Ohhhhhh, yes. Arguably one of the comfiest occasions of the year, National Hammock Day has got us all fiending for some good ol’ R&R beneath some shady leaves. To help you take advantage of this day to the fullest, we’ve curated some of the coolest hammocks, perfect for lounging with your loved ones.

1) The simple hammock.

First, we gotta start you off with the basics! This one is perfect for the hammock beginner. It’s super affordable at just under $19 bucks, and will surely pave your way to becoming a hammock aficionado.

2) The crocheted hammock.

This little crocheted number will have you laying in a lap of luxury. This hammock features a full crochet body with gorgeous frills and yarn work hanging off the edges for a bohemian vibe.

3) The hammock cocoon.

How amazing is this little teepee? This little hammock cocoon puts a whole new spin on hanging out. The built-in ceiling will give you a little more privacy, great if you’re trying to get some summer cuddles in. It’s big enough to fit a small family, and is perfect for warmer days when you may need to create your own shade. 

4) The hammock hot tub.

Have your hammock go double-duty! This one transforms from just a hanging bed to a hot tub too! You can fill it up with either cold or warm water, and have a National Hammock Day experience unlike any other.

5) The hammock hover-craft.

Wait. Is this an actual thing? That you can buy? What better way to celebrate hammock day than lounging around on a lazy lake in a floating hammock. This contraption fits up to four people. Are we in 3017?

No matter which one you choose, National Hammock Day is an impeccable excuse to take the day off and head outside with your friends and family to enjoy all that summer has to offer.

How are you celebrating? We’d love to know!

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What’s fantastic about Pokemon GO isn’t just the fantasy of catching Pokemon, but also the incentive to explore your community. So, the perfect Pokemon GO spot shouldn’t only have rare Pokemon–it should be a relaxing/exotic/strange place to just be in! Here’s a list of our favorite Pokemon GO hangout spots in LA. Get exploring!

Sometimes it seems like Pokemon GO was built for Los Angeles. It’s a city with a ton of museums and eateries, but spread thinly, with miles of parking lots/questionable neighborhoods/industrial space between. In other words, there’s a lot to do, but they’re all so far apart. With parking fees, distances, and limited parking spots, we Angelenos need way more incentive to go anywhere in this strange city.

And then, Pokemon GO came around.

Suddenly, a host of isolated attractions become very viable Pokemon GO walks in LA. Suddenly, paying five bucks for the right to be in a neighborhood for 2 hours doesn’t seem all that bad! And suddenly, there’s this thing called a Pokemon GO hangout, where it’s acceptable to just drift around an area, eyes glued to your screen, having a chat with a buddy in between gym battles. So here’s a list of great places to take a walk and lounge around, while hunting after that elusive Pokemon for your collection.

Edit: Since the writing of this article, Pokemon GO nest locations have changed, and will likely continue to change with further app updates. Because of this, you may not find the exact same Pokemon I did at these specific locations. That being said: 1. These are still fun places to be, with fun landmarks / eateries/ etc. 2. Locations that spawn rare Pokemon typically will continue to do so, just not the same exact Pokemon.

The LA Arts District

Admittedly, the LA Arts District is light on rare Pokemon, but like we said, that’s only half the fun. If you want a place that’s pretty dense on PokeStops and local flavor, LA Arts District is definitely one of our favorite Pokemon GO hangout spots. Basically every single one of these stops and gyms is a street mural. Hence, hunting for PokeStops around here actually ends up being a pretty respectable tour of the District’s beautiful street art! Come for the art, stay for the delicious Blue Bottle coffee, the local barcade EightyTwo,  or Angel City Brewery. And of course, Little Tokyo’s just a few blocks away if you’re looking for great Japanese cuisine and shopping.

