Go west young man...

Sunday morning – and it rained – what’s with this Canberra weather? The first rain for ages – and it was a little inconvenient…and maybe, it was all related to the fact I washed the car on Saturday – hmmm. Cheered up though and trip to Sydney was good – plane half empty and bang on time. Met T for coffee at the International Terminal and that was good too. But, it couldn’t last… The rain/storm closed in on Mascot and nothing was leaving (apparently not so much ‘cause of problems re planes but because the baggage handlers don’t like to get wet…and while I gave some sympathy for them I wasn’t that happy on Sunday!). Finally got off an hour late.. and take a hint from me… don’t fly United if you can avoid it – the slightly cheaper fare did not make up for:
· You can’t book exit aisle seats when checking in – they flog them off earlier at a higher rate;
· They advertise (and I have a copy!) “Leg Roomier” – it’s a blatant lie. I am sure there economy seats are smaller even than Qantas and that’s saying something. I could not get my legs in from the aisle and the plane was 100% full;
· The plane was c 1980 I reckon – still had just the centre movie screens (which you can’t see if you sit on sides) and just played two features – they have to be G rated because everyone can see them. So we got an Alvin and The Chipmunks (I kid you not), then an edited version of the Golden Compass followed by the Disney Channel endlessly and
· The food was the possibly the worst I’ve ever had on an airline. The main meal – beef and rice – OK but stone cold. Was told some of the heating things weren’t working properly – no offer to heat it up!
· Also asked about a blanket as I seemed to have missed out (and it was cold) and again, the hostie more or less shrugged and said they must have missed it when fixing up the cabin in Sydney and disappeared never to return.
· Oh, and yes, the staff are all 50+ and look like they have to pay themselves to clean their uniforms - as no one seemed to have done it..or they are really messy!

On the good side, I experienced very early on American politeness that made all the difference to the trip. So after the blanket conversation a nearby passenger (a big guy!) passed over his plastic wrapped blanket – I won’t be needing it he said. Then, and this was the big one, and elderly couple sitting up against the bulkhead in front of me (where the film gets screened so you can’t really watch it when sitting there) – the old lady suggested we swap seats as she was little and there is quite a bit of extra leg room in the bulkhead seat. Which we did and it made such a difference. Put me in a very positive light despite the UA experience.

After that trip was tedious (13 hours) but bearable..except for the food which just got worse. And come to think of it was also surprisingly bumpy which, for those who know me well, caused me some perturbation. Get to LA with two other jumbos and we could hardly get into the Immigration Hall which, with the proud number of 35 counters (trust me I had a lot of time looking at them) had five officers dedicated to non-US citizens. And they take your fingerprints and retina scans of everyone – so it takes heaps of time. It took at least 90 mins shuffling through the queue – pretty bad when your body thinks you should be fast asleep. Finally through and many to get through Customs OK – not everyone did, that’s for sure! Staggered off to the mini-buses and off to my hotel which is pretty good. The Miyako – Japanese surprisingly! In Little Tokyo, downtown LA. Seems good – nice big room, usual stuff – even a bidet for washing those intimate bits! (You can even set the temp of the water…could be fun!!). By the time I got there, 2.30pm, body was awake again so went out and had a wander around and ended up at the Geffen Contemporary – a branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art – and a gallery opening and tour by the artist (I’d never heard of but lots of books on him – Laurence Weiner…). I quite liked his work – uses words as art a lot – but the opening and blah blah went on and on so I disappeared as it looked like we were never going to get to the canapés! One gallery comprised lots of sets made from rubbish but really interesting – unfortunately was told no photos – a shame.

BTW very hot here – 95 Fahrenheit (about 35 c I think)..it’s great to see Fahrenheit again – they don’t even give you Celsius as the second option…apparently going to get cooler as week progresses (I have found the weather channel on the TV!). Wandered to the main railway station (Union) – the last great terminus built in the US (1930s) – it’s incredible – fab Spanish/Art Noveau/Walter Burley Griffin type design – enormous, spotless and more like a museum than a railway station. But when I asked if there was a pamphlet or even a book about it I was greeted with blank surprise – very polite “I am sorry Sir, I do not believe there is such a thing, though there is a panel on the wall over there which I can show you” and off we toddle. Strange…..when generally, Americans are very conscious of their heritage. Across the road is reputedly the remains of the Spanish Pueblo which is where LA started..however now completely commercialized a really just 50 market stalls and cafes selling Mexican stuff. Quite nice, and there were cariarchi(sp?) bands etc. Won’t tell you what I had for dinner – an odd mix of take-away and a lot of Japanese beer (Sapporo Reserve – good stuff) – I still am rather dehydrated from the flight and..I know, I know, but I find it hard to believe beer takes out more than you put in! OK, hopefully, a good night’s sleep and off to the Huntington Library tomorrow.