Finally, I get a chance to sit down and write my 'Yano Goes to L.A. Report'. Here goes. Get ready for a long long ride...
Thursday
Dan and I flew out late Thursday afternoon, and arrived at Long Beach airport at around 9:30. Dan was the Yano bodyguard for the weekend, ready to make a full report to Dave aat the end of the trip. Anyway, it was pretty neat at Long Beach because we got to get off on the tarmac and come down the stairs all Beatles style. And Long Beach is the tiniest airport! You get off the plane, go out the gate (which is all outside) and you're done! The baggage claim is outside. It's weird.
So we checked into Hotel Cajudo, which was a great place to stay. They had the best samples there, too. We got mouthwash, a toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and Scooby snacks. After checking in, we headed out to this place called the Yardhouse, where they have this endless selection of beer, and they serve it in these yardlong glasses. I had half a yard and I was already giggling like a little girl. But it was a good time. Met some really nice people.
Afterwards, I fell asleep on the couch while the guys were surfing the web, and I snored. Pretty embarrassing. But I admit it. I snore.
Friday
Dan made it plain and clear in the days before that he wanted to get to Magic Mountain early to be first in line for the roller coaster, 'X'. He's a real Roller coaster enthusiast. Rumor was that 'X' was reopened. So we got up early, got a great meal consisting of rice, spam and ketchup at the Cajudo Restaurant, and headed out to the park.
Unfortunately, 'X' was closed. Dan was as sad as a little boy who's been told that Santa wasn't real (Dan's comment: "I was pissed!!! Damn Six Flags Damn them). But we still got to ride a lot of the coasters at Magic Mountain. Dan still had a great time. I think my favorite was Goliath. It was a great ride, and even though the wait was about 45 minutes, they have little misters in line and the time passed by quickly. I didn't put on any sunscreen, so I got a little red on my shoulders. But sun is good. Rod was making fun of my neon white pasty legs. Hopefully they're best described now as just white, not pasty white. We had a great time. It's a big park, and there were a lot of great rides. The only thing was how expensive everything was - a drink for $3.50? Ouch.
That night, we drove along Sunset Boulevard and met up with Moises, Bryan and Jennifer at this club called Miyagi's. It was a pretty interesting place. The music was awesome and the third floor was basically a grinding pick up dance fest. A lot of eye candy on that third floor. It was really hard to imagine Bryan and Jennifer there, it didn't really seem like their scene. But we had a good time. It was a pretty mixed crowd, but a good lot of them were Asian and African American. It closed at 2, but I wished it was open later, because I really didn't get a chance to dance.
Afterwards, Rod gave us a little late night tour of Rodeo Drive and Hollywood. We stopped by Mann's Chinese Theater and took some pics. I didn't really see any of my favorite actors on the cement, so I settled for Julie Andrews. :) We also went for a little walk, and we saw people who were camping out in line to get American Idol tickets. Since I had my camera, I took pictures and interviewed people, some of whom were encamped there since the afternoon. Seems like most of them there love Kelly Clarkson. I like her too. She's got personality. So we're talking to these people, and a cop car pulls up. Dan is talking to them, and pulls me over, and tells me to explain to the cop what American Idol was. So I get into conversation with him. It was pretty funny. Him and his partner ('Officer #2', as I called him) were pretty cool to talk to, and didn't seem to be in any hurry to 'Protect and Serve' LA. Things got a little hairy when I refused to tell them my name and officer #2 pulled out his handcuffs and said 'Oh, we have ways'. But I know that Rod and Dan were closeby to protect me if needed. I had to cut the conversation short when I asked Officer #1 if he had kids, and he said yes, and then I asked him if he had a wife, and he replied 'No, but I'm looking for one', and then he asked me if I wanted to take a ride. Eek! What's up with the LAPD? So I told them that I had to go, and they asked me if I wanted to hear the siren, and I said yes, so they turned on the lights and siren, and sped off into the night. Dan was laughing his ass off the entire time.
Saturday
Well, let's start with the afternoon, because we didn't get up til 1pm. We were so exhausted from the night before that Rod let us sleep in. It was quite pleasant. We then went to lunch, at this restaurant where I swear there was a bra size requirement for the waitresses. But the food was really good. We then went on a ride along the beaches, passing by Huntington and Newport beaches. And I finally know what Pacific Coast Highway is. Yay! It was a great ride around Cali.
Later that day, we went to Mo's house for his graduation party. It was a really great time. He's got a wonderful family. As soon as we got there his mom grabbed me and gave me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug. She was SO sweet! It was great to see Mo again, and he's looking really good. I miss having that guy around! When it came time to cut the cake, they asked Mo to make a speech. And he started off with 'Well, I haven't really prepared anything, so I'm sorry if this isn't good.' And then he went on to give one of the best speeches I've ever heard. It was so well worded, and so heartfelt, that you know that he meant every word he said. He talked about what an impact people have made on his life, and how special everyone in the room was to him, as well as what he wants to do with his life, and how he wants to make an impact on other people's lives. It was great. There was also some salsa dancing, which I was too intimidated to take part in, because Mo's brother is GOOD. But Dan did a little dancing with Mrs. Ortiz, and he did an ok job, for being extremely pigmently challenged (rod's term). Of course, the highlight of the night was when Dan ran into Mo's screen door and broke it. It was hilarious. For all the people who had run into that screen in all the years that they'd lived there, Dan breaks it in his drunken stupor. Classic.
Sunday
Got up, went home. And it was SO HOT at home! Geez, it's weird to think that the weather was better in Cali.
So, all in all, it was a great trip. Special thanks goes to the staff at Hotel Cajudo for not minding us stumbling in late at night and for offering the best accommodations Long Beach has to offer. Also to the Ortiz family, for throwing the best party that BF Egypt has ever seen. And it great to meet Lanie, Rick, Liz, Al and Rene as well as the whole Ortiz clan. We had a great time, and we met a lot of wonderful people. Can't wait to go back!
So other than yesterday's mega-long post, I really haven't been around. We've had our user forum for work all week. Basically, out clients come in, we give them workshops and take them out and stuff. So for the last week I've been schmoozing, training, testing, socializing, consulting, and presenting. It was pretty successful, but I hated wearing our asexual gray polo shirts. I look as feminine as a 10 year old boy.
But it's always great to see clients. And even better to take them out and see them act silly. We went to a piano bar named 'Howl at the Moon', which has dueling pianos, and it was a great time. We played 