Barnsdall Art Park

This is a great example of a place I’d always heard of, but never really bothered going to. Barnsdall Art Park is one of the most ‘LA’ places in LA. It’s a park on a hill in the middle of bustling East Hollywood, with its own art gallery, and the beatiful Hollyhock House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Art Park affords one of the most breathtaking panoramas of the city, and is a favorite for picnickers and sunbathers. But more importantly (let’s be honest)–it’s a confirmed Dratini nest. Ya heard that (W)right. I caught no less than five of those beautiful blue babies wandering around the luscious shade of the trees. The park was crawling with fellow Pokemon GOers, pointing and exclaiming new sightings. Which is another thing–it’s always great to hang out somewhere with fellow trainers, as Pokemon GO is the greatest icebreaker ever. Other notable catches included Magnemite, Machops, and Primeapes abound.

Echo Park

Echo Park was a favorite park of mine before, but now it’s one of the best Pokemon GO hangout spots in the city. I’ve always loved the grand lake, the fleets of ducks and geese, the mix of hipsters and families sharing space beside the lotus blossoms. I can go on: the LA skyline is just across the lake, there’s paddleboats for rental, and the street dogs and chicharron carts on hand for snacking. Aside from the real-world charm, Echo Park lake boasts some great aquatic captures. There’s Magikarp to be found, Krabbies, occasional Clefairies (and Clefables), and the even more occasional Dratini. Walk the park, then head down to Sunset Blvd. for bookstores, coffee shops, bars, and venues.

LACMA / La Brea Tar Pits

LACMA and the adjoining La Brea Tar Pits are making the internet rounds as a confirmed nest for Charmander, as well as its evolutions if you’re lucky! When we went, there were tons of meandering trainers wandering around, in spite of the bad air conditions from the Santa Clarita fire. But aside from the wealth of fire Pokemon, this makes our list of Pokemon GO hangout spots because it’s a renowned art museum, next to a spacious park, next to a natural history museum – a guaranteed afternoon well-spent. When you’re all Pokemon’d out, head out to downtown for dinner with your box full of Charmanders.

Santa Monica Pier

Three weeks into the game, Santa Monica Pier is now legendary amongst Pokemon GO hangout spots in LA. Seriously, if there’s a missing spot on your Pokedex, chances are, you can fill it here. Electabuzz, Magikarp, Tentacool, Magnemite, Omanyte, Kabuto, Goldeen, Psyduck, Poliwag, Dratini… what’s even more astounding is that aside from Electabuzz, the others spawn in droves. I got there with 0 Magikarp, came back a quarter of the way to a Gyarados. The Pokemon GO scene there is just ridiculous. The pier is regularly full up to 2am nowadays, and it’s easy to see why. Who doesn’t want to leisurely catch Pokemon by the sea, with a bevy of high-end restaurants along the shore? Not to mention the 3rd Street Promenade for shopping and people-watching. If you haven’t been already, go. You’ll double your Pokedex sightings, easily.

Venice Beach Boardwalk

Venice Beach has always been one of my favorite places to people-watch. You really get all sorts here: beach folk, Beverly Hills migrants, international tourists, all mingling on the most diverse beach in California. You come here to watch the people walk, pump iron at Muscle Beach, shoot hoops, skate, it’s breathtaking. And now, even more so, thanks to its Pokemon habitats. Omanytes and Kabutos are the prime catch here, in addition to the occasional Charmander sightings. Grab some delicious beachside poke to go with your Pokemon, and soak some sun.

Vincent Lugo Park

Of all the places on this list, Vincent Lugo Park is way off the beaten path. It’s located in San Gabriel/Alhambra, an area best known for its concentration of authentic and delicious Asian cuisine, mostly Chinese. That, and boba. Aside from those two reasons, no one really heads up here, but that might change rapidly with Pokemon GO. Aside from Santa Monica Pier, I think this area has the most populated Pokemon GO hangout spots of any other neighborhood. The biggest park to be at is Almansor, which is nice and all, with its lake and golf course. But I opted for Vincent Lugo, one, because it’s so close to Valley boulevard, arguably the area’s Chinese cuisine hotspot. Two, because it’s home to the most bizarrely beautiful playground ever. It’s a historical landmark for its assortment of giant, whimsical sea creature sculptures that look completely surreal in a suburb like this. The whole scene is made even more bizarre after-hours, when you can spot 20-somethings and adult trainers hanging off the giant dragon slide, or nestled atop the bright blue sea serpent. Really photogenic place, and with a parking lot that’s just made for food trucks. For Pokemon hauls, I’ve spotted Tauros, Krabbies, Magikarps, and Clefairies. On a really good day, you might spot the Slowpoke in the grassier parts.

