Back to LA

Well I came back from my trip to LA to see two of my close friends get married and all I have to say is that was one draining trip. For one thing I had no idea what to expect. I wasn't expecting any radical changes in LA (was I wrong) and I had no idea what it would feel like to see friends that I hadn't seeing anywhere from a year to 2-3 years.

Like always, I didn't pack till about 2 in the morning, I had to be at the airport by 6:30 am. Had my 4 hours of sleep and off I went. Security wasn't as bad as I expected and I got to my gate with about 30 mins to spare. I got in line at my Southwest Airlines gate (I swear next time I'm going back to United Airlines). I got on a new Boeing 737-7H4 and off we went to SJC. The take-off was nice and bumpy and the views of Puget Sound were beautiful. On take-off I noticed we were heading due west and we were leveling off around 12,000 ft. instead of towards the southeastern corner of the Oregon/California border and climbing to 32,000. It turned out we were flying straight south (ELMAA7 ELMAA FAMUK Q3 PYE LOZIT DUXBY SFO flight plan) to waste time in the air because San Jose was fogged in and flights were delayed up to 3 hours, so taking this route was a way to waste time. Once we past ELMAA the 737 went full power and up we went. The flight was pretty uneventful, just a nice smooth ride.

Puget Sound and the Olympics after Taking-Off

SJC was a whole different story, it felt like all of LAX had being cramped into an airport the sizes of BUR. Flights were delayed and our flight was moved to a different gate. For some reason I had a feeling Jen would be there (she lives there now), it turns out she had been there 4 hours earlier to a flight straight to BUR. After being delayed for one hour we were finally leaving.

We took-off on an old 737-3H4 and headed south on MOONY2 MOONY AVE FERN5 the further south we went the more the landscape went from green to brown. Along with that came turbulence, I had no idea what we were in for on our approach for BUR. We made our turn for BUR at AVE and my, did the plane shake like crazy. The crosswinds were strong and the plane was going up and down and sideways all over the place. This is the kind of flying I love on an airliner (on a Cessna I have to be flying otherwise...)! People were grabbing on to their seats and I just had this big smile on my face. On final approach we were flying sideways and out my window I could catch glimpses of the runway.
I also had a preview of LA, over the LA basin there was a thick chocolate frosting of smog covering the gold landscape. Just nasty, the moment I got of the plane my allergies came back (thank goodness I brought my Allegra) and the temp was 89. So much for winter!

Lel and Nick picked me up and we went to eat in Burbank. I had forgotten what driving was like in LA and looking back, I have no idea how the hell I learned to drive there! Now I know why out-of-state people would drive as if they were scared.

In the evening we met up with Lina, Judy, Susan and Mathew. We went to Westwood and ate at BJ's it just felt so weird being there. Seeing all the old places my roommates and I would eat when we were to lazy to cook and looking up the hill to where I used to live and walk a few blocks to UCLA taking 7am classes after spending the whole night up with Alex watching movies and doing homework. I have no idea how she and I did it, but I guess that's a perfect example of being an insomniac. Unfortunately, it was too late at night or I would have gone to the Bruin store to get a new car sticker for my window to replace the one on my old car (once a Bruin, always a Bruin). However, it wasn’t too late to go to the most famous place in Westwood - Dee Dee Reese! How can you beat a $1 ice cream cookie the size of a Physics textbook (ok, not that big, but big). When I was really bad that would be my lunch at school!

At BJ's in Westwood

The next day I went to Barry's out-of-towners lunch for everyone who had to fly in or lived far. We ate at P.F. Chang's. I hadn't seeing Cindy, Barry, or Jen in a year. When I got out of the car Barry and Cindy were jumping up and down. It was so great to see them. I think I must have gone 12 times to Las Vegas with them over the 3 years they lived there and I must have spent a total of 4 months there. After dinner they went shopping for clothes for their honeymoon and then they took me home.

Well what night was just too exciting! I went to the LA Kings game vs. the Anaheim Ducks. It was great, I couldn't even stay in my seat and like every Kings game I have gone to, I came out of Staples Center without my voice. The only thing missing was Guy trying to hide in his seat while Timmy and I would be screaming at the top of our lungs during the game. The Kings lost, but they are still my hockey team and all I can see is a Stanley Cup in the future.
After the game is when I saw the changes in LA. In front of Staples there were high-rises rising up all around it with cranes everywhere. It looked like Bellevue, but in a much larger scale. I guess after all this building is done, downtown LA will finally be a real downtown like San Francisco and even Seattle where there is life after the evening rush-hour.

Inside Staple during the pregame skate

The next day was the wedding. On the way to the wedding I stopped really quickly to see Ben and Evelyn. It was great to see them and we spend a couple of hours with them.
We left and went to West Valley in the farthest point northwest in the city of Los Angeles. There at the synagogue I saw 2 friends and the next thing I know is I'm in a mob with everyone trying to give me a hug. It was great. Half of my friends there had gotten married and it felt weird. Barry and Cindy looked great during the wedding, and then came the reception. When most were dancing I just sat there and watched with my mind somewhere else. I danced after a friend yanked me out of my seat. After that it seemed like her and another girl where competing for me. That was amusing to watch. On top of that the bridesmaids kept coming over to me telling me to dance with the Maid of Honor, well we all know who that was - Jen, my ex. When it was time for the Maid of Honor and the Best Man to dance, I kept being pushed to go dance with her and I just kept pushing myself back into the crowd. I have nothing against her, she and I are friends now, but the last thing I wanted was to be dancing in the middle of the floor with all eyes on me. Yes there is a shy part to me and dancing is one of them.

Later that evening my friend up in Seattle gave me a call and did that bring a smile to my face. She and I talked for a while and laughed. I was hopping she would start describing what was going on at the wedding and what I was doing and then she would appeared. You can guess were my mind had been all this time. When I went back to my table a friend asked me who was that I was talking to since I had this look in my eyes and I had this big smile. Right after, I caught the garter belt, again.

When the wedding was all over, I said goodbye to all those friends and was the last to leave. Barry, Cindy and I just talked and hugged. I had been there since they first met and we all went through a lot together and here we all stood, except I was the single one.

The next day I flew out of LAX, it’s hard to believe that I was working there at that airport in an internship in which I ended up getting picked out of hundreds of applicants, got recognized by the Director of my Engineering and Technology department at CSULA, and now I was all but a traveler passing through. No security clearance badge to go in and out of the terminals or into the airfield, just a traveler. I went through 4 lines to get into my plane (security is just complete nonsense there now), had a gate changed again and once again departed late for OAK. Got on that 737-3H4 and off I was. Saw LA as I departed and saw my old neighborhood and places I used to go hang out as the plane climbed. Soon we were in OAK and I had to run to my next gate since we were late (next time I’m flying the friendly skies on United, plus I miss flying on 757-222s). We left OAK to SEA and for the first time I was actually happy to be flying back home.

Turning over Malibu

As we flew over the Sound and into Seattle, I knew I made the right choice to move. LA, even though it’s my hometown wasn’t ever really home. I miss my friends, but hey, even they are leaving the City of Angels, pretty soon all I’ll have left is the LA Kings and a few friends here and there.