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