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Today, Earth Day is a relatively innocuous phrase–it inspires, what? A park cleanup, a few speeches here and there, and maybe a hiking event complete with birdwatching and smores. We’ve completely forgotten the militancy of the first Earth Day, and how it was one of the most forceful expressions of democratic voice this country has ever seen. 

What do we do for Earth Day? We get out, we explore our national parks, we take in all the natural beauty that our states have to offer. And most likely, we forget about it tomorrow. Earth Day, through no one’s fault, is in danger of becoming another half-hearted celebration of ‘let’s-care-for-a-day.’ And so it would be useful now to remember: the first Earth Day was planted in rebellious and volatile ground. It took root in post-Vietnam War unrest and dissatisfaction, a time where in which the public was outraged at government expenditure on a fruitless war that diverted funds from other crucial public services. It was a time so like our current moment, and yet so different. One of these differences was that the word ‘environmentalism’ had yet to be invented.

In the 60s, America was barely becoming aware that the industrialization it was so proud of might be a cancer on the country. Against calls for restricted government spending, and a return to normalcy in the midst of student protests and demonstration, Wisconsin senator (and future Earth Day founder) Gaylord Nelson took the floor to voice concerns that had gone unreported and unacknowledged. Incensed by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, inspired by the anti-war protests, he delivered a speech that year to Americans for Democratic Action. He asked why we as Americans were able to win World Wars, develop weapons of mass destruction, and put a man on the moon, but we

1. Can’t get food to our hungry children in a nation with too much to eat.

2. Can’t get downtown in the morning or travel across country in an efficient mass transit system.

3. Can’t get medical care to the Ghetto, the elderly or the poor in rural America.

4. And with all our lavish spending, we can’t even create an educational system that capitalizes on one of the strongest drives a child has — the desire to learn.

5. And in a nation more abundantly endowed than any other we can’t quite get organized for a massive effort to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink or the beauty of our countryside. How could we organize to win a big war, create the nuclear weapons system and rocket to the moon — And still fall so short of our historic goal — The creation of a social structure founded on quality instead of quantity and moral might instead of military might.

He goes on to note that, up to that point, the public had depended on large companies to be as productive socially as they were materially, that they could “do our social planning for us too,” a view whose naivete he then attempts to express:

The challenges are open and obvious for all to see … That the most important measure of success in this system is power, affluence, abundance, bigness, gross national product, and profits. It is a challenge that says any system that becomes dominated by these forces is incapable of producing a society of quality.

Nelson’s concerns sound eerily similar to “revolutionary” ideals still propounded today, don’t they? Today, Earth Day is a global celebration, called the “biggest secular observance in the world,” and Nelson has since earned himself a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 for his efforts, the highest award that can be bestowed upon a civilian. But back then, it was just another scrappy grassroots protest that baffled the media and attracted the ire of civil authorities.

News coverage of the first Earth Day did the event little justice. To be fair, this was partially the fault of the event’s organizers, who asked journalists and major news outlets to turn their cameras towards events in major cities and open air demonstrations. The first Earth Day was meant to be peaceful, and by and large, it was so. But news networks were able to capture the handful of events that turned violent, and these are absolutely fascinating to observe through the lens of current protest movements.

In this CBS news segment from 1970, anchor Robert Shakne comments on a non-violent protest in Boston, Massachusettes, spearheaded by student demonstrators. He notes:

It wasn’t clear why the state police ordered the demonstrators out, but they were leaving when for no visible reason–trouble. The police charging the crowd, seizing the coffins, pushing those who moved too slowly, and arresting 13. There had been talk in advance of crowds of thousands, in attempts to disrupt the airport, but that didn’t happen. This crowd, just a few hundred, had seemed orderly and non-violent.

