Okay, so the title may sound a little dramatic, but hey a pandemic is kind of a big deal, am I right? So, last weekend (March 6th, 2021) Husband and I decided to take a day trip to L.A. We had planned this trip about a month in advance so I knew where we were going, when we were going, and most importantly who would be watching our daughter. I know, I did see kids/children out and about and sure, I get it that their less susceptible to Covid-19 and definitely less likely to have serious repercussions if infected but their definitely still not immune. Plus, it was primarily a day trip for us to just spend time with each other.
The trip itself was primarily going to encompass Little Tokyo in L.A. as that is the place we are familiar with, it has good food, and it is very walk able.The general plan was lunch, dessert, and one or two shops that we were familiar with. We had visited Little Tokyo previously around the beginning of October 2020 for a day trip as well so some pictures that I did not get this time around will probably be pulled from that trip. First thing on the itinerary was lunch-my Husband and I are a big fan of food. We do consider it a hobby of ours and we enjoy traveling to places primarily for the food.
For lunch we ate at a place called Rakkan Ramen. Personally, we have both had Ramen in our city-there is currently only one Ramen only restaurant in our city with another on the way and wow, our cities ramen does not hold a candle to this place. 10/10 would recommend. We had eaten their once before after I did some research for a previous trip and we knew we definitely wanted to eat there again. There are also about three other ramen places on the same street, in which we plan on trying those places at a later time. Pictures are worth a thousand words so i will let them do the talking with minimal commentary:
Outdoor seating is still in effect, but there was plenty of space, particularly if you’re a couple. Seating goes into the street (with barriers keeping traffic away and shading) and yes you can hear plenty of traffic, but overall it’s not too bad. There was about a 15 minute wait and definitely more people than there was back in October 2020. We stopped here for lunch around 1pm and it just got busier after us so if wanting less people, having lunch closer to noon would probably be a better bet. Also, there is a sign up sheet at the front near the door, bring hand sanitizer as there is a shared pen or bring your own pen, the menu is also posted there, and available by QR code at every table.
Side note: Little Tokyo generally gets busier as the day progresses and I think around 4/5pm is the peak so to avoid crowds in general get there earlier and the late afternoon is not your friend.
We were interested in going to Fugetsu-Do confectionary as we had gone there before, but alas it’s a small shop so there was a minimum of who could be let in at one time and there was a line so we passed. Fugetsu-Do is good place to go particularly if you like Mochi as they sell peanut butter flavored, strawberry, and chocolate flavored- they may sell more flavors but that’s what I can remember.
We then made our way to another shopping area that has primarily Marukai Market and Kinokuniya Bookstore. These two store are normal staple of our visits but we decided not to go into Marukai as we did not intend on buying groceries or market type items. All major shops had lines but also proper spacing was being enforced.
Kinokuniya Bookstore is actually a favorite of ours as they do carry a wide range of books, stationary, little nick-knacks, and plenty of Japanese originated items.
Images from October 2020 mainly
Lastly, we made sure to pick up ice cream Mochi. Mikawaya is the name of the place but once Covid-19 hit they no longer sell fresh ice cream mochi, it is from a brand called my/mo ice cream mochi. In which, that is why Husband and I brought an ice bag/cooler with us as oh yea, we were getting mochi to go. We also bought these ice packs that actually did a really good job, they stayed frozen throughout the 6+ hour trip and kept the mochi from melting. I would recommend layering two or more on the bottom of the cooler, then a layering some mochi, then two more ice pack layers, etc.
The last thing I would like to mention is that we’ve all heard of the new Covid strains, correct? Well, with that came some new anxiety for me but I knew for the sake of my mental health that this day trip was extremely necessary. So, I looked up different masks, preferably with more of a filter than just a layer of fabric. I the found these Vogmasks, they fit very well are four-layer masks assembled from materials qualified for safety and manufactured under Quality Plan. Highly efficient VM particle filter and additional carbon filter are sewn into the middle layers of the mask to intercept microscopic airborne particles. I chose size Medium+ for me and Large for my Husband. We were wearing them throughout our day trip and had no problem breathing or any actual mask related difficulties, 10/10 would recommend.
Well, I must say we had a great time on our day trip and I hope you are finding this information useful. I must cut my farewell short as I have a grumpy toddler on my hands who clearly needs some cuddles and attention. Thank you so much for reading and please follow, subscribe, comment, and what have you 🙂
AngelaAndThenSome 
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