Mystery

The Nerd and I started our day at Enigma Coffee, an espresso bar that made me the first decent coffee I’ve had in the US. The fact that it was made by an Australian barista probably had something to do with that. I asked for skim milk but was told that the closest thing they had was Half & Half – a blend of whole milk and cream that’s ubiquitous across the United States - which tells you as much about the American diet as you need to know.

The E is for Enigma, the enigma presumably being how a small flat white can cost $9AU.

My actual breakfast was a few hours later at the opposite end of the culinary spectrum at a Denny’s. There the only coffee is drip filter coffee. Mine tasted like cheap candy, which was my own fault really as I added a substance to it called “French Vanilla International Delight”, which was about as French as sushi, about as vanilla as a turnip, about as International as Walmart and about as delightful as a colonoscopy. It was either that or the mystery-wrapped abomination that is “non-dairy creamer”.

Since it was a beautiful sunny day I decided to take a walk and ventured into Balboa Park, one of LA’s handful of vast, only half-tamed nature reserves. In this one I saw Pakistani men playing cricket, white American men playing golf, an innumerable Latino families holding birthday parties for children that inevitably involved a small blowup bouncy castle and elaborate table settings.

The Nerd was just happy to get his steps in.