The first Earth Day was a proud projection of the public voice, against domineering networks of power, that struggled to make a cause known. We have the historical hindsight today to say that this was a brilliantly successful revolution. Don’t do it injustice, don’t make it a fad. Do you know why Earth Day is on April 22? Nelson chose that day because it was between Spring Break and Finals Week. Earth Day was created with students in mind, with protests in mind; the first conception of Earth Day was a “national teach-in event” to instruct the world.

In the decade following the first Earth Day, this is what we accomplished: the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the passing of the Clean Air, Clean Water, Endangered Species, Toxic Substances Control, and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Acts. So what does Earth Day mean? That protest works. That revolution enacts change. That if you care about a thing, you can save it. The proof is in Earth Day, the historical fact that its proponents did win the day, and the fact that you do know what environmentalism means. Now go forth and give a damn.

The post The First Earth Day Was A Protest, A Revolution appeared first on christopherkhoitran.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we compiled a list of five women explorers who made travel and exploration their business, regardless of resources, social taboos, or experience. This is for the ladies, and for anyone who ever made an excuse not to travel–it can always be done. 

It’s amazing that even though these are five women explorers from vastly different backgrounds, they all overcame basically the same sexist challenges. That, my friend, is why Women’s History Month matters–you don’t see the history, you don’t see the pattern. Nearly every person on this list endured the constraints of motherhood and marriage to pursue what they loved. All of them attained their experiences and expertise against the antagonism of male peers. But nonetheless, they found themselves backpacking in fabulous lands. They witnessed panoramas of nature and culture that the world would’ve rather barred from their sex entirely.

Gertrude Bell

T.E. Lawrence gets all the credit as the great ambassador and ethnographer of the Middle East during World War I. However, a review of Gertrude Bell’s exploits could change your mind in a hurry. Like most would-be women explorers who wanted a higher education, Bell fought tooth and nail to pursue her intellectual interests. While studying history at Oxford, her tutor was so distressed by her presence that he forced her to sit facing the back of the room during class. Of course, Bell went on to master six languages, scale some of the tallest peaks in Europe, and drew the borders of modern-day Iraq. Let me explain.

Bell began her archaeological exploits in a tour spanning Syria, Damascus, Jerusalem, and other sites. Her writings on these locales opened up the Western world to their geographical beauty and rich history. Aside from her intellectual pursuits, she is perhaps the most athletically accomplished of this list’s women explorers. Her mountaineering accomplishments included La Meije, and Mont Blanc, the avalanche-prone jewel of the French Alps. She did concede to the great Finsterraarhorn in Switzerland, but not without a fight: it took two days of clinging to a cliff face, in the middle of a thunderstorm, to chase her down. Bell’s best known for her work as liaison and consultant during World War I. Her expertise in the area’s terrain and endemic cultures proved indispensible during the Arab Revolt, as well as the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. According to historians, she was “one of the few representatives of His Majesty’s Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection.” She was passionate regarding Arab independence and culture, and well-known for her expertise. After the war, she was asked by Winston Churchill to draw up the borders of the region we know today as Iraq. Yes, Bell quite literally shaped the modern world we know today.

Nellie Bly

Nelly Bly’s career began with a newspaper op-ed written by famed English surgeon Erasmus Wilson. His piece stated the usual misogynist smut: that women belong in the home, etc. etc., and that a working women (much women explorers) are nothing short of a “monstrosity.” Bly did not take his insults sitting down, and devoted the rest of her life towards progressive journalism. And along the way, she accomplished the simple feat of rounding the world in (less than) 80 days.

Bly made a name for herself as a fearless writer who bent all her powers towards dispelling the myths surrounding her sex in the early 20th century. She went so far as to disguise herself as a madwoman to gain entrance into Blackwell’s Island mental institution. The resulting exposé raised outcry against the deplorable treatment of not only female patients, but the mentally infirm nation-wide. She took a break from journalism to take on a side project: to best the fictional record set forth in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, which she soundly did. By ship, on the backs of burros, by rickshaw, she completed her journey with her progressive values close by her side. She dared anyone to bar passage to women explorers on the basis of gender, and expressed disgust at the Port of Said, where travelers going landside regularly carried parasols and sticks with which to beat back crowds of beggars. It’s one thing to travel the world carrying luggage, and another entirely to carry a sense of right in a morally askew world.

