I spent seven days in Los Angeles, California, for the AWP writers’ conference.

Coming to Los Angeles again, for the second time in two years, was not on my 2025 bingo list originally. But when I was planning to come to San Diego to visit my family that lives there. This blog post is probably going out right after I put that one out, but it’s also scheduled much later in the future than when I am actually writing this.

After spending quite a few days in San Diego, I booked an Amtrak from the Old Town Transportation Center to Anaheim, where my friend was going to pick me up. I spent the first day actually in Orange County with my friend, as I came up a day early. The Amtrak was really nice; I would recommend it if you don’t feel like driving from San Diego to Los Angeles, especially if the traffic is bad. I paid $30 for a one way ticket.

Anyways, my friend picked me up in Anaheim, and that was the beginning of our adventures together in Los Angeles. It was certainly a rollercoaster ride, especially considering we were largely relying on public transportation and she got very sick randomly towards the end of the trip.

Our entire objective for going to Los Angeles was to go to the AWP conference. It’s the big conference for writers, but at this point I kind of show up just to see the people I know and to buy books at the bookfair. It’s very much a pay to play game, as admission into it is almost $400 if you procrastinate like I did. However, they have a work exchange program, so I did a four hour shift volunteering the first official day in order to get free admission into the conference.

My friend and I stayed at the Hometel in Koreatown, which was surprisingly cheap and we had no expectations whatsoever of that hotel. We came out of it pleasantly surprised because of the price (we paid $700 for a week). Like it wasn’t anything super nice (the television was older, the toilet paper was thin, stuff like that), but we were impressed at what it was for the price.

However, the last night there were disruptive people in the hallway at 3 AM, which isn’t the hotel’s fault, but more our misfortune that a bunch of drunk frat boys had booked a room on the same floor. I had the foresight to pack earplugs, but my friend was awake listening to them.

I do kind of regret going to Los Angeles in some ways, but I think that it was for the better in other ways. I also don’t want to ramble too much, so let’s get into the itinerary of what I did during these days.

Days One and Two: Orange, Koreatown, and resting up.

I woke up at 6 AM on day one, ate breakfast with my aunt and uncle, then headed to the Amtrak station. From Old Town to Anaheim, it takes a little under two hours, but the train ended up being ten minutes later than what was on the ticket for arrival. I ended up just getting some work done while I was on the train, then sat outside the Anaheim train station until my friend picked me up.

We then drove to Orange, where she lived at the time. She was getting her MFA in Creative Writing at Chapman University, and had excellent graduate student accommodations. She showed me around the town for a bit, and we stopped for lunch at the Thai Towne Eatery. It was surprisingly affordable for California, as the lunch special was only $12.

After that, we headed back to her place so she could work on her master’s thesis. We put on Single’s Inferno on the television in the background, and she got to work while I also cranked out some work for my job while on the couch and sedentary. We then picked her partner up, and headed to H Mart nearby so I could buy ingredients to make them a hotpot.

My homemade hotpot was a hit, despite them not owning a soup ladle and us having to use a measuring cup for that, and I got ready for bed. I was up at 7 AM the next morning, and we spent the morning prepping to go to Los Angeles. We honestly didn’t do much once we arrived at the hotel, and got dinner at a local Koreatown restaurant called Chimaek Star. We got the fried chicken and sotteok, which were both really good.

I went to bed not long after that, but my friend was still not finished her thesis, so she was up almost all night trying to finish it, as the deadline was the day before.

Day Three: the AWP Conference, meeting with writers, still eating good in Koreatown.

Day three was the culmination of why I was even in Los Angeles: the AWP conference! I thought we were going to do something in the morning that was touristy, as I had a list of things I wanted to do in Los Angeles, but then my friend was so tired she decided she wanted to stay in the entire day almost.

So I watched dramas in the morning and read for a bit while she slept. I had an arrangement with the conference as a work exchange member, so my friend dropped me off at the Convention Center at 2:30 PM for my 3 PM shift. I was there for four hours; my job was to stand in front of the bookfair doors and tell random people trying to wander in that the bookfair was closed until tomorrow morning.

After that, my cousin picked me up. I had made plans with him way in advance to get dinner, and he was getting off work when I was finishing up at the conference. I walked across the street, and he drove us to his house so he could change and pick up his wife.

We got dinner at Jeong Yuk Jeom, which is the most expensive Korean BBQ I’ve ever been to, but the quality of the meat was fantastic. If you have the budget and want a special night out, I recommend going there for sure. It’s worth the price tag if you can swing it.

My cousin and his wife then wanted to stop in H Mart, as they tried the Korean wines and liked them a lot. They bought five bottles, then we went upstairs to Sul & Beans for some Korean style bingsoo. Everyone except me had not had Korean style shaved ice, so we ordered a taro bingsoo and split it.

Well, it was so delicious we ended up going back three times this trip. It was getting late though, so my cousin drove us back to our place, and we slept good that night with full bellies and ready for the next few days.

Days Four and Five: finishing up the conference, The Last Bookstore, back to Orange and disaster strikes.

I decided to merge days four and five because they were fairly similar! On day four we woke up at 8 AM, did some work for a bit, then decided to head out to the conference.

