Day 257 - An Evening in Venice Beach

Shortly after writing the last post, I walked down to the lounge, saw it was full of people drinking, so I went in search of food and a liquor store so I could join them. I bumped into the German fellow from my room (Ky? Ty? Something like that) who told me there was a place round the corner, and also that he was only 20, so would I mind buying it for him? This posed no problem for me, so having ordered some confusing platter of Mexican food, I nipped off to grab the beers. The old Chinese lady in the shop didn't end up IDing either of us, instead she just gave us a knowing grin as she took our money. Dinner was pretty good - tamales, a taco and some grey stuff based on beans, all with loads of rice and a particularly insipid ice tea - that, and the bewildering inclusion of coriander (sorry, cilantro) were the only things that let it down. I encountered three English guys from Newcastle on the way back, all of whom were wearing hats, as was I, and proceeded to feel a bit silly as we all trooped into the lounge and sat next to each other. We met a few other people, including Britney (18) and Derrick (16), an American brother and sister, who were staying here on their way to Frankfurt. All the over 21s went out around half 11 to various bars, however I decided that I couldn't be bothered, and I had a few more Buds to get through anyway. I ended up giving two to the American kids, who were far more grateful than they should have been for two $1.25 beers. When we were kicked out of the lounge around half 11, myself and the underagers walked down to the beach to finish our drinks, after due consideration of the homeless/crackheads risk. Also with us was Ky/Ty and a gorgeous half Japanese girl from Iowa (maybe) called Naomi (also maybe - I just had to slam the computer closed as she walked over, and people always pick their names out, which could have been wierd). Had a good chat and some hot hat-swapping action, before calling it a night around half one. As it turns out, all the people who went out got in not long after, as everywhere round here closes at two, which is a bit rubbish.