Ynes Mexia

Hitting your ‘midlife crisis’ at the age of 30 is all the rage today; hence, Ynes Mexia should be a lesson to all such aging millenials. At the age of 50, Mexia had undergone two divorces and a ruined business (by the fault of her second husband). Rather than folding to life’s disappointments, she pursued an education in sociology, then botany, and went on to collect hundreds of thousands of plant samples, 50 of them new and named after her.

The elderly Mexia initially pursued a sociology degree in San Francisco, but, perhaps recognizing by now that life was short, she abandoned her degree midway to pursue botany. She joined the environmentalist Sierra Club, and undertook a journey into Mexico. On this single trip, she collected 33,000 samples, and likely would’ve kept going, had a fall from a cliff not halted her trip. After recuperating, she took several more expeditions into Argentina, Chile, Mt. McKinley, and the Amazon, accompanied by a minimal staff of guides. She was able to fund all of these trips by selling specimens to private collectors and museums, making her passions work for her, and then some.

Ida Pfeiffer

The cliche is that travel is supposed to broaden your horizons, and no story dramatizes that adage like Ida Pfeiffer’s. After a small inheritance freed her from the burdens of marriage and motherhood, the 45-year old Pfeiffer decided to travel the world alone. She’s yet another of those women explorers for whom age was just another obstacle to smash. Knowing well that she’d likely perish in her solo travels, she drew up her will and departed. The resulting journey into hostile and strange territories would soften her decidedly Western-centric worldviews considerably.

On a shoestring budget, she made her way from the Danube Riber to the Black Sea, into the Middle East and Egypt. Everywhere she turned, she found the local cultures ‘uncivilized’ and ‘unkempt,’ an opinion which would soon shift unexpectedly. After returning home, she sold her memoirs and used the proceeds to fund more travels, of course. The next phase of her journeys cut into Rio de Janeiro and the South American rainforests, then into Indochina. Throughout her career, Pfeiffer relied mostly on the kindness of locals for which she apparently had no love or respect. On Christian soil in Russia, however, Pfeiffer was detained and accused of being a spy. Understandably, she began to suspect that western ‘civilization’ didn’t necessarily entail civility. Among the women explorers I found, Pfeiffer holds the distinction of being one of the most outwardly xenophobic, making her change of heart all the more remarkable. During her travels, the only group to garner her admiration were, of all things, a headhunting tribe from Borneo called the Dyaks, whom she found good-natured and soft-mannered. Her evolving attitude is maybe best summarized in her own words: “I shuddered, but I could not help asking myself whether, after all, we Europeans are not really just as bad or worse than these despised savages?”

Alexandra David-Neel

Behind every great man lies a woman, right? In Alexandra David-Neel’s case, these men included diverse personalities from Jack Kerouac and Alan Watts, to Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, crown prince of the Chogyal Kingdom of India. All of them respected David-Neel’s profound intellect and dedication to her own passions.

Perhaps the most multifaceted of our women explorers, David-Neel was a traveler, an accomplished Tibetan buddhist, an opera singer, and 30th degree Freemason. From an early age she took an interest in radical ideas, and befriended anarchists and feminists alike. Her passion for Eastern philosophy led her to abandon marriage to study at the feet of masters, in the shrines of her chosen beliefs. On her travels into India, her charm and intellect made a friend of Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, eldest son of the current Maharaja of the Chogyal Kingdom. He would later call upon her to aid in the reformation of Buddhism in his own lands. She counted among her tutors the 13th Dalai Lama in exile, and the renowned monastery leader Lachen Gomchen Rinpoche. David-Neel pursued even the most esoteric aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, undertaking isolation and fasting, and studying with cave-dwelling shamans without hesitation. She pursued her passions even into the forbidden city of Lhasa, disguised as a beggar monk. Like all the women explorers on our list, she never met a barrier she couldn’t dismantle by effort and willppower.

