i don’t know what it is, but all this week i’ve felt like i wanted to eat sushi at a real sushi restaurant, not some cookie cutter place that only serves up california rolls and their ilk. basically a place where i can get an authentic experience and not feel like i’m ordering from the mcdonald’s of sushi bars. for anyone who is familiar with the los angeles area, i started my journey in venice by driving east-ish up venice boulevard. i had to find a branch of my bank so i could deposit my paycheck, cause otherwise it wouldn’t matter where i end up without money to pay for my meal. and of course i missed the one on venice so i just kept driving. most of the sushi places i saw didn’t look like what i was looking for anyway. and if anyone reading who knows the area tells me otherwise, that’s my story and i’m sticking to it 
then i remembered that there are a couple of places on sunset boulevard and i also have a bank branch near at least one of them, so i took a drive up to “weho” (west hollywood for those not familiar with the local vernacular) and went to find my bank which is on sunset and crescent heights. and for no reason apparent to me, i missed that one too… 
i mean, *REALLY* missed it. by the time i realized i missed it, i was already at least a mile away. and when i looked at the mountain of traffic heading back where i came from if i turned around, i decided i should just keep driving.
and lucky for me, i found another branch on the corner of sunset and vine and i decided i should try heading north on vine and see if there was any good place for sushi in hollywood proper. took a right on hollywood and got stuck in traffic. just as i was passing through the first light, i noticed it. sitting there nestled in a two story strip mall kind of set back a little from the road was a place called “sushi ike” (that’s sushi ee-kay 
). i drove around to find a place to park and there just happened to be a good spot right across the street. FOR FREE!! finding free parking in hollywood is like winning the lottery, only without all the money and riches.
well, i have to say it was an incredibly great sushi experience. all the food was prepared right in front of you and you just order it as you want it. they had this jack mackerel that was just incredible, and of course the salmon is a surefire winner, even in the cookie cutter places. i met some very interesting people, including a woman who worked in the travel industry arranging tours for people visiting california, and a guy who also works in IT doing a similar job as me. we talked for quite some time (i had already paid my bill btw) when the waitress came over and started grabbing my glass and the remnants of my dishes. i said “oh, am i getting kicked out?” and she said “yes, so sorry”. then the cooks started giving me shit for sitting there, but it was just them having some fun with the situation. and i didn’t understand half of what they said anyway, and neither did the people sitting next to me. but the general theme of the night is that i accidentally stumbled upon one of the best sushi restaurants in the entire metro area, and i also met some great people in the process. i know they say that LA is the land of fake tits and botox, but i’ve met some incredibly down to earth, *real* people from all over and i just love the reaction when people find out i’ve only been here about a month. 
everyone assumes i’ve been here at least a year because i know how to get around town without the freeways and it’s really entertaining to me to get that moment of surprise from all the people i meet