Tito's Tacos

11222 Washington Pl.,
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 391-5780
www.titostacos.com

Although this place serves its standard Mexican fare, it's tacos that reign supreme. At $1.95 with cheese ($1.50 without), the shredded beef tacos are worth the long lines on a daily basis. Open 9 am-11:30 pm daily.

California Chicken Café

2005 Westwood Bl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 446-1933
www.californiachickencafe.com

Excellent portions of dark & white meat chicken, salads that'll make you unsure as to what you want to order. However, it's the wraps that I go there for. The combo wrap that has chicken, avocado, jack cheese, sprouts, Italian dressing, lettuce, tomato, and mayo is the most popular one, and the one I go almost every time. Its $7.50 and it's worth the price. Open 11 am-10 pm, M-F; noon-10 pm on Sat. They're closed on Sundays.

Diddy Reese Cookies

 

926 Broxton Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 208-0448

For the sweet tooth in me, I head to this place for some excellent ice cream cookie sandwiches. It may be a challenge trying to find a parking space and the place is near UCLA, but once I go inside, I'm in heaven, and you will be too. Call for hours.

Paru's

Specializing in South Indian cuisine, Paru's cooks use rich delicious spices and aromatic herbs to create works of culinary art out of vegetables, rice, and lentils. Fullfilling and delectable they fill your stomach without breaking the bank. Idli, Masala Dosa,, and Sambar are only some of the savory items that Paru's offers.

Street Address: 5140 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood

Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen

Vegetarians young and old will delight in the exotic flavors of Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen. Bulan's creative menu features a delectable and healthy variety of Thai - fusion vegetarian appetizers ,entrees, desserts and drinks. Their tasty offerings leave out the meat, the MSG, preservatives and trans fats. Special orders are welcomed ! Open Daily: 11am - 10pm.

Street Address: 7168 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Native Foods

Native Foods is an all organic vegan / vegetarian restaurant that will delight vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters alike. Native Food's Chef has created a menu full of delicious textures, complex taste, and rich culinary experience. Eating at Native Foods is like taking a terrific savory trip around the world and back. Hours: Monday-Sunday 11AM - 10PM

Street Address: 1110 1/2 Gayley Ave., Los Angeles, CA or 7168 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

India Sweets & Spices

Want great vegetarian food at a terrific price? Try india Sweet and Spices. Fast friendly service coupled with outstanding vegetarian food. If you want a quick snack on the go, India Sweets and Spices is a great place to grab a satisfying lunch. A couple of samosas and mango lassi to drink, and you've got a substantial meal for under five bucks.

Street Address: India Sweets and Spices 3126 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Vege House Restaurant

Mouthwatering Chinese food without a lick of meat. Residing among other Asia eateries in the City of Alhambra, the Vege House stands alone as the only Asian vegetarian restaurants in the area. The extensive menu offers a variety of traditional Chinese dishes with authentic spices and seasonings. They are truly masters at the art of creating satisfying dishes with meat substitutes.

Street Address: India Sweets and Spices1400 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, CA

Before I came I wondered, guessed and even fantasised about Los Angeles, Hollywood and surounding areas and I thought you might like to know a thing or two; that's all it will be a thing or two.

Now why should I know so much about LA - as we got to call it -and why should I be setting myself up as some kind of expert? Well I'm not an expert but I still see things here like a child as I am relatively new to the place and I've been here long enough to know it very well.

Los Angeles has more theatres per capita than anywhere I know, more book shops, coffee shops and is the capital of world cinema.

Because it is the cinema capital - not counting Bollywood of course - there are many great movie houses with the latest screens and sound systems; you usually see movies here before anyone else on earth.

My favourite cinemas are the ArcLight on Sunset Boulevard at Vine and Laemmle's Sunset 5 which is an "art house" - you will see British movies like "Layer Cake" and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" there and the latest blockbusters at the aforementiioned ArcLight.

Weekend conversations and news bulletins report the movie box office like the football results would be reported in Britain and there are many programmes on the radio about money; the stock market, insurance and "nine eleven" - but that's only on National Public Radio which is the equivalent to the BBC - except it's not run by licence fees; they have fund drives twice a year and if you are ever subject to a fund drive you would beg for the BBC and the licence system.

On the TV News nearly every day in Los Angeles they mention some murder - most of them are gang related so the best thing you can do is not go to South Central LA or even East LA; stay on the west side; it's safer.

But there are lots of guns here so don't be too complacent.

Apart from the police, who carry holstered pistols and some security guards at stores who sometimes carry guns, I have seen one gun in 13 years; that was shown to me by a fellow immigrant in the privacy of a house - oh yes there was that time when I was driving up Fairfax Avenue and I saw someone lying in the gutter with a policeman standing over him with a rifle - but I'd nearly forgotten about that!

I compare gun incidents to roads accidents in the UK; they are on the news, in the newspapers and you hear about them all the time but most of them are over by the time you arrive.

