Heading Out

We left Wednesday morning, January 2nd. Our across the street neighbor, Matt Weppner, gave us and our four suitcases and 2 duffle bags a lift to the airport. He and Anita, his wife, took care of Saki, our 14-year-old Shiba Inu, while we were gone. In addition to three adorable kids (Hannah, Erin, and Brennan), they have three dogs, two bunnies, and a cat. With the presence of Saki, their house was a veritable zoo!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we spent the night in Los Angeles. Mostly we worried about being able to make connections in a timely matter. Our last big cruise (Panama Canal on the Crystal Symphony) we woke up to find Buffalo totally fogged in. Two hours before departure we went online to find out that conditions were clear in Rochester, 60 miles down the road. Two one way tickets and a mad dash later we were on our way -- and made it on the ship just half an hour before sailing from Caldera, Costa Rica. Much too close for our comfort zone!

Los Angeles was good. We had hoped to get soba in Manhattan Beach but the place was closed so that evening we headed to Little Tokyo. Komasa, which we had wanted to try last trip, was full so we went a few doors down to Hama Sushi, which was small, incredibly authentic, and just plain fabulous. The follow up visit to Yamazaki induced the usual sighs of delight.

Next day we continued the exploration of Los Angeles we'd begun in April and continued in November. This time we did the Beach Cities: Venice, Marina Del Rey, Vista del Mar, El Segundo, Huntington, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, ending up with a tour through Palos Verdes Estates and down to Long Beach, before doubling back on the PCH and heading back to Little Tokyo for a second round at Hama and Yamazaki.

After lunch, we visited the Japanese-American National Museum, a very poignant reminder that there is a lot about American history that (even now) we don't get taught in school. The racist quote from Ben Franklin emblazoned on the wall made me squirm, just as it should have done. (Not that I was particularly surprised; I was mostly squirming that I had to go there to have read it!)

Then it was off to The Grove, the shopping haven adjacent to Farmer's Market, for some window shopping and some eye candy. Then back to LAX to check in our luggage with Air Pacific. And then to Encounter for dinner with Tom.

Encounter was a hoot. The elevator played Jetson-inspired music, the restaurant itself, still done up for the holidays, twinkled, sparkled, and oozed, in true Lava-lamp fashion, and whenever someone ordered a beer on tap the dispenser produced a chorus of chirps, whoops, and wails reminiscent of the bar scene in Star Wars. The price tag reflected the killer ambiance, not the quality of the food, which was quite good but nothing extraordinary.

We boarded the plane for our 10-hour flight to Fiji well-sated (views, food, and a friend!) and ready for more!