Travel Talk

Hollywood Hills & Lounging in LA with Larissa

Greetings,

I’m in Los Angeles hanging out with my friend and SHABL’s other writer, Larissa aka The Blonde Gypsy!

I’m writing this from Brentwood at an unholy time on a Saturday morning aka you’re only up if you’re sick in the head and still on eastern standard time… Yesterday was fun and it involved a trip into the depths of the valley before rising to the heights associated with the Hollywood Hills before indulging in some sushi at Hara’s in Brentwood. The weather has been grey and rainy but there is hope, as I speak the sky is blue and it’s promising to be a sick and sunny Saturday on the west coast…

We rolled deep into the valley so I could find a Walmart and stock up on snorkel gear. It’s funny how you can get a mask and snorkel for $15 there but if you go to some other shop a same same but different aka similar apparatus will cost you $150, go figure eh? From there it was time to make our way to the Hollywood Hills to visit my gregarious friend I visited last year at this time in Freeport and you know, chill out then do that whole tourist thing…

We went to the sign and saw all sorts of cool sights before doing the walk of fame or so I think it’s called on Hollywood Blvd. Talk about an interesting transient population and some serious people watching, indeed. We saw lots of stuff like the Wax Museum, The Chinese Theatre and more. If you’re in the area you wanna go to Highland and Hollywood as it’s the only place you’ll find to park. On the topic of parking, it’s really cheap and readily available in LA, kinda refreshing after having some of the worst traffic in the world.

From there we drove through Beverly Hills, Bel Air and even passed Rodeo Drive.  We cruised down Sunset Blvd at dusk and made our way back to Brentwood for some sushi. There is a place called Hara’s and well, it’s a super popular sushi spot. It’s so popular that we got there at say 7 and it was a waiting list. We rolled across the street for some beverages before returning for some maki rolls. The menu isn’t very deep but it sure is steep (not sure what that means). It’s mainly rolls and sashimi plates with some salads. Get the seaweed salad if you go there and like that gear, they give you a generous portion of that sweet green slime.

Believe it or not, it gets kinda cold here and when it rains it’s no different than anywhere in the rain, sorta depressing. That said, the sun is fighting through as we speak and it’s not even 9am yet in California. Today I’m off to Laguna Beach for a night to see what’s cracking about over there, I think it’s an hour or so from Brentwood aka a blink in the game of life. It should be cool and has a tourist population in the summer but in the winter, supposedly has something like 4000 residents, indeed.

I’ll note that this city kinda has it all. Wanna self-destruct in a most egregious style? It’s got you covered. Want to get healthier than you even knew possible? They got your back too. I was just out cruising around to get some coffee and saw more beautiful women on one block then I had in the entire city of Ottawa mid blizzard. It’s a great place to get your life in gear and get your health kick on but enough of that as I have sushi sitting in the fridge and a Saturday to start up right.

I should be here until the 28th or 29th and then it’s off to mull about in Managua.

Tips hat,

P.S: They had fresh young coconuts $4.95 each, looking forward to crushing em on trees for free.

P.P.S: Photo credit for the sushi goes to Larissa.

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