Santa Monica beach and Basketball

Today, I got lost. Like, for freaking hours. It was ridiculous. After about 2 hours however I eventually made it to my initial intended destination of Santa Monica beach (turns out I was just meant to sit on the bus till the end...).

Oh yeah, on one of my many detours of supreme lost-ness, I seen this old dude walking around with a really beautiful dog. I was going to compliment the owner but as I approached I noticed this guy seemed a bit off... his jacket was pretty dirty and his hair was all wild. It was then that he started to do a small zigzag as he walked also. Now the dog was off a leash but this guy was clearly the owner because it almost seemed like this dog was a guide dog of sorts... but still this owner continued to zigzag around... until I realized that he was trying to run away from his own dog ha! He then made me laugh because he started to weave in and out of street signs and trees in his attempt to escape the dog, then completely randomly he shouts really loud:

"We are humans! We are not animals anymore god dammit!"

Yeah, this was not out of the ordinary in my few days in L.A thus far. 

Anyway I eventually got to see the Santa Monica pier which you always seem to see on TV shows, so that was pretty cool. It was a nice area, but... nothing amazing I guess. A good place to spend the day at least.

The Pier that you often see in TV shows and movies

Standing on the pier looking back at the beach

A pretty nice place, but I wouldn't say it was any nicer or more impressive than Port Melbourne, Melbourne, or even Darling Harbour, Sydney.

There was a particularly awkward moment at a cafe, because Americans seem to enjoy annoying the rest of the world, such as in service jobs (like cafe's) where I think you are meant to tip your waiter.  How does one go about this exactly? Do I just pay extra when I am paying the bill? Do I give it to the waiter directly? Do I put it in the tip jar? No idea! So I opted for the "I'm a foreigner therefore am unaware of your tipping ways" and gave $7.25 to the waitress for my $7.16 meal.

She looks at the money in her hand, looks back at me... then asks "You've given me $7.25 yes?".

"Yep", I reply blankly. She pauses a second more, sighs, then proceeds to give me my 9 cents change... ha!

That night, as luck at a hostel would have it, I got invited to a basketball game with a bunch of people from the hostel. Sweet! Seeing a basketball game is definitely on my America to-do list (despite my lack of interest in the sport itself). Julia tagged along with me also.

Julia (Germany)

A.Z (America), Sam (In blue behind A.Z, Whales) Julia, Ardo (Uruguay), Rodrigues (Uruguay)

Basketball is a little boring, but was still good to see live at least once

And that was my... Monday? My days are a bit of a blur already.