East Coast To West Coast

Shoutout to Chotti, Moose Moose and Mr Thinker - and airport security for not detaining me this time.

So, this post needs to start with a S/O to Chotti. Chotti is a legend, we don’t need to dive into the life of Chotti, but just know, Chotti is the MVP.

My mate and I, started in New York for five days, then hit up LA for a further five. Thankfully this time no interrogations at the airport. (check out the post on (Post brexit - pre Trump) for more information on that one.

The essence of this trip revolved around the US Open semi finals day, for those who know me, know I’m very passionate about tennis - and for those who by-chance are reading this and don’t know me, just know I am very passionate about tennis.

This year it was Novak a 24 grand slam champion vs Ben Shelton. In all honesty, it wasn’t the blockbuster semi-final we wanted to watch. I believe Alexander Zverev (no. 4 seed at the time) had been knocked out the round prior which resulted in a novice entering the big stage. The only good thing, he was American and this meant the crowd were behind him, albeit for the amount of time he was on the court. He was beaten in 3 sets.

Okay, away from all the tennis talk - I’ll save that for the _OmertalksFitness&Sports section.

We had a finite time in the states to conquer some world famous sites, thankfully a few of them I had done in previous trips with my family, yet repeating a few was always going to be good fun.

Billboards were blinding, had to turn around and get a picture

Carb crashed for real - from the famous Brownstone Pancake Factory

Lowkey this picture is so cool, captures new york city vibes very well

As a planner - you plan.

Starting with a long list of high priority activities, would be good to see if we have time, and erm, yeah cool, why not categories. (See my post on how to plan a holiday itinerary here) - I’m such a plug, giving you all these tips and tricks, well you deserve it, kinda.

Some core areas we hit up:

• Going to wall street, to see that bull - gave it a rub for my investments to go up

• Exploring 5th avenue and central park - Adel’s for those who know

• Hudson Yard and the High Line - because who doesn’t love walking on a former rail line

• Visit a couple of the museums - so our parents would be pleased

• Times Square - to prove we went to Time Square

Strolling around these famous areas was extremely cool, soaking in everything as though it was my first time, and with diverse, historic cities I have found you can do that, over and over again, regardless the amount of times you visit.

Alright, maybe going to Time Square more than once isn’t really required, but you get the point.

Cities are designed and built to allow for an enormous footprint of people each day. People rarely say they get bored in cities, you get bored in suburban areas, not cities. If you got bored in NYC, then you’re doing it wrong.

West Coast Vibes

Straight outta Wolviston

Lost Angeles, was definitely a bucket list city to visit.

Most people know something about L.A - whether through music and films or sports teams and celebrities, it’s an impressionable city. My impression of L.A most largely fostered through playing GTA V, with iconic places shown in the game such as Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Griffiths Observatory etc. It was too familiar, just with better with graphics this time around.

L.A definitely has a cool side to it - the side you typically see on TV. However it also has a lot of questionable areas, areas riddled with poverty, drug abuse and gang violence, which when you consider if California were a country - it would be considered the 5th largest economy in the world. WILD.

Finishing at a gun range, firing AK 47’s and John Wick pistols to then driving through compton, really was the icing on the cake.

Despite preparing for this moment the night prior, watching YouTube videos on gangs in Compton and blasing NWA, my friend decided it was a good time to sleep in the car whilst we undoubtedly visited America’s most dangerous hood.

Waking him up and saying ‘Bro, get up we made it, we in Compton’ - and him just slowly leaning up and thinking bro we made it. That was a real moment.

We, then told my cousin to get us out of there real quick.

Our trip to L.A and NYC was a vibe, seeing family, visiting famous sites and doing some cool activities. Definitely a trip not to forget any time soon.

If ever you’re in NYC or LA - check out what we got up to during our time there

Itinerary

Friday 8th September:
- Times Square
- Bryant Park

Saturday 9th September:
- Hudson Yard
- The High Line
- Chelsea Market

Sunday 10th September:
- 9/11 memorial museum
- Oculus train station
- Joe’s Pizza
- 5th Avenue and Central Park
- Chelsea Pier Driving Range

Monday 11th September:
- Slalom office in World Trade Centre
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Wall street
- Summit One
- Grand Central
- Adels Famous Food
- Magnolias Bakery

Wednesday 13th September:
- Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills
- Elephante
- Santa Monica and Venice Beach
- LA Dodgers baseball game

Thursday 14th September:
- Universal Studios Hollywood
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Griffiths Observatory
- Koreatown for Halal Guys

Friday 15th September:
- Lake Hollywood for the Hollywood sign
- Downtown LA
- Nobu
- Sunset Boulevard

Saturday 16th September:
- Los Angles gun club
- Dave Chicken and Tokyo District
- Pales Verdes
- Long beach and Amtollis
- Huntington Beach for Shisha