Los Angeles is full of crazy people - crazy in the nicest possible way; there is the guy who runs backwards everywhere: one day it rained so he called his run off but instead of going home forwards to get out of the rain quicker he ran backwards; now that's dedication; there are people who like their coffee half caffeine and half decaff with a dash of mocha and a dash of vanilla - coffee is important to them and is a way of life.

I go to the Farmer's Market most days; the wonderful Farmer's Market on the corner of Third and Fairfax for my large decaff and a doughnut from Bob's - right next to Patsy's Pizza where James Dean took his last bite before heading off to become a legend on September 30th 1955; there are loads of places like that where something famous and infamous happened years ago. I live around the corner from the hotel where Janis Joplin died from an overdose, I viewed an apartment where Devine died - Devine from the John Waters films - in fact you will see mock hearses driving the tourists around showing them where so and so died.

Of course because I have that doughnut most days I have to go to the gym and there are plenty of those - only here you are not allowed to use mobile (cell) phones in the changing rooms; with so many celebrities around you never know who is in there getting changed and what part of their anatomy might be getting photographed or filmed and ending up on YouTube.

I have been out to Los Angeles three times and it has become my very favorite vacation spot. My first visit there in September, 1978 to celebrate my 21st birthday with my father and brother. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica, and the location was just simply fabulous! Just imagine: staying right across the street from the world-famous Santa Monica pier; Palisades Park, where the palm trees stick up so high, and the excellent ocean views, you will think that you're on the Promenade de Anglais in Nice.

The room that I stayed at was right above the exit of the Santa Monica Freeway and had an excellent view of the city, especially a partial view of the Pacific Ocean.

Just a few feet down from the pier is the world-famous Santa Monica Beach. I just love lying on this world-famous stretch of beach, as well as walking the streets, listening to the oldies that I have taped off the radio stations here in Philadelphia. Can you imagine: being on vacation in another city and you're listening to something that you taped off the radio in Philadelphia? It's just a wonderful feeling.

Also within walking distance of the hotel are the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, where the Academy Awards were held during the 60's, as well as numerous rock concerts (my brother went to see Al Stewart of Year of the Cat fame there)and award shows; the Santa Monica Courthouse, where celebrity trials and divorces have taken place, the world-famous Third Street Shopping Promenade, Sears, Robinson's, and a supermarket. A MC Donald's and an IHop were located right across the street from the hotel.

Who says that you need a car to get around Los Angeles? That is not true! There is public transportation in Los Angeles. In fact, there are bus routes in Santa Monica that will take you into Beverly Hills, Westwood, West Los Angeles, the Mid-Wilshire district, to UCLA, down to Venice, and into downtown Los Angeles. In fact, the Holiday Inn where I stayed at is located on a bus route that takes you along Wilshire Boulevard into downtown Los Angeles. For example: my brother and I went to see a taping of “The Price is Right” at the CBS studios.

We got off at Fairfax Avenue and took another bus to Beverly Blvd., where CBS is located. They separated everybody who was eligible to be a contestant. My brother was picked, and I wasn't. That's because they wanted you to have a drivers' license and a Social Security card. The song Disco Inferno by The Trammps and the late announcer, Johnny Olsen, warmed us up before the show started. After the show, my brother stayed to see a taping of The Mike Douglas Show, which had just moved to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, while I went across the street to see the 1974 film, The Lords of Flatbush; which featured a then-unknown Sylvester Stallone.

I also used this same bus route that continued up Fairfax Avenue to Sunset Blvd. continue on into Hollywood to connect to another bus that took me to Burbank, where I took a tour of the NBC Studios. On this particular tour, they were taping the short-lived Dick Clark's Live Wednesday, and there were also a few Elvis Presley imitators there as well.

My next visit to Los Angeles was in May of 1981, but this time, I went on my own. I did not stay in Santa Monica, but at the Holiday Inn (now the Hollywood Renaissance) in Hollywood. I flew down from San Francisco, and then took a shuttle bus from LAX to the hotel, but when I got there, my room wasn't quite ready yet.

I once again spent some time down in Santa Monica. I noticed a huge shopping mall, Santa Monica Place, right across the street from the Holiday Inn, which was not there during my previous visit. I went inside of this beauty supply shop, and asked the clerk when this opened up. She told me that it had opened up the previous November (1980) . It was something like the Gallery, a huge indoor shopping mall in downtown Philadelphia. But as usual, I went to lie on the beach listening to the oldies that I taped off of the radio in Philadelphia. I also took tours of both the movie stars' homes and Universal Studios, which I took on my previous visit, and I even took a bus tour Palm Springs. Once you're an hour east of Los Angeles, it is nothing but desert country, but saw a taping of The Tonight Show at NBC, and we were all was standing in line for practically three hours before we got in. The only guest that I can remember being on there that day was Joan Rivers.

