LA is a mixture of depressing and the elements of locales that are identical to NYC albeit with Palm Trees. Yesterday, I had the depressing walk from Union Station. I was reminded of NYC in the Dinkins era. Homeless people had taken over the street and some of them were panhandling agressively. LA looks to be a city that is poorly run and it needs its own version of Rudy Guliani or Mike Bloomberg to restore competence and accountability to LA. Every city has bad sections, but turning downtown LA into a homeless haven is bad for LA and the homeless. I tried to get a haircut at the local place and found almost all the shops closed at 4:00.
My peers are amazed at the effortless way I adapt to the ethnic communities. LA's Chinatown is very much like Flushing Queens albeit without the energy and verve. The life skills of a NYC resident makes this a familiar experience. Merely ordering by number to a waiter that speaks no English to a foreign waiter seems outside the box. I had Duck soup and was served long before everyone else.
Similarly, I adapt to foreign resturants quickly. Being in Japantown is not a big deal. Japanese Tourist ( always well behaved and polite compared to their bombastic European counterparts)
come here to have a taste of their home while visiting. It is my honor to enjoy a bit of Japan while visiting. However, I will not eat sushi, tofu and I do not go for the alcohol. The soap is a bit of a joke. One does not smell macho with orange scented soap. I merely purchased some 3x man soap. I did enjoy the local Japanese barber who did an excellent job.
Europeans delude themselves with this fantasy that they are more cosmopolitan. However, unless one lives in London no group has a greater claim than that of a NYC resident. We can visit enclaves of the entire world without going too far in a well run city.
I had lunch at a wonderful Korean Barbeque place. I prefer the NYC Korean style where it is cooked by you to the LA version. The Korean style with the familiar cabage and veggies is fun.
It also allows me to ditch the vegans and enjoy the rest of the day.
Beamish in 08
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3 comments:
Stumbled over a fermenting pot of kimchee, eh, beakerkin?
After eating that, you'll probably need a lot of that orange scented soap next morning...
I love LA's Chinatown!
D.C.'s version of Chinatown is a joke.
I've never been to Flushing Queens' Chinatown, so I can't comment on that one.
I did, however, enjoy Spanish Harlem back in the 1970's, when I was in college. Outstanding paella and sangria. I'm not sure how we got back to the D.C. area after all that sangria. What a drive that was! Even tanked, our driver got us back safely.
FJ
No Kimche but for some reason Japan's Gokin makes the world's best grapefruit juice. I have been sampling all the beverages.
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