Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine May 2019 | Page 118
Travel / Los Angeles
3
To wander Hollywood Boulevard while
the skies are still in their pre-rush-hour
film noir haze is to witness a city intent on
transforming itself into something far more
theatrical and out-of-this-world.
E/ At the intersection of Hollywood and
Highland, it comes to work dressed as
Mickey Mouses, Marilyn Monroes and
Pirates of the Caribbean. On other days,
the crossing welcomes the arrival of
10ft-tall golden-yellow and cherry-red
Transformers. Today, LA’s protagonists
are Marvel superheroes, and there are
at least a dozen of them – a padded
collective of Captain Americas, Iron
Mans, Hulks, Thors and Spidermans
– preening and posing for selfies in
ludicrous spandex (try not to be lured,
as they charge you for each selfie).
Such workday activity would seem alien
in any other city, but this is Los Angeles,
and LA is home to Hollywood and
the Walk of Fame, a love letter to
the movies played out on concrete.
It is a neighbourhood that hops
between world-beating theme parks
such as Disneyland (which needs no
introduction) and Universal Studios
116
(where you can get nose-to-snout
with animatronic Jurassic dinosaurs,
or step into King Kong’s lair) and the
soaring Dolby Theatre, where every
February you can find the world’s
glitziest toilet queue (believe it or
not, there are only two backstage
restrooms on Oscars night).
Above this, high in the Hollywood Hills,
you’ll spot the Griffith Observatory
rotunda, celebrated in the multi-award-
winning song-and-dance homage to the
golden era ’La La Land’, starring Ryan
Gosling and Emma Stone. Fittingly, the
IMAX-sized panorama of Hollywood is
framed by the crescendo of a 45ft-tall,
whitewashed billboard.
Since these days, Hollywood’s track
record has been unimpeachable and the
world has continued to fall madly in love
with its sun-drenched boulevards and
Technicolor romances. But while such
2
movie moments imprint themselves
on our memory, the city can be hard
to fathom for first-timers and repeat
visitors up-close. So where to start?
After a waltz around the Walk of Fame,
stopping to delve into the 1920s-era
splendour of Grauman’s Chinese
Theatre, take a car to West Hollywood.
Here you’ll find the Tudor Revival
manors, arcaded verandas and
impenetrable security gates of Beverly
Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills.
In all likelihood, you’ll see little more
than manicured lawns, lolling wisteria,
unscalable walls and extra-thick
hedgerows. To soak up some of the
Tudor scale and style first-hand, wander
the historic Doheny Greystone Estate,
Beverly Hills.
Nearby Rodeo Drive is an unashamed
street of bumper-to-bumper boutiques.
It is as impressive for its four-wheeled
1