Around 5 this evening, I got up to investigate the flood of orange light streaming in through the glass doors of my balcony.  I figured the sun was setting, but since it has been dark and stormy all day, the vibrancy of this light caught my eye.  I noticed a guy in a building across the street from me standing outside on his cold and wet balcony snapping pictures up at the sky.  I wondered what he was looking at and then - GASP - my jaw dropped.  Right in front of me was the largest and most vivid rainbow I have ever seen, and right next to it was a lighter rainbow.  Double rainbow goodness!!

I sprinted for my camera.

I took some video at first because I knew still pictures would not capture the magnificence I was seeing.  Also, both photos and videos tend to make things look further away than they actually seem in real life.  Let me tell you, this rainbow felt like it was this close.

The storm clouds were reorganizing and the sunlight was fading as quickly as the rainbow.  I took a few still shots from my balcony and then rushed up to try to capture some from my roof.  I’m so glad I did because for the first time ever I was able to see the entire arch of a rainbow and caught both ends of it! Weeeeee!  The rainbow was simply too large for me to capture the entire arch in one picture, but I could have stared at all day.  Simple pleasures in nature get me so excited. Here are the best pics of the lot:

My first shot of the rainbow from my balcony.

Angled to see more of the rainbow arch.

From my rooftop, I stumbled upon the other end of the rainbow!

The rainbow is starting to fade as the sun blazes down the sky. Downtown Los Angeles is centered.

The rainbow is fading fast and storm clouds are moving back in.

It is almost all gone now. Storm is picking up steam.

It is getting very windy again as the rainbow melts away.

Finally, here’s the video. Important: My camera’s mic is quite powerful and it picked up a lot of loud and swooshy street noise. Please have your volume on low or off.

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Last week, while lounging on the sofa, I noticed the balcony doors were suddenly aglow with steaks of orange.  I looked outside and caught my breath at the sight of a gorgeous sunset disappearing behind buildings and palm trees.  I don’t think the English language has an adequate word to describe the sense of awe, appreciation and smallness one feels in the face of such natural beauty, be it that searing sunset or the perfect symmetry of a flower’s petals.

Here are some pictures I wanted to share:

Snapped while standing on my apartment's balcony.

From up on the roof deck; two others were doing the same!

A closer look.

Spectators in wonder.

Turned around on the roof to catch the sun bouncing off downtown Los Angeles.

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Guessing that these are chipmunk holes since I saw a couple of the critters along the trail earlier.

The following pictures are of the view of the city from the trail.  Los Angeles is so spread out and flat!

The skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles are on your left.

A close-up shot of downtown L.A.

You can see the tall, commercial buildings of Wilshire Blvd.

A close-up shot of the Miracle Mile, which is about 3 miles away.

Another wide shot spanning from downtown across to Century City.

It was a slightly cool, cloudy day which made it great for the hike.  We only made it half way up the trail though. I am slowly admiting to myself that both Jesse and Penny aren’t as young and spry as they used to be (they are 11 and 7, respectively).  Penny actually made the hike pretty miserable because she had one of her “fits.”  Every now and then, for reasons unknown, Penny gets into a frenzy and tries to eat everything in sight.  Now, it’s normal for dogs to eat grass now and then, but Penny not only goes after grass, she’ll gulp down leaves, twigs, weeds, roots, stalks, and even dry, rough stuff like those things that look like wheat stalks.  They’re all too tough to be chewed, so she ends up swallowing stems that are as long as 12 inches or more!  She gets very persistent about it and it’s the only thing on her mind; I end up having to drag her away from bushes and brush areas while she make these awful hacking and choking noises as she’s trying to get the plant matter down.  I’m sure more than one passerby on the trail thought I was somehow abusing my dog!

I basically spent the entire hike, about an hour and a half, holding Penny by the collar to keep her next to me.  This didn’t stop her from trying to dive and yank towards the bushes every 30 seconds.  She is very strong and it was miserable trying to keep her from pulling us into the brush.  My shoulder and lower back are aching from the effort! I also had to stop numerous times to reach down into her throat and pull something out.  She was still crazed during th walk home and even yanked hard to try to get close enough to the fern our apartment building has in the lobby!  Ugh!  I don’t know why she does this and haven’t found anything online about it.  Thankfully, it ony happens maybe 3 times a year, but she sure did ruin today’s hike!

