Los Angeles week 2 – Dee

Well we are at the end of our time in LA, as we will head down to San Diego on Monday, after a quick stop in Anaheim to visit Disneyland.

Our time in LA feels to have passed very quickly, I am sure I will be saying this statement I few times over our trip and then again at the end.

We have kept ourselves busy with all things touristy, such as the walk to, sorry to Hike to Hollywood sign – at no point did this feel like a walk – Adam found a video on YOUTUBE that showed you how to get closer to the sign, we could have taken the hike further to be view the sign from behind (on top of the hill), but Kobe’s was very vocal on the fact that his legs where a lot smaller and getting sorer than ours.

On our trek to the Hollywood sign

View from the top

We have been using Uber and Lyft to get to all our destinations (expect BHJJC, as this is a quick walk from our accommodation). Uber and Lyft are fantastic services, as you get to meet and chat with locals whom give you a little more insight into things to do and see and aspects you may have not taken into account. Initially we had planned to catch the train from LA to San Diego, but after discussing this with one of our drivers Adam has decided to hire a car and to drive us down (hoping that I am not needed to drive here yet, not sure I have grasped the road rules).

nice photo of Paramedics on the way to training

Kobe is a hit with most of our drivers, his candid personality is very entertaining, like announcing to a driver that he gets car sick in the cars here (we are well prepared for this, but definitely do not like to announce it with our drivers), but our driver takes it in her stride and gives him some little hints of stopping it, such as opening the window for fresh air and to hold on to the door to stabilise himself. He then proceeds to start singing Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A Lot.

Kobe finding a cool fountain in Santa Monica

We were forewarned about the size of meals here, but were very shocked and have since started ordering meals to share, which is better for our budgeting aspect I guess. We have visited the local Market (grocery store) to buy items for breakfasts and snacks, as we are usually out and about at lunch so eat out and when coming home from training late at night we are ordering dinner with Uber Eats (another great service!)

Some cool art in downtown LA

We have discovered the eggs are white and the bread is very sweet, which makes are usual breakfast not a favourite anymore. The honey and peanut butter have very different flavours, there goes our usual snacks! Subway is still a favourite for Lilly and Kobe as they love being able to customise their lunch, but it is a little funny listening to Lilly order capsicum or Kobe wanting to know if the salami is hot and the server not knowing what they want.

Training has been great. Lilly and Kobe have continued to attend the junior classes at Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu club. Vinny is great with the kids and I have enjoyed watching the way he teaches and coaches the children whom attend his classes and I highly recommend that if you are ever in Beverly Hills that you come and experience a few classes here, Marcus and Vinny and all their students are very welcoming and full of so much knowledge and experience. I have been mixing training between BHJJC and The Academy (Rigan Machado’s school) both have been fantastic and very welcoming. I have managed to train almost every day since being here which is great. I have already learnt so much, once I was over my nerves and comfortable with my rolling, I soon realized my skills and knowledge are where everyone tells me it is at.

Lilly and Kobe with Marcus and Vinny

Rigan and myself

I have enjoyed all my training whilst in LA, thankfully I have overcome my lack of finesse that Adam previously blogged about (I brought a skipping rope ?). I am always nervous the first few times I train somewhere new, as I tend to question my own capabilities, but thankfully I am learning that this is an opportunity for self-improvement. Its hard to attend classes without Adam being able to participate at the moment, but thankfully he is our biggest supporter and still there to help us. We didn’t get to visit as many clubs as we initially wanted, as without Adam on the mat we didn’t feel we would get the most out of it. Hopefully he will be back on the mats with us in no time and there is always the option of passing back through, when we drive back to the West coast later in the trip.

-Dee

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