paraphernalia

Monday
After arriving late last night to Burbank Airport, today was my first real day exploring the megalopolis that is Los Angeles. We started after a leisurely breakfast, as all trips in LA do, in the car. In fact, the entire day was spent driving from place to place. It really made me appreciate just how large this city is, and more importantly, how sprawling and unidentifiable it is.

To put it in perspective: there is a downtown, but it doesn’t function as other North American cities’ downtowns do. It is the financial centre, but not much else. Up until a few years ago it was also home to Skid Row – one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country. It’s also home to El Pueblo (the old Spanish settlement) and Chinatown. LA then sprawls outwards in all directions into individual communities, quite detached from one another. North is the San Fernando Valley (home to ‘surburbia’ in all its forms – incl. the infamous gated communities; as well as the porn capital of the world), Burbank and Hollywood. East is East LA, Pomona and Chino (yes, that Chino from the OC. South is, well south goes on forever! It’s home to Long Beach, Compton, Irvine, Orange County, Anaheim, and if you go far enough Newport and Laguna Beaches. West is more limited, owing mostly to the Pacific Ocean, with the largest two areas being Malibu and Santa Monica.

So there you have it, LA in all its glory. It is as chaotic and segmented as it sounds, which is compounded by an absolute dominance on personal vehicles (mostly mammoth SUVs and hybrids – strangely enough). Without a car you are nothing here. Seriously, nothing. We complain about our public transport options in Sydney. Jeez! At least we have options. In large swathes of LA, there is no option. It’s drive or, well, don’t go out at all. Puts things in perspective.

That being said, the public transport system that does exist is fantastic. Clean, fast, efficient,massively undervalued and underused. The biggest issue with public transport has come to define LA (and is a large reason why it polarizes opinions): the city has no definite core, so people don’t commute in set directions. They travel A-B, but also A-C, A-D, B-C, B-D and all variations therein. Thus roads can accommodate such flows far easier and far more cost effectively (short-term at least) than rail. Buses are everywhere in most of LA county, but again they are limited by the roads. The latest invention is two-fold. Firstly, to encourage 2+ people in cars, they have introduced ‘diamond’ lanes for ‘high-occupancy vehicles’. These are always the far left lane (think about it …) and oftentimes are linked to other expressways with their own dedicated lane. These lanes are fast, with drivers often travelling upwards of 70 miles an hour on them, but they work!

The second invention is to extend the limited Metro subway lines with dedicated bus transitways, very similar to the T-Ways in Sydney. I used the Gold line most days on my way in and out of downtown LA, and it was excellent. Fast, frequent, clean and safe. Reminded me of the new buses in Vancouver actually. It’s a pity there’s still this stigma attached to taking public transit in Los Angeles – my relatives mentioned that it’s mostly the migrants and very poor who use it. Whilst this is true, it definitely doesn’t have to be this way, and it’s so cheap that it can save people money from the instant they use it. Plus it saves people wasting so much time on the I-5 and I-405, which can only be a good thing!

However, I digress: back to what we actually did. We drove from the Valley along to Malibu pier, through the mountains up to an outlet mall, then back past the Getty Center to Santa Monica. This trip, if you look at it on a map, is definitely not advisable, as we backtracked a lot, but it was President’s Day holiday, so we benefited from far less traffic than a typical Monday.

Malibu was beautiful, full of all the things that make it famous – big houses, fantastic coastline and million-dollar views. You can easily see why people snapped up properties here as LA became popular. It’s a shame most of them are built on cliffs that are suffering from erosion. Makes for a bit of a scary drive as you wind along the coast.

Further north we spent some time shopping at one of greater LA’s many outlet malls. These places are huge and hugely popular, predominantly because Americans love a bargain (regardless of whether they were intending to purchase the item in the first place), and they have no qualms with driving for an hour to find a cheaper store. This particular strip mall was designed fairly well, but it still suffered from a hugely inefficient design that encourages laziness. Basically each shop is set up terrace-style, with one long single-storey building housing about 10 shops side-by-side. Surrounding the shops are huge swathes of open-air parking. Argh! It’s just so stupid! Build up people! Up!

Anyway, the shopping was pretty decent (Banana Republic in particular), and the trip home required us to stop for an In-&-Out Burger, which is never a bad thing. Mmm… best fast food burgers I’ve ever tasted. (And there are rumours of a secret menu – I shall have to Google it!)

