Its all coming up David
(I tried bullet pointing in this space about five times over, its not working for me, ill give it a go another day when IM not cataloged or have less time)
IM in LA
So I arrived yesterday at roughly midnight. Customs was an absolute big fat nightmare, made only worse by the fact that on one of my forms I had to say I had food to declare, luckily only marmite and tea. The big scary security man was a little aggressive towards me, when I tried to explain marmite was not dangerous, just a yeast extract to which he quite angrily barked that he was already aware of marmite. Bet he didn't;t know that its actually an excellent addition to pasta based dishes, but I didn't want to push it. Heathrow was a bit of a nightmare as well, with not even the check in staff knowing what was or was not allowed into hand luggage. I was not even allowed a biro in the end. One woman who looked a little like Joan Rivers was informed that her entire cosmetics bag (and it was BIG) had to go apart from possibly the hairbrush and mirror. She quickly topped up on makeup before bidding a (one suspects) tearful farewell to the bag of beauty.
yesterday was, due to time differences a 32 hour day, which was all rather odd. This past week all I have been doing is saying goodbye to everyone without actually thinking about being in Los Angeles. When I got here yesterday it was utter confusion. Yesterday I went down 'the strip' I believe. I have been on Santa Monica Boulevard, as well as route 66. The fact that IM only about 5 mins away from Hollywood is something that has not entirely resisted, its all a little bit random to be honest, well very random. Its also a little bit un nerving. I sort of wish I had just sat down for about a day in the UK and actually sorted with myself that I was going to be going away for a year. On the plus side, my lack of preparation means IM not sure what to expect next... I can tell IM fairly phased by the whole thing and slightly stressed due to the excessive amount of time I have spent in supermarkets today (Whole foods is AMAZING). The surreal experience has only been made more intense by....
The excellent cheap and very asda smart price hostel
To cut a very long story short, my lift to the hostel yesterday took 90 mins longer than it should have done. My driver didn't really know where he was dropping me, and only realized this when I was the only one left in his minibus. So I arrive jetlagged and annoyed with the excessive journey time, and arrive at a dubious looking hostel. When I went in the office was 'closed' and I was asked to wait. The feel of the place is one of hippy type travelers, who like to lounge around drink and eat a lot, which is fine, if it were not for the fact that that's not exactly what I needed at that exact moment. There is a lot of 'a stranger is a friend I just haven't met yet' going round. In essence irritating after such a long flight, and undermined by Los Angeles, which IM already aware is quite a profit oriented city. I hosteled a lot in Ecuador, but I was quite confused by having to put my own bedding on, and the lack of a duvet, although I didn't really need it (its quite warm and sunny all the time) the free BBQ was excellent as well. I even bought myself a beer at it, and was not ID, excellent! Ill pop some pics online when I get a chance. Its a unique place anyway.
Last night I also walked with a girl to a 'farmers market', which sounds a little like a selection of Americans selling organic carrots, but it was actually a very big very new shopping centre type street. What struck me so much is how false the whole thing was, like it had been made up to resemble a 1920's type affair, however it was painfully evident that it had been made within about the past six months (the turf had not set in). It was all very nice, but quite plastic. I think that's what sums up LA at the monet, really rather plastic in its approach. I was also there at 9am this morning looking for food. Apparently nothing starts until 10am, and so it was just staff there. They were going round doing things such as wading in the fountain picking up rubbish, and polishing the lamp posts. Its all very slick, and almost a little like a filmset. They were all Mexican as well by the looks of it. They have all the low paid jobs (as if to re enforce this job adverts for low paid positions are displayed in both english and spanish). There are a lot of homeless here as well with their shopping trolleys. Today for example there was a homeless man sleeping in the bus shelter. The local people didn't seem to bother one way or the other. (Anja; what you said about the lack of a welfare state and how scary that is has been a bit of a realization) Its odd, and not entirely unlike Ecuador in this sense. The evident difference being that this is the richest nation in the world, and Ecuador isn't.
Breakfast Went to this amazing restraunt/cafe place for food today. Its a 24/7 restraunt which is a really intense operation thing when you think about it. Its very retro, but the food is amazing, and the old American Diner but on a large scale thing is something that really appeals to me. Tips are very confusing, to the point where I had to ask my waitress what tip I should leave, and I had to get her to talk me through my choice of eggs. 3 eggs a big load of hash brown type stuff 4 rashers of bacon, 2 slices of toast, and 2 cups of tea (not TEA TEA, but not terrible) was about 6 pounds tip included. It was a lot quicker than the selly sausage as well, and nicer. What upset me was that, although evidently an American portion I ate it all :S, fearful of getting fat I have walked for about 4 hours to get to UCLA today, (I have registerd and everything, evident by the fact IM using a Uni PC). Its really odd, despite the fact people could NO ONE walks, like, at all, apart from the homeless and some Mexicans. American wonders why its fat, lots of fried food and then not walking anywhere, you do the math or maths depending on which way you look at it....
Ok, well IM done, I think that its possibly been one of the dullest blog entries ever, but IM sure it won't always be this bad. Im going to stop now anyway as I need the restroom...
Miss you all loads, thinking of you all also.
