los angeles in 27c: a budget student’s sweaty ode to street food

woke up to the sound of a distant siren and a street vendor hawking mango smoothies outside my dorm window. i’m not even sure what time it was because my alarm didn’t work and i just hit snooze until the sky turned slightly orange. the weather app said 27.37c, which is like… not bad for someone who’s used to ac, i guess? i just checked and it’s like a sauna right now, hope you like that kind of thing.


my roommate, who’s basically a human biohazard of clutter and existential dread, told me to pack light. which is great advice if you’re a budget student. i brought a reusable bottle but forgot it. instead, i bought two 16oz sodas from the cart near the subway entrance. the driver was judging me. i think he might’ve thought i was gonna pay with bitcoin.


the neighbors are either napping or low-key plotting. i overheard a landlord yelling at a tenant about ‘those kids’ again’ and another couple whispering about how the city’s ‘not as bad as it used to be.’ i’m 50/50. i heard that the hills are just a short drive away, but if you get bored, glendale is literally next door. i heard that from a guy selling tacos by the bus stop. he might’ve been high.


one review online said the best burrito spot here is a 24-hour place run by a guy who claims to be part indian part space alien. another said the coffee shops are all pretentious and overpriced. i heard that from a barista who was mid-ramble about how oats are the future. we’re both los angels, so we’re both probably lying.


i tried to find a place to hang out and ended up at this tiny bookstore with a dessert table. the owner, who looked like she’d survived a indie film, told me the best thing here is the chaos. which is true! the building’s got that ‘this place was built by someone who couldn’t afford a permit’ vibe. i sat on a folding chair and ate a cookie. it was maybe 40% better than the sad taco stand i left behind.


the weather is a double-edged sword. i tried to take a photo of a mural downtown but my phone died. the heat made my glasses fog up, and i couldn’t decide if i should adjust them or just accept blindness. i heard that vans is just a drive away, but someone else said it’s a trap for broke people. i’m still not sure.


here’s a map if you wanna lost yourself:

i’m posting this from a park bench. there’s a raccoon eating a chip nearby. i’m not sure if it’s the same one from yesterday. probably not.



here are some random things:
- i stopped at a local yelp page for something called ‘the forgotten noodle shop’ and it’s 4.9 stars. i haven’t tried it yet.
- tripadvisor says ‘avoid the freeway at night’ which is obvious but also not helpful.
- a reddit thread warned me about fake passport sellers near the harbor. took me like 10 minutes to realize that’s not a thing.


i’m gonna grab a smoothie and probably walk into a random conversation. if anyone asks, i’m a ‘digital nomad’ who’s really just figuring out how to pay my rent.


p.s. link to yelp: odd-eats-la | tripadvisor: street-finds | reddit: la-tips | unsplash: la-streets


p.p.s. the numbers 5369367 and 1840020492 might be coordinates or maybe just my anxiety manifesting. idk.

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