Why's LA a sinkhole, you may ask? You may find this a little lame, but it is because I just sunk into the life here so fast. But this isn't a sinkhole that crumbles fast and leaves you at the bottom staring up like a Chinese frog (井底之蛙), it collapses so darn slowly that my neck becomes choked like a cork in a wine bottle, exposing my forehead to scratches and cold LA winter. Yea, like Homer in The Simpsons Movie. In 3 days, I felt like I've lived a month and I am not sure if that is a good thing. I think it is safe enough to say I've encountered the bad parts of LA together with the "good". I do want to share my scary story, but be patient.
Time seems long here, though the day sets in early at 5 p.m., and it is probably because the pace of life is so slow here, I can't even walk fast anymore because I would be the odd one out right? Wait, even when I walk on the streets, I get stared at. But I digress.
We all do a lot of things in 18 hours, but I spent it all on the plane last Saturday, and I didn't like a single bit of it until we reached USA. There was hell lot of turbulence by the way.
I couldn't resist taking this picture, pardon the poor quality, but other than that, my iPhone 4 serves me well. This was, I think, taken at 10, 000 feet. Look at those pretty snowflakes! And in the backdrop, the U.S. ocean. Very deep blue, very pretty.
I have no idea which city or state this is, but the plane was tipping at a 45 degree angle and I quickly snapped this. Can I just say, oh my god? Look at how the homes are in orderly little square patches and not a single high-rise flat (HDB)?
Luckily for me, everything just fell into place once I exited LAX. Crazy immigration process took me close to 2 hours. Poor Chinese lady with three boys, one was actively circling the floor with his fingers and making phlegm sounds (ew), got stuck at her counter for more than 15 minutes! My first meal was actually really good sushi and sashimi at this place called Sake House in Culver City. If you love sashimi and you're from Singapore, then you should try this place. Their slices of raw salmon and yellowtail are twice the thickness of those we find in Singapore!
I was brought to this little coffeeshop today and I just love how small and un-commercialised it is! I hate almond, but their almond croissants blew me away. Also did have my virgin bagel with cream cheese here. Delicious.
This burger happened at home, in the kitchen, after an impromptu trip to Trader Joe's, one of LA's famous grocery stores. This is white turkey patty with serrano (little green chillies like chilli padi's long-lost brother), caramelised onions and melted cheddar cheese. This beats the In-and-Out burger I had on my first day!
The first Vietnamese Pho in LA from a shop at Citadel Outlet Mall called Pho Bistro, I think. I was actually not expecting something this good, but oh my, the soup was so sweet and fragrant, the beansprouts lightly boiled, still crunchy, and the beef slices and beef balls - OH MY GOD. So soft yet bouncy with a little bit of fat. I loved every single mouthful of this. Too bad Citadel is so far away and no, I've learnt my lesson and will not travel 2 hours by metro bus there again.
Citadel Outlet Mall is a lovely place, but the journey there and back had us stop at the downtown areas of LA. The "black" areas as they call it. I'm normally not afraid of beggars or homeless people in general, I'll just leave them to do their thing so long as they leave me to do mine. But no, these African Americans in the downtown areas of LA are hardcore persistant. They ask for money, or they just stop to make fun of you or swear at you.
A middle-aged homeless African American came up to us while we were waiting for the bus at 10pm at night. Not a wise idea by the way, with the streets smelling like pee and dark all around. Cars don't even frequent the streets that much. So this is what he said eventually after we ignored him:
A middle-aged homeless African American came up to us while we were waiting for the bus at 10pm at night. Not a wise idea by the way, with the streets smelling like pee and dark all around. Cars don't even frequent the streets that much. So this is what he said eventually after we ignored him:
"Did your parents bring you up and taught you to hate blacks? That's just sad."
He walked away, only to turn around 50 meters later to hollar curses at us. If Mr. Homeless were to ever read this, I'd just like to tell him this: It isn't that I hate you or have any prejudice against you even as a homeless person. I was just afraid of you. I was genuinely scared because they're so agressive. And I don't know, I was so taken aback by this incident because I had expected blacks to show more compassion and empathy even towards Asians since they've been through so much slavery and bullying in their history. I can't understand it and I don't think there will be any understanding to do, because when I ask, people just say, "Oh, that's just the way they are."
And that, is sad.
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