Author: dilipmerala

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Stand Up at Licorice Pizza on open mic night

I walked in a couple of minutes late around 7:02 pm. I thought since I had signed up at such short notice, my performance won’t be up until later. I was surprised to see that it the open mic night was already underway with an impressive musician singing to the piano tunes of a 16-year old artist. I put down my name in the register, literally the last one on a 9-item list.

I had visited this music store Licorice Pizza a couple of times as it was just a 7-min walk from home. Its cool sign outside that lights up in the evening, added to its stunning vibe. The eclectic record collection in the store along with some funky merchandise made it all the more alluring to people of all ages – especially music lovers! And then of course there’s the recent movie that added to its already prominent fame.

Host Aaron Ravioli on stand up night at Licorice Pizza in Studio City

Tanner was already in the audience when I walked in. Summer and I sat at the back listening to one musician after another playing some cool compositions. We also had the privilege of listening to a couple of high school poets – their words so sincere, honest and pure!

A musician performs at Licorice Pizza

And then it was my turn to go up. I was about to perform in front of people after almost a year so I was naturally nervous – but also pumped. It helped that at least two of my friends were in the audience so expected at least some sympathy laughs! My 5-minute piece went pretty well I would say. I got some compliments from people later. I also got some genuine notes from Tanner and Summer which I can incorporate soon. Overall, it was an inspiring evening and provided some momentum for me to get back on the horse.

We went back to Laurel Tavern for a drink and some more talk about music, movies, comedy and more. Tanner and Summer seemed to hit it off over cultural references I was alien to. It was a good time at LT as always and we called it a night with the promise of seeing each other soon!

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First performance of 2023 coming up

It’s been a while since I did anything in front of an audience. So when I visited Licorice Pizza in Studio City (the kid from New York wanted to buy a shirt) and saw a flyer for an open mic, I thought – “What the heck?! Got to start somewhere!”.

So I’m prepping to go up in front of some music lovers and perform a comedy set on Thu, Jan 26th. The piece is mostly written but I will tweak it a bit this week. Let’s see how that goes!

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Playing Guide and Tourist in Hollywood

After fighting the Mumbai Vs Delhi battle for years in Dallas, Nivesh and I had a new one to fight now – New York vs Los Angeles. He moved for work to New York and I to LA. So it was natural that we keep the tradition going. I visited NY last year and he finally decided to visit me in LA this week. While continuing the banter, he was able to take in some pretty things this city has to offer.

Summer started him off with a welcome walk in the Studio City neighborhood. We then ate at HOPE, a wonderful vegan place that has become one of my favorites in the area. I thought he would like that since it’s often difficult for vegetarians to find good food (as we had experienced on our New Orleans trip). We then did another short walk around Laurel Tavern in the evening (of course we had to! There’s a whole new post coming about this pub that’s like my second home). And that was his quiet first day in LA.

Our second day was dedicated to Santa Monica Pier. Summer drove us through Sunset Boulevard all the way to the ocean and then to Santa Monica. We are at the famous Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and walked on the pier. Then, we took a scenic canyon drive back home and kept it quiet and simple in the evening with some leftover food for dinner.

Finally, on his last day in LA, we decided to take the cliche Hollywood bus tour. That’s something I hadn’t done yet myself so this was a good opportunity out for me to play tourist too. Nivesh and I hopped on the bus at 1 pm from Sunset Blvd and the next two hours were dedicated to checking out some lovely houses, spectacular hilly views including the iconic Hollywood sign, and popular restaurants, clubs and hotels that are frequented by celebrities. Seeing all the fancy Mullholland and Beverly Hills houses was a special treat. We had no idea that our very own Shah Rukh Khan had purchased a house on Mullholland but sold it just 5 weeks ago.

After the bus tour, we hopped off the bus and walked around the popular Hollywood and Highland area. We spotted many stars on the Walk of Fame, checked out some cool and famous footprints at TCL Chinese Theatre, walked to the Dolby theatre and other Hollywood hotspots, and finally ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (makes sense for a New Yorker, no?) before heading home.

New York based Indian in LA’s TCL Chinese Theatre

Later that evening, we saw our friends Jeremy and Tushar at The Village. Nivesh called it a night after that as he had an early flight. And I went back to Laurel Tavern with my friends for some Saturday night drinks. It was fun to play both guide and tourist over a weekend to a dear friend, who might now have become a convert and lean towards saying – LA rocks!

