souvenirs.
From the tour we planned to take the girls to see Hollywood Blvd for a while, then head to our dinner reservations nearby. We luckily found a few celebrity stars along the walk to the TCL Theater/Graumann’s Chinese Theater that I had hoped to see in the midst of the craziness of Hollywood Blvd, like Walt Disney’s, David Bowie’s, Michael J Fox’s. We got to do the fun touristy things like place our hands and/or feet inside the imprints of our favorite celebrities. Realizing how much smaller people’s feet were back in the day! Or how tiny they were in general. The girls loved this part a lot.
Then it was time for dinner!
Now, we had made reservations at Yamashiro Hollywood two months before per a recommendation of my friends, the ones from Australia that we went away with two years ago on a cruise. Click here in case you don’t know what I am talking about. The recommendation was for many things.. the best views of Hollywood/LA, authentic architecture and some pretty great sushi and cocktails.
It did not disappoint! It was beautiful!
But. First let me start off this part of the night with… Yamashiro is on the top of a mountain basically. Ok? It is known to be a windy hill that gives way to the beautifully ornate Japanese restaurant at the top.
Then let me follow with this… we had a great parking spot when we got to Hollywood. Literally the corner of Hollywood Blvd and some street that was about two blocks from where we were heading. A perfect spot to see the Walk of Fame, the prints at the theater then leave to drive up to dinner. BUT. My husband had other plans. Either he didn’t want to lose the spot, or I think, pay for more parking (am I right?). So he was sure walking up the hill to the restaurant “wouldn’t be that big of a deal”. HE WAS WRONG. Not only had the kids gotten tired from walking around the blvd and hot making our way through crowds, but where we ended up walking to before our reservations left us with a lot of walking to get to the street before our hike up the mountain. Yes a hike, with dodging of on coming cars going up the steep curves. The angle of the walk was uncomfortable for the girls. My husband I were fine, just a lot of up hill stamina to keep up, and we were at this point starving.. hiking. When we finally made it up, we got seated and told the waiter we walked up. Well, he looked at us like we were crazy.
Looking back it was funny. In the moment it was horrible. But the atmosphere of the restaurant and then the walk down made up for it. Actually, the walk back was just hilarious, because the steepness was way worse going down. Then we went a totally different way leaving from the gates of the grounds. We ended up behind some apartment building that lead to a private street with no lights that had a gated end that exited to the cars leaving the restaurant! Did I mention without street lights? I swear I live in a sitcom.
But let me back up. The dinner was a lot of fun, and SO good! One of my new favorite drinks is from this restaurant, a Tokyo Mule. OHMYGINGERBEERGOD. So good, I wish I could’ve just had a never-ending supply on tap at the table! But I have kids, and I am not a drunk. Well, I am, just not in front of them. The food is mainly sushi and some appetizer rolls/dumplings. What we had eaten was really inventive and yummy. So many great dishes that we shared:
- Mountain Palace Sampler Platter; minus any nut items so it was banana leaf pork spring rolls, vegetarian spring rolls, honey baked chicken wings, shrimp dumpling and sauces
- Red Dragon Maki roll; shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, avocado, spicy mayo and unagi sauce
- California Tempura maki Roll; snow crab, avocado, cucumber
- Crispy Rice Sushi maki roll; Snow Crab & Avocado
The photos above came out so dark because well, the restaurant is dimly lit because the star of the place is the view. And what a view it was. After dinner we took a long stroll along the grounds; checking out all the decorative aspects and that view of LA from every angle. It is very special, and the grounds outside are manicured perfectly. Totally worth the hike. 🙂
Next up is day 4; leaving LA for Laguna Beach… with a few stops along the way!
Valeria Out Loud 