I’m writing this post a little embarrassed because it’s about my first trip to The Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Why embarrassed, you say? Well, first of all, because visiting this museum is FREE and free tourist attractions in Los Angeles are pretty much a rarity these days so for someone to pass up an opportunity like this is just plain lazy (that was me). Second reason is perhaps worst of all…The Getty is literally 6 miles from where I lived for nearly a year. I’d see it up there on the hill almost every day and be like “Yeah, yeah…I will go this weekend”. Never happened.

So the last time I was in LA I decided to stop lying to myself and actually make this 6 mile trip. Let me just start by saying I set off on this journey a bit late, at 3:45 on a Friday afternoon. For anyone who is familiar with Los Angeles roads at 3:45 on a Friday afternoon…yeah.

I immediately regretted my decision once I saw what I was getting myself into but it was too late to turn back. 45 MINUTES LATER (and remember, only 6 miles away), I finally made it to The Getty’s parking garage. This is where I should mention that although visiting the museum is free, it costs $15 to park there. Depending on how many people you are with this could still work out to be a dirt cheap museum visit; however, if you go alone and want to avoid paying the $15 then you should look for somewhere free to park near a Metro Rapid Line stop where you can hop on the 761 and get dropped off at the main gate on Sepulveda Boulevard. You could also walk or ride a bike, but I guess that would entirely depend on where you were staying in this sprawl of a city and your stamina.

By the time I made it up the hill, it was 4:30 and the museum closed at 5:30. Cool.

No, but it really was cool. Between you and me, I didn’t even look at one exhibit while I was there because I was too enthralled by the museum’s architecture and surrounding views to care about what art I was missing out on inside. Not to mention the sun was beginning to set and if you’re into photography like me, you know you gotta snap those magic hour shots while you can.

So, the moral of this story is GET YOURSELF TO THE GETTY if you have the possibility. It’s free, it’s beautiful, and if it’s a clear day, you will most definitely have amazing views of the city. I will be back in Southern California soon and will for sure be going again and giving myself more time so I can check out the interior as well. It seemed like a mission and sitting in a ridiculous amount of traffic almost made me believe it wasn’t worth the hassle, but in the end, I couldn’t think of any better way to have watched one of my last sunsets in Los Angeles.

As I mentioned before, I have been spending a significant amount of time in southern California with family and friends after a year of being away. It’s been fun, it’s been real, but it has definitely started to get a bit boring staying relatively “put” in one spot for the past few weeks. And obviously we can’t have that on this site (nor in our lives), can we?

So I decided to take a little trip out to South Central Los Angeles. It was quite a change of scenery from where I was staying on the west side of the city, a change that I embraced and thoroughly enjoyed. Due to time constraints I wasn’t able to spend as much time here as I would have liked, but there were two things that I did manage and would like to recommend them to anyone hanging out in Los Angeles looking for something different to do.

ROSCOE’S HOUSE OF CHICKEN & WAFFLES

There are quite a few Roscoe’s you can choose from to experience the famous fried chicken and waffles combination, but since it was a “South Central” kind of day, I hit up the one in Inglewood right off the 110 freeway at Manchester.

As usual, didn’t know what to expect, but have to say I was impressed. For some reason I thought it was going to be a McDonald’s or Burger King style setup—that is, if I was lucky. But no. It was a nice, clean sit-down establishment and the service was excellent.

Now more about my entrée. I was recommended the #1 Scoe’s (1/4 chix prepared southern style, 2 waffles, and “their own private mix”) for $10.70 and got a mix of white and dark meat. I was pleased with it and therefore am passing that recommendation on to you.

I only made it through half of my plate—definitely one of those meals that makes your arteries hurt and ass grow just looking at—but I’m proud to say the waiter complimented me anyway on what I was able to accomplish. He said my eating technique “looked goood” for a first-timer so that made me feel like a champion. Looking back at this photo though, I really have no idea what he was talking about…looks disastrous. Whatever. It filled me up and I was ready to move on to my next destination.

