Monday, Aug 25

First day of my last full week here in California. It was a day of rescheduling and rescheduling, where you sort of spend the whole day waiting to see when your activity will next by scheduled for…

Finally at 6pm my cousin picked me up to go to dinner to a place called Salsa & Beer in North Hollywood. It’s been in existence since the 1900s (haha I love saying that), passed down from parents to (adult) kids. Really rustic Mexican themed. I had a creamy chicken & cheese burrito and holy cow was that good! I couldn’t finish it so I took about a third of it home for lunch tomorrow. “Doggie bags” (I’m dating myself, does anyone call them that anymore?) are not a generally accepted thing in Korea. You CAN ask for a to-go container…but be prepared for a stern look.I generally just left my unfinished food at the restaurant.

Afterwards we tried to go to a bakery he really likes…but by the time we got there, parked, walked…it had juuussst closed. I was honestly not thinking of a sweet treat anyway. I was thinking about getting home and getting into soft pants.

My nephew fixed a cell phone stand for me….I do admire people who can figure things out and stick to it til it’s done. I get frustrated and quit.

Tuesday, Aug 26

Got up and dressed early cuz my niece had a zoom work meeting in my room. Why am I so tired?? Did my remote work…then tackled the Japanese import documentation I’m going to need to carry Wellbutrin and Xanax into the country. I am currently taken a break cuz it is frustrating and I don’t have the luxury of giving up (see above) cuz I NEED this form. How would you know you need to put two zeroes in front of your zip code? Or that, even though you live in the US, you still must select a prefecture, or not to put dashes in your phone number or to use “half-width digits” (wth?)…and so on and so forth. One step forward, three steps back. Every time. I need a break from it.

Had my leftover burrito for lunch, lovely.

Trying to book my flight from Florida to Texas…and the only nonstop flight is on Southwest, which has open seating, which I hate. That’s way too much “up to the last second” anxiety for me. So I have to decide which is worse: open seating…or having a layover.

We went out for Mexican for dinner. The restaurant was used for a scene in the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCapprio, etc. I have not seen it. The restaurant is Casa Vega. The food was good, the restaurant was very dark…I had to be an old and use my cell phone light to see the menu.

Wednesday, Aug 27

Spent a quiet day at home…and my cousin picked me up around 4:30 to go to that bakery in Burbank he likes. I’m dating myself, but probably some of you remember this, too. Remember on Laugh In, when announcer Gary Owens would say “from beautiful downtown Burbank” ironically, as though it was New York City…when it was really…not. So all my life I’ve thought of Burbank as a less than desirable area. But it’s actually quite pleasant.

Thursday, Aug 28

Another quiet day at home…with an afternoon surprise. A Japanese-themed birthday party for me (cuz I’ll be gone before my birthday), complete with tons of Japanese candies and snacks, delicious sushu dinner out, and then a sushi roll birthday cake! It was really super sweet.

My great niece loves to plan parties. I don’t know if you’ll remember the 101 Dalmatians themed birthday party she threw for me and her grandfather just before I left for Korea in 2023.

 

Friday, Aug 29

Had my third Japanese lesson today. You have to pay for a month in advance, and I think when the month is up I’m going to try a different tutor. He’s very nice, pleasant and patient…but he just can’t answer my questions well.

We had dinner out at a Chinese restaurant.

Saturday, Aug 30

My nephew picked up his mother and we all went to a nice tea luncheon at the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades. Driving there was the first evidence I’ve seen of the terrible January fires. So many empty lots where houses once stood…and because it’s an affluent area, there were a lot of construction crews working on rebuilding. I understand that in some other areas, many people experiencing homelessness (not as a result of fires) have moved their tent camps onto empty lots where homes once were and homeowners can’t start building because they won’t leave.

Homelessness is a big issue here. There are encampments everywhere. The programs and supports can’t keep up with the situation, although the rate is slightly lower than it was last year. I doubt it feels that way to people living in communities with encampments, but hopefully it’s a start to a really sad issue.

Anyway, the tea was nice, the service was especially accomodating, and the view was lovely.

Sunday, Aug 31

Wow. Last day of August.

We met some of my nephew’s family in Rialto, which is about 45 minutes away, to see a movie at 10:30am, ha ha. It felt so weird to be at the movies in the morning, but it was So Hot out (100+) that we didn’t want to wait til mid-day. We saw Bad Guys 2, an animated movie that seemed like the same plot-ish of an actual “human” movie I saw 8ish years ago…with 3 (4?) old men who I think rob a bank when they’re laid off or something. I can’t think of who any of the actors are or the name of the movie, but this seemed very similar. Ish.

Then we had lunch at Olive Garden. And hit a Daiso on the way home (Japanese “Target”).

Had pastrami sandwiches for dinner from a place.

I feel like I have been stuffed this entire week. I’m afraid to step on the scale.

So, a relatively uneventful week really. My last full week in Los Angeles.

This post felt very “what I did on my summer vacation.” I did this then I did this then I did that then I went there and did this. Sorry.

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