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5 REASONS WHY YOU DIDN’T MISS ANYTHING BY NOT ATTENDING THE ‘ANTI WORLD TOUR’

Rihanna has started rocking North America with her 6th tour Anti since March 2016 and she is going to keep glamorizing many other performances in other countries as well. As one of her biggest fans I was also very excited to see her for the fourth time (First two in Istanbul, Turkey and last two in LA). Even though with her latest Manolo and Fenty collection she impressed her fans, our love to her maximized after she announced that she will be donating up to 50K for students who cannot afford college. However, I was really disappointed with Rihanna herself and her concert performance on her Anti World Tour. Unfortunately knowing 95% of her songs and being amazed with the whole Anti album didn’t help much as well.

Here are the 5 reasons why you didn’t miss anything from the ‘Anti’:

1- Poor Performance

Knowing Rihanna since 2006 and following her closely during her growth period has allowed me to tell that she was not 100% on the stage in Los Angeles. Most of the time audience had to listen her previous records instead of her actual voice. Unfortunately she wasn’t even afraid to make it obvious that she is not the one on microphone most of the time. The show was focused on dancers, colors and unnecessary foams instead of her voice and her legendary songs. I remember when she was in Istanbul at 2010 for ‘Last Girl on Earth’ Tour, she was dancing, and performing on her fullest which fulfilled the audience with passion and joy for 3 hours. In the same concert, the crew also made a confetti rain during her RiHit, ‘Umbrella’ which she had an unforgettable performance. I guess this time they implemented a bubbly foam which suppose to be  entertaining for us, the audience.

Particularly in Los Angeles there were two concert dates. Drake appeared for those who are ‘lucky’ on May 4 performance. Unfortunately the first day attendees had to be satisfied with Travis Scott only.

In other words, competing with world stars such as Beyoncé or Katy Perry, I found Rihanna’s performance very poor and dispassionate.

2- Watching the grass grow… (If you know what I mean)

The actual concert time was 7.30 PM but fans barely got to see Rihanna past 9.30. It even took Travis Scott to come up to the stage an hour and he performed approximately for half an hour only! For a 1 hour and 15 minutes Rihanna concert, you need to wait 2 hours for Rihanna. And she is the only reason why 98% of the audience is there. Right?

3- What about the le-gen-dary songs of Rihanna?

The concert started with hits from her latest album Anti, continued with her pop-rap hits and older songs and she finalized with songs from albums Anti and Unapologetic. But, what happened to the ‘We found love’? Did she really need to make a remix with Calvin Harris’s ‘How Deep Is Your Love’? Isn’t the song itself is a RiHit which has millions (and more than ‘How Deep Is Your Love’) of followers? Aren’t the fans are there to listen Rihanna’s song instead of Calvin Harris’?  Also when she was singing her current top list song ‘Work’, it felt like a regular song of hers rather than a RiHit which made it to number 1 on Billboard hot 100 for 9 weeks. The song ‘Umbrella’ wasn’t performed passionately as well even though it is the song which supported her worldwide recognition.

4-The real ‘Real’ Bossy

Everyone can easily tell Rihanna is a boss herself, in her personal life, everything she touches and creates. I believe, her attitude also helped her to capture her audience and success in her field as well. However, during her concert, she was too bossy to her fans this time. To the fans who made her, and who helped her to become ‘Rihanna’ today. It was really hard to observe that shy, proud and passionate woman we love to see.

5-Travis Scott??

Before I bought my ticket, I had to check online who Travis Scott was and actually I barely got to figure out who was he during his performance. Even though he is a very promising rapper, it was really hard to find a connection with Rihanna and him. After waiting for 2 hours for Rihanna, I realized I paid for Travis Scott’s performance as well unintentionally.

In sum, if you are a Rihanna fan like me, you might consider waiting for the next tour. If you are not her fan but just want to see a world icon’s performance on Anti World Tour, decision is yours!

Italian Taste and Hospitality in West Hollywood

Every family has a story and this is the story of the Dialog cafe family.

Once upon a time, there was a charming coffee shop located in West Hollywood’s famous Sunset Strip. People would mostly recognize this spot by its attention grabbing architecture and their ‘Infinity frameless windows’. After I learned about this building I realized it was designed by Rudolph Schindler who has a number of fascinating architectural works such as the ‘Kings Road House’ (aka. Schindler House), It is not a coincidence that the Dialog coffee is just blinking at you in the corner.

