Weekend pleasure in California

This weekend was amazing. It started on Saturday with a party at Amu Irajs and Manijehs house. We was there for lunch. Of course, there was tons of delicious Persian food. Amu Iraj made a lot of jokes and we a laugh till our we got hurt. I met my cousin Human (first time) and his cute daughter Daniela, but she was a bit shy. You can imagine how much fun we had from the pictures, especially when I tried to use the self-timer from Sepidehs camera. They were really patient. I reset the whole home decoration to have a good place for the camera. At least we have a picture of everybody.

Unfortunately we must left early, because Kevin and Sepi was invited to a party than evening. And everyone else, too(Human to another, Roya and Bijan to yet another one). In the evening I met Connor and Kyle, Kevins kids. We played Rockband 2 and I figured out, that the bass guitar on this game is much easier then then Guitar Hero. Ok, the guys was so nice to turn No-fail-mode on and I played the easiest level… After an episode of Family Guy we turned the Playstation off and played a real card game. I think the name was Apples and Apples, I must look back in Germany, if we have this game too, because it was really funny.

Next day we drove to Frazier Park which was 60 Miles north of Los Angeles in the Los Padres National Forrest. Friends of Kevin had a Ranch there with a donkey, chickens and an ostrich. Just checkout the newest photos in Picasa.
It was a real nice place. But they had also some motocross courses. We had a small motocross bike and a quad on the back. But the day didn’t start good. One of the kids there fell down while a jump and broke his leg. They brought him to his mum and later to the doctor.

We tried to overcome this incident with some good Persian food. We brought a lot of Kebab (or Kebob as I saw on a sign), rice, salad and vegetarian stews (Ghorme Sabzi and Gheyme). We talked a lot about languages and dialects. Dolores and Ingrid speaks German too, but they didn’t practice for a long time.

After lunch Sepi showed me the ranch. Micheal built nearly everything by his own. There was a donkey, an ostrich and chickens. They had lamas or so too, but one was eaten by a mountain lion and another died because of old age, Connor explained to me. He built different buildings including a jail (just for fun, not a real one). The area was a steppe, but they grew up plants and trees out there. There isn’t any water pipes out there, so they must sink for a well to get any water.

Connor took me for a ride on the golf cart. You remember this white small cars which prevent golfers to walk on a golf course? Connor used this more in a motocross, lead-footed style. Anyway, we had fun and it was fine after the ride, too. Then Kevin showed the quad to me. It’s a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle (ATV) with four shift gears. I never had something like this under my butt. With a lot of patience Kevin explained to me everything. I first slowly drove in first or second gear, but after a while got comfortable and tried faster and small bumps etc. It was really funny. You think an ATV is easy because of the four wheels? First it has a lot of power (even though this was a small ATV) and you must be careful while you turn. If you don’t balance the vehicle it can fall over regardless of the four wheels. I hope I didn’t stress the engine too much.

At the evening we put the ATV and motocross bike back to pickup truck and drove back to home. There we just watched a bit on the video Kevin recorded and fell tired asleep to bed. Altogether an (for me) unusual but really great day with a lot of fun.

Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Santa Monica

Yesterday I was the most time with Manijeh, the wife of my Uncle Iraj. I begged Sepi and Manijeh as well to go from Chatsworth to Studio City (where my uncle lives) with the bus. Of course, both would be ready to bring me resp. to pick me up. But I wanted to test LA Metro and so Sepideh and Kevin took me to Ventura Blvd/Reseda Blvd where the bus stop is. First I wait at the wrong one for the metro local buses, but when the metro rapid No. 750 arrived I saw it and ran to the correct one. The bus had air condition and wasn’t full or even late. It was a bit less comfortable then in Germany, but still OK. The bus didn’t have a stop button (if you want exit next station), but a line (like a laundry line) at the window which you pull instead. The announcements was very silent and I couldn’t recognize a pattern why they mentioned some stations and others not. Also they haven’t any information about departure times or bus routes at the bus stops. But you can pick a plan inside the bus or visit metro.net. On the other hand they have a bike rack in front of the bus, so you can take your bike with you on the bus every time. After a smooth ride on the Ventura Blvd I arrived at Laurel Canyon and from there I called Manijeh. I bought a Los Angeles Times and wait for her. Unbelievable how boring the LA Times is. I couldn’t find the articles between the ads. And also I missed a structure like I know from newspapers in Europe.

Manijeh found me easily and we drove to their house up in the hills. We was sitting outside. On the chairs still was some ashes from the Los Angeles wildfire. A hummingbird surrounded us and tried to pick up fruits from the tree (there were lemon trees, too). She took me after a coffee to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Bel Air. We drove through Sunset Blvd, Maple Drive and other famous places. The rich and their houses, you know. After this we drove via Brentwood to Pacific Palisades and (next to?) Malibu. Please check out the recent uploaded pictures in Picasa. We had lunch at Gladstones which was nice. We had our table on the balcony overlooking the ocean. When we left the restaurant a homeless asked me, if I would sell my leftovers to him for a dollar. I just gave it to him.

After Gladstones we head south to Santa Monica. We parked the car and walked down the 3rd street promenade. This was the first pedestrian area I saw. It was Wednesday, so there was Farmers Market at Arizona Ave/2nd Street. Manijeh bought grapes and wanted to buy eggplants, but the seller said he isn’t allowed to sell after half past one. From Arizona Ave it was only a hop to the Santa Monica beach. We walked aside the beach up to Santa Monica Pier. Maybe you know this pier from some movies. Their is a Ferris feel, the Pacific Park and much more just on this small pier. The view is beautiful and the wind is fresh.

We just was walking more then a hour, so we went back to the car and drove home. This was the first time I had the pleasure to meet LA traffic (jam), but after a while we was back save in Home, Sweet Home Studio City. I watched a bit TV until my uncle came back from work. Again another first time see. I saw Manijeh this day first time in my life and think I saw uncle Iraj over 20 years ago in Germany. I can’t remember him, but his gift. It was a police car (or KITT, who knows) with flashing lights. I went to the bathroom (without windows) and turned the lights of to could enjoy the lights. I also remember I broke this amazing gift in just one day…

I took a picture of him, too. But the cam is so poorly, you must wait until I got the pictures from Amu Irajs camera.