What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Los Angeles

Okay, so everyone in L.A. still misses Shaq and Mel Gibson has become the village idiot, but for a city that is constantly reinventing itself that's already yesterday's news. In fact, it's a full-time job just keeping up with all the constant changes and new additions to the country's most vibrant city. Here's just a sample of what's new to see and do.

Getting Around

If you're staying at a hotel in the Downtown area there's a new "Union Station FlyAway" bus service connecting the Downtown landmark Union Station to the city's main airport, LAX. The shuttle, which takes approximately 40 minutes to travel nonstop between LAX and Union Station, picks up incoming downtown-bound travelers on the arrival level and returns departing travelers to their appropriate terminals. The 20-mile ride costs just $3 each way for adults, $2 each way for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, visit www.lawa.org/flyAwayInfo2.cfm.

If you're planning on doing some bar-hopping in Hollywood you can leave the designated driving to the new Holly Trolley (www.ladottransit.com/other/trolley), a bus that stops at several of Hollywood's hottest night spots. For $1 you can ride the Holly Trolley all night, embarking and disembarking as often as you like near clubs such as The Highlands, Mood, and Avalon. The trolley operates every Thursday through Saturday (except designated holidays) from 8pm to 4am, arriving at each stop in 12-minute intervals.

Where to Dine

On the penthouse floor of the new Hotel Angeleno is one of L.A.'s best new restaurants: WEST (170 N. Church Lane; tel. 310/476-6411; www.hotelangeleno.com). It's quite the sleek and elegant setting, with a 200-degree panoramic view of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean. The menu offers thick-cut steaks, chops and roasts along with hearty pastas, small plates and Italian Crudo. There's also a special lounge menu for late night dining at the bar, which is already the "in" place to be.

In Los Angeles is not about what you eat but where you eat, and the scene is far more important than the cuisine. A couple of new Hollywood-area restaurants that have registered on the celebrity radar include the new Bella Cucina (1708 Las Palmas Ave.; tel. 323/468-8815; www.bellahollywood.com), an Italian kitchen serving spaghetti, meatballs, and highballs to L.A.'s hipsters, as well as BlackSteel (6683 Hollywood Blvd; tel. 323/469-3456; www.blacksteel.tv), a Japanese-French fusion hot spot run by celebrity Chef Jason Harley and financed in part by Pamela Anderson. Get your evening groove on with their signature vodka served on tap.

Or you can just eat cupcakes during your entire vacation. Get in line behind Oprah at Beverly Hills' Sprinkles Cupcakes (9635 S Santa Monica Blvd.; tel. 310/274-8765; www.sprinklescupcakes.com) to get one of their famous cupcakes -- which come in more than 20 rotating flavors from chocolate chai latte to ginger lemon -- and a cold glass o' milk, then take a seat at the Sprinkles Cupcake Bar. What's not to like?

What to See & Do

The new Hollywood Visitor Information Center on Hollywood Boulevard (next to the Kodak arch) offers half-price theater tickets for up to 100 shows. Tickets are sold starting on Tuesdays for shows that week, so that visitors can select the day they would like to attend. The kiosk staffers give you a printout of your theater reservations, and the tickets are held at the theater until the night of the performance. The kiosk is open daily from 10am to 11pm.

The Getty Villa in Malibu is still the hottest new attraction in town. Closed since 1997 for extensive renovation, the villa is modeled after a first-century Roman country house and houses the Getty's collection of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan art. Admission to the villa is free, but advanced tickets are required and can be obtained online at www.getty.edu or by calling tel. 310/440-7300.

Perry's Beach Rentals in Santa Monica is offering a new hour and a half guided bicycle tour of world-famous Santa Monica and the Venice Beach canals and beach communities. Visitors will learn about the area's history, landmark architecture, and celebrity gossip. The package costs $30 and includes a three-hour bike rental with protective gear, water, a bike lock, and goody bag. A minimum of three people are required for the tour. Call tel. 310/ 372-3138 for more info.

If you're a pro baseball fan you'll want to take the new 90-minute Championship Tour of Dodger Stadium. It's a rare opportunity to view Dodger Stadium the way only players do -- with access to the field, Dodger Dugout, Dugout Club, press box, and the Tommy Lasorda Training Center. Tours are offered at 10 and 11:30am Tuesdays and Thursdays, March through October. The cost is $15 for adults and $8 for children 14 and under. For tickets log onto http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com.

They certainly took their sweet time, but the $90 million dollar renovation of the landmark Griffith Observatory (www.griffithobs.org) should be completed this fall (either way they're hosting a "Galactic Gala" on Sunday, October 29). The 70-year-old art deco building will feature five new exhibition halls, a new Zeiss Mark IX planetarium projector, and the 200-seat Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater (Fascinating!).

The Hollywood Wax Museum (6767 Hollywood Blvd.; tel. 323/462-886; www.hollywoodwax.com) celebrated its 40th birthday with the recent completion of a multimillion dollar renovation that substantially upgraded the exhibits and added 60 new figures to the collection, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Halle Berry dressed in their best award-nominee gowns. There's also a new sci-fi area with exhibits from Men in Black, The Matrix, and Star Wars.

After more than a decade, Universal Studios Hollywood (www.universalstudioshollywood.com) has finally nipped and tucked its famous studio tour (which was getting a bit saggy). The highlight is the new high-powered action sequence inspired by the The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift movie, which utilizes advanced robotics technology to simulate the underground world of street racing. The tour also features a new video narration by Whoopi Goldberg and the chance to see more TV and movie sets such as Crossing Jordan and CSI.