lunar new year in chinatown

Last Saturday wasn't unlike any other. We debated going out and exploring or staying home and relaxing on the couch. Sitting on the couch is always welcome, and sometimes necessary, but the truth is we rarely regret going out to explore. We do regret wasting a weekend on the couch though.

Earlier in the week I read on Ban.do's Instagram that there was a golden dragon parade and so we hopped on the train and we went! We were quite sure we weren't going to make it on time for the parade, but we did get there for the tail end of it. See what I did there?

Everything about the day was so colorful, vibrant, and dynamic that I was drawn to shoot video instead of just stills. So I made a little video of our outing. I'm still learning the video editing...

View on Flipagram

When we started out on the street there was confetti here and there, but by the time we left in the evening the ground was thick with brightly colored tissue. Chloe tried Chinese brush painting and got to hold a monkey named Terra! We made wishes and tied them to a tree. We ended up eating at food trucks because the waits at the restaurants were hour-long. Did a little souvenir shopping and had a cocktail at Hop Louie, a great little dive bar that was playing great 80's tunes and allowed Chloe to sit at a table since they serve food upstairs. We played with snap chat while we sipped our drinks.

I highly recommend this family outing. 

Happy New Year!
I just have to say as a reminder to myself, get out there and explore. It is so much fun.

Mom tips: there is no restroom from the Long Beach Blue Line until you get off at Union Station if you are connecting to the Gold Line. So, yeah. And the usual, pack water and snacks in case the wait at your desired restaurant is an hour long and you're super hungry while walking through Chinatown.

The Go Metro Los Angeles app was helpful for directions.
From Long Beach: Take the Blue Line heading north to the 7th Street Metro Station and get on the Red Line heading East to Union Station. (Use the bathroom!) From Union Station take the Gold Line toward Pasadena one stop to the Chinatown Station and walk up the hill a block and go right.

I want to take the train again to explore more areas of the city, or just to grab lunch at Grand Central Market. I forget which stop it was, but we saw a guy riding a horse down the street and I can't say that I've ever seen that before. For that alone, go metro!