After having to wait 40 minutes for a Thrifty rental car bus to take us beleaguered travelers to their location on Century Blvd, I suddenly found that instead of the compact car, I was upgraded to a Dodge minivan. Oh yeah, gas guzzler in the state whose gas prices were bordering on being even more expensive that Hawaii's. A good thing though, is the furthest I had to drive anywhere was all of 10 miles.
So, from the rental car location, it was fast drive down La Cienega to the prominently signed Ramada. Checking in was fast, though their parking was one to be desired. Remember, Im in a minivan. It aint the most maneuverable piece of machinery on this earth. So, I found a nice little space near a pillar, which was probably why all the other gas guzzling SUV's and vans didn't take it. I parked just fine and proceed to my hotel room.
The hotelroom is very nice. Bathroom was near the door. Clean, good amount of counter space. Toilet...okay, where the heck is the bathtub?
Its in the bedroom.
Its quite...interesting to have your bathtub right there next to your bed. Can't complain as it was a nice sized tub.
Word of note. REMINDER to never drink water from the taps here. Brushing my teeth was an adventure the worst tasting water on this planet. Bottled water from now on. Dont forget to find that 7-11 quick.
So, business meeting on Wednesday; meet with relatives and start the apartment hunting. I have to say that this was the highlight as I got good recommendations from my relatives on where in the Torrance/Gardena/El Segundo area would be a good place to live. Found a posting at the Marukai at Pacific Market Center and went to see my first of only two apartments / rooms for rent. Boy, this is tough place to find a decent place to live. Met with a nice japanese couple for the first apartment. They were remodeling so the floors were torn up. The bedroom was just carpeted and I got to see the new flooring they were planning on using for the bathroom, kitchen and living room. This was going to be a nice place.
2nd place was a room for rent in Palos Verdes. As nice as the house was, I wasn't happy with the fact that the women had different times of being there and it was quite noisy since Torrance Blvd was near there.
So only two places in one night. Guess which one I wanted?
Friday, I signed the contract for the apartment. Spent Friday night with my relatives. Saturday provided some time to see their family plot overlooking a beautiful view over San Pedro. I then gave my goodbye to my relatives, knowing that I'll be returning in only a few short weeks. I met with my friend for lunch, who was running late due to traffic on the 405 (thank heavens, I wont have to use the freeways to get to work!), but it was a nice lunch at the nearby Mariott. She dropped me off at the airport and off to Hawaii for last chances at good weather, good beaches, good food and taking care of loose ends.
All in all, Im looking forward to my move. Hopefully, California wont be too much of a drag.
