I’ve mentioned before how efficient the transit system is here in LA and as a result it turns out Tim and I have done a lot of riding on buses in LA. We’ve spent up to nearly an hour on one bus and it not only saves us enormous amounts of cash on taxi fares it also is a way to see the different suburbs and areas of LA without having to worry about driving. The buses here are nearly always filled or near to being filled with people using them. And yes it’s the predominantly elderly group or the Hispanic population that is using it. You get to see a lot of young families and a colourful variety of different types. One couple on the seat behind us yesterday was a caucasian man in his late 40’s decked out in a 70s red velvet shorty shorts and torso hugging red velvet crop top to match with his hair held back with a black and white bandana which was reminiscent of some vague american indian tribe  with his husband, an african american man closer to his 60s attired in an outfit that looked like he was about to go boating, complete with the hat and all. How do I know this was the red velvet guy’s husband? Because red velvet guy was on the phone (not his phone – a phone he had recently found) to the owner of the phone telling said owner that he had his phone and that his husband and he were currently travelling on the bus to 3rd street and would the owner like to meet him there and possibly offer him a small reward for finding said phone. Then when they got off the bus together I noticed red velvet guy (also resplendent in make up) was sporting a pair of breasts. Just fascinating.

Like I said you get to see a lot of LA and subsequently you see a lot of the amazing wall art in the downtown area. This was one of the murals I managed to snap quickly and it was in dedication to the teachers in the area. The guy on the left is Edward James Olmos who starred in the movie Stand and Deliver as the guy on the right James Escalante, a teacher who succeeded in turning his drop out students around in a very tough neighbourhood. It was about teaching so I couldn’t resist. And no one had graffiti-ed over it.

This is a shot I took on Tuesday with my phone during our walk from Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach and I’m just putting it there to remind me of the very desirable real estate on the beach that’s in the area. I’m not sure if this was an actual hotel or just apartments you can rent but either way I liked this place. Sitting out on the decking enjoying a late brunch before heading out for a swim or a bike ride sounds just perfect.

This building was closed so we couldn’t go in but as you can see it was the Writers Guild of America. The outside facade was covered in famous movie and novel quotes obviously penned by those who are/were members. I like writing and I like reading writing so that’s why these shots are here. Words fascinate me.

I usually leave the food photos up to Tim’s blog to post but I couldn’t resist this one. This was my breakfast – I asked for oatmeal, two scrambled eggs, a slice of grilled ham and 2 whole wheat pancakes. This came to $7 I think. And I discovered that whole wheat pancakes are not a taste designed for Simone’s palate. Urgh. Turns out if you’re gonna have pancakes you may as well do them the completely unhealthy way because wheat ones? Just no. I added the maple syrup to the oatmeal (no nutella handy it seems) and ate the eggs. The ham was a let down – so I left that as well. The oatmeal and the eggs were perfect though 😉

Oh our way to discovering that Samy’s The Camera Shop is indeed closed on July 4th (yes I did mention this as a possibility but apparently “public holidays in the US are not the same as in Perth where everything’s close” – turns out some things still are :P) we did discover this little place which brought a smile to Tim’s dial. Especially when we saw this:

I really think Tim would have liked to have a version of that sign himself to take home. 🙂

I took these pics because nowhere in Perth am I ever gonna see a Shell service station built like this one. It was like a little taste of a part of Mexico or something. And the whole theme was maintained right through to the servo’s little mini mart thing. It’s right next to a Taco shop too in order to complete the whole Mexico ambiance thing they had going on.

Outlet shopping seemed like the next best thing to do after busting with the camera shopping. Probably cheaper too although I think it must be said and noted that Tim spent more money than me at this outlet mall. Granted he purchased a whole outfit and extra shirts and two pairs of shoes at a bargain price, but still. I loved the Puma store, the Quicksilver store and the UnderArmour store…I went in the Nike store but they lied about their outlet prices I think. I check a few other clothes stores out as well. All very busy there I must say.

After that it was time to get a good possie on the lawn outside the LA Natural History Museum and settle in for an hour long display of July 4th fireworks. Tim will probably post more pics of this on his blog.

Turns out we picked a primo spot so that was good and the show was great with two moments in there when the ENTIRE sky was alight from clearly the superexpensive charges that looked like ginormous daisies of fire flowering across the heavens. So very pretty and spectacular and amazing the length of time it went for. People had brought their dogs too astoundingly enough and most of them seemed fine with it. I know Cypher really wouldn’t have given a crap but my girls would have been completely unhinged by them.

And today we are off to Monterey via the scenic coastal route after we pick up our hire car. We stop in Monterey tonight before heading off to San Francisco in the morning. LA has been great and I know we haven’t even really scratched the surface here, but what we have scratched we’ve both very much liked 🙂