My Trip to Chinatown and visits with Chinese Friends
@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
October 8, 2012 12:51am CST
For those who wanted a report on our trip to Los Angeles this weekend, this is it. It took us seven hours to get to a destination that should have taken five, had it not been for the heavy traffic around Los Angeles. We made a lot of wrong turns, but finally arrived in Chinatown. We arrived at the reception half an hour late, but it was OK because that seems to be the Chinese custom with regards to getting places on time.
The groom was Chinese (American born) and the bride was Japanese (American born) as was the groom's first wife, who died of cancer two years ago. The bride had also lost her husband, and our friend began to visit her sometime after they had lost their spouses. Their grown children told the story of their romance leading up to their marriage. It was a festive occasion in a plaza in Chinatown. Chinatown was much bigger than I remembered. I think my friend only owns the part of it around this one plaza, but I could be wrong. It seems there were many plazas we passed on the way, as well as Chinese businesses that weren't around any plazas -- just storefronts.
The dinner was interesting. Parts of it seemed more Japanese than Chinese -- but some dishes, such as Peking Duck, were quite Chinese. It was kind of a progressive buffet. Instead of one big buffet table, there were three stations in different areas which you visited one at a time. Unfortunately, servings were limited. By the time you ate what you got at one station and went to another one, you found they were out of most everything there. So I didn't get any Orange Chicken. The desserts were yummy! There was mango pudding, a fruit tart, and a marvelous cake with strawberries and whipped cream. I skipped the mango pudding, but my husband said it was delicious.
We left after the bride and groom had finished their dance and other couples were joining them. It was 10:00 by then and we were tired and had to get to our motel in Norwalk. By then the traffic had died town and we got to our motel in about 20 minutes.
The next day we attended a meeting with some Chinese friends in a church we used to attend -- the same one where we had met the groom. It was founded by a Chinese couple and started as an independent Chinese church. Later it Joined the Christian Reformed Denomination to have help in getting a building funded. That's about the same time we arrived there. We stayed there for nine years. Then we moved out of the area because my husband got a job in Ventura County.
After the meeting we drove to Camarillo for the night, so we'd be closer to home this morning for the rest of the drive. I had intended on our doing some hiking on the way home so I could take some pictures, but before breakfast a lens fell out of my glasses. A screw had come loose. Fortunately we were a few minutes from a Costco (that also had reasonably priced gasoline) and the optical department there was able to fix my glasses in five minutes. It took about twenty minute to get through the gas lines, though. By the time we left Costco in Oxnard, it was almost 12:30.
We had intended to explore a bit of the Santa Ynez Recreation Area on the way home, but it wasn't worth the fee jsut to take a short walk, so we decided to stop and eat something in Santa Maria instead. We got home about 5 PM. It's really good to be safely home and back to the trees, and hills, and easily flowing traffic. The only decent picture I took in Chinatown is below.
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7 responses
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
10 Oct 12
That sounds like a very nice trip and a very nice wedding. It's nice that two persons who tragically lost their mate, have found each other. No one wants to go through life alone. It's too bad you only got the one good picture though as if I remember right you are fond of taking nice pictures!
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
10 Oct 12
P.S - glad you made it home safely with no mishaps!
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@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 Oct 12
I think anyone who knew either of them was glad to see them have a second chance for happiness. It's hard to grow old alone. I do like to take pictures, but I don't have the right camera for taking night pictures, and I didn't feel very good for much of the trip. Because of the amount of time needed for travel and meetings, there was not much opportunity to take pictures in the day time. I got one picture of the bride and groom, but it wasn't great and it seemed too private to share on line.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
8 Oct 12
Sounds like you made some good memories regardless and your friends had quite a gala occasion. No matter how enjoyable it is, it's always nice to get home after something like that, isn't it? 
Thanks for the update.
That's a good picture, by the way!
Thanks for the update.
That's a good picture, by the way! 1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
8 Oct 12
Getting back home was wonderful. Renewing friendships is stimulating, but driving in So. Calif. traffic is horrible. I guess we are lucky we came home yesterday instead of today. I forgot this was a three-day weekend. Coming home would be much harder had we done it today, especially through Ventura and Santa Barbara.
The picture was the best I could do under the circumstances. At that shutter speed, the lamps blur, but I like the effect of the other lights, and they do convey the atmosphere pretty well.
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@GardenGerty (169585)
• United States
9 Oct 12
Well, except for the traffic it sounds like you had a good time. You got to meet with several old friends, sampled some good food and had a drive with hubby. I am glad you could get the screw replaced by Costco. You need a getaway every once in a while.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
9 Oct 12
There is an advantage to being a member of Costco, AAA, and some other organizations when you are traveling. I was afraid the optical department might not be open on Sunday, but it was. Walmart or Sears would have been the next option to try if Costco were closed, but as it was, we were also able to get gas at Costco, which we needed, without yet another stop.
Our communication on this trip was not as good as on some other trips we've taken. I'm not sure why. Both of us seemed more irritable than usual. I guess I was worried about being late the first day, which we were. He was stressed with traffic. We had to pay a lot of attention to where we were going. My idea of a real getaway would be a cabin in the mountains somewhere with good hiking trails and a porch with a swing where one could stay for about a week with someone else cooking dinner.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
8 Oct 12
That sounds like a nice weekend. It's always great to hear that two people find a good relationship when they are older, I hope they are happy together.