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Valentine’s Day simply wouldn’t be done right without a sweet finale, and luckily for you Angelenos, Los Angeles desserts rank among the best worldwide, with everything from build-your-own-donuts to deluxe shaved ice to $7 milkshakes (that’re worth every penny).

Southern Californians aren’t just spoiled by the eternal summer weather–we’re positively drenched, day by day, with news of the latest imported ramen shops, rising food truck dukes, and of course, the ecosystem of evolving dessert boutiques, seeking to outdo each other with the next biggest sweet-tooth teaser. We’ve got you covered with seven of SoCal’s richest, fruitiest, and best, all guaranteed to leave a mark on the tastebuds come Valentine’s Day (if you’re still floundering for V-Day date ideas, check out our guide).

MILK

For those Valentine’s Day purists looking to recreate the archetypal American date, sipping milkshakes together from across the table is absolutely requisite. And if milkshakes are in order, MILK is in order; located on a busy street corner on Fairfax, and boasting a line of dairy devotees out the door and around the corner at all times of day, MILK makes the idea of a 6-7 dollar milkshake seem credible. My personal favorite? The mint chocolate crunch shake, blended with mint chip ice cream and malted chocolate balls for a devastating crunch to go with the crisp flavor. All of their shakes are basically diabetic meals unto themselves, meaning I couldn’t even finish mine in one sitting–BUT, lo and behold, the thing was still tasty as sin the next morning, and if that isn’t testament to their confectionary master craft, I don’t know what is. Even if shakes aren’t your thing, MILK still makes foodie headlines for their unique blueberry velvet cake, and especially the grasshopper ice cream sandwich–mint ice cream between flat macarons, dipped in chocolate. Unbelievable.

Pie Hole

Nothing beats the gooey comfort and texture combo of a fantastically made pie, and Pie Hole has made such impeccable pie-dom their business. Located in the walkable and frequently bustling Arts District, Pie Hole is a fixture of Los Angeles desserts for its selection of both traditional and modern pie flavors like Earl Grey tea, Mexican chocolate, and maple custard. The Earl Grey’s a particular fan favorite, boasting a chocolate underbelly, a layer of tea cream, all topped off with whipped cream for a delightful lightness. So swing by after your V-Day dinner, grab two slices, and patronize a gallery or two while you’re in the neighborhood.

Scoops

While there’re several Scoops locations by now, I prefer the Chinatown iteration for my craft ice cream delights. Any establishment that builds a name for itself with brown bread-flavored ice cream has to be doing something miraculous–other ice cream parlors can keep their basic candy bar-injected sugarbombs to themselves. I want the Guinness chocolates, the jackfruit lemons and coconut burnt caramels and beyond, and Scoops always delivers. Additional perk: a single scoop actually nets you two mini-scoops, all the better for you, since I guarantee you’ll be torn between at least two flavors. Like I said, my favorite spot is located in the same Chinatown plaza as the Angeleno gem, Roy Choi’s Chego, as well as the up-and-coming Ramen Champ, for those looking to build a date night around their dessert spot.

La Monarca

The Los Angeles desserts landscape is littered with Mexican bakeries galore, but to put it simply, having a champurrado, sugarbread, or cafe de olla from La Monarca is like having it for the first time. Their expertise runs the gamut from coffees, to pastries, to breads, to brunch items like the suspiciously delicious soy-chorizo torta. But perhaps the most memorable menu items are the simplest: the milky-sweet cornbread is too creamy to be legal, and they manage to make even a simple wheat bolillo bun endlessly snackable. Highly recommended, and perfect for if you want variety in your Valentine’s Day indulgence.