After a lengthy drive down the I-5 and I-405 (the two North-South interstate freeways – think 6 lanes each direction and multi-storey intersections), we arrived at Santa Monica just in time for a coffee and sunset on the famous pier. I think if I could live anywhere in LA, it would have to be here – and that may have to do with the large number of British expats who have made it their home. It’s relaxed, still warm in the middle of February, by the beach and with awesome cafes and shopping. The downside is the commute would be a nightmare if you didn’t work nearby, public transport is good locally but poor otherwise, and it’s [expensive. Very expensive.

After another long trip back to the Valley, we met with Devon (my cousin) and David (my uncle) and had an excellent dinner of sushi and sashimi. Mmmm…. Definitely an LA institution and one of my culinary highlights of the USA.

Monday
Instead of spending last night re-packing (as was the plan), I spent it downloading new music to my MP3 player. So today I finally caught up on some important Radio National and JJJ podcasts. Yes, I am a nerd!

I actually got a lot out of it – not least the Aussie accent! I finally heard a fair and balanced account of Singapore’s politics and media (about time!), cried to an account of HIV Positive kids and the plight that befalls those suffering from a un-talked-about disease. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a fund-raising initiative for HIV. We generally (and largely subconsciously) take it as a self-inflicted illness. Well, for these kids it’s not and their story is DEFINITELY worth listening to.

OK, so now I’m off my soapbox, I’ll continue. In case you hadn’t noticed, health is a HUGE issue for me – public health especially. Methinks I’ll work in that field at some point…

The biggest news that I had yet to hear about from home was the election of Kevin Rudd as Labor’s new leader. Given how politically aware I thought I was that came as a bit of a shock. Odd, eh? I don’t know how effective he’ll be at bringing back my favoured party, as he has the personality of a rock. We’ll just have to wait and see.

And now onto the actual travelling business. My bags arrived at 11 (yay!) – clearly this lost baggage business happens to United frequently because they have a fast and effective procedure in place.

After a brief but touching reunion with my bag (“Ah so that’s where those clothes were!”) I headed straight for downtown. I had lunch at a Subway-style place called Potbelly. It’s a million times better than Subway and surprisingly good for fast food. I had a beef sub there and it was definitely filling, a perfect starter for one of the best tours I’ve ever taken.

Last time I came to DC I found out about the Voice of America tour. The VoA has been in operation since WW2 and is basically the ‘objective’ propaganda station of the US, built to counter the German and then the Soviet media. It has never broadcast in the States, but now broadcasts in something like 100 countries and 20 languages. I think those numbers are actually far higher, but I can’t remember right now. The tour takes you behind the scenes of their studios and why they exist. It was really interesting to hear (from their point of view) how they view objectivity and their purpose. They never broadcast unconfirmed information and take their mission as providers of truth VERY seriously. No one here is unilingual, and that in itself fascinates me. You need to book ahead online to go on a tour, or just show up at 1 or 3pm. Definitely recommended.

After the tour I finally had a chance to meet with Scott, a friend-of-a-friend who works at the IMF. It was a really insightful coffee meeting we had, discussing politics, the IMF and higher education. Given his role there, as an inside-but-independent observer and critic, he’s got a birds eye perspective and is a wealth of knowledge.

Finally it was time to head back to Fairfax to repack. I spent the evening alternating between that and posting lots of photos of Facebook. Ah the dilemmas of a traveller.

Tuesday
Woke to a call from United telling me my flight was cancelled and thus spent the morning fixing that up. I spoke to a really helpful United employee (see they do exist!) and, provided all goes well, I should end up there tomorrow night. Not too bad I guess. I went downtown for one last time to drop off some of my luggage with Cliff for Dad to come and collect later on. We had lunch at the Old Post Office (a really interesting building if you ever get the chance to visit).

From there, I headed straight back to Fairfax to shop at Tysons 1 with Melissa. This mall is the 6th biggest in the US so I felt I should pay it a visit. It turns out not to feel that big, as the Americans build out not up, but it was still huge. The parking alone reminded me of one place: Castle Towers. Nowhere in Sydney has truly terrible public transport like the Hills, and nowhere in Virginia has good public transport, so I guess they share that in common.

I bought some pants, and a long sleeved shirt at H&M and then watched Casino Royale. It’s typical Bond fare. Not too demanding and definitely farcical at times. Good fun and definitely plane material.