August, 1983 was my next visit to Los Angeles. I was going to relocate there permanently from my native Pennsylvania.. I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Glendale, which was located right by the Ventura Freeway, and it was a short walk to the Glendale Galleria. Right by the hotel was a bus route that took me into Burbank, where I connected to bus routes that took me to North Hollywood and Van Nuys. I later on stayed in North Hollywood, Venice, and Hollywood.

One day, after I came from a job interview in Van Nuys, I took a bus on Ventura Blvd., destined for the LAX Terminal, which went down the San Diego Freeway to Sunset Blvd, right through Bel Air and past the UCLA campus. I was in Westwood in just a matter of a few minutes! Amazing! I thought it would have taken longer than that! I traveled this route a few times more during my stay there, and there was a transit stop right there on the UCLA campus which took me into Santa Monica.

I needed to find a job, but I still had some fun. Not only did I once again go down to Santa Monica, but I went to see a taping of Press Your Luck, which was about to debut on CBS. Even though it was only a half-hour game show, it lasted for nearly three hours because of technical problems. The same thing happened the day before, and the gave everybody the opportunity to go see a taping of Wheel of Fortune, but I didn't go see it.

Well anyway, after the taping, I took the bus on Fairfax Avenue, right by the studio to Wilshire Blvd, and then got on another bus headed towards Santa Monica, but I got off in Beverly Hills instead. There was some type of awards show that night, while at the same time, the musicians were on strike. Later on, when it started to get dark, I took a walk on Wilshire Blvd listening to my tapes, and I just had that good feeling inside of me. I later stopped at a MC Donalds, I turned around, and then all of a sudden, I could have sworn that Mr. T was standing right behind me, but I didn't say anything.

My search for a new job not only took me into Santa Monica, but Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, Westwood, West Los Angeles, and into Burbank, Glendale, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, and North Hollywood. I applied at staffing agencies and checked the local papers as well, but the best that I could get were these telemarketing jobs, which were located in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and Santa Monica.

It was also the first time that I ever saw it rain there. I remember coming back from another job interview, and I went into this men's clothing store in the Galleria in Glendale just to get out of the rain, and I said to him “Welcome to sunny California.” Ten days later, it rained for two days, and this was in September. Normally, the rainy season in Los Angeles is during the winter, and this was really strange. Now get this: one night, while I was sitting in my hotel room in North Hollywood watching the movie Valley of the Dolls, I saw flashes outside, and I thought that somebody was taking pictures outside of my window, but it wasn't. I turned on the local 11 o'clock news, and I found out that it was lightning. Again, this was in early October, which was kind of weird. Lightning in Los Angeles in October? Wow! I couldn't believe it.!

Unfortunately, for family, financial, and personal reasons, it didn't work out, and I returned home to Philadelphia. I flew out to Los Angeles on Continental with an open-date round-trip air ticket. While I was still out there, they were in bankruptcy, and they stopped all of their flights into Philadelphia.

Coming back, I flew from Los Angeles into Denver, which was no problem. From Denver, I took another Continental flight into Washington's Dulles Airport; one flight from Denver into New York was already overbooked. Luckily, there was a United Airlines flight at Dulles which left San Francisco earlier in the day, which then was going on to Philadelphia. I got on the flight and was back in Philadelphia sooner than I thought

When I stepped off the plane in Philadelphia, my family was not only there to meet me, but I experienced some culture shock! I'm thinking to myself, “Where am I?”, “Philadelphia Inquirer?” “Al Meltzer and the Channel 10 News?” I had been away for two months and I needed to get readjusted to East Coast life again.

Both Los Angeles and Philadelphia have different weather contrasts. On all three occasions when I left Los Angeles, it was sunny/partly cloudy, but when I got back into Philadelphia, it was raining.

Well anyway, twenty-four years is a long-time to be away from your favorite vacation spot, and I would still like to go back there and visit. There is no place in the world for me to take a vacation than Los Angeles, California. And on my next visit there, you'd better believe that I'll be staying right there in Santa Monica.

1. Its 85 degrees in March and there are more people driving than when the weather is bad.
2. A 30% chance of rain makes headline news, right below the story about which celebrity has ended up in jail.
3. People are doing the electric slide to rap music on roller skates at the beach and no one finds this at all out of the ordinary.
4. Freeway numbers are preceded by "the," and you know this because the freeway entrance is in your back yard.
5. You are surprised if you hear less than 5 languages spoken over the course of a day, and often more surprised if one of them is English.
6. There is a donut shop on every corner, directly next to a gym with an escalator out front.
7. LAX is an airport and not a method for relieving constipation.
8. You use MapQuest to look up directions to neighborhoods that you have never heard of at least once a month, then laugh at the estimated travel time that MapQuest provides.
9. Your sunglasses are twice the size of your dog, which you carry around in a handbag.
10. The rent of your 120 square foot studio apartment is twice as high as your first mortgage.

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