TRAVEL | Sigthseeing and Foodtrip in LA with Teddy Blake's Bella Satchel

**Featured bag is from Teddy Blake.

Recently, my husband and I decided to do a short trip to SoCal and it was amazing!

Although, we live fairly close to SoCal, we realized that we haven't really explored the Los Angeles/San Diego area thoroughly as a couple, like we usually do when vacationing in Europe.. (how sad, you may say! lol)

We've been to Socal a few times, mostly with family, so we did the same things everytime - meaning, Disneyland, Universal Studios and Sea World, and weren't really adventurous to see and experience new things. So that's what we did this time!

**This post will be about Los Angeles, and another one will be up soon about San Diego.

Here's the list of the places we've gone/drive to while in LA that I would recommend to anyone planning to visit either for the first time or not:

**Also, I would suggest taking note of the order that I planned to see the places listed below, considerng their distances from one another, saving every traveller time and stress.

**Our typical day started around 10:30-11am due to 2 hours drive from San Diego.

Day1:

The Hollywood Sign

Via Lake Hollywood Park trail / Inndales Dr Mulholand Hwy.

I wanted that perfect shot with the Hollywood sign (that's me being all tourist-like) and hiking up to get to that perfect area was worth it.

Hollywood Bvld/Stars Walk of Fame

Just to claim that I saw this spot once, we drove by it.

LUNCH at Republique

This is a must try place in LA for their delicious pastries and French inspired plates. I enjoyed and would recommend trying the Regular breakfast, Avocado toast, Strawberry/Raspberry Kouign Amann and their Matcha tea latte.

Beverly Hills

Again, being touristy myself, I told husband I wanted to drive through the Rodeo Walk of Styles and Beverly Hills so we did.

This area is for shopaholics indeed!

SNACK at Matchacha

We grabbed a quick snack here and enjoyed the creamy delicious Matcha/Strawberry Float.

The Getty Villa

This place is amazing! I love the villa's gardens and the feeling that I was almost like in Italy or even Greece being here. My husband and I love European (Roman, Greek, Etruscan) architecture and arts, and it was perfect to visit this place! Admission is free, but make sure to reserve your spot on their website prior to visiting.

Santa Monica Beach

We enjoyed the vibrant feel of Santa Monica beach. There were so many people(too many!) but walking around the park on the deck, getting our feet wet by the beach and watching the beautiful sunset made our day!(and helped ignore the huge crowds of people lol)

DINNER at JINYA Ramen Bar

As the night got chilly, having authentic and impeccably tasty ramen for dinner was a great choice! We loved and would recommend trying the Jinya Tonkutso Black and the Sprouting Up Ramen.

DAY 2:

The Grand Central Market

Starting the day with amazing food all situated in one spot is the best! We'd recommend trying Egg Slut and Sari-Sari while in this bountiful market, operating since 1917.

Bradburry Building

Just right across the Grand Central Market is this historic commercial building. We were amazed with its Victoria court, open cage elevators, marble stairs and ornate iron railings! It's so picturesque inside!

LUNCH at RICEBAR

We checked this out due to its great reviews and tried the Lechon Kawali rice bowl and the Longganisa rice bowl but they were just ok (I'm Filipino, so I should know..) I would recommend trying the rice bowls at Sari-Sari in the Grand Central Market instead(if you're up for filipino with a little of american twist rice bowls).

The Last Bookstore

Still in downtown and a few blocks away from the Grand Central Market is this vintage and cool 2 story high bookstore. Getting lost around the bookstore maze-like set up was a cool experience while looking at old and new books and records! We sat and stared at books and shelves of more books for about an hour - it was relaxing!

LACMA and The BROAD

If you love and enjoy looking at arts, these two are must see museums.

LACMA combines collections and exhibitions of both Science and Art. The iconic Urban light was filled with people taking photos.(lol)

The BROAD is a contemporary art museum and it's free to the public, although I would recommend reserving your party's date/time of visit, to avoid waiting long hours in line. My faves among its collections are the giant Tulips by Jeff Koons and the Longing for Eternity & the Infinity Mirrored Room both by Yayoi Kusama.

KOREATOWN

This amazing neighborhood is filled with tons of great Korean food/restaurants and shopping!

We mainly came here to try the food lol.

So, we had an early dinner at Myung In Dumplings and were amazed (like in awe!) how delicious their dumplings are! My husband and I both exclaimed that they are the best dumplings we've ever had tried (and believe me, we eat a lot of dumplings anywhere we find a good place where they're served). We ordered their famous Pork and Vegetables King dumplings that are super huge, and the Pork and Shrimp Spicy Dumplings and they were both super yummy, and matched them with Korean beer, kimchi and pickled radish! It was the highlight of the day!(lol)

We drove around more and found a cool dessert place on the rooftop of a mini mall - Café Bora!

We tried and loved their Strawberry Bingsu and Taro/Sweet Potato ice cream. They look exactly as advertised on the menu photos and they taste so delicious as much as how cute they are, with the perfect balance of sweetness, creaminess and iciness.

Echo Park

Drove by this famous park and enjoyed LA downtown's views!

Bottega Louie

It must have been one of the most expensive and most beautiful French inspired café/bakery I've ever been to. We stopped by here for some pastries and cakes for to-go and we're amazed how they're beautifully crafted and expensively priced! lol. But they tasted exquisitely delightful - and I mean it! We tried and would recommend the Saint Honore', Passion Mango, Seasonal Kouign Amann and Croissant with Goat cheese and bacon. It was a good drive going back to San Diego that night.

In 2 short days we acted like tourists and adventurers at the same time, and along with me is the gorgeous Bella Palmelatto 12" satchel from Teddy Blake's new collection of bags.

**Photos were taken from The Getty Villa.

The Bella Palmelatto 12" satchel in Bordo leather has a sharp and structured shape, made in Italy, with grained calf leather. It has a wide suede interior with zipper, front and back pockets for more space/room and buttons on both left and right sides to expand the central compartment.

It's very comfortable to wear and carry. I love how it's so roomy for all of my travel kits (make-up, photocamera, skincare products, phone etc). The feel of the suede interior is very soft and smooth. The zippers open and close smoothly; the stitching and glues all over the bag were done very nicely, and I personally think the overall craftsmanship has improved a lot, compared to my other 2 previous bags. The grained calf leather is beautiful! The gold tone hardwares are shinny and came unscratched.

This satchel's dimensions are 9"H x 6.5"W x 12.5" L (small to medium size type). It came with 17" to 21" detachable/adjustable shoulder strap - which I didn't use much during this trip because I love holding the bag on my arms for added style (especially meant for satchels). The bag also came with its signature dust bag.