Bling Bling

This is LA.
We went from the fabulous food stalls in Singapore with dishes influenced by the cultures of Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia all the way to the Tom Bradley terminal and the Arrival Cafe where the speciality is coffee, hot dogs and danishes.
And if you don't like that La Cantina is right beside it to make that jet lag go away.

We went to check out Santee alley which is probably the LA equivalent of Hong Kong's ladies market in Mong Kok.
Only the asians have been replaced by hispanics. They look the similar, short - only chunkier and with facial hair.
They even sell the same fake crap. You'll hear it referred to as Real PVC Leather.
Actually they give better deals here. In China you'd have to bargain your way down to the price they're selling for this junk.
We even witnessed the vendors hiding away their fakes because the LA fraud police were coming. I thought someone had stolen some CD's, but he was rushing to hide the stuff before they got confiscated.

The other difference was only in LA can you find an ATM machine parked on the street.
We happened upon it while munching on a churruso. I'd never had one before. It was like a sugar twist only shaped like an extruded piece of plastic tubing.
Tasted pretty good. Should have got another one.
I also witnessed a cop giving a jay-walking ticket to a pedestrian.
I took a photo.
So don't be jay-walking in LA. I'll say it now. "I told you so."

Before it got dark we took a drive through to the Bling Bling capital of america.
This is Rodeo drive.
Where the street lamps are chandeliers.
And stores are invitation only.

And drove through Beverly Hills. But apparently Bel-Air puts these houses to shame.

We went from one extreme to another.
There's so much emphasis put on material things, when it's really not that important.

It's one of the reasons we travel to asia. To seek out new life forms and new civilizations.
Wait that's Star Trek.
Same premise though. And the prime directive is not to exceed the credit limit of my visa.

We go to experience other cultures and bring a bit of it home.

It's worth the 20+ hour plane trip and the turbulence.

Hello Fotos....