6 DAYS AGO

I never ended up telling you about that Monday, did I? I suppose I ought to, given that it was almost a week ago, now. Rohan stayed at Trav’s place on Sunday night, and so I had his tiny apartment to myself. Ate me a bagel, had a shower, got dressed and strolled up to Santa Monica along the beach, pausing to take some photos and get propositioned by an orange man with grey hair near Muscle Beach. It’s hard to get good photos of LA because the air quality is so poor, but I did my best. Had a coffee and then walked to Santa Monica Public Library, where I checked emails and posted blogs and that stuff.

Then I met GRACE! YAY! We walked along the pier, bought some fabulously tacky postcards (which didn’t get sent til Canada, oh well), and wished that the rollercoaster was running. At least, I did – not too sure that Grace would have been immature enough to ride it! It was awesome to meet another online friend (after I’d seen A the night before), and this time chat about fandom things. We wandered around for a bit and eventually found somewhere to eat – a Crepe Café, yum yum yum. Unfortunately it was really very hot, and Los Angeles (at least in Santa Monica) really doesn’t have a lot of shade, so it’s not conducive to exploring. After a few hours, G and I parted ways back at the library.

I had some more minutes left on my internet card, so I went back in and caught up with the rest of my internet business. I also wandered around the library for a while – it’s a lovely building, light and airy, and I highly recommend a visit if you’re into libraries or need to use the internet for free when you’re in LA. I’d arranged to meet Rohan for dinner at 6, so I had a few hours to kill, and I sat and read my book (Melvyn Bragg FTW). Soon I realised that I actually needed a nap, so I tried to find a corner to have a snooze – not as easy as it might seem, because the library is very open and has lots of glass. I didn’t really fancy falling through a window while I was asleep.

When the time came, I moved on to Cha Cha Chicken and met Rohan (who’d had an annoying day at work) and we ate Caribbean food. OH MY GOD. Plantains. I don’t really know how to describe them – like bananas, I guess, and fried and served with meals. I had vegetarian enchiladas and dirty rice (NOM) and plantains, and it was awesome. This is a place to go for comfort food (if your idea of comfort food is spicy and filling). It’s mostly outdoor seating (undercover, though), so try to go there on a nice day.

Full up and happy, we wandered back down as the sun set over Malibu. Well, I’m going to say it set there, but since I’m not so good with the geography of LA, you can take it with a pinch of salt. We ducked into a bookshop on Venice Beach, and then headed home. It was relatively early, still, so Rohan introduced me to the wonders of Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop, possibly one of the worst films I’ve seen EVER!!! IT WAS AWESOME! Too camp for words, and utterly awful in many ways, it was highly entertaining. It finished just as Travis arrived, and he then proceeded to entertain us with more card tricks, and we played Cheat (or Bullshit, as it’s known in the US of A). Fun times!

And that was Monday. Now I’ll have to write some posts to tell you about Vancouver, one of the most despicably lovely-looking cities in the world. Oh my word, I like this place a lot.