Today was hazy again, is it always like this when Monday
comes round? I spent the better part of a morning in bed,
rising in time for Jerry Springer – the ultimate depression
inducing element.

Thankfully, though, the day gets better and better. Good
news e-mails from New York greet me at the schlump
cybercafe on Melrose, then it’s on to Jamba and some
severe Sunset Strip traffic. Laurel Canyon was closed
from Sunset to Hollywood, the only reason for backtracking
was cigarettes (Sherman’s of course) at the country store.

So, finally, ascending the mountain, I make a mental note
of the fact that traffic is stopped still from Sunset to Mulholland.
I take Mulholland to Cahuenga (bear with me, I like talking
like I know where I’m going) and stop briefly at the hotel
before heading over to the Coffee Bean on Hillhurst.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is one of those California chains
of which there are many. Carl’s Jr., Jamba Juice, Diedrich’s
Coffee (not bad, really), Rubio’s Baja, all excellent. It’s time to
get them out east, I think. I read in the New York Times of
Coffee Bean’s plans for U.S. expansion. I’m waiting patiently.

The 5 is backed up, I arrive in San Juan Capistrano an hour later
and desperate to use the restroom. It’s a quaint little place, very
historic and well kept. I spent possibly the longest time spent
in any one place, walking throughout the entire town. I don’t know
why, but it was relaxing.

Couldn’t be happier, setting out southward for San Onofre,
which I find eerily empty. Retraced steps to one of the San
Clemente city beaches, south of the pier. This is definitely a town
to get used to.

San Clemente is everything people came to California for, but
lost once everyone else moved in. Safely guarded from massive
sprawl by immediate mountains to the east, and Camp Pendleton
to the south, it is an out of the way, sleepy sort of place with
endless beach front access and lots of simple architecture. Stay
tuned for more. Oh wait. 1 hour from Los Angeles, 1 hour from
San Diego. What else do you need?

After the full tour and sun’s last light, I hightail it back to the
city – destination Los Feliz, which I make in 45 minutes (not bad,
me). Of course, the parking scene on Vermont is impossible, I
decline to park at all, instead heading for Thai Town on Hollywood
Boulevard.

Possibly the only thing like it in the United States outside of
Chicago’s Uptown, it’s a bunch of classless strip malls on a less
than desirable stretch of the boulevard east of the 101, yet not quite
far enough east to be hip.

Sanamluang Café has been rated the best in L.A., which speaks
volumes – in possibly the only western city where there’s more Thai
food than Chinese, this dowdy strip mall unit packs em’ in and
pisses off culinary snobs night after night.