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My first snowfall – Big Bear in California

A cabin in the woods with a warm drink in my hand watching snowfall outside the window – it’s probably a cliche dream for anyone who grew up in a hot and humid place. In early January, my dream came true as I visited Big Bear with Summer for a couple of days. With the beauty of working from home, we were able to pick an Airbnb cabin that had fast WiFi speed and delivered on its promise of a spectacular snow weekend.

The drive up was smooth thanks to our plan of reaching the cabin before it started snowing heavily. Summer had purchased snow chains for the tires to be safe but the transportation website mentioned that we didn’t need them so we hadn’t put them on. As the elevation started increasing, so did our enchantment. We were mesmerized by the snow clad rooftops, dreamy snow-covered trees, and lovely ski slopes sprinkled with enthusiastic kids. Finally, when we drove up to the cabin, it looked like everything I had imagined. Surrounded by snow and full of nice, thoughtful touches in the interior, the Cozy Bear cabin lived up to its name.

Then, about an hour after check in, it began. Soft flakes slowly transformed into heavy bits of white magic. I couldn’t stop but stay out and take it all in. Shot a bunch of videos and ran up and down the stairs a few times. I gazed at the surrounding trees and beautiful cabins which were getting a fresh coat of snow as I watched. I had seen snow in Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir and Uttarakhand in India but I had never witnessed snowfall. So it felt surreal and I naturally wanted to be in the thick of it for many hours. But my Mumbai body couldn’t take any more of the cold so I decided to get inside after just a few minutes.

Then, in alignment with my dream, we set up the fire in the fireplace, I brewed a hot cup of coffee, and set myself on a couch with a good vantage point. We watched the snow come down till it got dark and then dove into some hot food.

The next two days involved some more snow, walking to nearby restaurants wearing many many layers, and working from the best office I could imagine! The view from the table were I set up my laptop was something that’ll stay with me for a while.

I drove on the way back from Big Bear to Studio City (usually it’s Summer who drives her car while I handle the music). The drive took around 3 hours and was interesting with some turns downhill being a bit slippery due to ice. Once again, we didn’t need chains as it hadn’t snowed after our first evening at Big Bear. We had come well-prepared though after practicing how to put them on in Summer’s parking lot.

Overall, this trip served its purpose of emphasizing how Los Angeles is such a cool location where you can just drive to the beach in 30 minutes, or to the desert in an hour and a half, or to the snow in a couple of hours! And yes, it was also the trip of my first snowfall 🙂

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Musky Movies, Broken Shoes, and Delicious Pizzas

Four of us decided to check out Mr. A.R.Rahman’s Le Musk in Los Angeles. I had these cool shoes I brought back from India because my father had left them untouched for a few years so I thought I’d put them to use. Felt like a good day to wear them. So there we were – two couples on a rainy day making it to Sunset Boulevard geared up for an exciting experience.

The movie was fun but not too cinematic. You enter the Le Musk room through an alley that has walls covered with roses. Then you are welcomed by a nice man who is very happy to see you and gives you an intro about the movie, hoping for some word of mouth publicity. You are then directed to your fancy chair pod where you get your VR headset but it’s not just that. As you discover over the next 40 minutes, it also dispenses MUSKS in sync with the movie. Pretty neat idea and almost well implemented. Without giving away too much, I can say that I enjoyed the visuals and the depth in this experience. But the story, dialogue, direction were all – sorry to say Mr. Rahman – quite amateur. Also, I could swear that my musks were off-timed!

Anyway, we then make our way out to get into the car and head to the pizza place (LaAntica) nearby as we are quite hungry. This is when my left shoe decides to give in! We try tying it up with the shoe lace, jumping on it hoping that it sticks back, looking for tape, etc. Doesn’t work. The walk is just 5 mins so I drag my foot till we reach our restaurant and then the table. The place is full of people but the three sweethearts with me don’t care so I am not embarrassed at all by the sound of my dragging foot! The delicious wine and marvelous pizza we have over the next hour make it all worth it.

And then, as we are leaving, my right shoe understands that there is no point fighting it anymore. So it gives in too. It’s sole departs with sorrow as I now drag both my feet, one after the other, to head outside. The others walk back to the car while I wait at the restaurant to click this picture.

It’s drizzling. The car pulls up. I get in with a smile and a nice story to remember the day I saw Le Musk at Sunset Boulevard.

