The dates are the week of the May 11th to 15th. I might try to get up there on a sunday and try to leave on the saturday, but doubt it'll happen. Sadly, it'll be all business with very little chance of any personal time.

But coming from the Caymans, i'll be on the look out for shopping. Its one of the things we don't have a lot of (rolex's we have, everday stuff is quite lacking and if it does exist its expensive).

Unfortunately just about every place, thing, event, and attraction I've seen recommended are either too far to get to or too big to enjoy if you'll only have 3 hours to spend. Even going to Santa Monica or Venice is a bit of a stretch from the downtown area if you've got to get there, take a look around and get back within 3 hours. The closest sort of mall to you would be at 7th St. and Fiqueroa. A great old time eatery that's within walking distance to the convention center is the Pantry Restaurant. Been open for many years, 24 hours a day. Only times they've ever closed was after an earthquake and once, sadly, by the health dept. Great fun if you're a meat eater. I eat there at least once a month.

I live in the Pasadena area, if you've got something specific you'd like to see or do I'll try to think of somewhere you can get to within your specified time limits.

JohnE

P.S. The place with the great dipped sandwiches is called Philippe's...;^) and they do in fact have great food and it's a neat old school place that is very much a part of old Los Angeles.

If you're there on Sunday 11-3, go up to Griffith Park and visit the LA Live Steamers (500 Zoo Drive) 7.5" gage "Live Steam" (aka they are real steam, not electric) model trains that you can ride

http://www.lals.org/index.html

Grat call KG2V!! I totally forgot about Griffith Park and the train park - which is funny cuz that's where I sprained my wrist.

JohnE, when I'm back in town I usually head up to Pasadena at least once. Be fun to grab a bite at the Hat on Lake sometime, if you're up for it.

As for Kris, have fun shopping. Most of the malls are, unfortunately, pretty standardized. Lots of off-the-wall stuff if you look around (try sunset blvd, venice beach, hollywood area) though. I won't be in town that week, as I'll be in Missouri wrapping up my ej-uh-ma-cashun. Too bad. Have a blast.

I'd be up for the Hat just about anytime. Best pastrami around.

Griffith Park would be fun but again, there's that 3 hour time limit thing.

JohnE

Well the 3 hour marl is a guess... figure a sunday afternoon and an evening. rThe rest of the time will be conference.

The Hat on the Lake... Best pastrami... Sounds like a spot that needs some exporing!

I have NO Affiliation what so ever with Fry's Electronics,However... You are arriving in Los Angeles for a Microsoft Convention/Conference.As Spock would exclaim"It is Most Logical!"Let me ask you:Which Airport will you be arriving at?LAX? Aprox.3 miles straight south of LAX on Sepulveda Bl.&Rosecrans Ave. there is a Fry's, BUR which is Burbank Airport,Aprox.1 mile straight south on Hollywood Way,there is a Fry's,The one in Burbank is Very Impressive,All Fry's stores have different themes to them.If I were in The IT business,& From Elsewhere on this Planet,such as yourself,That would be my primary destination,Everything after that would be Secondary.They have diy: do it yourself everything there,from Nano to Mega! By the way,Johnnies Pastrami in Culver City has NO equal & As is Tito's Tacos,of which, is right next door!O.K. back to the shadow's for me! Have fun in LA! RoverOver

Hmmm...I gotta call a foul on Tito's, never found it to be worth the hype or the wait. Johnnies does have a very good reputation but I've never tried it.

The Hat is a small chain of restaurants, one of which is on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, unfortunately there is no actual body of water involved.

Funny but to someone not in IT I would think you'd want to avoid places like Fry's, cause that's what you do at work all day but when I was a photographer I did visit camera stores while on vacation so I guess it's all good.

The only other issue with Fry's has been brought up earlier, having to do with the quality of some of their merchandise. Are their prices worth the aggravation of getting a defective gadget?

JohnE

With only 3 hours in LA, there's barely enough time to get out of downtown to grab a bite to eat. I agree with most of what JohnE has recommended. I'd give Tito's a pass, they are popular, but the food is ok at best. Phillipe's is just south of Chinatown and near Union station, so you could take the metro there and walk around. It's been voted best French dip sandwiches in LA, and their pastrami and other sandwiches are pretty good too.

The Pantry is also another LA landmark, but if I'm in downtown during the day I skip it and head straight for Grand Central Market in Downtown LA. It's kinda like an indoor farmers market with food and fruit stands. Head straight for the center of it and look for the crowd around the mexican food place. That's where you want to eat. If you have trouble finding it, it's right at the base of Angels landing, the worlds shortest railway.

Of course, the other LA landmarks that can't be missed is Pink's Hotdogs and Tommy's Burgers. Both are open 24 hours if you feel like a late night snack. Tommys is in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood, but if you don't wander around too far late at night it's fine

For shopping there's almost anything you could ever want, but it's probably not close by. If you want a day of shopping you could always head over to Glendale where they just opened up the Americana, a outdoor urban shopping complex which is almost identical to The Grove, plus you can always walk over to the Glendale Galleria which is one of the larger indoor malls in the area. And if you're in Glendale, that opens up a world of options for eating. You almost have to stop by Porto's bakery, I would say that might even be a priority over almost anything else.

You almost have to rent a car in LA, there is public transportation but because everything is spread out it isn't as convienent as driving.

if you want chinese food, go to the new chinatown in the san gabriel valley, Alhambra/Monterey Park/San Gabriel all have better facilities and more choices than Chinatown.

there is a REI in Arcadia, or one little south of LAX. they are all within driving distance of LA conventional center, but if you can't avoid rush hour, you won't have any time left to browse by the time you get there.