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Because of the great weather today (we actually broke a record set in 1914 with a high of 94), Tim and I took advantage of the warm, breezy night and went out for dinner.  We walked along Hollywood Boulevard without a destination in mind though I knew that I wanted to try something new.

First, we popped into the new sushi restaurant near the Arclight.  Tim and I always joke about how empty that restaurant is; every time we go to the movies that HUGE restaurant is empty with lonely servers standing around waiting.  I know this is L.A., but how big is the market really for a pricey sushi restaurant near a movie theater?

Tonight, we were surprised to see a few tables occupied and people at the bar.  However, the space had an uninviting vibe; it was very cold with lots of steel and concrete.  There was really no character to the restaurant, and after briefly flipping through the too-big menu (burgers? pizza? what?), we left for the also new place next door, Boho.

Boho just opened where Charcoal used to be.  Charcoal didn’t really take off.  The few times I’ve been there, the place was barely a third full, if even.  However, I really liked the atmosphere and decor of Charcoal with its dark woods, leather furniture, stones, antler chandelier and other rustic pieces. It felt like an old school club house.

Boho keeps the warm, inviting lighting of Charcoal but the decor is more laid-back.  There’s a lot of lamps and chandeliers, mismatched chairs and utensils, knickknacks, a piano, and the table we were seated at was actually a thick, horizontal slice of a large tree. I also really liked the tall ficus tree in a huge pot near our table.

A warm, intimate setting for a large party.

Boho even has a player piano.

When we walked in, the hostess (who was very friendly) asked if we had reservations. We said no and she replied, “That’s okay.” Tim and I both found that very amusing considering it was a Sunday night and the restaurant was only about a quarter full. Maybe she’s just practicing the philosophy of acting how you want things to be because eventually it’ll happen, sorta like dressing for success.

Anyway, we were seated promptly and given ice cold water. I really like the water glasses and the decanter of water that was left for us. It was a nice convenience to have water at hand. Tim ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($14) which came with coleslaw and a beet and potato salad. I wasn’t that hungry and got something lighter: the Belgian fries ($8) and the fried oyster po’ boy sliders ($9). The fries came with aioli and homemade ketchup while the sliders consisted of fried oysters, applewood bacon, and arugula.

Boho's Fried Oyster Po' Boy Sliders

The sliders were excellent!  I love the combination of fried oysters and bacon - yum!

A cute presentation of fries, aioli, and homemade ketchup.

Like the sliders, the fries came out quickly.  I really liked the presentation, but found the fries themselves to be a bit hard and dry.  The homemade ketchup was nice with a unique sweetness, and the aioli was very garlicky.

Tim’s pulled pork sandwich was huge.  The coleslaw came on top of the pork and the BBQ sauce was in its own container for him to mix in.  Tim thought the flavor was too mild; I took a bite and was impressed by how fresh and soft the roll was but don’t remember the taste of the pork itself.  Tim also thought the potatoes in his potato salad were dry - maybe they’ve got a poor batch of potatoes?  He gave me his pickle spear (as usual - Vuthy loves pickles!) which had a nice, peppery taste to it.

So, for our first visit there, Boho gets mixed reviews, but we will come back though.  Did I mention that they have 25 different beers on tap?? Boho actually calls itself a “gastropub” because of this and of course I’ll return again to try a beer or two.  Plus, they have a Korean BBQ pizza that comes with kimchee that I’m curious about.

