LA

When one drives to Los Angeles on the southbound 101 highway, one encounters 10 lanes of highway after entering Los Angeles county from Ventura. The LA traffic is so awful, that all 10 lanes of traffic are totally jammed. Staples Center is on S Figueroa Blvd about a mile off the 101. We parked at a place pretty close by, where they were charging us $15. As we walked to take our seat, I imagined Mike Breen and Mark Jackson on ABC Sunday doing the pre-game briefing. Just as we entered the arena, the Phoenix team roster was being announced. No major surprises, that Raja Bell was starting and would be guarding Kobe Bryant.

Then the lights dimmed, and the techno-tron showed past moments of glory for the Lakers, some dunks of Kobe Bryant among others. There was a loud cheer as Kobe was introduced for the Lakers. Most people in Los Angeles see him as the new savior of the Lakers after the fallout with Shaquille O'Neal which led to Shaq being traded to the Miami Heat. However, Kobe Bryant was totally eclipsed on the day by my pick for the MVP this season - Steve Nash. Nash was in truly inspired form, setting the pace early on and setting up "The Matrix", Shawn Marion for three early dunks. Urged on by the crowd, Kobe Bryant's heroics kept them in the game till half time.

At half time, we decided to do the typical American experience, and each had a burger, fries and coke from the McDonald's at Staples Center. The second half produced some telling fast break play from the sixth player of the year Leandro Barbosa, with some typical robust play from Amare Stoudemire. The Lakers rallied briefly but their resolve trailed off towards the end and Phoenix won it quite comfortably. Understandably, the mood around Staples was downbeat. We were downbeat too, but of course took a lot of pictures of the empty arena after the dejected crowd had trooped out. A visit to the Lakers' store set us back by a bit of money too - I bought a styroam No.1 finger for $8. I nearly had a picture of myself with Bill Walton (Hall of Famer and one of the top fifty players ever) but some man had asked me to take a picture of him and his son, and I didn't want to disappoint them. Bill was much taller than me, anyway!

There were the usual faces in the crowd - Jack Nicholson at his customary courtside seat, I suspect I saw Denzel Washington. Jack Black appeared on the techno-tron and waved to the crowd when his face was on there. I also think I saw Adam Levine (of Maroon 5). Eva Longoria, of course was not to be found - she was probably attending a San Antonio Spurs game.

After the game, we drove through downtown Los Angeles. The tall buildings reminded me of New York, though they were not that many. We continued on 1st Ave, and turned off on Hollywood Blvd passing Sunset Blvd on the way. Sunset Blvd is the in-place to be, with famous parties, but we didn't stop there. One would expect Hollywood Blvd to be very posh filled with glamorous stores and posh eateries. However, it is a let-down. Despite the fact that the sidewalks are paved with golden stars with celebrities names on them, the neighborhood looked fairly run down to me. As we kept going North, however, there were signs of more tourist oriented buildings. The Hollywood and Highland center, as the name suggests is on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. This building houses the Kodak Theatre - home of the Academy Awards. I was related the story of where the red carpet was, and the huge crowd that throngs there to cheer on the celebrities for the Oscar.

We also went to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Here, handprints and footprints of celebrities are immortalized in cement. I found that my hands fit Jack Nicholson's. Hand-Twin anyone?