Dec 19th: Los Angeles - better than I anticipated

So this post will be short - I only had about 4 or 5 hours to enjoy Los Angeles. But thankfully, my friend Dave is a regular there and gave me some tips for spending a fun chilled afternoon. But for a regular, I would have thought he'd have realised that it was 2am Pacific Time when he called and woke me up - thanks Dave!

Anyway, Dave recommended Manhattan Beach, only 20 minutes away from the LAX hotel that Avianca put me up in (when they eventually found my luggage!). First stop was Dave's regular hotel - the Shades - where, after name dropping him, I got top service and attention for a very nice lunch. They also gave me a free dessert, although it wasn't on the house - they'll just add it to Dave's next room bill! Dave, I have to say, the hotel rooms look gorgeous - does Tesco know how much luxury they're giving you?! Remember, every pound more they spend on your hotel, is a pound less they can spend on consultants - anyway, Gustavo and Clarence say Hi!

Just as an aside: I'm really enjoying telling strangers that I've been in Bogota today, when they ask where I've been. In one conversation with a guy running a surf shop in Manhattan Beach, I had the opportunity to rave about Colombia for a nearly 5 minutes - I feel like a one-man Colombian tourist board!

So after lunch, I wandered down to the beach with my camera, and took several photos of what's effectively the set of Baywatch. (Very few bikini-clad extras today though, its winter, overcast and just stopped raining!) I then took a walk from Manhattan Beach down to Hermosa beach, with my camera to hand taking pictures of the lifeguard paraphernalia in the sunset. There are a few bars in Hermosa beach, so I grabbed a beer sitting on the rooftop terrace watching the sun go down over the lifeguard HQ - which it took me a while to realise I'd seen before from Baywatch. Amusingly, there were lots of young kids outside the building in their sports kit uniform, as they were heading out on a group training run.

I know that Manhattan Beach is not representative of the whole of LA, in the same way that Miami Beach is not representative of Miami, but I was surprised to find I liked it there! I wasn't particularly looking forward to spending time there on our return stopover (I wanted to go to Hong Kong!) but I'm happy to find I've probably misjudged the place.

I'm now looking forward to my return - but only after spending the next 3 weeks in New Zealand with Pamela and Jo - not long now!

Matt