Leon's Boulevard of Unspoken Dreams

Day 87 (Wed) *LA Day 4*

It's downtown LA for today! or at least for Ken, Naf and me...JK has decided to stick to his stand to visit Disneyland while we go ahead with our plans for downtown...initially contemplating whether we should go Disney too...but den again...the cost of the tickets at 59USD is one reason...and 4 guys approaching their mid-twenties going to Disneyland seems kindda of weird...i mean issn't it suppose to be the happiest homecoming on Earth?! haha...and shouldn't this special homecoming be preserved for like loved ones, families or kids in the future?? i don't know lah maybe it is juz me...but i still think going there 4 of us it juz feel a bit funny lah...taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie...Donald and Daisy!! (trying hard to sound excited) andden trying desperately to squeeze our bodies into the small teacups and spin ard...haha...and also the whole Disneyland is so super duper huge...i don't tink one day is enough also...so made a decision not to go in the end...have fun with Goofy JK! =p

so went on our separate ways with JK...we took the subway down to Union Square Station...decided not to pay for the tics this time to see how...worse come to worse can always use our most lethal asset...pretending not to speak english...haha...with that reached union square ard noon...explored the colourful and flamboyant Olvera street or the Little Mexico...otherwise also known as the birthplace of the City of Angels (Los Angeles)...and lots of interesting stuff to see along the street markets...the Mexicans are known to be deeply religious pple...and it is further exemplified as we walk down the street...u can see plates, bowls and utensils with the figure of Mary on it...canvasses and ceramic statues of Jesus and Mary...and at the end of the street there is a large Cross and beside it is the famous "Old Plaza Church"...still very much active among the Mexican immigrant community...

reaching Union Station...LA's answer to New York's Grand Central station

the historic Olvera Street Market

colourful spanish guitars lining along one of the shops

the large cross at the end of the Olvera Street Market

the person on the right look like he will chase me with a hacksaw if i dun give him a generous tip

bought these 3 boxes of Worry dolls...according to Guatelaman legend put tell one worry doll ur worries and out it beneath ur pillow when u sleep...the dolls will take ur worries away...not that i believe lah...juz for fun lah

after we were done with Mexico...we went across the street to China...Chinatown as a matter of fact...juz nice spotted the Bank of America down there...wah the whole architecture of the bank even shaped like some ancient China Ching Dynasty Palace...and even the bank staff are all chinese...haha...settled our bank account for once and for all...den the counter staff told me i got a debit of 2 dollars...huh??!?! the other day i juz drew out all my $$ at the branch in sunset boulevard den now tell me i owe the bank 2bucks?!! still say tell me better clear the "debt" if not might affect my credit nxt time...lucky in the end the customer service officer over the phone helped me write off my debt and no need to pay anything...so good lah...finally can leave the country in peace tml...haha

had a damn solid cai fan for lunch at one of the shops along Chinatown...very generous servings and for only 2 bucks...coupled with the chrysanthemum herbal tea that i bought...wah shiok in this hot and humid LA weather...afterwhich went to tour Grand Central Market...realised it is nothing juz like the wet markets back home...paid a short visit to Angels Flight across the street which is apparently the world's shortest ever built rail track...interesting how they actually thought of building this in the past to shuttle the rich from uphill down...next we cut thru the outskirts of Pershing Square to go and check out Little Tokyo...little did we know we had juz stumbled onto one of the infamous slums of LA...in the short walk of 1 minute down the street...we witnessed 2 skirmishes involving the homeless and the authorities...the authorities are not police but they wore some safety patrol uniform...my guess is that things are quite out of hand in this district that they need people like them to patrol since police cannot be everywhere all the time...quite an experience actually...Little Tokyo is like its namesake...with streets of Japanese restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores and DVD rental shops etc...it was quite dead the hour we went...with little human traffic ard...in fact i have observed this for much of LA...it is so sparse and quiet with hardly anyone walking ard in downtown...sometimes the whole street u hardly have any passerby...so unlike New York...

JK at Disneyland...we also not any farther...Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA...haha

Cheers to Chrysanthemum Herbal Tea!! haven't had it for 3 months...no wonder feelin so "heated" up these days

my damn big plate of cai fan at Chinatown LA

ahhhhh shiok...every bite of it juz feels so much at home

At the Chinatown can't remember Eastern or Western Gate

Instilling some much needed wisdom into my brain

Grand Central Market - LA's largest and oldest open air market

Selling all kinds of fresh produce all ard Sunny California

Angels Flight - The world's shortest ever built railway track

The board depicting Angels Flight history...a somewhat big thing in those days when only the rich can take

Little Tokyo LA...Ohayo Gozaimasu...Konichiwa!!

Inside a Japanese supermart

we decided to cut our trip in Downtown short close to evening and go back to the hostel to rest at ard close to evening before we head down to Melrose Ave later at nite...got back to the hostel and oyah did i mention the day before? we have 2 new neighbours who came in last nite when we got back from Universal Studios...a couple from Ireland in their late twenties who have been backpacking for quite some time...quite nice pple but there goes our privacy also...and we know they are nice chaps but it juz don't feel as safe when strangers are ard...anyway got back and took a little nap...as usual Naf fell into deep slumber everytime he sleeps and me and ken decided to let him sleep a little longer while we head back to Universal Studios the shopping boulevard to buy genie's Abercrombie...last proper day in LA and promised to get his abercrombie polo tee...and nearest is at US...so left Naf to sleep and we both went to US...wah the polo tees seriously not cheap siah...cheap cheap one also cost 50USD...aft asking the salesgal got the one that we looking for...den head back to the hostel...

by the time we got back it was already 9pm...and Naf was awake surprisingly...apparently he didn't see our note and thought where we went without him...decided it was late and also need to pack our bags so we decided to juz go eat dinner at Macs den hang ard Hollywood Boulevard...haven't really explore the area and we r living right in a very tourist attraction...heh...juz slowly take a stroll along the Boulevard and wind down our mood...tml we will be catching a plane to Taipei at midnite...so officially our last nite in the States...mixed emotions really...one thing is getting closer to going home...another is gone with the carefree days...feelin more sad den leaving wildwood...obviously when this time is leaving the country for good...celebrated all the times we had over Sake which Ken had bought from Little Tokyo earlier...and over toasts of Sake juz reminisce the moments we shared from the time we were cuddling outside Wawa from that very 1st fateful cold & chilly nite...haha...how happy times really flies...it's been almost 3 months in this country already...and tml we will be leaving liao...with a plastic cup of sake in our hands...Sayonara USA...thanks for all the memories! :)