It is 2008 and the year of the rat. And the world is gearing up for this wonderful celebration of life and family. All the way from Los Angeles, to China, Vietnam, Korea, San Fransico. and to New York City.

Lately we have been going to the celebrations in Los Angeles due to travel and convience because of where we live. Chinatown businesses in Los Angeles pretty much closes down 1 – 3 days prior to the celebration to adhere to some of the New Years traditions. So roughly from Thursday and Friday of February 7th to the 8th many of the business will be closed. And the celebrations pick up on the morning of February 9th.

Chinatown in Los Angeles has a parade on February 9th, 2008. Get your seat early. There will be huge crowds. At times exceeding over 100,000 people plus. Be sure when the dragons pass you during the parade that they pass directly in front of you. You will be more blessed with luck during the year. And for the children, be mindful, and respect your parents and other adults and wish them a happy and prosperous New Year. There are many red envelopes to be had. The children will find money in the envelopes. Usually one will find anywhere between a nickel up to no more than $4.00. You are considered real lucky if you receive an envelope with $8.00(for its homophone for “wealth”). Sometimes they will find chocolate coins in the envelopes as well.

Prior to the parade you may want to enjoy some of the traditional Chinese and Vietnamese styled restaurants with more of the authentic foods. Not really much of the American-Asian fusion food one would eat outside such enclaved cities. All are wonderful in taste and variety. I always enjoy the traditional bowl of Vietnamese soup called Pho’. One of the many pho’ restaurants I frequent is on Broadway by the name of Pho’ 79. Order the simpliest soup called Pho’ Tai. It is pretty much a steak and noodle soup dish. One may top the soup with bean sprout, basil, hoisen sauce, nuc mum(fish sauce) and a green chile or two.

You may want to do a walking tour of the many shops that have great deals on textiles, art, clothing, toys and food at reasonable prices. You may also be surprised of the many Asian and American galleries spotted throughout Chinatown. It is also rumored that a few Hollywood stars have bought lofts in the area as well. I hear that Quentin Tarantino may be one of them. You know the producer/director/writer of such films as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and From Dusk to Dawn.

If you are unsure what Chinese Zodiac(Horoscope) you fall under, you may find out your animal sign here. Your sign will come every 12 years. If you would like to know more about the legend of the 12 signs, you may read more about it at Chinese Zodiac Page.

The Pershing Square Ice Rink is open every day from Nov. 15, 2007 to Jan. 21, 2008. Admission is $6 and skate rental is $2.

Pershing Square Ice Rink
532 S Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 624-4289

Improving a “Gummy Smile”

The most operative way of improving a gummy smile is to lower the lip line cover that covers the gums. The procedure reduces the gummy smile and produces a more attractive smile. The procedure was developed by Dr. Farnosh (http://www.thetotalsmile.com/photo-gallery/results.cfm?Category=4) Also, this procedure can be performed in conjunction with crown lengthening, to reshape the gumline around short teeth by removing excess gum. In some cases, the placement of veneers or crowns may also be needed.

Dr. Farnosh can help your smile in many ways. His office provides dental implants,
laser tooth whitening, aesthetic gum treatment & gum bleaching, gum grafting & bone grafting as needed. Another therapy offered is the treatment of periodontal disease by laser. Periodontal disease may cause bad breath, swollen and bleeding gums, receding gums, extremely sensitive teeth and, eventually, tooth loss. What is Laser light treatment? Laser light is directed through a small fiber to reduce bacteria and eradicate diseased, infected tissue around the teeth. What are the benefits of laser periodontal treatment? The treatment reduces discomfort, controls bleeding, and offers healing time sooner than more conventional procedures.

Dr. Alex A. Farnoosh, D.M.D., M.S.D., Ph.D. is a dentist in Beverly Hills specializing in dental implants, gum bleaching and gum grafting. He serves patients from all over Los Angeles & other countries.

