I spent three days in LA recently, as part of my professional certification process. I have to travel to LA every once in a while. I'm generally on the ground for very little time, and I get to see nothing of the city. This trip was no different - on the ground for only 58 hours total - but I did see an area of the city that I had not been in before: DOWNTOWN!
I got to my hotel late in the afternoon of Day 1. I didn't have a car this time - there was bus service between the hotels and the convention center. As a result, I was on foot for anything I wanted to see or do. Turns out, there are precious few things to see or do in downtown Los Angeles that are within my personal budget. For instance, the main restaurant at the hotel I stayed at had dinners starting at $68 per person. From there, they went up to a max of $178! Way outside my budget, even on an expense account. I was forced to look for food outside the hotel, and was left to wander the streets of downtown LA alone, hungry, broke.
Good fortune was mine, however, as my hotel was on the edge of "Little Tokyo". I happen to like Japanese food, and there was a little ramen noodle shop about three blocks away. The food was GREAT! I ate there all three evenings for about $15 per meal (including taxes and tip).
As I walked around, looking for a place to eat, I encountered the King of Los Angeles (or, as he pronounced it, Lahs Ahn-jaleeez). He was a large fellow, not fat but big - he might have topped out at 6' 4". I saw him from across the street, so I'm not sure. He was taller than everyone around him.
It was 85 degrees that day (the locals were complaining of the heat, but it was spring weather for a Texan). His Highness was wearing a long black leather great coat, black leather pants, black shirt, and a broad brimmed black leather hat. He had a tremendous black beard.
He shouted at the top of his prodigious lungs this warning - "I am the King of Lahs Ahn-jaleeez. Hear me, my loyal subjects. They are tunneling under our fair city. That's what causes the earthquakes." 91 hours later, there was an earthquake. Coincidence? Hmmm... No one really paid attention to His Majesty. In fact, they just walked past him as if he wasn't there. He didn't ask anyone for money (why would he need to, being Royal and all).
On my trip back to the hotel, he was gone. Perhaps he took to his earthquake-proof shelter. I honestly don't know.