One highlight for today were the ads on the Metro. “If you don’t eat on our trains, we won’t sit on your kitchen table” & “4 out of 5 dentists recommend gum in your mouth instead of in our trains”. Priceless, eh?

Wednesday
Argh! I hate the cold weather, it's official. All flights today are grounded from Dulles airport, and indeed 90% of airports on the East Coast due to a severe weather system. Clearly I’m spending more time in DC.

Unfortunately I had nothing planned and really no interest in doing anything so I spent the day using the Internet and watching TV. Oh, and I shovelled snow. Before starting it I saw that as a rite-of-passage – something that must be done before you can say you have truly lived in the snow.

Now, afterwards, I agree with that statement, but I’m still never doing it again. Clearly I’m not doing it right because it kills. It hurts muscles that don’t normally get used.

Saturday
After a morning of recovery I spent the afternoon exploring Chicago. For some reason, within a few minutes of leaving Arvind’s apartment I knew I wanted to spend more time here. There was something about taking the 151 bus down Lake Shore on a crisp, clear winter’s day that just appealed to me. I instantly felt bad that I had slept in this morning and I had thus limited my time to sightsee.

So I went hell-for-leather down Michigan Ave, seeing as much as I could in the limited time before the museums closed. I visited the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP – part of Columbia College), the Chicago Institute of Art, Millennium Park and the Magnificent Mile.

The MoCP was a pleasant surprise, and largely defies explanation. I really didn’t know what to expect, and even though it was small, it made up for a distinct lack of photography in my previous travels. There’s something about photography that endears me to it, moreso than most other forms of art. Maybe it’s because I feel I learn something from every photo I see – a new angle, colour mode or perspective – or because I feel like I can replicate it, but there’s definitely something. The MoCP had exhibitions on Japanese love hotels, homes of the San Fernando valley and sex and food. I’m sensing a trend here. All three exhibitions merged into each other and none of them felt at all sexual. It was as if the sex was deliberately removed from each photo. The most pornographic were the San Fernando Valley shots (SFV is the location for 90% of pornographic films made in America. The owners of mansions in that region hire their houses out for the weekend or during the day to use as backdrops for pornos). However, even those were taken to deliberately miss the sex and nudity. The focus instead was on the small details of the rooms that one often misses – the placement of plants, towels, nick-nacks on shelves, that distinguish these from other locations. As odd as that sounds, I found it really interesting.

The Institute of Art is a Chicago institution and definitely did not disappoint. They also had an exhibition on photography (this time on travel photography), as well as an excellent collection of African and Asian art. By no means did I have time to do the museum justice, nor see 80% of what was on display, but I did see the small galleries that particularly interested me – namely the African, Latin American and Asian galleries. Of those, my favourite was the short display on Lunhan paintings. To understand what these are, it would be best to Google/Wiki them, but to me they resembled comic book strips of ancient Japanese warriors. They struck me, shown as they were amongst traditional Japanese art, as different and arresting. I’m definitely in the market for one now … which means some more traveling is in order!

After a quick stroll down a portion of the Magnificent Mile I headed to the John Hancock Tower for the sunset. Hancock is not the tallest building in Chicago (that honour belongs to the Sears Tower, still the tallest occupied building in the world), but it does offer unparalled views of the greater Chicago area and out to the Lake. Especially compared to the CN Tower, this is definitely worth a visit.

That evening we went so many different places it seems odd to recount it as all one continuous event, but it was so I will. We began at a really nice Italian restaurant, Bice, for some excellent pasta and wine. From there, a few of us headed to the famed Second City improv centre to watch a ‘cutting-edge’ amateur improv group strut their stuff. To be honest it wasn’t the funniest show I’ve ever seen, but the team had talent, they just need to work on delivery and continuity. Arvind is studying there as well so in a few years maybe I’ll come back and see him up on stage!

After Second City, we made a trip to Rock’n’Roll McDonalds (seriously, that’s what its called – Arvind said so in the cab!). This place has to be seen to be believed. It has leather couches, gelato, a history of the last 50 years through McDonalds toys and loads of photos on the history of America & Maccas. So much fun, even with all the pre-pubescents out on Valentine’s Day formals!

Our final destination was a hip bowling/pool place downtown. They had a cool out-of-the-way lounge area that we relaxed in before playing some pool. I finally had a chance to learn how to play and it was awesome. Definitely a skill that I’ll have to practice when I get home! Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to bowl as it was too expensive. Maybe next time, eh?