Beverly Hills Office:
8920 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 517
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Phone: (310) 657-0503

You may also find these great hot dogs being served in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood(The Aladdin Hotel). Or if you are ever in the mood to gamble in Los Angeles. Than you can find some Pinks Hot Dogs at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California, right across the street from the Forum where the Los Angeles Lakers use to play before moving to the Staples center. Pink’s Hot Dogs are also served at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park, Los Angeles(down the hill from Griffith Observatory).

The hours for the Pinks Hot Dog stand are almost around the clock. Open anywhere between 16 – 18 hours a day. It opens daily at 9:30 am and closes between 2 and 3:00 am. On top of that if you visit Pink’s you can have another chance to see a slew of celebrities. Especially since it is in close proximity of Paramont Studios. Such celebs that have been to enjoy the tasty hot dogs are: Celine Dion, Billy Dee Willaims(loved him as Apollo in the Rocky movies and Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars movies), Bruce Willis, Snoop Dog, Bobby Flay, Tyra Banks, Alec Baldwin, Rosie O’Donnell, Aerosmith(loved Steven Tylers daughter – Liv Tyler in “The Lord of the Rings”). And yes, even the great Martha Stewart was found buying and taking a few bites of these delicious hot dogs.

The hot dogs are thee best dogs one could ever possibly have. One can view Pinks menu. I usually spend anywhere from $5.00 – $8.00. My usual is just a hot dog with mustard straight up, side of sauerkraut with Orange Crush and a bag of chips. I do get adventurous and get the spicy Chicago Polish Dog – mustard, relish, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and no chili. My all time fav though is the Bacon Chili Cheese dog.

Really, Really trust me. Pink’s Hot Dogs are worth it. I know I said you can get them at Planet Hollywood in Vegas, Hollywood Park Casino or the Greek Theater. But for the ultimate experience stop at Pink’s Hot Dog Stand on Melrose and La Brea.

An event for Fox 24 including the producers and the show’s cast enjoyed a Red Carpet event at trendy Les Deux in Hollywood. Cigars were hand rolled for everyone. Another cigars event was rolled out at the Playboy Mansion in last August.

The company prefers to work with high end event planners and is selective in what events they will cater to. CF Dominicana Cigars is introduced to new cigar lovers at every party, wedding, anniversary, red carpet event and celebrity function.

CF Dominicana Cigars
Phone: 888.467.8400
Fax: 917.386.2686
Available Mon – Fri from 10am to 9pm ET, 9 to 6pm PT. Sat/Sun from 10 to 4pm ET, 9 to 2 PT

I have been into the CBS Studios several times for several shows. It is a great experience to view live TV shows. I have seen such shows for free such as “The Price is Right” with Bob Barker, The Hollywood Squares and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. And if you are a big soap opera fan of “The Young And The Restless” and “The Bold and The Beautiful” you may get a peek at a few of the stars going and out or just hanging out in the back for small time chatter.

All the tickets are free to get to see the shows. There are several ways to get free tickets. One way is to drive to the CBS studios on Beverly and Fairfax and walk to the ticket window. The ticket window is open 5 days a week from 9 AM to 5 PM. You pick the show, the date and what time(several shows do several tapings per day). Another way to get free tickets is of course to do a search via the net, there are many services out there that you can order tickets from. Or you can call directly to the studios, which is: 1 – 323 – 575 – 2458. And if you are a local of the Los Angeles area, many studios hire temporary agencies or firms to hire what many call in the industry as “Audience Paticipants”. Yes indeed they do get paid. You may not know who they are in the audience because one of the rules is they can not tell others they are there to fill seats and to get paid.