Donut Friend

Donuts don’t exactly leap to mind when you think of Valentine’s Day Los Angeles desserts, but you’ve likely never seen donuts like this. It’s the Chipotle DIY-formula as applied to donut creations: customers pick a donut base, then embellish with toppings ranging from candy bar crumbles to fruit glazes to nutmeg and lemon zest, and finish with fillings beyond your wildest dreams: I’m talking goat cheeses, hazelnut spreads, and artisanal jams. That being said, I always go for the house creations like the Husker Blu, a cake donut injected with fresh blueberry fillings and dressed in blueberry glaze. Did I mention their creations are all named after bands? Donut Friend is your new best friend.

B Sweet

There’s a long line of desserts out there, all waiting for their time in the hyped-up foodie limelight, and if B Sweet has their way, it’s bread pudding’s time to shine. If you’re skeptical about getting excited over a dessert made out of the most basic foodstuff in the world, know that they have over forty varieties of bread pudding, including pineapple upside down cake, maple donut, and Kahlua. But most importantly, even if you strip away all the extra flavoring, their basic bread pudding formula is rich beyond belief, with a fantastic, ooze-y texture. Once they top it off with an ice cream scoop, its a straight shot to food coma heaven. If you’re somehow still unconvinced, people also come back for the ice cream-injected donuts, pies, and dressed-up brownies. In terms of a V-day date spot, B Sweet is conveniently located in the middle of bustling ‘Little Osaka’ on Sawtelle Boulevard, where foodie hotspots like Tatsuya Ramen and Hide Sushi bring the dinner crowds, with the Giant Robot store and GR2 gallery to top off the night.

Sul and Beans

A list of Los Angeles desserts simply wouldn’t be complete without a nod towards that crown prince of Asian dessert-dom: shaved ice. If you’ve never had it, know that we’re not talking about your neighborhood snowcones drizzled with Icee syrup. Asian shaved ice comes in a dozen sub-varieties, but always involves toppings of copious fruit, condensed milk, and any combination of red bean, mung bean, mochi, boba, etc etc. Now ask anyone for the best shaved ice in LA and you’ll get a million different answers, but a large chunk will say Sul & Beans in Koreatown, where they serve patbingsoo (the Korean variety of shaved ice) like no one else can. Their secret weapon? Injeolmi toast, injeolmi being traditional Korean rice cake, and injeolmi toast being gooey injeolmi between slices of toasted bread sprinkled with almonds on top, like some carb-tastic, inexplicably delicious rice version of a grilled cheese. Devotees swear by injeolmi toast as the perfect complement to the mountainous bingsoo ice-and-fruit plates, and I’m inclined to agree.

The post Los Angeles Desserts Valentines Day appeared first on christopherkhoitran.

Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles affords opportunities to wow your SO in ways no other city can: be it golfing ranges in the heart of downtown, interactive puzzle rooms, or over-the-top luchador & burlesque shows, this is a city that’s got everything you need for an unforgettable V-Day. Here are six ideas, categorized as Simple, Classy, and Adventurous.

Clean and Simple

Rollerskating at the Moonlight Rollerway

For would-be lovers looking to go a bit old school, you can do little better than Glendale’s Moonlight Rollerway, which brings to life all the spirit and Americana romance of the roller rink. Everything about the Rollerway, from the vibrant neon signs, to the sepia woodworks, to the ‘NO FOUL LANGUAGE!’ warning signs remind us of simpler times and cleaner fun. The rest of the year, the Rollerway’s responsible for hijinx like the dress-up Harry Potter skating party, but on Valentine’s Day, it could be your slice of vintage romance. To top off your classic V-Day date night, be sure to hit up our piece on killer LA dessert-spots.