However the real reason why this coffee shop is twinkling is the family who is running the Dialog coffee shop since 2006. This Italian family shows very generous hospitality that makes you feel like it’s your own family’s or close friend’s business. I actually had chance to meet with the family and had a short conversation which gave me that warm fuzzy family feeling right away. I realized I appreciated it even more since, especially in West Hollywood, with the mixture of nationalities and personalities people often tend to forget about their roots.

In addition to great service and historical location, the coffee is unforgettably delicious. Their coffee is privately roasted fair trade varying from Ethiopian to Brazilian blends. They offer traditional coffees, espresso bar as well as their specialty flavors. For your mid-meal cravings, you can also find delicious and fresh pastries showcased by the espresso bar. This place can also be the perfect location for you to work with free wifi & multiple outlets, to hangout with your friends or just simply to get your daily dose of caffeine.

As far as the online rumors, celebrities sometimes stop by there too. For example, Harry Styles was spotted there last year around these times.

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Where

West Hollywood, Sunset Strip

8766 Holloway Dr, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Parking

Street and metered parking

If you haven’t seen your family for a long time, or if you are from a different country like me and missed that friendly feeling stop by Dialog Cafe and satisfy your taste with a delicious coffee!

Dialog Cafe

Here’s Everything About LA Beer Fest

It’s that time of the year!

LA Beer Fest is going to take place in Downtown this weekend on Saturday. If you haven’t been before, it’s your chance to discover this fun filled event with your friends and experience it for your first time this year!

For the last 5 years, LA Beer Fest has been introducing a number of domestic and international drafts on tap to LA locals. This year LA Beer Fest is going to take place for the 8th time with over 200 different beers for your tastebuds! It is most likely that you will not be able to try all these different beers but after a couple of different ones you will start to feel the real party!

There are two sessions which are between noon and 3pm or 5pm and 8pm. Since they strictly don’t refund or exchange the tickets make sure you plan with your friends ahead and buy the same session together. Buy your tickets online and just enjoy the fun!

General admission is $48 which includes beer tasting. Recently, this year, they also added Connoisseur tickets which you can buy for $86. These tickets include private bathrooms, event t-shirts and some exclusive beer tastings. It’s a great fun with friends anyway, so I would recommend just going with general admission tickets. There are also number of great food trucks right by the entrance and two different music bands for each session.

Last year they had a Photo Booth-which is my favorite-for you to take funny pictures when you are drunk and remember how much you had fun at the fest later. Also, get ready to wait in huge lines or play smart and start from the opposite or end of the tasting line.

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Where

La Center Studios (450 South Bixel Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017)

When

Saturday, April 9, 2016 with 2 sessions (noon-3pm or 5pm-8pm)

Pricing

General Admission $48

Connaisseur Tickets $86

What to wear

Make sure you wear comfortable shoes since you will be standing for a long time. It may also rain and this event is rain or shine.

How to get there

If you are planning on drinking, I would recommend taking the train. You can also try Uber/Lyft. Even though parking is free because of the crowd and it is really tough.

If you like beer and you are a person who would enjoy a huge party with drunk people, you have to try LA Beer Fest this year!

Buy Tickets

LA Beer Fest 5

NO NEED TO GO TO CHICAGO FOR PIZZA ANYMORE!

Want to feel at Chicago without even going there?

First, remember you can find almost all the stores from ‘The Magnificent Mile’ in LA and second you can get the same food too. Also you get the special privilege of eating authentic deep dish pizza in a GREAT place.

Although many of us haven’t been to Chicago -for example me-it is possible to eat great Chicago style deep dish pizza in Mid-city! Everybody knows that LA is not famous for pizza, as opposed to New York being the Mecca of Pizza. However, recently there are a number of up and coming pizza spots which are competitively good! This legendary Hollywood Pies pizza is one of the rare Chicago style Deep dish pizzas in LA.

*Deep dish pizza is famous with its high edged pie-like crust so that it is stuffed with large amounts of cheese and usually topped with juicy tomato sauce.

