Los Angeles in general

The first time I flew into L.A (as the plane was coming into land and was low over houses), I saw a guy being thrown on the bonnet of a police car (or five o as I started to call them after living there). Walking out of the airport there was a big police raid on hawkers outside so my immediate impression of the place is man, this is wild and I instantly wanted to live there!

Anyway, I have family there (my sister was lapdancing at The Bodyshop on Sunset Blvd and my uncle has been there since '65) so I stayed up in Echo Park (which is an absolutely beautiful part of the city up in the hills between Glendale, Los Feliz and Downtown LA). The names of the places in L.A are just so pretty (Ventura, Topanga, Lauryl Canyon, Arcadia etc) and evocative.

On my first trip, I just kinda lived the life and didn't do any of the tourist stuff like Disney or Universal studios (although I have since been and enjoyed it). I mostly spent my time driving around (I hired a white mustand convertable for next to nothing compared to an equivalent car over here) and going to Venice, Santa Monica, Santa Ana etc just chilling out with friends and enjoying the beautiful climate.

Personally, I love the place, I love the people and I like the madness of it all, it is a city on the edge. La La Land. You taste so many diferent flavours of culture just going from one block to the next.

My favourite haunts both then and now are Dublins on Sunset Blvd and Miyagis over the road although there are quite a few shady joints round Hollywood Blvd that I got to like.

Hollywood by the way is quite a seedy and even dangerous place (as is a lot of L.A). There's good parts but the freaks definately come out at night there. It is very tacky if Im honest. Sunset Blvd (Sunset Plaza end) was my impression of the centre and the nightlife is great with no hassle. Keep travelling down Sunset westbound and you'll reach Malibu which is obviously very pretty. If you're travelling around in a car, I would suggest you buy a Thomas Guide (A-Z) and plan where you are going carefully, there's parts of L.A you don't want to get lost / shot in unless you know people.

The architecture is mainly contemporary which suits me and I love the big roads and hustle n bustle of it all.

L.A is definately wacky, I could tell you a million tales (from eating pizza with a 6ft black bearded and tatooed tranvestite in red hot pants to having a stand up row with Matt Dillon). After my first visit, I went back several times and ultimately moved there for about a year till business commitments dragged me back and my aim is to re-locate there permanently within the next few years.

I can't really report on what it's like if you have kids and want an activity holiday although there is obviously a million things to do. I would recommend it as a place where you go to live a certain lifestyle for a couple a few weeks and experience the insanity of a busy metropolis populated by out there people. As 2pac said, California knows how to party.

I'm very biased I guess about L.A, I like danger, I love all things America (except George Bush), I have family and friends there and I could afford to live quite a decent lifestyle there. I would hate to be poor living there and I think if I was Joe Normal the place could potentially intimidate me. For me, that was a turn on.

My fondest memory of the place was what I would call a moment. I believe life is all about 'moments' and if you have maybe 10 truly awesome moments in your life then you're a lucky man. A moment for me is basically when everything fits into place and I feel completely at ease with life and overwhelmingly happy.

This particular moment, I was driving on the 405 Freeway in a big new Chevvy Pickup (massive vehicle), the sky looked all funky with the smog over downtown, the weather was gorgeous, 3 beautiful girls passed me in a Jeep Wrangler, I was driving back to Echo Park having got the job I had flown to L.A specifically for the interview and basically everything was groovy. I lit up a Marlboro, turned the air con up and Hotel California came on the radio which is one of my all time favourite songs. I just sat back in my seat, tapping the steering wheel like a loony, sucked in all the atmosphere and thought man, I am so damn happy in life, I love this city. For a few minutes, everything good in my life seemed to converge. Sounds odd now I suppose but I was just so content.

I've been to practically every corner of the city and can tell you the good, the bad, the ugly, what to do, what not to do, where to go and where not to go so if you're thinking of going then please just ask, I never tire of talking about the place.

L.A by the way is pretty cheap all in all, drinks are cheap (leave a dollar with every round, barman will buy you a drink after a while), car hire is cheap and easy, hotels aren't too expensive, food is very cheap and you get way too much of it and American designerwear is very cheap (suggest you go to the malls rather than Rodeo Drive though although that's a good experience!).

Taxis and public transport are virtually non existent, you see Taxis at the airport but thats about it. Without a car in L.A you would probably die. Its fun to get a map of the stars houses and drive round and have a look.

Don't even think of drink driving or anything that can get you arrested and if you do get pulled over, be aware there is a very really chance you will get shot if you do anything stupid. Plus you wouldn't want a night in County jail because your ass will never be the same again! The five o do not mess about there.

Driving is fun (a little frantic, be careful) but traffic jams are of biblical proportions. However, Im pretty laid back and actually enjoyed them 'cos I was never in a hurry and just chilled to my music with the roof down.

One last thing about the place, they love English people, I think unlike the East Coast, we still have novelty value to them. My chat up line would purely be to put on a thick British Accent and ask a girl for a light and then wait for the inevitable "oh my god, you're English". Shallow I suppose but you know what the Beach Boys said about Californian girls.