WATTS TOWERS

Just a short drive south from Roscoe’s down Main Street and then left on 102^nd Street you will soon find yourself in the heart of Watts (of 1965 riot fame).

102nd Street turns into 103rd Street…keep going. You will pass through South Central Avenue and then Compton Avenue. Pass over the train tracks and make your first right on Graham Avenue.

Keep following that road until you notice something that one would not expect to find on this side of town.

This quirky art installation is known as the Watts Towers. They were created by Italian immigrant and construction worker Simon Rodia. From 1921 to 1954 Mr. Rodia worked on what he called “Nuestro Pueblo” during his free time (nights, weekends, holidays). Hell of a hobby, huh?

Guided tours are available if that’s your thing but personally I just wanted to walk around the outside and take photos. If you’re into photography I suggest you try going just before sunset.

All in all it was a nice day out. As is so often stressed on this travel blog and many others…it’s all about making the best out of whatever situation you are in. If it happens to be one in which you wish you were traveling but for whatever reason cannot, just have a look around your own backyard, even if you always thought your backyard was a dangerous ghetto. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you find.

]]> http://stophavingaboringlife.com/a-visit-to-south-central-roscoes-watts-towers/feed/ 9 http://stophavingaboringlife.com/sushi-sunday-in-vancouver-british-columbia/ http://stophavingaboringlife.com/sushi-sunday-in-vancouver-british-columbia/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:13:01 +0000 Rob http://stophavingaboringlife.com/?p=8513

Greetings,

My last night in LA was intense and went straight from a secret cinema to the airport to catch a flight to Vancouver. It was pouring rain and the $70 cab ride made me think of the house I helped a friend buy in Tanzania for $100. Organize the shuttle for $20 if you know when you’re leaving to LAX with Super Shuttle or Primetime, again I missed that boat. Will make an update on my last night in LA tomorrow as right now it’s time to get some much needed rest…

LA was cool but happy to be at a friends house in Vancouver and back in Canada. Vancouver is a world class city, if I ever make something big happen, would like to have an apartment. Met up with some people and headed to Dream Sushi on Main, it was delicious but seriously over ordered and feel distressed. If you have friends in far away places, look for long layovers as it’s always cool to hang out with people for an evening en route to elsewhere. The term “short but sweet” comes to mind.

Tips hat,

P.S: Flying to Jamaica on the 9th, stay tuned…

P.P.S: Thanks for the hospitality to my friends in LA and Vancouver and the gent who bought my dinner after I correctly answered an egregious trivia question.

Greetings,

Ran out of my hotel today like I was the Anchor Man the day after he met Veronica Corningstone, just stoked on life. The party last night was good times, met a lot of good people and realized some changes I could make to an existing web property that could be how do you say “most egregious”.

If you’re a web type person, these conferences are great. Everyone you talk to has ideas and is in the same type of game. It’s like a giant mastermind group and random ideas you’d of never have are flowing through the stream of consciousness. Just make sure you take a net and grab some of the ideas then ride with them like the Little Prince who used to catch that star from his house to visit earth, yeah just like that.

The weather started out awesome, then the sky cried for hours and now it’s cold and damp. I thought California was hot? It’s seriously NOT freezing outside but if you have a short sleeve shirt and aren’t overweight, you’ll be cold… Who knew?

The conference sessions were decent and a few of them made me think, always something to learn my friends. I’d go on talking your ear off but there is a party at the 7 Grand courtesy of Livefyre tonight and I’ll be there. I installed their widget in the comments so you can comment through facebook and multiple other ways, maybe it will be sweet, time will tell.

Tips hat,

P.S: Anything is possible, remember that.

Yessir,

A good time was had by all tonight. Just remember this, a blogger party is the type of party that just don’t stop until someone closes the bar. Much respect to Heineken who sponsored the party and some tequila company whose name eludes me, ha.

Opened my mind to the gold mine I am letting grass grow on.

