LA BABY!

(NK) Despite all the anti - America rhetoric we were hypocritically happy and excited about our weekend in LA. The line up was action packed and we had tickets to a UFC event in Anaheim on the Saturday night.

Venice Beach, Santa Monica pier, Laguna beach, UFC 157, walk of fame, the Oscars, Beverly Hills, Malibu, fly to Fiji, cut Monday out altogether due to international dateline – could this be the best weekend ever?

Welcome to little Italy

We landed at LAX and caught two buses over to our hostel in Venice Beach where we'd be staying the first two nights. Our first night back in the first world was spent on the rooftop of the Erwin Hotel wrapped up in blankets looking up at the Santa Monica Coastline whilst sipping cocktails and eating mini lamb burgers.

The following morning we were up bright and early for some training on the famous Muscle Beach. We stayed out of the main area but loved the gymnastic rings, dip bars, monkey bars and pull up bars by the beach. Every park should have them!

On our Fixies

We resisted the temptation to hire segways instead opting for Fixie bikes and took off up the coastline on a typically sunny Californian day. It seemed everyone was filming for some TV show or shooting for a magazine - no wonder everything felt so familiar. We soaked up the atmosphere and hit Santa Monica for some shopping with the good-looking kids.

Wonder what Fi is wishing for?

Yes, a crazy dude on a bike with a sunglasses wearing dog on the trailer

The Venice vision

A busy day of cycling, walking and trying to look hip left us feeling hungry. We’d been indulging in the delights of first world cuisine but there’s one thing we were really missing. Something we’d not eaten in a long time. Curry!!!! A good hot Indian curry! As we stumbled around in the usual state of hungry confusion a beacon of light in the far distance called out to me.

At first Fi was confused, but as she tailed behind me like a good muslim wife, her confusion quickly turned to joy when she spotted the sign for the Indian. I wouldn’t say we’re connoisseur’s or anything but thanks to me good old Indian nan I was eating curry as soon as I could handle solid food. Growing up in the north west of England means there’s also no shortage of fine Indian restaurants. Expectations were high.

Mmmmmm...Indian

Looking on the walls at all the images and newspaper clippings we quickly discovered that this was Denzel Washington’s favourite Indian. The man has good taste. It was exactly what we’d been craving and the Galjar Halwa dessert was the best we’ve ever tasted – the best DESSERT we’ve ever tasted.

Next up was UFC action, we hired a car and braved the LA traffic to get to Annaheim. After checking into a motel we headed down to the weigh-ins which take place the day before the fight. This may sound like super fan territory – it is. Although about 2,000 other people had taken the day off to come along too. We managed to get quite good seats near the front only to be moved for VIP’s just before the weigh ins started. To say Fi was pissed off is an understatement, she even felt moved to tweet Dana White about the injustice.

The great seats...

The not so great seats...

Weigh ins over we were again hungry and headed to the local Outback Steakouse. I was a little taken by surprise when former UFC Champ Maricio ‘Shogun’ Rua walked past me. Looking around it appeared that half the UFC fighters on the following nights card had chosen to eat here which was a surreal experience.

Before the big fight we took a trip down to the Orange County coastline, home to various TV shows such as Laguna Beach and The OC. It was impressive - beautiful beaches and coastline interspersed with mansions for the rich and famous. We picked up a picnic from the deli counter at the local supermarket to eat on the beach. Yep, the food was better than the fayre we find in most restaurants back in England. These people live the good life to its fullest definition.

Not quite the OC, but it's close!

 Fight night at UFC 157 didn’t fail to disappoint. It’s big business in the US, the seven year deal the UFC has signed with Fox Sports is reported to be worth $700m. The fighter’s appear across national media from Rolling Stone to Time Magazine. A world away from the UK where the BBC refuse to even acknowledge it as a sport.

The car park outside was rocking with a tailgate party as fighter’s did signing and sponsors set up beer tents and stands. Inside we were ready for full on woohooing and good old American hype - it did not disappoint. The fights were great and the atmosphere got us… ‘pumped’!

It's TIIMMMEEEEEE!

 When Lyoto Machida, a Brazilian fought Dan Henderson, an American, chants of USA, USA, USA… filled the arena. Some girls were even abused for cheering for Machida… who won. Que booing and racism – two guys next to us even stormed out, though they soon returned when they realized their life had been in no way hindered by the loss of Dan Henderson.

The main event was history in the making. The first ever women’s fight in the UFC and it was for the title. Ronda Rousey Vs Liz Carmouche. The fight was good and these girls definitely have our respect. Amazing athlete’s and absolutely dedicated to their sport. Women have a place in the UFC.

The main event

The last day in LA was spent driving around. We’d hired a car so why not. A Dodge Challenger - give us a never say die Toyota 4Runner anyday.

We parked up by Hollywood boulevard and wandered down the walk of fame wondering why the street was closed off.

It was only the bloody Oscars, shutting down the whole bloody city.

As if you could be bothered to wait around all day 

And we didn’t have our formal wear with us. Turns out we didn’t need to panic, someone had forgotten to put us on the guest list so we were off the hook.

Hurray for Hollywood!

Not forgetting where we’re from we decided to cruise around Beverley Hills to take a look at some mansions and see if anyone had forgotten to lock their door. We followed Rodeo Drive and headed back out towards Malibu and stooped off for Oysters at the Reel Inn. Another Man Vs Food restaurant we can tick off.As the sun set on our American adventure we headed to the airport excited for the flight to Fiji that awaited us.

The famous palms

We’d managed to spend nearly a month’s Central American budget in only four days but we thought what the hell. The change of culture and setting were a refreshing change but we knew in the back of our minds that we’d be hankering after some more adventure soon. We wondered what our 10 day ‘holiday’ in Fiji would hold in store.

LAX is a pretty miserable airport but at our gate a band of Fijian musicians were entertaining the passengers with the classic south pacific twang of the Eukele and some soulful harmonized singing.

Our first taste of Fijian hospitality had us in the best possible mood for a ten-hour overnight flight.