HEY BREEPS!
LA is a Mecca for all things new and experimental, for instance, were you lucky enough to score tickets to last year’s Instagram ‘moment’ The Museum of Ice Cream? Or to join the hour-long line to taste Little Damage’s black ice cream? Every year there’s a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) experience, so what will that must do ‘thing’ be this year?
In my never-ending search for quality stories, I enlisted the help of my 11 year old niece Rainna, who is a real research queen, to find out. First she needed to go to the recently announced, soon-to-be closing “Toys R Us” to add to her collection of LPS (littlest pet shop) toys. Closing sales are fun with children, especially if you give them a budget.
Getting in on the immersive action was the Warner Brothers film “Ready Player One” which had an interactive experience on Vine and Hollywood – where players were challenged to complete tasks within a certain time frame. They had rebuilt the city, a replica of 2045’s life on the verge of ruin with caravans stacked on top of each other. Truly something worth seeing.
The Mermaid Museum is next. I mean, what 11 year-old girl doesn’t want to be a mermaid? Rainna in preparation had colored parts of her hair aqua blue. But unfortunately we had missed it. The pop up exhibit for the release of Freeform’s new TV show “Sirens” had come to an end.
So instead we went to something that’s a staple and not going anywhere. “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” has been part of LA for as long as I can remember but in my 18 years of being in LA, (believe it or not), I’d never entered its doors. Greeting you on the way in is a not-very-welcoming life size statue of Donald Trump with his signature thumbs up. We proceeded anyway. $20 for adults and $12 for kids under 12. It’s actually quite fun, full of oddities and curios, including a life size replica of history’s tallest man, Robert Wadlow, not to mention two-headed creatures and a room dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, plus tons of other interactive items. Also a bonus: there was no wait.
There were two other things on Rainna’s list, a Golden Donut at Birdies restaurant downtown and something called Dragon’s Breath at Chocolate Chair in Korea Town. I decided to do a little research on why the famous and exclusive golden donut was trending. Searching the internet made the reason abundantly clear. Like Jessie j sang. “It’s all about the price tag.” A whopping $100 for a 34 ct gold-leaf donut? Um….Nope. So I saved us a trip downtown and quickly put the kibosh to that idea. Seriously some people have money to burn.
But sampling the $5 Dragon’s Breath seems doable and on budget. On Western between Beverly and 3rd street sits a Korean market with a tiny little store front with massive liquid nitrogen tanks in its window. Drive by fast and you may miss it. Inside white tables sit next to a beauty supply display. Strange but anyhoo. At the counter you order your fruit loop type desert container but instead of milk they just add liquid nitrogen poured over your crispy delight. The name becomes clear with the whoosh of smoke supplied with every crunch as you bite into these fruity balls. Of course it’s a perfect instagram boomerang moment. Would I go back? Probably not but it will live forever on social media,
Coming up – the ‘Saved By The Bell’ dining experience, a pop-up restaurant in West Hollywood inspired by the cheesy early 1990s TV Show. I managed to snag tickets…but not until October. I’m sure the food is gonna be sub par and won’t cater for vegans, but it did get me thinking about what the next retro-fad will be and whether I can cash in on it. How about a Baywatch experience where you you pretend to drown and real lifeguards or (better still) David Hasselhoff or Pamela Anderson perform CPR on you. Or, in one for the ladies, perhaps a Chips experience where you are pulled over on the 101 highway and are given a ticket for speeding before the officer relents and turns into a stripper instead?
Fads come and go but the classics remain, and for most of us the best Hollywood experience when the weather warms up is an evening at the Hollywood Bowl. They have another great season lined up in 2018 and it’s always the perfect choice for out-of-town guests.
Got any other good summer options to share? We always love to hear from you, just email us at info@britsin.la
Cheers!
Craig