If you want to see a listing of the television shows that are not affected by the 2007 – 2008 writers strike. Here is the listing as of January 21, 2008. Reports are coming in that some studios are actually closing in on deals with the writers union. Many believe the strike will relatively end at the end of January 2008. Here is some information about CBS television show dress code, parking, arrival time and attending the show.

see you on the freeway

InvisibleLA will be providing more frequent posting including Local cafe reviews (contact us for more information) and Live content – in regards to Los Angeles. Here are a few topic ideas you may want us to let you know about. Like the writers guild strike…..Hot spots for travel…Things to do free in LA. Tourist spots with pictures like Graumans Chinese theater. Or Vine and Sunset with the stars with the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Venice Beach – Santa Monica Beach, Pinks, Tommys Burgers. Pictures of outside the studios like Paramont(LA) and Sony(Culver City) and CBS studios on 3rd and Fairfax. A pic of the Hollywood sign(can be seen from in front of my house) to a pic of the Pantages theater.

Ok, Linda is just on her way out the door to Farmers Market behind CBS Studios. Let her see what she can pull up. She knows about 3 restaurants at Farmers Market. Farmers Market is a tourist attraction for its history(has been around since late 1920’s). Its behind CBS studios and right across the street from the Screen Writers Guild/Union where the strikes has been taking place. And the movie the “Black Dahlia” was about a murder that took place across the street in the 40’s.

So give her about 24 hours and let her pull something up for you.

Chinatown
Little Armenia
Little Tokyo
Koreatown
Thai Town
Little Ethopia
Little Manila
Jewish – Beverlywood
Little Persia
Little Italy – Which is now Chinatown. Yes odd I know.

I know in Los Angeles we have many of these inner cities as well. Such as East Los Angeles – Echo Park and City Terrace, West Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles – Leimert Park and Watts as well as Hollywood. Many of them make up small businesses and have great restaurants, and annual festivals highlighting their country of orgin and its cultures.

Now you probably wonder why I would mention Los Angeles enclaves. Well I am sure you do realise the diversity of the “Little Town’s”. And this is one of the many things I enjoy about the Los Angeles community. The best of many countries being brought to one community is a difinite highlight of living or visting such large cities. This is not counting the many districts as well in Los Angeles. Los Angeles also has a financial district, clothing district, jewelry district, toy district as well as a few other districts. So you can do one of two things, visit all the “little enclaves” or shop in the many districts, or do both, your choice. Los Angeles is a must definite visit for a vast cultural and shopping experience.

Tiger at the Los Angeles Zoo

LA Zoo creates such an environment of recreation that everyone likes to come and want to explore about the different animals and the plants. The appreciation they give to wildlife and the biodiversity inspires people.

This is the place where you can take the glance of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and off course the unique thing about this Zoo, the botanical gardens. Different kinds of birds are found there. In reptiles, there are alligators, boa, dragons, gecko, lizard, snake and tortoise from various countries. Over 200 different mammals are present in this Zoo. The invertebrates that are exhibited by the Zoo include cockroaches, millipedes, tarantula, walking-stick, spider and scorpions. Diverse varieties of amphibians are also there. As it is said above, it is not a simple Zoo; as it has botanical gardens. In these botanical gardens you can see various trees which generally fill the landscapes such as eucalyptus, ficus and mulberry. These trees help to provide food for the animals. There are also very unusual and distinct species of plants such as cycads, bald cypress etc.

The Zoo recently introduced a program A.D.O.P.T. in which people can adopt a meerkat or any other endangered species in just $35 so as to support the funds for the endangered species. To enjoy the benefits of the Zoo throughout the year you can also become the member of this marvelous place.

The cost of admission to the Los Angeles Zoo:
Adults (ages 13 – up) – $13
Seniors (age 62 and up) – $10
Children (ages 2 to 12) – $8
Children (under 2) – Free
Group Rates: Discounts are available for parties of 15 or more people. With a group discount, adults are $10 per person, and children (ages 2-12) are $7 each.

How to get to the Los Angeles Zoo
The Zoo is located at 5333 Zoo Drive, at the junction of the 5 and 134 freeways. Parking in the Zoo’s more than 2,600 general and handicapped spaces with the main and south lots is free.

The Los Angeles Zoo is serviced by MTA line 96, which runs from Sherman Oaks to downtown’s Union Station. The bus makes frequent stops in both directions at the southwest corner of the Zoo’s main parking lot. A timetable can be found at www.mta.net