My apologies. Part 2 could practically have Part A and Part B. This week was a LOT. Feel free to read half now and half later. Or just go have a doughnut and skip the whole thing, ha ha.

WEDNESDAY, NOV 24

So. As you read in Part 1, I took little Jane to Russell’s (my ex) house to be buried. Then I had to start zooming around to get myself to the airport.

It was the first time I’d ever driven myself and left my car at the airport so there was getting there on time/finding the right parking lot/checking in correctly/going through ticketing/bag check and security anxiety.

OH. One nice thing that happened the day before was when I was checking in to my flight a little pop-up popped up and said “would you like to upgrade to first class for $100??” Well, I’ve NEVER flown first class and didn’t think I ever would…and while normally I’m more frugal about things like that, if ever there was a day to treat myself to a little extra comfort and care, THIS was the day. So I said yes and BAM I was a Fancy Person. In reality it only cost me $70 as I would have paid $30 for my checked bag and baggage in first class is free, so.

It was lovely. Early boarding, cushy wide seats with a big separator between seats, only two seats to a row, fancy food and drinks. It was a nice treat.

It was too nice to waste on sleeping, so I stayed awake for the 6-hr flight to Las Vegas and watched kdrama episodes and YouTube videos I’d downloaded beforehand.

I got into Vegas at 11pm west coast time and my flight to LAX wasn’t til 7am the next morning, so I ubered over to the main strip to walk around, see some sights, and take some pictures, before heading back to the airport to sit at the gate for 73 hours waiting for my morning flight.

I kind of do alright with no sleep for one night…so it was not too bad.

THURSDAY: Thanksgiving

My cousin met me at LAX at 8am and we went out to breakfast then to my aunt’s house, where I dropped off stuff and showered before heading to my cousin’s for Thanksgiving. I kept forgetting it was the holiday.

But by dinnertime (6pmish) my eyes were starting to roll around in my head, ha. We got back to my aunt’s at 9pm at which point I’d been awake for 38 hours straight (since 7am Wed morning). When I got in bed, I picked up my phone to set the alarm for the next morning as my cousin was coming back to take me to breakfast and then on to Friday Funday.

I woke up at 4am with my phone still in my hand and no alarm set. Ha. I couldn’t even stay awake to press a button.

Thanksgiving was lovely though. Tons of wonderful food, family I haven’t seen in a long time. I let my Korean news slip to one person and it spread like wildfire…so Lucy had a lot of ‘splainin to do. To put it mildly, most people don’t get it. That’s okay. I get it 🙂

FRIDAY Funday

Today we did ALL. THE. THINGS.

And I’ll say right now that I hardly took any pictures while I was away. I always feel uncomfortable when trying to take my usual 12,694 pictures while with people who aren’t pictury.

One thing I really hate is having to explain myself. And taking pictures of a jaggedy bit of broken concrete on the sidewalk is almost certainly up for discussion. “Whatcha taking a picture of?” “The sidewalk.” “Why?” “Cuz I like the line of contrast between the concrete and the grass.” “Why?” “Cuz I do.” “But WHY???”

SIGH.

I consider this a personal weakness. That I can’t just say F*CK THEM and take the pictures I want to take. BUT…I CAN spend a LOT of time getting a picture JUST SO…so it’s partly a courtesy to whoever I’m with.

ANYWAY.

We had breakfast at the Farmer’s Market then drove around for a bit. I have to say, there’s been so much building that many places are virtually unrecognizable to me. Wonderful old department stores are now modern museums (nothing against museums but), old school restaurants are now Starbucks and IHOP. Even some beautiful old historic Spanish-style homes from the 20s and 30s have been replaced by big boxy McMansions. I was just there in February 2020 and I didn’t have this same feeling of IT’S ALL DIFFERENT NOW. It’s the first time I’ve been there as an adult and not thought I WANT TO LIVE HERE. There’s still the draw of family…but it used to be more.

OH – I did ask my cousin to drive us to SoFi Stadium so I could get the lay of the land a bit before heading there Sunday for the concert. I was having some anxiety about navigating the whole getting there/parking/finding my entrance thing. There were already people lined up for merch. I saw on the news later that there were about 10,000 people there that day…the day BEFORE the first concert…to stand in line for BTS tee shirts, Army bombs (light sticks), things you wave in the air with members’ faces on them (they have a name), etc. On TikTok I saw people who had stood in line for 8 hours for stuff…that was sold out by the time they got up to the front.

Are you ready for BTS' concert in LA? Here's a sneak peek at SoFi Stadium – Manila Bulletin

I’d wanted to get a picture with the big Permission to Dance (the name of the concert) sign but…it was so crowded and hot. And I was trying to pace myself. I’d already walked 1.5 miles Wednesday and 3.6 miles Thursday.

Anyway. We went to Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) but found you needed to have reserved a time slot. So we did one of MY favorite activities, which is having an afternoon cocktail in the shade of the museum entrance (there’s a little cafe and bar right there), watching the museum-goers come and…well, go. I love people watching…and museum go-ers are a good group for watching cuz you get a real cross-section of style – from touristy to artsy…and everything in between. I wish I had the nerve to ask strangers if I could take their pictures.

There were two young women standing in line, not together…but beautifully color-coordinated. One in a pink and orange tiny plaid tweedy skirt suit, very Chanel-esque with many strands of pearls and sleek bob…and right behind her a more bohemian looking girl, long loose hair, flowy rust-colored skirt with abstract “splotch” design in pinks and sage greens…and a cropped pink graphic tee. They were visually perfect together and they probably don’t even realize what a nice picture they made standing one behind the other.