Day four was dedicated to more panels at the conference. I went to four panels, and the most notable was the “Writing with Authoritarian Governments” with Christopher Soto, Emily Jungmin Yoon, and Sally Wen Mao, as well as the Iranian American women writers panel (although some of the panelists got into a fight in the middle of the panel for that one, which was fascinating to see happening in front of me). We headed out after going to these panels, then went to The Last Bookstore since it was only a subway stop away.

It was such a cute bookstore! I would’ve bought more if I didn’t have a small Patagonia 40L bag and wasn’t already planning on buying books at the conference. I did find a book on Brazilian contemporary culture in the rare books section for $12 that I wanted, so I did get that.

We decided on Sun Nong Dan for dinner on this day, and my friend ordered the galbi tang, while I got seollungtang. It was so good—that was honestly my favorite meal the entire trip. That seollungtang was just a warm hug, and the banchan was delicious at this establishment as well. We then got bingsoo since my friend is now an addict for it.

We didn’t do much on this night, but the next day we arrived early to the conference so we could clear out the bookfair. For those who don’t know, the AWP bookfair’s last day is when everyone puts their books on sale, as they don’t want to take all of this merchandise back home.

I picked up about nine books the entire time I was at the conference, and only spent $80. One book I really wanted, that had just recently come out, the press was giving out free copies the last day because of how they didn’t want to take them back. I ended up picking most of my books up on this last day.

We headed to Orange for an event my friend booked after that, but this is when disaster struck. We got to Orange, took naps, and then went to pick her partner up. We got bingsoo at a different branch of Sul & Beans in Orange County—I liked the injeolmi one a lot. We were going to eat at a Middle Eastern restaurant, but had no idea it was Eid, so there wasn’t anywhere to eat in Little Arabia without feeling like an intruder on a buffet situation.

That said, my friend then got violently ill while driving, then they decided to get Indian food. Which is fine with me, but then my friend was unable to leave her apartment, and I had to get an Uber all the way back to Los Angeles as our plans in Orange that night were cancelled. Totally unexpected, but things happen when you’re traveling.

I went to bed early that night, as it was quiet in the room by myself, and learned she wouldn’t be coming back with the car the next day.

Day Six: LACMA, La Brea Tar Pits, the Academy Museum, one last meal in Koreatown.

I was on my own in Los Angeles and without a car on day six, but my friend did send me money for Ubers because she felt bad I couldn’t do anything on my last full day without Ubering around. The public transportation wasn’t reliable when it came to buses, and where I wanted to go wasn’t accessible really without a car, despite only being twenty minutes away.

At 10:30 AM this morning I grabbed an Uber and headed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I was interested specifically in the Black diasporas and the Mesoamerican art exhibit. I was shocked at the sticker price of the museum, as it was the same as the ones in New York City ($30), but not as big.

I liked the art collections overall. The Black diaspora exhibit was the one that stood out the most to me, as I’m not the biggest fan of digital and video art. I know the artists working within those mediums, but I personally can never get into it. I can appreciate the history of it though.

I spent about two hours in this museum, then went to the outdoor seating to eat some granola bars and fruit leather I had packed. I then purchased a ticket to the Academy Museum because I wanted to see the Bong Joon-ho exhibit. I loved that exhibit and the Academy Museum, but I don’t see myself going back there any time soon because of the price as well.

Then I walked around the La Brea tar pits. I didn’t care for the bones in the museum, which you have to pay for, so I was happy seeing the tar pits on the outside area. It smells like asphalt, which is interesting, and I liked reading the informational placards they have scattered around.

I had made plans prior with another friend to meet on this night, but then he never responded to my messages when I was actually in Los Angeles, so when my friend I was staying with, who felt better, drove back into town, we decided to get Korean BBQ. We landed on Moohan as Quarters had a two hour wait, and I was pretty happy with Moohan.

They had an insane amount of AYCE banchan and other side dishes, like tteokbokki and japchae, and I was impressed with what they had in general. I paid for it, as my friend’s birthday was the next day, then we passed out because I had an early morning flight the next day.

Day Seven: Back to Maryland through LAX.

On my final morning, I had booked a flight for 8:25 AM. I ended up going on United, as Southwest is insanely expensive from both LAX and San Diego. I was actually appalled by how expensive Southwest was compared to Delta and United. My friend and I woke up at 5 AM, packed up the car, and then headed out to the airport.

It was a forty minute drive from the hotel with traffic, and we said our goodbyes. My bags were insanely heavy and the security line took about 25 minutes to get through at 6 AM on a Monday, and then my gate happened to be on the other side of the terminal.

I stopped at Carls Jr. for the first time in my life and grabbed a breakfast sandwich combo for $15. I wasn’t impressed by the price, but I thought the breakfast sandwich was actually weirdly good for a fast food one. I would eat that again—it was much better than Chickfila or McDonalds.

After that, I boarded my flight, slept through half of it, then watched a Korean movie on the screen. Then I happily flopped onto my bed and was glad to be home after spending most of the month in California.

I do wish I could have gotten to do more this trip, but I’m fine with it. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of California, especially Los Angeles, so I don’t see myself going back unless I need to visit family in the area. I’ll probably be back thought despite saying this, which says a lot too.

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