Thursday, June 14, 2007

::movie premiere at westwood for movie knocked up::

it was a pleasant surprise to see westwood preparing for a movie premiere! one would probably not expect a small university village like westwood to host a movie premiere - especially when hollywood is just a 20 minutes' drive away!

the movie premiering at westwood's fox theatre!

the vicinity of the theatre barricaded and guarded by so many security personnels..

and of course, the paparazzis who were all crowding around at the entrance of the theatre and the red carpet area!

sean and andrew - lining up with the crowd, anxiously trying to look out for any celebrities that they can catch sight of!

waiting..
and waiting.. till they see a limo pulling over at the start of the red carpet..

the actors/showbiz people mingling with one another after alighting from the limo

then they start walking down the red carpet and then the cameras go snapping away - with the paparazzis hot on the trail of these celebrities!

the first celebrity (that we know of) we spotted was ryan seacrest! we were quite far away so excuse the small image of mr seacrest in the photographs;) but u can surely tell it's the man in person!

we then saw the beautiful sister of the lead actress, katherine heigl (lizzie from grey's anatomy!) - who was dressed very elegantly in that purple gown. i don't know her name though.. (we got to know of their relation through a passerby. heh)

the very ravishing katherine heighl herself!

it was discernible how the crowd got more excited and grew louder as she waltzed down the red carpet, posed for the cameras, and finally readied herself for an interview with a reporter!

even though we couldnt identify them, the supporting cast also deserve a worthy mention for their indispensable service;)

the pride of montreal (or so they shouted) - i can't recall his name, but this young actor's fans were screaming at him to get his attention!

the biggest star that night had to be.. BEN STILLER!! :) the picture is slightly blur but the u can still make out his identity from his characteristic silhouette/posture!

oh yes.. we even spotted kate walsh who plays addison montgomery shepherd (dr shepherd's wife) in grey's anatomy too!

sean, andrew & myself - the 3 "starstruck" spectators outside the movie premiere! haha. it was a pity that the other half couldnt make it coz he was on call for the night:( amy was also held up at the hospital:( anyway the 3 of us actually took the posters that were pasted on the barricades. haha. in the end, we threw them away coz they all got crumpled and it really didnt seem like that good a movie?! oops..

::the grove & the farmers market::
the grove is an outdoor shopping mall..

but it is not quite an ordinary one - coz it's so beautifully adorned with gardens and statues!

and there's even an electric-powered trolley that runs through the shopping mall, connecting it to the farmers market

nice backdrop of a bridge that runs across miniature lake/waterfountain at the grove

the other half posing with some interesting sculptures

shhhhh....

nice exterior of the grove theatres

the farmers market is strategically located just adjacent to the grove - offering a perfect haven for tired and hungry shoppers (like us)! there were quite a lot of stalls selling food from different cuisines - we were spoilt for choice! oh yes.. there was even a stall selling singapore food too!

i love new orleans food!! :) the other half and i shared a gumbo ya-ya (translation from a creole expression: a group of women who are talking all at once, or something that is all mixed up). as its name suggests, there are lots of different combinations of gumbo ya-yas around - but it is bascially a spicy meat/vegetable/shrimp/crawfish/varieties of sausages/ham/chicken/okra stew. the set also came with salad with roasted pecans and a corn muffin! yummy:)

for desserts, we had a strawberry funnel cake - which is a specialty food from pennsylvania dutch region of the US. the base pastry is made by pouring batter through a funnel (hence, its name) into hot oil in a circular pattern and deep frying till golden brown! we had ours served with powdered sugar and lots of fresh strawberries:) delicious!

interesting foodfare at the farmers market - one good thing is that it is open till 9pm daily;)

a very retro-looking petrol station outside the farmers market!


the pretty night scenery at the grove:)

the interior of the grove theatres..

there was even an impressive musical fountain display!