Egregious tip of the hat,

Greetings,

Write this from the club floor at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in downtown Los Angeles while eating a $3.50 sub. What a weird world we live in, especially mine when you come visit this blog. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to inspiring keynote speakers and meet interesting people hours after riding through the ghetto on a metro once more…

The ride into town wasn’t so tough, the blue metro line in LA is kinda shady but remember, 90% of places on this planet are no problem in the day time. A lot of people are grinding to get by and you can see the suffering, if you listen. Just the conversations overheard on the metro were the biggest indicator… Being at Blog World is always a good time and always makes you think, making me think about my core business and what this blog is really all about?

Enough getting deep, for now. There is a game on tonight, assuming it is the LA Kings and people are crowding around the staples center. This hotel is like 6 blocks from the conference center so it’s a good hub for the next few days. If you’re in LA, make sure it’s very close, you have a car or you’re cabbing. Not really a walk the streets at night type place, yes?

I got really lucky today because my friends roommate dropped me off at the metro, had I taken a bus, not sure how it would have worked out but then again that’s life, no need to worry about what could have been and better to accept what was and focus on what could be, yes?

My mind is blank as though my brain has moved to my stomach and I currently have a ham and cheese sub calling the shots. Looking forward to catching up with some people, meeting others and just being surrounded by the energy of all things bloggeresque.

Excited to be here and looking forward to the rest of the weekend. That said, part of me still wishes I was in Huntington Beach. The last update can’t do it justice but I really had an awesome time there and will be logged as a most memorable part of this trip through life. It’s really nice seeing old friends who have stayed just as chill and meeting cool new people. What sucks is you always have to leave; it’s the life of a perpetual traveler…

Tips hat,

Greetings,

Leave the comforts of La Quinta and a mere $30 cab ride later I’m at the greyhound bus station in Indio, California. It’s about 20 minutes or so from La Quinta. The MOMENT I arrived in Palm Springs, had this feeling of “why the heck did I book a ticket home!?” As a result, messaged a friend of mine from Huntington Beach and that’s where I am now. Basically took a bus from Indio to Los Angeles then took the metro to Long Beach before getting picked up. You know I like it all, this was the biggest 180 I’ve ever had on my trip…

The bus station in Indio is little more than a trailer, both the bathrooms are out of order and there is an outhouse beside it that smelt worse than the time I helped clean a sewer on the streets of Bangkok. Inside was rather depressing so I slouched over my bags after the 5 hour sleep I had the night before. It was hot and I was dehydrated and weary. A bus appears and out get 4 guys in white shirts and tank tops covered in tattoos.

They begin smoking and chatting to me, moments later they tell me they just got out of state jail. One of the gents had his entire body covered in tattoo’s. I mean everything including his entire head, eyebrows, moustache you name it, it was nuts. They kinda made me a little uneasy to be frank and we ended up chatting for a while. At one point this guy said what’s your phone number, if I come to Canada I can kick it at your place, if you ever come to South Central, you can crash at my crib. This was the guy who just got out after 10 years. The other guy who sat next to me on the bus asked if I ever went to jail, replied no and he was like “really?”.

At the first stop, ended up conversing with a gent from Fresno who missed his earlier bus. The lady at the hotel gave me great directions, the problem was they were from LAX. I realized this as I arrived at the Los Angeles bus station. The lady said easiest way is to take metro to Long Beach. Having no clue I asked her if it was safe to walk, she said at night, no way, now should be and it is 1/4 mile. It’s not 1/4 mile at all, it’s way more and since I planned on a 3 day vacation at one location, brought a large suitcase with rollers. Wow do you ever feel exposed walking around an industrial zone with a roller and laptop bag amongst many random guys asking me for change or drinking from a brown bag. Easy mark, nothing you can do if anything were to happen. Finally arrive at Union Station… Click the link to see the area I walked near, just take a cab.

