L.A.
In San Francisco, L.A. and San Diego, there's something that remains consistent between the three cities that marks them as Californian -- could be the perpetual sun that shines with a blue sky that stretches on for miles without a cloud in sight, or the buildings that look similar in terms of architecture and materiality, or the laidback feel I get from the places. But there's something in L.A. that makes it characteristically different from the other Californian cities, and that is the iconic palm tree.
That, and the 'Hollywood' sign that stands in the distance on the hills.
Flight went by surprisingly quick, that usual Sin-Narita-LAX route which takes 6 + 8 hours. My first companion was a Filipina on the way back to Miami after visiting her nurse fiance in Singapore. My second companion was a guy who worked in LA, back from a vacation in Japan visiting his boys. Catching bits of Japanese teevee in Narita cracked me up, as I caught bits of a video intended for travelling passengers enacted out by an old man and a person dressed up in an uber-cute dog mascot suit, dubbed over with a high-pitched voice.
It was a little surreal meeting Shao in of all places, L.A. (last visited when I was in secondary three on a school trip which consisted of Disneyland, Universal Studios and the like), but we got all settled in enough. Met her roommate and her friends (all lovely people) and joined them at the Cha Cha lounge, a former strip joint turned into bar, with pictures of cowboy costume-wearing cheerleaders plastered all over the toilet walls, where a hot debate on the hypocrisy of the American academic institution ensued.
We're going to take it easy today and do some work.
That, and the 'Hollywood' sign that stands in the distance on the hills.
Flight went by surprisingly quick, that usual Sin-Narita-LAX route which takes 6 + 8 hours. My first companion was a Filipina on the way back to Miami after visiting her nurse fiance in Singapore. My second companion was a guy who worked in LA, back from a vacation in Japan visiting his boys. Catching bits of Japanese teevee in Narita cracked me up, as I caught bits of a video intended for travelling passengers enacted out by an old man and a person dressed up in an uber-cute dog mascot suit, dubbed over with a high-pitched voice.
It was a little surreal meeting Shao in of all places, L.A. (last visited when I was in secondary three on a school trip which consisted of Disneyland, Universal Studios and the like), but we got all settled in enough. Met her roommate and her friends (all lovely people) and joined them at the Cha Cha lounge, a former strip joint turned into bar, with pictures of cowboy costume-wearing cheerleaders plastered all over the toilet walls, where a hot debate on the hypocrisy of the American academic institution ensued.
We're going to take it easy today and do some work.