Minority Report

As Ben and I stood in line to board our Asiana flight to Seoul, South Korea, I scanned the orderly lines and realized I was the only blonde in the entire queue.  It's not Luftansa, Toto.

We were already impressed with Asiana.  A few days ago Ben discovered on their website that we could schedule a free city tour of Seoul on our return flight from Hanoi.  Our 9 hour layover will give us time for a glimpse of Korea.  Or Asiana will offer us a complimentary hotel room so we can snooze.  

We boarded to the upper deck of our 2-story plane to our roomy coach seats.  Welcoming us was a neat pile of goodies:  slippers, a pillow, blanket and headphones.  Later, in the plane restroom I discovered tidy packets of toothpaste and brush.

The stewardesses are  kindly and polite, plying us with wine, coffee and food. Ben tried Makgeolli, a Korean rice wine.  I stuck to Pino Gris.

Yesterday we caught the earlyAmtrak train from SLO to LA.  

The train quietly sped us along the coast, through Vandenberg Military reserve in ample comfort.  We got to LA by noon.  Amtrak has parcel storage, so for 4 bucks each we stowed our bags and took off for a walking tour of downtown LA.  Rain had freshened everything and cool, cloudy weather was perfect for a long amble.  We strolled through Olivera Street first and admired the life size wood nativity on display in the bandstand.  We were thrust into a little Tiajuana ambiance.

We came on a big crowd at City Hall carrying American and French flags and holding "Je Suis Charlie" signs, standing in somber alligence with others around the world.  I could see the startingly modern Caltrans building looming over Spring Street in the distance.  It brought back memories of working in the patched together old building 34 years ago.  Downtown LA has really changed for the better.

We walked about a mile to bustling Grand Central Market for lunch.  The big hundred year old indoor market was bustling with families shopping for cheap vegetables, counter Chinese food, or fashionista fare favored by Millenials.  The line for EGGSLUT was an hour long.  Almost everyone in line was under 30 andconsulting their iPhones.  We settled on Berlin - a German curry wurst stand with terrific food.

A movie was being filmed at the elegant, gilded Biltmore Hotel and no one minded that we used their spacious restrooms.  A buff model in a puffy white wedding dress was hanging out in the corridor checking her phone.  We had to dive around corners on Grand Street at the request of a film crew filming an Acura commercial.  We had wondered why a red Acura was speeding up the closed street, but then we saw the camera vehicle in pursuit.

We took a short tour of the MOCA and puzzled over the Warhol exhibit.  With the help of a good tour guide we left with a slight appreciation of the 102 almost identical canvases.  I especially like the Pop Art painting, "It's a Small World" in another exhibit.  Next, a walk around the Disney Hall garden made us both aware that our feet were tired. 

 It was time to walk back to Union Station and past a tent city of homeless people setting up camp on the sidewalks, most orderly and some elaborate.  Time to catch the Flyaway bus ($8 travel bargain) to our airport hotel.  25 minutes later we were at waiting for the hotel shuttle.

The flight to Seoul is 13 hours, we have a 2 hour layover and then a 5 hour flight to Bangkok.  I will look for other blondes there.