The sun OUT THERE was very warm, but under the thingy it was shaded with a light breeze and the temp probably 10 degrees cooler. It was lovely.

But. There were more things to do, so…back out in the sun to look at the tar pits that I’ve been looking at my entire life. And they looked less tar-pitty than ever before. A little sad.

Don’t I look slimmer, somehow, in Los Angeles?? I think it’s the magical light.

We walked under a huge boulder installation.

Then we headed to the Griffith Observatory to watch sunset…from that high vantage point you can watch the sun dip down into the pacific ocean with downtown Los Angeles in the fore(ish)ground.

It was a long slow drive up the mountain to the top as many others had the same idea. At the top, we missed the entrance for the parking lot and had to go halfway back down and come back up again. I was secretly delighted as it meant more “sitting in the car” time 🙂 I took two micro-naps. In one I dreamed I was holding a tiny creature in my hand…when I woke up (after like 30 seconds of sleep) I recognized the tiny animal as the miniature version of the statues at the tar pits of some kind of prehistoric giant prairie dog type of creature. Anyway, it was very cute sitting up in my hand.

I woke up laughing from Dream #2 and my cousin was like…uhhh…what? I said COTTON CANDY MEAT! And continued to laugh.

Exhaustion is an interesting thing.

Anyway…meat on a cotton candy-like paper cone stick thing…that was so tender you could just bite it off with your teeth and it melted in your mouth like cotton candy. Cotton Candy Meat. That was the entire dream.

EVENTUALLY, we made it back up and got a spot on the hill. Not that close to the top. Incline walking just KILLS me. My hips. Once I’ve had to walk up a hill or steps my hips are just DONE. Not to mention the huffi-puffiness and heart poundingness. And drenched with sweatness. It was a lot to overcome to see a lovely sunset.

But I sat outside on a cool stone wall while my cousin walked through the museumy part…and had him try to explain gravity to me while we sat under an umbrella with icy cokes waiting for the sun to drop a bit.

He’s a smarty smart smarty pants. It’s sorta like talking to my father. Who always liked to explain the SCIENCE of things to me. My brain is so NOT sciency. Most times I don’t feel a need to understand WHY. I just need to know what I need to know to be able to do what I need or want to do.

Science is just beyond me.

Eventually, we got up to the top of the observatory deck and watched the lovely sky. The crowd applauded when the sun disappeared into the ocean. I don’t do it myself, but I always like hearing when other people do it. Like clapping when the pilot lands the plane: “THANK YOU FOR NOT KILLING US WITH YOUR MAGICAL FLYING AIR MACHINE.” The appreciation is there…I just think it quietly to myself.

OH, the pilot on the first leg of my trip (The First Class Leg) was Captain Max Power – first of all, COME ON. His parents named him that just so he could someday become a pilot. I bet he saves  babies from burning buildings in his spare time. Anyway, he had a delightful monologue about mask-wearing and protecting one another.

I saw a lot of TikToks of people on planes where the pilots were playing BTS and making comments to Army and there was lots of cheering and singing. Remember, there were 200,000 plus people traveling to these 4 concerts…Army was EVERYWHERE. None of my flights were fun like that but…I felt better knowing Captain Max Power had my back.

After the sky darkened enough that my cousin was able to start dragging me back down the hill to my car…we stopped by my aunt’s house to check on her. I had a quick 5-minute lie-down before we headed to dinner where I had THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PORK CHOP EVER IN THE HISTORY OF PORK CHOPS.

Now, I am not even really a pork chop person. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered one in a restaurant before. And now I certainly never will again because nothing could ever top this. It was visually and culinary perfect. The End.

THEN (wait, there’s more???) we went to the Los Angeles Zoo for a holiday light thingie. It was a nice cool evening and lovely for a walk but really…by 9pm I was just done.

He dropped me at another cousin’s house (I was bouncing around staying with different people while I was there) for the evening. I really wanted to visit with her more but…my eyes and body were failing me and I guess I was in bed by midnightish.

I have to say, staying at my sister’s, niece’s, or cousins, is always the nicest experience. I get to sleep in the loveliest rooms with super cushy, beautiful beds. Not like at home where there’s always kitty litter in the sheets (aka jagged micro-boulders digging into my hip as I sleep)

It was a DAY.

SATURDAY Nov 27

Finally a day with a little morning lie-in. I had the yummiest breakfast of leftover pumpkin pie with sausage and skin pulled off the spare turkey.

My cousin (a different one than yesterday) turned on Crash Landing on You and we watched most of episode 1 before I had to leave to go meet up with my sister, niece, and great-niece at a nice garden. My GN showed me her Korean skills by counting to 5 in native Korean numbers 🙂 Cute! I’m sure she picked them up more easily than I did!

Back to my aunt’s house for a little dinner and getting all my stuff together for tomorrow – BTS DAY!!!

And that is where I will leave you for now because this post is already RIDICULOUSLY long and there is SO much to talk about about the concert.

But can I just share HOW MUCH WALKING I HAVE DONE??

Wednesday: 1.5 miles

Thursday: 3.6 miles

Friday: 4.3 miles

Saturday: 3.4 miles

And I expect a lot more walking tomorrow at the concert! Normally I barely walk 2 miles in a WEEK!!! Ha.

Still to come: THE BTS CONCERT! If I can ever finish processing all my thoughts and feelings about that! I’m still watching all the clips on social media of things I missed the night I was there, as well as from the other three nights. Each night has a slightly different set list, different outfits, different “things” going on, different surprise guests. It’s a LOT to absorb.