I've never been to Chinatown but have always wanted to go. When I move back west maybe I'll get to visit there. I'd love to spend at least an entire day wandering the streets and talking to the people.
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@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
8 Oct 12
Thanks so much! I didn't realize Chinatown was in an inner city. I like to visit places and avoid tourist traps, get to know the real people there and eat at little restaurants the tourists don't go to. I'll remember your advice if I ever get to visit there!
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
8 Oct 12
Be sure to go in the daytime. We got free parking in the groom's lot Friday night and the lots were attended to see that nobody fooled with our cars. My husband wasn't sure if he'd locked the car or not, so we went back to check. The attendants walked with us and told us "If anybody messes with a car we "kill" them. I'm sure that was only an expression, but Chinatown is downtown in an inner city. Gangs exist. It's lovely at night, but don't go alone at night.
Chinatown has several aspects. Much of it is designed for tourists, as was the part we visited Friday night.There are bars, restaurants, etc. I'm not sure what all, because I only used the restroom in a bar that used to be a fine chinese restaurant, and sat in the plaza. I didn't walk around. In my previous visits, I don't remember seeing Chinatown so big, but that was 35 years ago. I attended a couple of dinners to celebrate occasions in other parts of what's called new Chinatown by Chinese back then -- and there were stores for souvenirs, etc, besides the restaurants.
Most of the time back then we were guests of others who took us to restaurants in old Chinatown -- restaurants frequented by Chinese where the menus are in Chinese and people order in Chinese. Our hosts always did the ordering. I went to one such restaurant once with my boss, who came from Hong Kong. It was one of the less fancy ones, without much decor, serving plain Chinese food such as Chinese might prepare themselves. The tables were bare and it was noisy. There are probably many such restaurants there I've never been to. These are in storefronts, not around plazas.
Another one I visited as a guest was fancier, more like the Chinese restaurants you may have been in, that looks Chinese in decor. Maybe some tourists also eat there, but Chinese in the area also eat there. You many not know it, but if you are Chinese and order in Chinese, you might be getting a price break the tourists aren't aware of. For all I know, the Chinese menu may have lower prices, or maybe it's because the one ordering speaks the right language he might get a price break an American tourist won't get. This happens sometimes in Chinese restaurants outside of Chinatown, as well.
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@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
10 Oct 12
I'm sorry to hear that everything about your trip didn't go as planned. However, it does sound like you had a good time despite the detours that your trip took. I have never had the opportunity to visit a Chinatown in any place in the world and that is something that I would really like to be able to do. In addition to that, I think that it would be really amazing to attend a wedding like the wedding of your friend where there is so much melding of different cultures through it all.
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@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
11 Oct 12
Some detours can become highlights if there's no schedule to meet. Our detours weren't too bad. It's not as though we've never been in the towns we were in -- we just haven't been to downtown LA for about 30 years.
The church where we met all these people was mostly Chinese with a few Japanese and Korean members. The Sunday school was half Oriental and half black, since the church had been started by the Chinese, but they had mostly moved and the neighborhood was almost completely black when we started attending the church. We were among seven Caucasians who were members on and off, including a couple of Dutch pastors and their families. The culture of the church, though, was definitely Chinese more than any other. It's an interesting phenomenon that many of the Chinese men I knew whose families came from Hong Kong preferred to marry either Japanese or Caucasians. One of them had actually been engaged to a girl he'd known in Hong Kong, but he finally broke the engagement and married a Caucasian woman who worked with us. He felt the women in Hong Kong wanted to rule the roost, and after meeting the girl he was engaged to, I could see why he was concerned. She was very successful in business and assertive. He could picture himself being totally dominated. She was a wonderful woman, and I liked her, but she wasn't right for him.
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
8 Oct 12
Sounds like a wonderful and festive event.
In the 1960's, I lived in Los Angeles. I worked with a young Japanese-American girl named Nobe, She married Bob, also Japanese-American. I was invited to the wedding. it was a Shinto Ceremony. The reception was like a 20 course Japanese dinner.
I am so sorry to say that I did not go. I was young and I felt that I would not be comfortable at an event like this. I probably would not have been then. Now I would be delighted to go to such an affair but I have grown a lot. And the world has changed a lot.
I remember Nobe's name and Bob's name but I can not remember their last name. I would love to re-connect.
Your posting brought me back to the 1960's and bring invited to Nobe and Bob's wedding.
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@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
8 Oct 12
Sorry about the typo in the last sentence. it is 5 a.m. my time and I have not been able to go to sleep yet.
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@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
8 Oct 12
Much sympathy for your insomnia. I finally got a really good night's sleep in my own bed again last night and slept until after ten.
It's a shame you missed that opportunity to experience a bit of Japanese tradition. All our Oriental friends were Christians and had Christian weddings. I'm wondering if the wedding Saturday wasn't a Christian wedding and if that's why those the groom had known from previous churches were only invited to the reception. The other friends of the groom at our table knew nothing about the bride's religious beliefs.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
8 Oct 12
I like Chinese buffets where you can see all the choices available on one table. That way you can see what you want to eat most and put it on your plate. That's the kind I'm accustomed to in Chinese restaurants. This was more like a progressive dinner with a different course at each buffet table. You didn't usually know what was there until you got to the front of the line to see the signs.