Union Station is busy and from there I saw a sign saying “No Trains to Orange County”. My heart began to palpitate as the thought of going back to the bus station for the 7:30PM bus made me cringe. It was already 5:30 as my bus from Indio was super late. Got on the red line to the blue line. Looked for a payphone, can’t find one anywhere. No wifi so can’t use skype, great. Finally find myself inside the lounge at the Sheraton with free wifi only to realize I’ll never buy another Samsonite suitcase, the handle had warped so now it won’t go back down, great. Suitcases are fine if you have a planned route / trip. If you’re just going with it, they are an incredible hassle, felt like a mule carrying pulling around lead bricks. Also my shoulders are strong, my hand hurts from the aggressive tugging and marching like I was in a band.

This is where it gets interesting. You take the blue line to Long Beach. You go through Compton, yes the city of Compton. When arriving at my friends his roommate said I have to take the metro to really get the idea, I did and I get the idea. Some guy asked the gent in front of me if he can get a 13 for a dime, this gent who looks like Dave Chapelle replied “I can give you a dime for a dime” and they did the deal right there. Then this guy gets on with a bike and this homeless looking man asks if he can have the can, he says it’s full and the man replies “ok, maybe after”. It was a really interesting metro ride and felt out of place with my luggage and laptop bag. Lots of people were playing their own music it was like the metro meets 106 and Park. To cap things off, a tranny who looked like Wesley Snipes sat across from me, really random metro ride.

My friend picked me up in Long Beach and drove us to Huntington Beach where I am now with the dog above named Ziggy. Really loving the lifestyle / vibe / people I’ve met so far. California is well California from what I’ve seen, could live here and most definitely wouldn’t be hard to find a California moving company… Will be here for a few days then attending Blog World Expo in LA as my main business is a media partner. Will be spending the day laying face down on the couch, exhausted from the festivities and have many more coming up.

Tips hat,

P.S: If you don’t have obligations, never book return trips.

Spent the afternoon in Venice Beach, California after driving in from Las Vegas. This is seriously an “interesting place” where everyone is truly “being themselves”. Typically, I don’t add this many videos but I took lots and I’m bored as sin in LAX waiting another 6 hours for a red-eye to Bangkok.

Apart from this, the day was spent driving through tumble weeds from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. It’s crazy how hundred miles or so from LA there is a need for 8 lane highways, in the middle of nowhere.

I took some videos but they were so incredibly boring I didn’t even bother watching them once they were transfered onto my computer. I’d delete them but when you have a 500GB pocket passport or whatever, why bother!? This is the only update for today as it pretty much sums up the day.

Vegas was an awesome time, could of stayed longer but at the same time, I feel like I cashed out at the top so no regrets. If I still had a *job*, I’d be tired as all h3ll from the trip and dreading work tomorrow. Luckily that is not the case.

As amusing and exhausting as Vegas is, it’s time to leave. Gary from Everything Everywhere Travel Blog informed me he was going to LA tomorrow and I was welcome to come.

As a result, I’m going to Los Angeles, California then I looked online and shopped around for ~20 minutes before finding a  reasonably priced 1-way ticket to Bangkok, Thailand on Air China. I am not booking a hotel, merely going to some “travelers ghetto” and “sorting it out there”. It’s a long trip, not sure but I do recall seeing 19 hours of travel time. Either way it’s cheap, wired, warm and exotic over there and frankly, I’ve had enough of North America for the next while.

Not sure if I’ll update tomorrow but I bet we’ll find something, somewhere that has wifi.

Having no plan is often the best plan. If I had an exit date, this wouldn’t be happening. If I needed “an itinerary” this wouldn’t be happening, see where I’m going with this?

I’ve never been to Asia, only Europe and Central America. This is going to be a BIG change / shock to the system and I’m looking forward to it. Speaking of change, I’ve never written from a dirty tradeshow floor before… My computer is dead and this is the only jack I have. Next time you hear from me, good chance I’ll be in Asia eating cheap street meat and counting on my gregarious nature to meet up with other interesting people.

Furthermore, I can’t think of a better person to go with from Vegas to LA, Gary has been traveling the world since 2007. Need I say more?