I have now experienced close to 36 hours worth of Friday the 4th of April. Will this day ever end? Not to say that it hasn't been memorable, just after a 14 hour flight from Sydney to Los Angeles you kind of expect things to grab you by the scruff and give you reason for enduring a longer than normal day. It actually started off in the worst possible way, tired and still packing. Still packing 3 hours before my flight that would take me overseas for in excess of 2 years. Do I seem to be lacking urgency or am I just taking the seriousness of my trip for granted?
I'll run you through the nail biting moments that kick started my trip. Firstly, I left the shoes that I wanted to take overseas at the gym the day earlier. My suitcase broke 15 minutes before I was due to leave the house. I still had no accommodation for my first stop. I had to lie to the Qantas concierge about my Los Angeles accommodation details. If hints or omens were to be considered I should probably still be in Sydney. With that aside I still managed to board my flight and leave Sydney behind if only for a while. Ever felt completely and absolutely lost? It's a strange feeling of helplessness entwined with futility. Stepping off QF11 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is up there as the most lost I have ever felt in my life. Imagine embarking in a foreign country with no purpose, nowhere to go, and with no way to get there. Excuse me for being melodramatic but the person I had planned to travel with was un-contactable and I had no intermediate plans. There I sat at LAX on my suitcase in the middle of the arrivals hall eating breakfast (a packet of Snakes). As I devoured the glucose enriched goodies I began to contemplate all the possible scenarios.
During that time of panic a fundraising organisation representative approached me. I offered him some money in exchange for some information and with that advice I decided to hire a car and drive around LA until I found my friend's hotel or accommodation of my own. I jumped on the first hire car company shuttle and was soon enough about to become familiar with American roads.
The car that I hired was a Chrysler PT Cruiser what a work of art, it took a while to get used to the left-hand drive, a couple of misguided left hand turns and I was soon getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road and what it felt to be traveling at miles per hour.
I finally received a message from my friend saying that he had arrived at his hotel. Soon enough I was driving down Highway 101 towards Hollywood, CA. My friend graciously offered me his floor to stay the first night until I could arrange accommodation for my own. I found a place near the doorway of their hotel room and used a small black travel bag as a pillow.
One reason for wanting to go to LA was to watch a NBA game at the Staples Centre. We had arranged tickets online for the Lakers vs Mavericks game. The atmosphere at the Staples Centre was awesome, Americans in general are just so passionate about their sporting teams. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lomar Odom, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki superstars of the game playing right before my eyes. It was an absolute joy to attend a live NBA game which compared to our local NBL league is a million times better. The final result was a home team victory to the Lakers, 112-108.
After the game we headed down to Hollywood Boulevard to investigate the local nightlife. We walked up and down the Hollywood Walk of Fame unable to find a worthwhile place. When we finally did find a place we were rudely introduced to the Californian law that states that it is illegal to serve alcohol after 2 am. Consequently most places that serve alcohol close just before 2am. The plus side to our fruitless endeavour was seeing the stars that had over time become immortalised onto the Hollywood pavement. So comes the close to the physically longest day of my life and to the first day of an adventure.
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