The Gayborhood. If I had known that prior to making the hostel reservation I probably would still have gone ahead and made the booking. This place is... different? I am staying at a groovy hostel called Banana Bungalow on Fairfax and Melrose Ave. Yep, walked down Melrose yesterday. So what?
Anywho! Let's get on with it. After Thursday we stayed yet another night. Friday came with a surprise! No hangover. Well, it's not that I usually get any hangovers but I did not drink the night before. Win! I woke up rather early, went for a dip and then decided to go and check out the Farmers Market with German Simon. It was small, but cozy and I tried a new fruit (you can only guess how excited I was). My new favourite fruit...
German Simon and I.
Love it! Deliciously sweet. Is it visible what I am eating? Ah, I will tell you anyways.. Cherimoya!
The brief, but exhilarating visit to the market was followed with a walk down the Venice boardwalk with Simon and Eunice. I don't think I have mentioned Eunice before. I striked up a conversation with her on Monday (the day we rolled into Venice) and found out she was going to go study Nutrition. This obviously excited me... Could it be? A fellow backpacking health enthusiast? Well regardless, since Monday the three of us (Simon, Eunice and I) have been hitting the beach every day (Simon turned into a big red tomato, Eunice went golden and I don't know how much more bronzed I can get? ;)
Beach bumming.
So that is Eunice. She is a beautiful Argentinian with a big heart! I think the 2 guys and 1 girl ratio works well. We seem to always replace the lady when they get fed up with us. No, it's just so that Simon and I don't get mistaken for a couple (and it has happened!).
We had a hearty Mexican lunch down in Venice (eating out daily, and eating a tonne of Mexican food has become a bit of a routine, a costly routine). Some Mexican eateries give you free refills of salsa and corn chips. I clearly take advantage of this...
King of the salsa!
Feast!
The heavy shuffle back down the boardwalk to the hostel was strenuously draining. We had a little kip and thennnnnnnn... DUN DUN DUN. Wait for it.. Simon and I did our laundry!!!!!! I don't exactly recall the last time I had washed my clothing, I believe it was the day before I left San Fran. You can only turn your undies inside out and back to front so many times.
With some clean undies and odourless socks, I was ready to rock! Last night in Venice had to be big. A fresh group of about 8 hostellers (staff included) went out and we had a gay ol' time!
Saturday morning was not as forgiving and I rolled out of bed ridiculously early considering the previous nights shenanigans. But who wants to sleep when you're traveling? Not I! It was time to leave Venice. I must say though, Venice Beach really grew on me. Sure it's kind of dirty, there is way to much marijuana around and everyone wants your money (we did get hustled by some black rappers, I don't know if I mentioned that. Cost me $20 - bastards). All in all though, it's a really chilled area and I enjoyed hitting the beach.
I asked one of the staff members at the hostel where I should go and he suggested Hollywood. So off to Hollywood with English-Simon it was! I made a booking for us in West Hollywood, because I was recommended this hostel over the one in downtown Hollywood and off we set. I think we left a bit after noon and German-Simon accompanied us all the way here (which was very nice, and he carried my bags for the trip). After arriving at our groovy hostel, we all went and had a bite (falafal wrap... yum! More eating out though) and Germam-Simon had to say goodbye.
English-Simon and I then decided to go for a wander and see if we could catch any celebrities in the act! We didn't quite meet any A-list celebs, although we did meet a lovely Mississippi gal who says "y'all" way to much, but she is very pleasant. We rocked with her for a bit, went and grabbed a burger in a little "diner" (VEGE BURGER FOR ME!) And then decided to go party with the famous folk.
Vege burger in 50's diner
In the end, we hit up "Key Club" which was kind of okay. I danced like it was the last night of my life (I have some gnarly blisters on my feet. I think it's a combination of having wet, soggy feet in Yosemite and to much dancing. Either way, I have not run in a while). I didn't spot a celebrity, but I did spot a lot of gay boys checking me out. I got told I was a pretty boy... which made me feel pretty flash! Ha ha ha.
In da clubbb!
I did sleep in this morning, I got up at quarter to 10 and since then have just taken it really easy. No eating out today and no drinking. I am going to skip to Whole Foods, whip up something nutritious and possibly run in the arvo. Let's get some routine back!
OH AND... Man oh man, this was a bit of a shock. Last time I weighed myself was in Vancouver whilst I was using the free gym membership. I came in at 160lbs on their scales. That was after an intense run, so fluid loss has to be considered. Last night before we went out, I hopped on some other scales and came in at 168.4lbs. S-H-I-T!!
I think I am going to go hire myself a celebrity personal trainer.
