Blessed that I am, I have friends all around the world. I had a friend already at the airport to pick me up, Kuda, government name James. After I got my bags, I stepped out into the sun, the weather was warm with a cool breeze and the streets were lined with palm trees. I can see already how people can fall in love with this city.
After me and Chelsea, who also made the trip to LA with me, split ways, Kuda took me on a leisurely tour around southern LA. The plan was to kill time until Flitz got off work at 5:30. We started down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). It looked just like all those driving video games that use the PCH as a level. Our first stop was a walk on the beach. I think it was Hermosa Beach. It looked just like the movies. Camera in hand, we walked down the concrete walkway that paralleled the coast, snapping pictures of the scenery, environment, and the people. While looking out into the Pacific, I had to orientate myself and understand that on this side of the country, looking left from the ocean is now south and looking right is now north. The vast nature of the ocean is breath-taking.
We walked down a pier which was full of Asian fishermen. I snapped a few pics. Looking back towards the coast reminded me of the setting of this video game, Jet Set Radio Future, with all the flat-rooftop buildings.
On our way back, there was a couple shamelessly making out, so of course I took a picture. I decided that I was hungry, so we went to a pizza spot right off the beach called Zeppy's. The young lady behind the counter was really nice and the pizza was good. Above me on the ceiling, were empty rectangular pizza pans lined up like tiles. Each one had a name written on it with the age, weight, and date in which that person ate a whole pizza. Obviously, a lot of the names were of people of 250+ pounds, but I was specifically more interested in looking for the lighter weights.
We drove around some more after that, as I fought to stay awake. Our next stop was another beach, however, this one was more rocky with cliffs. Kuda told me, it's also the same beach where MTV filmed the ending segment of 'Date My Mom'. If you've never seen that show, you're probably better off. Anyway, on this beach, I could really smell the ocean. It reminded me of being on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. Maine's coastline is all rocky and full of cliffs, just like this beach.
Next, we stopped at the Korean Friendship Bell. Being half Korean, I felt that maybe I should check this thing out and brush up on some knowledge. As I found out, it was a bell that South Korea gave to the U.S. on their bicentennial (July 4, 1976) thanking the U.S. for their involvement and help over the years. The Bell and the surrounding structure was beautifully detailed with colors and dragons and... bird poop.
It was about time that Flitz got off work, so we made our way to his job. I fell asleep in the car. Car rides are my sleeping pill. We got to Flitz's job and he and a fellow coworker of his, Nick, hopped in the car and we headed east to pick up Chelsea.
The five of us, Kuda, Flitz, Nick, Chelsea, and I, headed to Hollywood. We walked around on Hollywood Blvd, stepping on the Walk-of-Fame Stars, while reading them off out loud like a stupid tourist. Chelsea freaked out when she saw a man dressed as Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. I snapped a picture and we went on our way. We walked by the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. There were rails blocking off the sidewalk and entrance. Apparently, there was a movie premiere going on and people were gathered, waiting to see Zack Efron. As exciting as I found that to be, we left and got food.
We ate at uWink which was a really cool innovative eating establishment. In fact, they probably spied on me because I came up with this idea a while ago. A customer goes into a restaurant and sits down. At his table, is a touch screen computer, much like the ones at Wawa. He then can order his food and drinks and a waiter brings it out to him. Now, where I lacked, uWink did one better. While waiting for your food, you can play a variety of video games on this computer. It's mostly trivia and puzzles, but entertaining while waiting for your food. Unfortunately, half of our food order came out wrong. Burgers had the wrong toppings and things were missing. After a few bites into my burger, I realized that they put the wrong stuff on mine. The waitress took it back and they made me another one. The waitress was really nice and apologetic and as a really good server, she took my burger off the bill, she brought out an extra plate of fries on the house, and offered free dessert. Unfortunately, we were all too full for dessert. So my portion of the bill went from about $15 to $3.22. She definitely ended up with a nice tip.
After dinner, we called it a night and headed to North Hollywood, where I'll be staying with Flitz for most of this trip. About 5 minutes after my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light bulb.
Day one in LA, good.
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