Movies at the Mission Tiki Drive-in Theater

For another piece of ol’ fashioned Americana entertainment, drive-in theaters are very much alive and well in Los Angeles, and the kitschiest and best of them has to be the Mission Tiki Drive-In theater. These outdoor silver screens have been open since the 60s, but they’re anything but rundown–the theater was refurbished in 2006, with repaved lots, remodeled buildings (with additional tiki delights, of course), and an expanded concession stand, now featuring Mexican treats. So grab an FM radio from the garage, stow some bubbly under the seat, and cozy up to your date, in a lot full of other moviegoers. It’s an experience that’s at once private and communal, modern and timeless.via Yelp.comvia Yelp.com

Aroma Golf Range

If you’ve got an athletic date looking to show off their stuff, you might check out Aroma Golf Range, located in the Koreatown neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. Now, how did they fit a full driving range into DTLA, you ask? Come on, in a parking garage, of course! How LA is that? Yes, for a nominal fee, you can whack dimpled balls to your heart’s content, surrounded by the tinkling lights and heights of skyscrapers. It’s a slice of suburban nirvana right in the midst of the urban sprawl, complete with its own juice bar, four floors, and a breathtaking upper deck.via Yelp.comvia Yelp.com

Classy and Romantic

Moulin Rouge at the Los Angeles Theatre

If you don’t like Moulin Rouge, you simply have no business celebrating Valentine’s Day. The Baz Luhrmann musical extravaganza embodies everything bright, embarrassing, and unabashedly beautiful about love, with its plot about a poor poet (Ewan McGregor) wooing the age’s most celebrated burlesque dancer (Nicole Kidman) in the City of Lights, all set to 20th century romantic tunes ranging from Elton John to Nirvana. And come Valentine’s 2016, you’ll be able to see the Moulin Rouge in the most ideal setting: at the sumptuous Los Angeles Theatre, in dress-attire-required settings, and with pre-show entertainment. The folks over at Cinespia are bringing the gild, glam, and lights of the movie to life for one night only. Expect complementary champagne, plenty of strolling space beneath the vaulted and sculpted ceiling, photo booths lighting up crystal chandeliers, and fans belting out songs at the top of their lungs.via Cinespia.orgvia Cinespia.org

The Venice Canals

Of course, not every date requires you to dress up sharper than Bond and blow loads of cash–sometimes, the simple things can wow, and what could be simpler than a walk? The Venice Canals were an attempt to literally recreate the aquatic avenues of Venice, Italy in Venice, California, and in the early 20s, it could’ve given its European cousin a run for its money. Today, despite the Canals being a fraction of their original size, they’re still painfully enchanting, spanning the entire area of a large block and a half, all of it crisscrossed with lovely bridges and lights. The real estate around in the area is beautiful to match, and include some rather sumptuous properties to oggle on your walk. Though it doesn’t seem as though people actually go on the water anymore, it’s still a moment-making site, perfect for a post-dinner stroll before you head over to the Venice boardwalk, or over to Abbott Kinney for an artisanal something or other.

Adventurous and Bizarre

Maze Rooms Los Angeles

While not the most obvious date choice in the world, Escape the Room is made for Valentine’s day when you think about it: being trapped in a room with one other person, putting your brains together to get through a tough situation, getting to show off your sleuthing skills and trivia acumen, it’s instant memories, instant intimacy–like I said, the perfect recipe for Valentine’s Day sparks.via la.mazerooms.com

If you’re not familiar with Escape the Room-type games, it’s a mashup of circus funhouses (sometimes Halloween haunted houses), scavenger hunt, and group activity. The basic formula involves being trapped in a room along with your team, and figuring out clues and puzzles within that room that will enable you to ‘Escape the Room.’ From there, there’s dozens of varieties on the same theme: Maze Rooms LA offers scenarios ranging from space station escapes, castle treasure-hunts, even a Hangover-style, ‘how’d we get here’ game.

Lucha VaVOOM

Now that the good clean fun’s out of our system, let me introduce you to Lucha VaVOOM: put Mexican masked wrestlers, burlesque, and comedians into a blender, with copious amounts of michelada mix, and you’ve got a bold date night that’ll leave an impression. Lucha VaVOOM’s main show boasts a wrestling roster of personalities like Li’l Cholo, Crazy Chickens, and El Presidente, supported by commentary from comedians ranging from local to superstar; the ringside’s seen visits from the likes of Jack Black, Fred Armisen, and Patton Oswalt. They’ve currently got two shownights on their calendars for the 11th and 12th, so grab tickets while they’re hot–LA is a city of lunatics, and this is most definitely their jam.

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