Famous with Chicago style deep dish pizza, Hollywood Pies has been around for almost 6 years now. However they were operating in different locations and their business models were different in each spot. Recently they reopened at Mid-city offering take-out and dine in services. All their fans were really happy after their closure in Downtown, including me. This location is pretty small and simple with 10 tables in total. If it’s your first time, try my personal favorite the ‘Hollywood Pie’. It is stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with house made Italian meatballs with a rich & juicy tomato sauce. It has very thick and crispy crust which feels like a biscuit in your mouth- and I think Chicagoans would give their thumbs up and approval!-but my favorite part is the juicy tomatoes on top of the pie.

With Hollywood Pies, you don’t have to worry about not being able to go to Chicago and trying their Deep Dish Pizza. It is also very centrally located in LA. They are open Thursday through Sunday if you want to try it on a tired night after work or on a party night with friends! Just remember to order in advanced as these deep dish pizza’s tend to take 30-40 minutes prep time.

Read more Hollywood PiesdfgkjkdssdIMG_5146IMG_5177sdgjfdigjfdg

 

Can’t Wait For The Summer!

Even though-with the rainy weather surrounding Los Angeles-it doesn’t look like summer is around the corner, it is always pleasurable to explore new beaches on the ‘West Coast’. Many Californians are already familiar with the fight between property owners by the beach and the public use of beaches. Since, the legal rights of Californians are being revealing recently, many LA natives have already started to discover ‘private’ coves. Particularly Malibu has been the biggest discussion since it hosts famous and rich people mostly and it contributes to 30% of the Los Angeles beaches. So recently, I made my way to Malibu as well and found my secret ‘private’ spot. It looked like it is a well discovered stretch of beach by many Malibu residents only.

Since I discovered there is no ‘all-private’ beaches in LA, I have been driving around Malibu and actually ended up finding the public access for Broad beach. It is located right after ‘Point Dume’ and right before ‘El Matador’ beach. Its entrance is a little hidden in compare to the other beach entrances right by the PCH. The entrance is on the private street, after a turn from the lights (Starbucks on the right side of PCH). Drive a bit on the street and you will see the gated entrance stating public beach access. The entrance leads to a long and amazing Malibu cove covered with million dollar homes. Even though some homeowners were annoying and not happy with the public’s existence there, it was still an enjoyable day at Malibu!

It is very important that all Californians are aware of their rights about this issue and they can enjoy all beaches without any disturbance. For that matter Jenny Price, an environmental writer, created an app called ‘Our Malibu Beaches‘ that you can access through app store and find out where are the public accesses on the map. Currently as far as state standards, there must be at least five access points for every mile. Even though this rule is not followed well, through this application and map you can easily find out where the secret hidden access points are and enjoy YOUR local beaches!

Can’t wait for the summer! I hope everyone gets to discover this amazing Broad beach and another special beach for themselves this summer!IMG_4102IMG_4103IMG_4105IMG_4111

A HIDDEN HIKE IN CALABASAS!

They usually say cloudy weather is perfect for watching movies and eating popcorn. However, as the weekend comes closer, Los Angeles is a city which usually gets motivated by rainy days. I think hiking is another excellent choice for cloudy days as opposed to melting under the sun in hot days. I will share my latest discovery for the ones who like to spend their weekends outdoors. Even though I do not love hiking, I want to take you on a little adventure in Calabasas since it was really pretty on a partially cloudy day, when I first discovered this place.

It is located on top of the hills shortly after the Woodland Hills area-which is also referred to as ‘Hidden Hills’-  , located on the right side of the 101 freeway going northbound. I recognized a little roadway which reminded me of the path where the Prince’s take with their horses in the fairy tales. It looks like a mystical Disney cartoon movie location. It is really easy to recognize the hiking trail from the freeway with it’s charming view. Later, I figured it is also called ‘Modelo Trail Nag Loop’. However I still suggest that you should exit the freeway as soon as you recognize the amazing trail on the hills.

The hiking trail is pretty easy and not very long-3.9 miles/6.3 km-. Even for a person like me who doesn’t like hiking, it was pretty entertaining with interesting nature, huge trees and little pumpkins laid out in the nature. I guess that’s where the name ‘Calabasas’ comes from too.  According to one legend, in 1824 a rancher passing by the area with a wagon-load of pumpkins, spills the pumpkins on the road. The next spring locals recognize hundreds of pumpkins along side the road (“City History”). Then they named the area ‘Las Calabasas’ which means pumpkin in Spanish. Just like in the story, there are little pumpkins laid along the little trail.