Boho
6372 Sunset Blvd (at the corner of Ivar Ave near Arclight Cinemas)
Los Angeles, CA 90028
http://www.bohorestaurant.com/

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Just got back from the New Year festival in Town Thai. It’s in its 6th year and I’ve been to every single one. I’ve noticed that it gets bigger and more popular every year, which may seem like a good thing, but I find it less enjoyable because I have to inch my way through the ever-increasing amount of people who attend. It was ridiculous trying to walk by the Muy Thai boxing ring and the line for food was insane! Like we did last year, Tim and I went into one of the many restaurants instead of dealing with the hassle of trying to get food from one of the booths. Plus, it was nice to have a place to sit and enjoy the A/C! Without fail, it is always super hot during the festival and I am now sporting a fresh tan.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day. The rest are in an album on the Photo Gallery page.

Young girls performing a traditional Thai dance.

I think this was chicken satay on the grill.

Colorful items for sale at one of the many booths.

It was packed around the Muy Thai boxing ring!

The Singha courtyard was just as crowded.

Golden statues in a traditional style.

These fabric roses were so pretty!

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Around 3 PM this afternoon (Sunday, March 29), I started hearing a lot of commotion outside.  At first, it was just a police siren, which is not uncommon in Los Angeles, but then I started hearing more and more sirens.  I looked out the window and saw a police cruiser, fire engine, and ambulance (not in a row) racing down Hollywood Blvd.  Hmm, I thought, but again, it wasn’t unusual.

Then I realized that the sirens stopped abruptly once the vehicles passed my apartment; there was no fading off into the distance.  I also noticed that traffic was bumper to bumper and not moving at all.  Whatever happened must be right down the street.

My curiosity got the best of me, and because I was already dressed and getting ready to go out for a late lunch, I decided to go investigate and brought the dogs along.

I stepped out of my apartment and looked up the street - woah.  It was right there!  Because of the building next to mine, I really couldn’t see well from inside my apartment, but once outside I saw that the accident scene was literally less than a minute’s walk away. 

Right at the corner, at the on ramp to the 101 North, was a very busy sight.  There were police cruisers, fire engines, a fire marshal cruiser, and an ambulance.  There was also a small crowd of on-lookers at the corner and I suddenly noticed that there were about 3 helicopters circling overhead.  As I got closer, I noticed that the fire engine was deliberately preventing cars from going on the on ramp or even going pass the scene.  Traffic had to detour off Hollywood Blvd.  Whatever was going on was happening on the 101 Hollywood freeway below.

Because of the crowd and commotion, I decided to turn back.  I didn’t want to spook the dogs, and it was obvious that the cops weren’t going to let anyone near.  I looked down Hollywood Blvd and saw that traffic was backed up for blocks.  Also, traffic on the side street was backed up as people were being forced off the 101 before the accident scene.  “This must be a real ugly car accident,”  I thought.

I got home and tuned into all the local news channels.  There were ‘copters in the air, someone must be covering it.  Nope - nothing.  I visited their websites to see if they had any breaking news alerts.  Nada.  I did a Google news search and came up with zilch.  Where can I go to find out what was going on?

Then it hit me: traffic alerts!  The mere nature of traffic requires commuters to be updated in real time on driving conditions.  I googled los angeles traffic conditions and came across the Sigalert website.  Then there it was, a big red diamond and red dots all over my area indicating severe traffic.  I clicked through the Accidents page for more detail and found it:

2:58 PM Attempt Suicide 101 Bridge Jumper

WHAT?!

I was floored.  I was expecting some sort of car collision, but a suicide attempt? Wow. Tons of questions raced through my  head: Who? Why? Did he/she survive? Did anyone else get hurt?

There was no more detail on the Sigalert website.  I figured I’ll hear about it on the evening news.  But I watched the 6 PM local news and there was no mention of it at all.  Strange.  I went back to all of their websites and found nothing.  I did a Google news search and a Google blog search.   Nothing there either.

I watched the late evening news, the one that comes on at 11 PM.  Surely they would have a mention of the incident that backed up Hollywood Blvd and the 101 freeway for 2 hours. Right?  Nope.  For a city that calls a light rain a “storm” and covers celebrity sightings and car chases, I’m confused as to what happened with this story.  Was it really bad? Or maybe not bad enough?  Maybe it’s being saved for tomorrow. ::shrugs::

What I do know is that it is always interesting living on Hollywood Blvd.

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