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Getting back into the work rhythm

And just like that, it’s two weeks into January and work has picked up. Morning meetings at 7:30 am, fires to put out, exciting new projects, nerves about the upcoming reviews and appraisal season… just everyday corporate things.

When I took a couple of years off from corporate life to explore (travel, acting, that kind of thing), it was this routine that I started missing the most. Even more than the monthly paycheck, it was the assurance of knowing what I was going to do the next morning. Having someplace to go, some target to hit, some people to meet. It often gets monotonous real quick but with the right job, the right people and the right incentive – like it is in my present case – it can be a breath of fresh air. Something you look forward to. Something that helps you grow, explore other exciting things, explore your own boundaries.

With this new year, as I get back into the so-called grind, my heart is filled with hope, excitement and a sense of adventure. Upward and onward…

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The Aroma Cafe visit

Despite coming across it on and off for almost a year, I ended up visiting the Aroma cafe for the first time just a few days ago. One reason was that I always saw a long queue outside it every time I was in the neighborhood. This time, it was just a lazy day after Christmas and our timing was just right. There were just a couple of people ahead of us in the queue but soon many joined behind us.

The counter area looked pretty chic and cozy. Rates were affordable. We ordered our coffee, got a little token, and headed inside to be delighted by the fascinating Christmas decor.

I was also surprised at how big the space is. There’s a variety of seating (beautiful chairs and tables) and some cool art all around. It has a patio section as well as a cool, stretched out inner section. The overall vibe is very cozy, creative and elegant.

It’s a shame that I visited the next door Two Roads theatre so often but didn’t come to this joint for coffee. Well, may be this year!

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The joy of visiting Woodland Hills

Some shopping in the area led Summer and me to a lunch at California Fish Grill in Woodland Hills today. It took me right back to the pandemic era when I rented my first apartment on De Soto Ave. Sunil and Dips had helped me move in and were checking on me the first week to see if I was ok. After all, it was the first time in life that I was living alone. I loved my apartment – the cozy layout with kitchen attached to the living room, the balcony with a partial view of the street, the built in granite table in the bedroom where I worked out of. Along the new job, life in Bella Vista had all the makings of a new beginning.

View from my Bella Vista apartment

Today, I remembered those long walks to this very strip mall to get a haircut at Supercuts or a coffee at Starbucks. I also remembered my short-lived stint with a wonderful CrossFit gym called Iron Batallion. And then there was my favorite gastropub – HQ – where I met so many new people and made so many friends. Woodland Hills is also where I discovered the Will Geer theatre in Topanga Canyon. Just a 20-min ride from my apartment, this place became my theatre hub. It’s also where I made some amazing friends and met Summer.

My first solo apartment

Topanga beach and Malibu were also just 30-40 min rides on my motorcycle. Baba sweets, Indian sweets and spices, Gasolina (deserves its own separate blog entry), Copper Mine, Chennai Tiffins, Antique flea market, The Village… the list goes on and on. Truly an extraordinary place to live!

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Cooking chronicles

It started with rice. Egg fried rice. Chicken fried rice. Just fried rice with tamaind or lemon poweder and some peanuts. Next up was eggs – unintentional scrambled eggs that started as omelettes, intentional scrambled eggs with onions and mushrooms (sometimes spinach when I felt healthy). Then came dal and sambhar to go with rice as a tribute to my south Indian roots. Chicken curry was the obvious next step and was a pretty straightforward transition. The latest additions are pha and upma.

First attempt at upma

In the past 5 years, my cooking chronicles have been nothing to rave about. But I do intend my next 5 years of homecooking to provide an impressive tale.

Here’s today’s aloo baigan –

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Petrichor

My girlfriend’s mom who has been in LA for decades once joked on hearing the mention of rain – “that’s when water falls from the sky, right?”. It’s unbelievable how rain eludes this state of California. After witnessing monsoon for 4 months every year, it was surprising for me to see hardly any rain here in the last 2 years. Mercifully, this has changed in the last 3 days. It has been raining abundantly this week, leading to the reassuring sound of water hitting the roof accompanied by the heartwarming petrichor.

Cloudy cloudy skies

It’s interesting how the smell takes me back to childhood days when I used to take my shirt off and run into the little open space in my chawl to get soaked by the first pour of the season. This time I just stood in my balcony and let it hit my arm, as I gazed at the clouds and the trees outlining my building and sipped my coffee. Still pretty neat!