The trail is pretty clean and not crowded at all!  You should only watch out for mountain bikers with high speed going down the hill.

As a result, this hiking is one of my favorite spots to be in rainy or cloudy days. Since the weekend looks like it’s going to be one of those cold ones, you should check out the hiking spot and get some fresh air out from the city pollution.

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Favorite Drinks of the Week

1-The son of a bee sting The Black Market Liquor Bar –Gin, Lemon, honey, rose water

2-Road Runner The Tasting Kitchen –Mescal, lime, fennel

3-The Classic Cosmopolitan Mastro’s Oceanclub Malibu – Orange infused vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec, orange zest, fruits

Mastro’s Cosmopolitan
Margarita

4-House Margarita Cafe Habana Malibu– Silver tequila, fresh lime juice, triple sec

5- Matador Maia West Hollywood – Mezcal, raspberry, Sriracha , lime, sesame

Note:  Taste of all drinks may vary bartender to bartender. If any of these drinks is your 3rd drink, taste may vary also.

New Bee ‘Maia’

Katana, Night+Market or Boa Steakhouse are already milestones on the Sunset strip. Especially in busy days sometimes it might be really hard to make reservations. As the weekend comes closer, I would like to add another glamorous choice for ‘WeHo’ lovers. The new, trendy, hot-spot at the Sunset strip is ‘Maia’!

Even though Maia is pretty new to the LA entertainment scene, it became a hot-spot really quick due to its nice and mingly patio. The crowd consists of LA hipsters and entertainment lovers just like most of the other restaurant/bars on the Sunset strip. It is most likely that you might run into your ex, close friend or coworker.

The main reason why I like Maia is the atmosphere and the crowd rather than the food and drinks. They serve fusion foods which include lobster quesadilla, Alaskan Halibut ceviche, albacore sashimi and even poke bites. They also have delicious and unique cocktails which are infused with jalapeños, Mezcal and high quality Reposado tequila. My favorite is the ‘pink Cadillac’dfghddfgnIMG_7483 which has vodka, lychee, dragon fruit, guava and green tea. Sounds interesting right? It has a very interesting taste also! Most people also like the “Mai Angeles” which has Anejo and avocados.

In addition to the drinks, to me, the U shaped bar and the little patio is more enjoyable than the drinks. Anyone who likes to hang out at bars and meet new people, get your favorite drink and have a little conversation with your friend, will surely LOVE the bar at the Maia.

In other words, if you are someone who likes to enjoy West Hollywood restaurant/bars on the weekends (including Thursdays too nowadays), if you are one of the entertainers in the LA scene and if you like cocktails more than foods, you should definitely stop by Maia while its still a trendy hot-spot.

Zagat Rated

Contact Maia

Black Angus

Meat lovers?

Here we go! Introducing the extremely delicious but not that famous Korean barbecue hotspot in Los Angeles! Most of us started getting accustomed to Korean BBQ by stumbling upon some mediocre quality restaurant in Koreatown. In time I learned that great Korean BBQ is not only about good quality meat but also the tastiness, freshness and variety of the side dishes. After loosing some time at cheap all you can eat buffets and trying chewy meats that tasted like plastic, my journey changed fully right after I went to ‘Chung Ki Wa’, aka ‘Korean Black Angus’.

This is a place where you almost feel like you are dining with family. Upon arrival your long lost Korean uncle is quickly guiding you on where to park in their compact parking spaces. As soon as you get in you realize that you are in an extremely traditional Korean restaurant since its popular amongst the local Korean population.

I mainly suggest everyone to try their Angus Galbi (marinated short ribs) and Joomooluck (beef short ribs). They also have family sized selections and variety of other Korean cuisine selections. However every time I visit Chung Ki Wa , I always eat their special Angus based barbecue. The main thing I love about Korean Barbecue is the fact that it comes with a variety of sides and each has a unique taste (also called “Banchan”).-It always reminds me of the Turkish cuisine I’m used to at home-. At Chung Ki Wa, you will find a great selection and keep mixing sweet and salty with your delicious meat right off the grill.  Or if you need help the wonderful server Kate will definitely show you how you should eat the foods in perfect harmony! Also don`t forget to get a bottle of Soju with your meal!

It has a pretty central location in the Mid-Wilshire area. Whether you work Downtown or party in West Hollywood, just stop by one evening and give it a try!

Chung Ki Wa