An L.A. Adventure

Of course being late to our appointment with Fr. Ruben was not a part of the plan but somehow it happened. I had it in my mind after reading the reminder on my phone that our meeting was at 10:00 so we left with what we thought was plenty of time to make it from La Puente to St. Vincent de Paul church in Los Angeles. Not only were we delayed from what to me is an insane amount of traffic but when we finally reached our destination there was no place to park as an episode of the show "The Closer" was being filmed both in the parking lot as well as in parts of the church.

So finally we parked a couple of blocks away in a metered one hour parking spot. We run, OK I run and pulled Abby but when we finally were let into the office the priest what opened the door for us said Father Ruben was gone to do some shopping for an out of town trip.

Why couldn't he wait for us after all we were only late for a few minutes. Oh well we will just have to postpone our meeting with him another week or two. So I pulled my phone to call him and then I realized my note said our meeting was at 9:00 am. Yeap, I totally got the times messed up. So I left him a message and then we went for breakfast.

So, we decided to hit Olvera Street. I had not been there in a very long time and I was surprised to see so many people walking there on a Tuesday morning. We definitely had a good time going in and out the different shops there and just basically window shopping. Of course I took advantage and as always went on a picture taking spree.

It was 2:00 pm when my phone rang. Father Ruben suggested that if we could get there by 2:30 he would see us. Now Calle Olvera is only about four miles from St. Vincent de Paul but in rush hour traffic it might as well be across the city. I however found holes here and there to maneuver and after parking two blocks away again and running towards the office we were only seven minutes late this time.

Success, paperwork was turned in and the meeting went well and that my friends are some of my L.A. adventures these days.





Scenes from La Placita Olvera in Los Angeles, California.

John Adams Jr. High

Taking a look at the halls inside those doors.
It was a fun outing, not only did Abby and I went to visit the priest at St. Vincent de Paul in Los Angeles but afterwards we decided to take a trip down memory lane as well. Many of you don't know this but I have known Abby since she was like 14 years old and even though at different times we both went to the same Jr. High School in Los Angeles.

John Adams Jr. High School.
John Adams Jr. High School now John Adams Middle School was the first school I attended, starting in the 8th grade I only did two years there then it was off to High School.

In my days this area used to be all open, now it's filled with tables and even flowers.
It was a totally new world to me. I didn't speak a word of English, fresh from Mexico I was stuck in a school that required no uniforms (In Mexico uniforms are a must), the student population was 90% black, 9.9% Mexican, and .01% white. lol At least it kindda felt that way.

There was a tunnel to cross from the main campus to the PE and shops area and believe me, if you were Mexican you found out really quick to NEVER cross the tunnel by yourself or you would get an ass whooping. Fun times!


Right behind the tree across the street is the tunnel exit and beyond that the PE area. The building in the back housed the shops and the boys showers.

I remember one day we came in to movie cameras and stuff. Later on we found out our school was used to film a part of an episode of "Barretta". Wow, the memories. In any case those were two years I will always remember. Three hours of my everyday were destined for my ESL classes. I remember thinking (In Spanish by the way) why are they teaching me English? This is LA, Spanish is the main language.


A mural. "Don't drink and drive". Hopefully middle school kids are not driving yet.

Any way, it is always nice to go to those places you were a part of when young and of course we took some pictures too.

St. Vincent de Paul Church, Los Angeles, California

St. Vincent de Paul, Los Angeles
W. Adams Blvd. and Figueroa
Image borrowed from the Internet.

St. Vincent de Paul Church is a Roman Catholic parish and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #90) in the West Adams section of Los Angeles, California. The church was built in the 1920s and designed by architect Albert C. Martin, Sr. Dedicated in 1925, it was located in what was then one of the wealthiest sections of the city, on land adjacent to the Edward Doheny Mansion and Stimson House. It was the second Roman Catholic church in Los Angeles to be consecrated. Composer Amédée Tremblay notably served as the church's organist from 1925-1949.[2]

The climactic scene of the 1999 film "End of Days" featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger's battle against Satan was filmed in the church. The church's altar is featured prominently in the film's final scenes. The Church also appears in the movie "Constantine (film)".

Well as I mentioned before, the wheels are turning and eventually in a not too distant future this is the church were Abby and I will say "I do". We visited Fr. Ruben about three weeks ago and he already gave us the pep talk along with a bunch of instructions on things we must do before the big day. Better get moving.

