daniel(ink.) does LA!

My Dad, my sister, and I took daniel(ink.) on tour for three weeks in late September / October to the USA to promote my t-shirts and designs.

As we were crossing through Melbourne, we picked up my sister, Nathalie, and then it was on to our first destination, LA! This was where we were going to spend the first 11 days of our trip – doing a mix of work and play.

The next day we set up at a market in LA called 'Melrose Trading Post'. Our accommodation was close to the market which was convenient for an early start. The market was great and I got to meet loads of new people and chat to them about what I do and my designs. LA folks are so friendly! 

Once the market was over, we had 10 days left in LA to do some sight-seeing.  We planned a day to visit Fox Studios with Dad’s friend, Cleve. I was lucky enough to get a private tour at Fox Studios as they don’t offer private tours.

One night Cleve took all of us out to see some stand-up comedy in LA. I didn’t know many of the comedians, but I had lots of laughs. Another evening we all went out to Bel Air where we visited a jazz club to see Lucky Peterson. While inside the club, Dad and I bumped into Mariah Carey!

Another late afternoon, Cleve took us to see Venice Beach. I thought it was a pretty cool beach! They had an awesome skate park with a good vibe and lots of people showing off their professional skateboarding. I so wanted to join in with them. There were professional guys doing street performance in front of hundreds of people. They picked people out of the crowd to help them with their finale.

We also visited Santa Monica. There were lots of stalls set up at the beach. One stall was selling Santa Monica t-shirts. There was also an ice cream place and Dad treated Nat, himself, and I to one. 

One Saturday night, Kings of Leon were playing live at the Hollywood Bowl. Dad got on the phone to the box office to find out if there were tickets still available. Dad and I jumped into the car and drove across LA. When we got to the box office, the lady who Dad spoke to served us. Turns out, there were tickets still for sale. We ended up in a box with a table and we were very close to the stage. It was great! 

A few days before we were leaving LA, Dad took Nat and I to Disneyland. It was something I wanted to cross off my bucket list! We saw the Disney parade and all the characters from my favourite movies as a kid. I had a photo with the Queen from Snow White. My sister and I had a photo with the whale from Pinocchio and Woody from Toy Story. We also went on two rides -  one was going up a mountain and the other one was from a movie called Nightmare Before Christmas. We also went on the monorail train and saw Disneyland from above which was super cool. 

From LA, our next stop was the Big Apple (New York), but I will save that part of the trip for my next blog!

See you again soon!

Daniel