May 14:
Rushing to check out by 11am, Ms. X and I had very little sleep the previous night due to paranoia that the beckoning man was going to climb through our window! We mustered the energy to get on a bus to central LA. Oh, before we checked out, we opened the curtain and straight away someone started yelling at us from under the window! We must’ve really stuck out like n00bs. Also, while waiting for the bus, someone drove up and looked at us angrily – just a really vile expression and he said “do you want a ride?” I just shook my head, disgusted. Luckily he drove away without further protest or questions.

In central LA we went to the fashion district. I can’t believe how cheap the clothes were there! Three pairs of shoes later we walked about 10 blocks (it sure felt like that in heels!) to the metro. We then went to Hollywood and each invested in a pair of the sweetest sunglasses ever. After dining in an asian restaurant (Kung Pow Kitty – they have delicious food!) we were already late to pick up trito who was making the huge trip over from Sweden.



The metro we took started going through some seedy areas and it was starting to get dark. We didn’t want to get stuck in Compton (one of the stops the train made) so we got off the stop before Compton – Watts, not realizing it was just as bad as Compton. Our plan was to take a taxi to the airport from there. Unfortunately a woman told us that “taxis don’t come around this neighbourhood”. Already we knew that this was not a good place to be. It was practically just like Compton and only minutes away from it! While crossing the road to the mall (which was dodgy looking too) I saw a body tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag with cloth over the face. That guy must’ve been boiling hot or dead. He looked pretty stiff. We were sooo lucky at the mall to meet a security guard who immediately radioed a taxi for us. He also let us use his cellphone to contact MiLf who was the only American contact number we all had at this point, hoping trito wasn’t too panicked that we weren’t at the airport.

By the time we made it to the airport we were an hour and a half late. Lucky for us though, almost like it was fate to end up in Watts, trito’s plane was delayed by 3 hours. By the time we made it back to the “Airport Park View Hotel” in Inglewood, it was too late to find another place. This room was a bit better than the last, although the curtains still didn’t work (and there was graffiti on Mx. X’s bed), at least the shower worked. I think we all slept well that night.