My new favorite restaurant is Simpang Asia. It's located inside a small Indonesian market, and they feature delicious meals for reasonable prices, like nasigoreng and other rice dishes wrapped in a big banana leaf. If you have a taste for the exotic, check it out. 
Free concerts and cultural events are happening regularly at the Fowler Museum (which our class recently visited). In the past, I have enjoyed free cultural performances in the museum courtyard ranging from Japanese paper cutting to Cuban guitar.
All over Los Angeles there are white trucks lurking by sidewalks with customers hunched over dripping tacos on white paper plates. If you are brave enough to try one of these specious instituions, you can experience a real taste of L.A. Skip the trucks with burgers, fries, and Enlgish-only menus, and head straight for the trucks with Spanish monickers like "Mariscos" or "Cemitas Poblanos." The last one is a spicy fried chicken sandwich. The best tacos are usually $1.25 each, and you can find them in East L.A., downtown, Koreatown, and along Venice Blvd. in Culver City. On a cold night you can also try a hot corn drink "atol de elote" or a thick hot chocolate "champurrado." Be brave!
I just read a report that airplanes are the fastest growing contributor to global warming! In light of this news, why not take a train instead? In fact, Los Angeles has a great old train station, which is also fun just to wander around and pretend like you're in a classic movie. One night I ran through Union Station with ice-cream and flowers for my grandparents who were passing through by train. From Union Station, you can take a lovely ride down the coast to San Diego or up the coast to Santa Barbara. Keep going north and there are beautiful views of ocean waves splashing on rocks. You can go all the way to San Francisco - actually you can go anywhere in America. Just don't forget your fedora hat!
Have you tried Pho? It's a really nice Vietnamese hot noodle soup with bean sprouts and fresh basil. A person from Vietnam told me to pronounce it "Fuh?" with a rising intonation. Well, there's a really good place to eat Pho on the Westside called Le Saigon. They also have delicious fresh spring rolls. It's a small place on Santa Monica Boulevard near Federal. Prices are reasonable. Address: 11611 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025.
I recently discovered the game of Petanque - a French game involving tossing metal balls close to a small wooden ball. Whoever throws the ball closer gets the point. Dolores (pictured) gave me a friendly beginner's lesson for free and explained some of the culture and history of the game, which is popular in the South of France. It costs $40 a year to join the L.A. Petanque club, which is comprised mostly of people from France. The Petanque courts are next to the archery range and near the dog-training area. Even if you don't play, it's a fun place to visit on a Saturday morning. From UCLA, take Blue Bus #8 or #12 and get off at Pico/Motor. The address is 2459 Motor Avenue L.A., CA 90064
The UCLA Marine Aquatic Center has kayaking and windsurfing equipment UCLA students may use (free - $10). I had fun borrowing a kayak and paddling around the Marina. It's great to go with a friend on a double kayak, and it's really good (I mean hard!) exercise. It's supposed to be easier early in the morning when the water is calm but anytime is fun.UCLA MAC webpage: http://www.recreation.ucla.edu/recreate/marina_sub.aspx?main=17&sub=451&mymenu=0
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Want to meet people and do something good? There are many opportunities to volunteer throughout Los Angeles. Most volunteer activities are easy to do and require very little commitment. You can even volunteer for just one afternoon and that's it. In the past I've volunteered to clean up the beach, work in a school garden, feed rabbits, serve the homeless, and work at a women's shelter.
Free archery lessons are offered every Saturday at 11:00am at Rancho Park Archery Range. The instructor teaches you basic archery safety and technique. Then you can practice shooting arrows at targets. I felt like Robin Hood when I hit the bullseye! It's located in Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, which is on Pico between Westwood Blvd and Beverly Dr. From Pico turn onto Motor, then turn right into the park. You should see the sign that says "archery range." Go past the baseball field, and the archery range is on the left near the dog training area. You can take Blue Bus #8 or #12 and get off at Pico/Motor. The address is 2459 Motor Avenue L.A., CA 90064. Phone:(310) 839-1516
A $5 Day Pass lets you ride the L.A. Metro busses and subways all day. You can take the Rapid Bus west to Santa Monica or go east to Beverly Hills, Koreatown, and Downtown. From Downtown Union Station, you can take the Gold Line east to Chinatown and South Pasadena, the Red Line north to Hollywood and Universal Studios, or the Blue Line south to Long Beach. Another good bus is Metro Bus #2 which goes west to the beaches or east to Hollywood, Dodger Stadium, and Downtown. Just tell the driver you want a Day Pass and pay $5. It's a good deal and you get to meet lots of "interesting" people on the bus and subway! Check schedules and routes at metro.net.
For a unique experience in L.A., you can ride a horse in the Hollywood Hills at Sunset Ranch. Drive east on the 10 freeway, north on the 110 freeway, north on the 101 freeway, and exit Gower. Then drive north on Beachwood to the top. By bus, take Metro Bus#2 east to Sunset/Vine. Then take the Dash bus for Beachwood Canyon to the top of Beachwood. Then keep walking up to the ranch. It costs $25 for a one-hour ride plus a $5 tip after. While riding a horse, you can see the Hollywood Sign and a beautiful view of smoggy L.A. 
If you are not a big hiker, here's a short easy hike that's close to UCLA . Just take Metro Bus #2 going west to Will Rogers State Historic Park (not the beach). It takes about 30 minutes to the park by bus. Tell the driver where you want to get off. From Sunset Boulevard you have to walk up a long curvy road about 20 minutes to the park. There are polo grounds with horses and a hiking trail. The start of the trail is in the far right corner of the parking lot. Then it's less than an hour to the top for a great view of the ocean.
Here's a fun place to cool off when the weather is warm in the winter in L.A. It just costs $11. They are open afternoons from 2:30-5pm and evenings 8-10:30pm. It's a good place to go on a date because you have a good excuse to hold hands when you are falling down on the ice.
I love trying all kinds of food around the world, but my favorite might be Korean food. Here's a cheap (and good) Korean restaurant in Los Angeles. It's a small, plain place called "Hal-Mae Jip," which means "Grandmother's house." The menu includes lots of traditional Korean dishes for $6-$10, but they also have some specials for $4-$5, including shigumchi-guk (miso seaweed soup), dongtae-chigae (spicy fish soup), chungguk-jang (fermented bean soup), and sulung-tang (beef stock soup). Soup comes with rice, kim-chi and other typical Korean side dishes. The amazing thing in a Korean restaurant is that if you eat all the side dishes, they bring more for free! It's located at 8th and Catalina in Koreatown and open 24 hours. The sign is not in English -"Hal-Mae Jip" is next to the bakery.
One of my favorite things to do in L.A. is bike the beach from Santa Monica to Venice. You can take the Rapid bus to Santa Monica and get off at Broadway, just after the bus turns. Then walk down the pier, turn left at the carosel, and you will see a bike rental shop called "Sea Mist." You can rent a bike there for about $8 an hour and ride down the beach. But be careful about the people walking across the path. Once a bike suddenly stopped in front of me for some people crossing- and I crashed and had to go to the hospital! So you might consider a helmet, but you should be okay if you just don't ride too fast like I did. Even after my accident, I still love it.
Two great beaches are just past Malibu. Zuma Beach is a good place to play volleyball. The beach is wide and sandy. Sometimes you can see dolphins in the waves. El Matador Beach is farther up PCH. It has great rock formations that you can explore. You can go swimming at both beaches; before swimming you can check the water quality on the beach report card at www.healthebay.org.