David
IM in LA
So I arrived yesterday at roughly midnight. Customs was an absolute big fat nightmare, made only worse by the fact that on one of my forms I had to say I had food to declare, luckily only marmite and tea. The big scary security man was a little aggressive towards me, when I tried to explain marmite was not dangerous, just a yeast extract to which he quite angrily barked that he was already aware of marmite. Bet he didn't;t know that its actually an excellent addition to pasta based dishes, but I didn't want to push it. Heathrow was a bit of a nightmare as well, with not even the check in staff knowing what was or was not allowed into hand luggage. I was not even allowed a biro in the end. One woman who looked a little like Joan Rivers was informed that her entire cosmetics bag (and it was BIG) had to go apart from possibly the hairbrush and mirror. She quickly topped up on makeup before bidding a (one suspects) tearful farewell to the bag of beauty.
yesterday was, due to time differences a 32 hour day, which was all rather odd. This past week all I have been doing is saying goodbye to everyone without actually thinking about being in Los Angeles. When I got here yesterday it was utter confusion. Yesterday I went down 'the strip' I believe. I have been on Santa Monica Boulevard, as well as route 66. The fact that IM only about 5 mins away from Hollywood is something that has not entirely resisted, its all a little bit random to be honest, well very random. Its also a little bit un nerving. I sort of wish I had just sat down for about a day in the UK and actually sorted with myself that I was going to be going away for a year. On the plus side, my lack of preparation means IM not sure what to expect next... I can tell IM fairly phased by the whole thing and slightly stressed due to the excessive amount of time I have spent in supermarkets today (Whole foods is AMAZING). The surreal experience has only been made more intense by....
The excellent cheap and very asda smart price hostel
To cut a very long story short, my lift to the hostel yesterday took 90 mins longer than it should have done. My driver didn't really know where he was dropping me, and only realized this when I was the only one left in his minibus. So I arrive jetlagged and annoyed with the excessive journey time, and arrive at a dubious looking hostel. When I went in the office was 'closed' and I was asked to wait. The feel of the place is one of hippy type travelers, who like to lounge around drink and eat a lot, which is fine, if it were not for the fact that that's not exactly what I needed at that exact moment. There is a lot of 'a stranger is a friend I just haven't met yet' going round. In essence irritating after such a long flight, and undermined by Los Angeles, which IM already aware is quite a profit oriented city. I hosteled a lot in Ecuador, but I was quite confused by having to put my own bedding on, and the lack of a duvet, although I didn't really need it (its quite warm and sunny all the time) the free BBQ was excellent as well. I even bought myself a beer at it, and was not ID, excellent! Ill pop some pics online when I get a chance. Its a unique place anyway.
Last night I also walked with a girl to a 'farmers market', which sounds a little like a selection of Americans selling organic carrots, but it was actually a very big very new shopping centre type street. What struck me so much is how false the whole thing was, like it had been made up to resemble a 1920's type affair, however it was painfully evident that it had been made within about the past six months (the turf had not set in). It was all very nice, but quite plastic. I think that's what sums up LA at the monet, really rather plastic in its approach. I was also there at 9am this morning looking for food. Apparently nothing starts until 10am, and so it was just staff there. They were going round doing things such as wading in the fountain picking up rubbish, and polishing the lamp posts. Its all very slick, and almost a little like a filmset. They were all Mexican as well by the looks of it. They have all the low paid jobs (as if to re enforce this job adverts for low paid positions are displayed in both english and spanish). There are a lot of homeless here as well with their shopping trolleys. Today for example there was a homeless man sleeping in the bus shelter. The local people didn't seem to bother one way or the other. (Anja; what you said about the lack of a welfare state and how scary that is has been a bit of a realization) Its odd, and not entirely unlike Ecuador in this sense. The evident difference being that this is the richest nation in the world, and Ecuador isn't.
Breakfast Went to this amazing restraunt/cafe place for food today. Its a 24/7 restraunt which is a really intense operation thing when you think about it. Its very retro, but the food is amazing, and the old American Diner but on a large scale thing is something that really appeals to me. Tips are very confusing, to the point where I had to ask my waitress what tip I should leave, and I had to get her to talk me through my choice of eggs. 3 eggs a big load of hash brown type stuff 4 rashers of bacon, 2 slices of toast, and 2 cups of tea (not TEA TEA, but not terrible) was about 6 pounds tip included. It was a lot quicker than the selly sausage as well, and nicer. What upset me was that, although evidently an American portion I ate it all :S, fearful of getting fat I have walked for about 4 hours to get to UCLA today, (I have registerd and everything, evident by the fact IM using a Uni PC). Its really odd, despite the fact people could NO ONE walks, like, at all, apart from the homeless and some Mexicans. American wonders why its fat, lots of fried food and then not walking anywhere, you do the math or maths depending on which way you look at it....
Ok, well IM done, I think that its possibly been one of the dullest blog entries ever, but IM sure it won't always be this bad. Im going to stop now anyway as I need the restroom...
Miss you all loads, thinking of you all also.
David
posted by David @ 2:21 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:51 PM ,
66 Productions said...
Enjoyed reading an "outsiders" perspective on this confusing but wonderful metropolis in which I am glad I live.
I don't want to tell you to be frightened by it, but I also need to tell you to be aware of it. It can suck you up and swallow you whole, or you can digest every last inch of it and find yourself hungry for more of what it has to offer.
You might want to check out citysearch for food options. It is usually pretty good in terms of accuracy. Drop me a line away from the blogosphere if you want, and I'll see what other information I can dig up for you regarding the area you are in.
At 12:39 AM ,
Unknown said...
Hey David, I created a blogger account just for you (hope you're happy!). Sounds like you had an interesting albeit daunting first day, I hope you get used to LA quickly... just make sure you come home in one piece (not that you wouldn't)!!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home