Archive for the ‘Downtown Los Angeles’ Category

« Older Entries

Where to Watch the Korea vs Argentina Soccer Game Early Thursday morning in Koreatown?

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

The most popular venue to watch the World Cup match between South Korea and Argentina early Thursday morning is the ESPN Zone @ LA Live (1011 S. Figueroa St, across from the Staples Center). The place will open as early 11:00 pm Wednesday night for a viewing party with a capacity of 1,000. No reservations. First come, first in.

How about in Koreatown itself? The place to be is the popular front lawn of Wilshire Park Place, also known as the Radio Korea building on account of the company’s big red-and-blue sign in front. This was where a huge crowd congregated last Saturday as well.

The game starts at 4:30 am, and there will be free shirts, thunderstix, glowsticks, water and pastries for those who attend.

Map powered by MapPress

Address: 3700 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010-2903

Between Oxford and Serrano, near the Wiltern Theater

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown Los Angeles | Comments Off

Insooni Concert in Los Angeles

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Photo taken inside Koreatown Plaza on Western Avenue


Insooni Concert Poster in Koreatown

Insooni Concert Poster in Koreatown

Insooni (Hangul: 인순이; born Kim In-Soon (김인순) in 1957) is a famous South Korean singer who made her debut in 1978. She is an acclaimed R&B diva who has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York.  Born to a Korean mother and an African American father, who served in the US military, she was brought up by her mother alone.

The concert will be on February 12, Friday, 8 pm, at Nokia Theater.  To check for tickets, call Powerhouse at 323-692-0303 or visit Ticketmaster.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Downtown Los Angeles, Korean Music, Korean Pop Culture | Comments Off

Hawaiian Chicken at 2009 Koreatown Festival

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

When you enter the festival grounds of Seoul International Park from the north, this is the sight that greets you. Dozens of whole chickens roasting on an an open spit courtesy of Hawaiian Chicken. They say they can cook 1,000 chickens in less than three hours! 하와이안 숯불구이 통닭

Hawaiian Chicken at 2009 Koreatown Festival in LA

It’s Hawaiian-style Huli-Huli BBQ Chicken grilled using quality Kiawe charcoal. Huli-Huli is Hawaiian for ‘turn, turn.’

The restaurant was chosen by the editors of the the Los Angeles Downtown News as Best Cooked Chicken in downtown LA. It also has fresh mangosteen juice called Xango™ but the booth at the festival doesn’t have it.

Restaurant Hours : Monday–Wednesday, 11:00 a.m.– 9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. Closed on Thursdays and Sundays

Address: 686 N Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2835
Phone number (866) 319-3867. Owner: Eugene Hong

Tags: , ,
Posted in Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown Los Angeles | Comments Off

Korean-American Architect David Hyun

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Yagura Tower designed by Korean-American David Hyun for the Japanese Village Plaza in downtown Los Angeles in 1983.

Yagura Tower by Korean-American Architect David Hyun

David Hyun is a second-generation Korean-American architect. He is credited with revitalizing Little Tokyo, the Japantown section of downtown Los Angeles. The Japanese-American Citizens League has honored him for his contributions, including his work at the Japanese American Cultural Center in 1978. A founding board member of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), Hyun has also served as chair of the board of directors of the Korean-American Coalition (KAC).

He was born in Korea in 1917 and is the youngest son of the Korean patriot Reverend Soon Hyun. You can see David Hyun’s personally designed residence in Silver Lake (address: 1954 Redesdale Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90039). He had it built in 1993.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Architects, Downtown Los Angeles, Korean Americans | Comments Off

Korean Air Office in Downtown Los Angeles

Sunday, April 19th, 2009
Office of Korean Air in downtown Los Angeles

Korean Air office on Wilshire Boulevard, part of the Wilshire Grand Hotel complex in downtown Los Angeles. I saw a professionally dressed woman working inside, but I didn’t check to see if they were actually open Saturday morning.

The Wilshire Grand Hotel was bought by Korean Air in 1989. The airlines as a subsidiary of the logistics giant Hanjin Group is planning on razing the 1950s-designed hotel and replacing it with a housing tower and an office tower.

Korean Air was founded by the South Korean government in 1962 as Korean Air Lines (KAL). It was bought by the Hanjin Transport Group in 1969. Korean Air started its passenger service to Los Angeles in 1972.

I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers in which he analyzes Korean Air’s accidents in the past. I remember the train station I was in in 1997 when the televisions screens were suddenly flooded with news that KAL Flight 801 had crashed in Guam.

Asiana Airlines became very popular around this time, but Korean Air seems to have recovered its reputation in the years since.

Tags: ,
Posted in Downtown Los Angeles, Korean Air | Comments Off

Los Angeles Downtown News Follows Up on Korean Air Project

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

For the second week in a row, the lead story on the front page of the Los Angeles Downtown News is Korean Air’s plans to raze down Wilshire Grand and replace it with a housing and office complex.

Los Angeles Downtown News (April 13, 2009, issue). Volume 38, Number 15. Story written by staff writer Anna Scott.

Korean Air the Lead Story Again in Los Angeles Downtown News

Photo caption: Developer Jim Thomas and Korean Air have proposed a 60-story office tower that would change the downtown skyline. The project, slated for the site of the the Wilshire Grand hotel… would be Downtown’s first new office high-rise since 1992.

Headline:
Office Tower is Wild Card in $1 Billion Plan.
Proposed High Rise Seen as Risky Move

The gist of the story is that there’s already a surplus of office space downtown. But believers say that it’s great to start building when the economy is weak because construction costs are lower, and future tenants would be drawn from a global pool, not just locally, because of the international presence of the Hanjin Group, of which Korean Air is a subsidiary.

If the project goes through, the housing tower and office tower are expected to be completed by 2014.

Trivia: The Wilshire Grand was the host hotel of the 56th Miss USA pageant held in Hollywood in 2007.

Tags: ,
Posted in Downtown Los Angeles, Korean Air | Comments Off

« Older Entries