Back in the day when I lived in L.A. we were about ten minutes away from this church and seldom attended services there. My little sister had her "Quinceanera" there too, so when my niece suggested it for the ceremony and got the wheels moving with Fr. Ruben I was thrilled.

Here are a few pictures I took while there.

At the Griffith Observatory

And so on Sunday my little sister, two of her daughters, and I headed towards Griffith Park in Los Angeles to re-visit the Griffith Observatory, a place that we had not visited in over 30 years. My sister told me that she is really liking visiting these places and that she enjoys when I go cause we to spend so much time together.

Oh yes, we did have a long walk up the hill.
Now for those of you that never been there, the observatory is not only free to the public but it's actually a must visit place. Not only do you learn about our solar system and our stars but you also experience a close encounter with nature. The observatory sits on top of the hill and from it you can see the Los Angeles skyline, Hollywood and if you really open your eyes you also see the ocean.

And of course we had to have the famous Hollywood sign behind us.
Her turn. We thought the Hollywood sign wouldn't even show but it did.
The telescope.
My nieces stealing my show.
I was lucky enough to be there when the sun was setting down and you know how much I love sunsets. Give it a few minutes and then you see the city on a whole different level as it comes alive with millions of lights.

L.A. sunset.
We left and headed towards the car which we had to park a good mile down the hill as the parking lots were all full and still hundreds of people were heading up with little lanterns in hand just to see where they were stepping. The observatory closes late but even if you don't go inside just viewing the city from the parking lots is totally worth the trip.

This is what you can see from the top of the hill.
By this time hunger had already set in and I suggested (please don't be surprised) to go eat tacos. We were going to find a restaurant in Los Angeles but my niece, the one that stayed behind said she would meet us so we decided to go back to West Covina and ate at the now famous (at least through my tales) Rambo's Tacos. For me if I don't go to Rambo's at least once while in that area I'll come back feeling like something was missing.


Ummm que rico!
I really, really, really enjoyed my time there with my sister and my nieces. They always go out of their way to make me feel welcome and to bribe me to come back soon. We cram so much in just a few hours but then again that's what vacationing is all about.

Have a few minutes the follow this link, my sister puts out these really nice slide shows and this one pretty much has the whole weekend in it.

CLICK HERE!

Thanks to my California familia for the great time and I'll see some of you soon.

An Outing With My Lil Sister

My little sister and I.
So after the outing with my nieces, and after we ate the bionicos, and after I almost took a nap, my sister asks:

Chely: Hey Fide, do you want to go out dancing. I have free passes for the Mayan.
Me: But I didn't bring clothes to go out dancing.
Chely: You look good with what you are wearing.
Me: Huh! (pause) (*thinking* Ha, my sister speaks the truth, lol) Sure why not.
Chely: OK they are good if we get there before 11:00 p.m.
Me: Oh wow, plenty of time.

So since I am wearing the same clothes I wore all day well then basically I am ready.

Chely: Aren't you freshening up?
Me: Who? Me, naw I smell good. lol

I wait for a while and then:

Me: Chely, hurry up. It's getting late
Chely: Don't worry I am almost ready, we will make it on time.
Me: Still hurry up, it's 10;30 p.m.

The Mayan
And so we finally leave, and we get on the freeway, and I remembered that my sister drives like an old lady. Je, je, je, I was right because we got there at exactly 11:00 p.m. And so it's $10.00 for parking. We go inside hand the passes to the fool at the door and (you may be asking yourself why I'm calling this big subject at the door a fool) well, because he said I can't take them it's past the deadline. "But, come on it's only by two minutes" Chely said, but he just looked at her and said no it's past the deadline.

So what to do, what to do?

Me: So, what do you want to do?
Chely: Well, we are here. Let's just go in.
Me: OK

And just like that we walk to the ticket booth and literally had to cough up *cough* *cough* *cough* $40.00 bucks. The way I see it is as a $20.00 fee per minute for being late.

We go in and she gives me the tour. I had been there once before but it was such a long time ago. So it was cool to go through the whole place. The Mayan is an architectural beauty, and there has got to be some stories to that place. Ummm if you don't know what I mean, you can probably Google "The Mayan Theater" in Downtown Los Angeles.

