Lost in Los Angeles
September 14, 2007
gargamel
I’ve finally made it to the City of Angels.
After a lifetime of watching American shows and movies, here I am. This is where Brenda and Brandon from 90210 lived and survived their high school, where Pamela Anderson’s Canadian charm (and so much more!) transformed her fortunes, where Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan hang out and where wanna-be’s try their luck in the hopes of making it big in Hollywood. Oh yes, it couldn’t get any sunnier in Sunny California.
So, media frenzy aside, what is this city really about?
On my way here, I sat beside a guy who used to live in LA and has now moved to San Diego. He said LA is his least favourite American city. It’s too crowded, too polluted and too impersonal. As the plane descended, he pointed out the smog that enveloped the city, the chaotic freeway and its buzzing stream of commuters, and the endless blocks of dull buildings stretching as far as the eye could see. He said it’s a concrete jungle, where people go about work and live with a sense of mechanism.
My first impressions weren’t impressive at all. A tired airport, a lacklustre urban structural layout that is still expanding, and the ulitmate giveaway of its consumers’ frantic lifestyle, litter on the street. Road courtesy is more about NOT getting a ticket rather than polite and respectful co-existence. There is constant deafening noise, firetrucks zigzagging through the traffic, police cars giving the impression that they’re out on a chase, road works drilling the concrete earth like an irritating dentist’s attempt to root canal a fidgety patient. And there’s the noise that radiates from people. Not the sort of physical noise that we hear. But the noise that is on people’s faces. The kind that tells you that a person is ticking off an item on his to-do checklist. People project an extremely busy and on-the-go attitude. The only time I see people stop is when they wait for the walk sign. But even then, you can see that their minds are working overtime. Running late for an audition perhaps?
I’ve been here three days now. And there is still so much to see, so many things to do. I choose not to be rash about my verdict. I will explore like a child and hopefully my curiousity will lead me to the city’s real identity.
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1. Yen | September 14, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Wow, sounds exciting! Make the most out of your stay there,Weng. Ihalik mo na lang kami sa lupa dyan wahehe.