::old town pasadena::
old town pasadena is a designated historic district in the north east of LA. many of its shophouses/buildings have been restored/remodelled to give hint to what it was during the period of 1925-1940. nonetheless, this old town today has turned into quite a happening scene, boasting many upscale restaurants, shops, nightclubs, posh outdoor cafes, pubs & even a shopping mall! we went there on may 20 coz that day was the annual museums of the arroyo (mota) day, when a few museums in the old pasadena area would open their doors to the public for free and even provide free shuttle services between the museums!

the other half and me - at the memorial park in pasadena

it was quite an ordinary park - save (perhaps) for this statue of a military war hero..


nice exterior of random churches in pasadena

a blanket of plants covering every part of this random house..

the beautiful city hall

me in front of the city hall - in sepia print to convey the old town atmosphere there!

the abandoned remnants of what used to be a public library..

we passed by the boys' entrance of an old school.. too bad we couldnt find the girls' entrance:/

brunch time at marston's - a very popular restaurant (obviously), judging by the long queue of people outside its premises! we waited for almost 1 hour to get a table..

but it was soooo worth it:) i cant remember the exact name of this dish or what its ingredients were (save for those obvious to the eye) but it was hell good!


the heart of old pasadena - colorado boulevard.

which had one of the biggest forever 21 store i have ever been to! YAY! the clothes at forever 21 in US are much cheaper than that found back home. but there are always sooo many pretty stuff around - that never fails to make me too undecided/confused for choice..haha.

wow diagonal crossing is allowed at this junction along colorado boulevard!

pasadena ave!

after being distracted by all the shops along colorado boulevard, we finally arrived at the first stop of our museum-hopping adventure - the norton simon musuem

which was like one of the many many art galleries that i have been to! but there were some interesting exhibits - one of which was this pair of paintings featured in desperate housewives!

on the way to our next destination, we passed by the neighbourhood church. the other half used to attend the church of the same name back home (yes its name is neighbourhood church too! no kidding!)!

the gamble house - is an internationally recognized national historic landmark in the style of the american arts and crafts movement. it is the most complete and best preserved example of the work of renowned pasadena artists charles & henry greene. this house used to be the winter home for mr gamble, one half of the proctor & gamble fame.

we even had to wear booties - so that we wouldn't damage the very delicate wooden flooring in the house!

even though this house has been described as america's arts and crafts masterpiece, its architecture and interior design had obvious influence from traditional japanese aesthetics - mrs gamble was particularly fond of japanese paintings, lamps and samurai swords. it is such a pity we could not take photos of the house interior, where excruciating attention was paid to every detail and an impressive showcase of aesthetic harmony and brilliant craftsmanship.

the pasedena museum of history - a museum and research library/archives focusing on the history of pasadena. it was quite small - and we only toured the african-american quilt exhibition. amy & i spoke to an african american lady who taught us the basics of sewing a quilt . we also learnt that it was actually a custom for african american women to sew quilts for the family!

the museum is on the grounds of fenyes mansion, one of the remaining grand homes of pasadena's former "millionaire's row"

all of us sitting on the steps, leading to one part of the fenyes mansion

after that, we walked back to colorado boulevard for some shopping and sightseeing! the sidewalk cafes there had such good ambience!

dinner was at the wings' - i had the philly cheesesteak, which was very good (albeit a little dry)! amy tried their specialty, the buffalo wings - and she chose for hers to be grilled to the maximum on the spicy-dicator! the red-sizzling-hot (figuratively & literally) buffalo wings were
grrreat!

on the way back, we had to change the metro at the union station - located in downtown. being in this landmark railway station is probably the closest i have ever been to downtown LA - this is a huge pity, considering that i was in LA for 1 month. i didnt get to to set foot in downtown LA coz i wasnt allowed to go there myself:/ but the other half's concerns were not unjustified - people have also been telling me how unsafe it is (i even have friends who have been mugged there even in broad daylight! madness! thank God they escaped unhurt:) anyway union station has served as a backdrop for many hollywood films like speed, blade runner, 24 and even pearl harbor!

back at westwood - i couldnt resist having pinkberry - despite having to wait in the cold for so long coz of the looooong queue! this time i tried their greentea yoghurt - it was sooooo good:) yum!