When we got there it was already happening. The salsa was playing loud and clear.
Anyway at The Mayan they play a little bit of everything but Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata are the primary types of music there. We started dancing to some dance music and of course Chely and I can still disco, and so to this day when we dance peoples eyes just shift toward us.

Long Island Ice Tea anyone?
We danced for a while and then we decided to go get a drink. She wanted a Long Island Ice Tea and so did I. They gave us our drinks in this small plastic glass and charged us $10:00 each. Well, so much for a free night, free passes, etc. etc. And people say there is a recession. We drank most of our drinks but we lost them when we sat them down on the stage and we went dancing. We came back to them but there were like ten more glasses around them so we didn't want to chance taking someone else's.

Que rico!
So we continued dancing, and dancing, and then we danced some more. Oh a brief break to go to the restroom but then we came back and danced some more.

Now, only three months ago I would not have been able to dance more that a couple songs but given the great shape I am in right now it truly felt great to be able to dance for a little over three hours straight.

All of a sudden I found myself teaching Chely how to dance Salsa. It brought back memories of years gone by, back in the disco days when I taught her how to do dance disco. Truth be told, she is now way a better dancer than I'll ever be, but never the less I could still keep up with her and that really boosted my ego. Ummm somebody recently told me that 50 is the new 40. In that case I feel like I am 30.

We got to hear only one set played by the band.
After closing time we enjoyed some hot dogs with chips and a drink. And it only cost abut $3.00 so far the best deal of the night. lol

Un perro caliente.


And so, my little sister and I had a great night out together. We remembered old times, we created new memories, and marveled at the fact that we can have fun together. Yep, I am one lucky guy to have her as my sister. Oh and yes, when she was 13 she was a pain in the butt but then she introduced me to her friends and...

LOL -- Wouldn't you like to know. That would be an entirely different post.

When I saw this sign I got a little bit too excited, I thought for sure this is a coed restrwoom. -- Well, they lied. Tha only meant both men's and women's restrooms were usstairs.
.

Weekend Getaway

Well, the purpose of our California trip was just to get away and refresh just like we do a web page. You hit that refresh button and then you keep going. That's exactly what I did. The weather was very cooperative, no rain, no cold nights, no wind, actually only nice weather all weekend long. The getting there was as always part of the fun, I love stopping all over the place but this time we only stopped twice going and twice coming and actually did great travel time. It took me longer just to drop everybody off at their respective places once in Phoenix.

Just a tiny piece of the huge menu at this place.
Friday at noon my sister took us to a little restaurant in the City of South Gate named Tacos D.F. The sell a lot of the stuff you find in Mexico but not here, how do they get it? I don't know, but I didn't care. They have a huge menu but they had me at "Pambazo".

A pambazo is a white smooth bread prepared just like a torta except the bread is dipped in a red chilly and then filled with potatoes and chorizo and topped with lettuce, cream, and Mexican cheese. Believe me, this things are great and I have only eaten two of these since I left Mexico city over 30 years ago. To make sure I would not be hungry later on of course I had to order two additional tacos.

Un panbazo y dos tacos, ummm que rico!
And to wash it all down we had to have some tasty Mexican drinks as well.
Dig in homey, dig in.
all in all, we had a good time there, we ate pretty good and we'll probably be back. The downside of going there is that you have to drive as it is not too close from La Puente and L.A. traffic just plain suck. How can you stand it amigos?

Driving on the Long Beach freeway on gridlock traffic we decided to ditch the freeway and take the surface streets. The exit I took lead me to this place we used to visit back in the day. We would go from Hollywood to East L.A. just to eat this tacos.

Even though they do have a full restaurant right next to this truck, back in the day, King Taco was just that, two trucks sitting in that empty lot selling tacos. Since they are always open 24 hours a day you would get there at 3:00 a.m. and find the place totally filled to capacity with cars. Their tacos are the best.

The traffic wore me down so much that when I got to my sister's I crashed on her couch for the next three hours. Yeah, resting was part of my vacation plan and I did just that.



Us posing inside Tacos D.F.

While driving the surface streets we drove along side this old original classic. It is a Plymouth and it was pretty bad looking. I don't know if the owner plans to restore it or fix it but he seemed pretty happy just driving it ss is.


A fifty something Plymouth.

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