Sunday
After waking later than I had anticipated, I headed out for one last time to see the sights of Chicago. It turns out the weather wasn’t as great as I had hoped so the late wake-up wasn’t too much of a loss. I followed my intended route – Navy Pier & Millennium Park, but I found I had more spare time than expected so I continued onwards.

Navy Pier, off downtown Chicago, is part amusement-park, part-museum, part-pier, and (on the day I visited) part-gymnastic competition. It’s far more substantial than I had expected, stretching for about (I’m guessing) 1-2kms. On it are rides, the obligatory Ferris wheel and a conference centre of sorts. It’s another of those ‘in the summer’ attractions although, despite the cold, it was pretty busy. That might have been more a product of the gymnastics and the fact that it was Sunday more than anything else, but ah well.

After a short bus ride back to Millennium Park I took the compulsory photos of myself under the bean – as you can see on my Facebook. The weather wasn’t as great as before, so I didn’t get quite as good a reflection as I had hoped, but hey, you can’t have everything. As mentioned above, I had some extra time, so I decided to do that quintessential Chicago thing – ride the Loop. The Loop (always in capitals it seems) rings the downtown area and makes for an interesting ride. It’s an elevated track so you ride at about the 3rd storey of all the buildings – great for perving! The trains and track are surprisingly old. Scrap that, almost disgracefully old. They are renovating them, but c’mon Chicago – 2nd city my arse!

From there I walked up State St to revisit Rock’n’Roll McDonalds and the Chicago Theatre and then back up the Magnificent Mile. Whilst walking I learned something about Chicagonians (or is it Chicagonites?) – they don’t put ketchup on their hot dogs. Come to think of it, do we? I think we (Sydneysiders) do, eh? Well, at least I do. Clearly mustard is the winner in the States!

And that was it – time to head back to DC! O’Hare lived up to its reputation as a big mess, successfully losing my luggage (ARGH!) and delaying the flight. Fair enough the weather was shite, but c’mon, this is Chicago – it’s hardly unexpected! United really need to get their act together on check in. They have moved to a self-service-only system and it just fails when there are more than 100 people queuing to check in. The solution is simple – hire more staff to collect the bags and then us customers won’t be left standing around unsure of what to do once we’ve got our boarding passes. Grrr!!

In the delay I did learn that the plane I was flying on supported the US troops. Now I don’t know about you, but was that really necessary? I don’t know if that is a good thing or not, although clearly a substantial portion of typical United flyers do, or they wouldn’t have it on the plane. In many ways it kinda makes me less likely to fly with them, although I can’t pinpoint why. It’s not the usual ‘makes us a bigger target’ nonsense, because I don’t buy that, or really care. As an Aussie, I’ll take what comes to me – I seriously doubt someone will target us anyway (one of the benefits of being so insignificant) and if they do, well it’s clearly my time to go. Thoughts anyone?

Due to the delay and the lost luggage I kept Jen waiting for an hour at Dulles, so I do apologise there. The important thing though is the luggage should arrive tomorrow morning. Should!

Today was another of those ‘commuting’ days. From Toronto (newly christened T-O) to Buffalo, NY to Chicago. The short story is I made it without any problems. Even at the US border I was waved through faster than anyone else on our bus. I had all my documents ready and I wasn’t even asked for them. Bugger, eh?!

I have to say though, in my limited knowledge of the place, Buffalo is a bit of a hole. Now that could have been because my experience is solely related to the bus terminal, but it just didn’t scream “visit me” like so many other cities have. It was dirty, unsafe and really cold!

Other than that, everywhere was pretty non-descript. Chicago’s O’Hare airport, reputedly the busiest in the world, definitely lived up to its reputation for being big, annoying and busy. This place is HUGE and the signage is limited. The problem stems from the fact that it has built up over time. This makes all the links between terminals and with the public mass transit system cumbersome and non-sensical.

Upon arrival at Arvinds' (another NUSer) place, however, I felt immediately at home. We went out immediately and hit two bars and a 24hr breakfast place (Golden Nugget) before crashing at 3am. I was so tired before arriving at Arvind’s that by the time I got there it was just nasty. The specific details of the evening are a bit hazy, but I do know that I had an awesome amount of fun, didn’t spend nearly enough money (Arvind! How dare you pay for all my drinks!! [Thanks though! ]), and met some cool people. I also remember that the portion for my 4-egg breakfast omelette-monstrosity was HUGE. This thing covered my 2am breakfast and my brunch the following day. I’m clearly back in the States!