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13 May LA - Venice Beach
Its almost 11pm in downtown Venice Beach 13 May and I have more or less come home and brewed up some coffee - which I may or may not regret later on when I cannot sleep - it was mostly for a wake up call in the morning anyway =+ a shot of d/free 100 proof Southern Comfort - what was I thinking?? = thinking going to USA so seemed appropriate - the bottle says “assembled in ireland from Irish and other agreements” - WTF?? = _ I was thinking it was a US drink - maybe it is an Irish liqueur after all??
that aside - the trip? - as always I absolutely do not recommend flying East at all - West is OK, is Don - but westward ho? Totally forget, it screws the brain too much. Yes, the seats in the A380 to LA are as comfortable as you get in econo - but you are still trying to “sleep” semi=sitting up - and you can only doze fitfully unless you are horizontal in my view. The guy next to me - with a fiancee in Chicago and a pretty Aussie
accent - was having to go on to Chicago which would be even worse! I think he tried a cntinuous stream of chardonnay followed by bourbon and coke and whatever to knock himself out. I arrived in about 9.30am to Tom Ridley LAX - at least the efficient officer Mendoza did not query or require proof of my accommmodtn - found the shuttle vans OK - then got on one which did a circuit of the ring of terminals - there about 6 - wondered why I kept seeing the same weird circular building twice - cos we were going in a circle, thats why!
Finally got going to Venice Beach, which I had chosen as it was close to LAX and could enjoy some people watching if nothing else while my head returned to normal - which has taken about 36 hrs! And regained some sort of time zone. Mind you after a 3 hr nap yesterday afternoon after getting in- TG the room was available as check in normally 3pm. So it was finally out of the room about 6pm and already Venice Beach - which is a pretty day time place, with vendors and general freakss
VB horses mural
some look like roos to me!along the Ocean beach walk, other than some sunset drink bars - was already starting to close down. Naturally on arrival I was taken by the number of places promoting/selling on the street “kush” 'prescriptions' - yeah that's right folks, medical cannabis if you can tell them are a little depressed maaan and need some hoochie coochie mama (I may be getting my blues idioms confused but you get the drift....).
I walked N towards Santa Monica - then the promenade continued but things to see vanished so I thought it was time to head inland in search of a restaurant or somewhere to eat. Finally got to Main St in which there was lots of car action and day time shops, all essentially closed by that hour. A big conventional sorta restaurant appeared on my side of the road - on a bit further a very small vegetarian type cafe with only about 4 tables - I walked back to the busy restaurant - it was abt 8pm and there were people waiting and a wait for me as well so decided to try the small cafe - and that was where I ate. The first time in
VB piercing studio
there are heaps of them + ink as well LA and its a vegan vego cafe! Called Vardo on Main St - Iain, my man, a shout out to ya and if you ever get here try it. It said sorta persian/middle eastern vegan vego - I had the korma daily special stew - which was pretty Indian in terms of it general nice spicy tastes - with some nice tasty salad and rice and only about 13 or so before tax - and the chai latte - a huge frothy thing (soy and almond milk optional of course - just 'normal thanks!) which was nice and gingery and generally herbal - and in a huge NZ latte style bowl/cup- if u have had a latte in NZ u will know what to expect. And all for $25 all up - a bargain compared to tonite's $65 dinner (more on that later - of course).
Now to today 13 May - a very slow start - not really out of bed until really 12.30pm - I was not planning too much! The main problem to address was partial lack of meds (the important ones!) had some Isoptin for arrythmia (7 days) but left new pack at home -
a kush clubhouse
that means medicinal cannabis maaan remembered thryoid meds - but they are almost optional - and no Warfarin at all (bad news if thrombosis/ stroke) = pack left at home altogether. The guy at hotel had rung some paces - and suggested a CVS pharmacy at Marina del Rey - after a long walk there she was “only” a nurse practitioner and could not prescribe them under clinic's general policy. It seems a GP much nearer home not given would have been better option and will be tried tomorrow first thing. The scary prospect of $250 for GP visit was mentioned but this would hopefully be only $100 or so. I checked costs at the VS pharmacy over there and they sell you exactly the number of days required these would only be about $22 (+ tax?) - she did warn me to make sure Isoptin brand was prescribed as otherwise might be $100+ (no wonder they go to Canada!).
As I had only bought an apple on the way over to eat needed something so went to a juice place and got some cold sesame dressing noodle salad Japanese style for carbs and a quite ice hot chocolate chai! So the long walk
home in slightly the wrong direction - hit a main boulevard on the map - and headed the wrong way for a bit before turning ard. Walked thru West Culver City which was lovely quiet 30s-40s style houses - very cute. Walkig you see these things! - my waiter at dinner tells me it is quite a tony nghbrhd as it is close to Sony HQ in Culver City and some 'stars' live ard there. His wife worked in “the industry” and he was a composer/musician type. Everyone's a wanna be or whatever.
Saw a theatre with a play on”How I learned to drive” - did not find out how much as it was 7,50pm, I only had shorts on and gets cold here when the sun goes down, and I needed to eat! Back to Abbott Kinney Blvd and some restaurantn and bars and generaladesign shops etc. The restaurant Capri was Italian so gave it a bash - ultimately not that successful (AA Gill warning follows). Entree of
pumpkin ravioli wih sage sauce and pinenuts OK (16+) but sage sauce was too much of a blanket and not really sage taste - they are usually sage leave fried in butter etc. They did not have the tuna, but swordfish ($19+) instead on something that sounded OK - on risotto bianco with bak choy - no wasabi - and ponzu (glorified soy in a separate small dish TG). The risotto was a joke in my view - got waiter to query with kitchen on tasting and they said cooked off with onion and white wine - BS, tasted like plain boiled white rice to me! So that was pretty disappoitning. The $10 Sonoma or wherever pinot noir was OK and the $8 Calif savvy blanc also OK - but overall disappointing for the all up price of $65 for dinner - decided not to buy dessert after that as full anyway.
Its 1a.m. here - dont even think to complain how long it takes to read!!! - have some thought for how long it took to write thanks!
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