Today was a packed day with hiking, shopping and food (of course.)
In the morning we went to the Gurdwara to witness the bhog of the Akhand Paath, bhog may refer to any number of situations having to do with completion, pleasurable gratification or sensual enjoyment. In Sikhism bhog may refer to the blessing or offering of food. Bhog also refers to the sublime pleasure enjoyed upon the ceremonial completion of an Akhand Paath, the continuous unbroken reading of Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s holy scripture and everlasting Guru.
Afterwards we came home, I had an annoying email issue, which I resolved. Turns out a application I had installed was blocking all outgoing emails!!
At 11am we have a Hollywood Hike booked with LA active adventures:
Hollywood Sign Adventure-
Tour Length: 1 hour
Pick-Up: 1700 N McCadden Pl Hollywood, CA 90028 Living Social voucher holders please follow directions sent via email.
Season: Year round
Activities: Hiking, architecture, nature viewing, city views.
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous! Difficulty 4 out of 5.
Tour Cost: $50 per Adventurer
Number of Adventurers: 2-6
Without going into too much detail and spoiling it for you! This walk is off the beaten track and worth doing. Hargobind knows his history and you may even see somebody famous, we saw Moby.
Also found out that LA is made in India!!
Moby’s house
This house has just recently completed build.
Party town!
Classic car
Afterwards, Hargobind, Sangeet and I went to a vegetarian Thai Restaurant:
Bulan
Thai Vegetarian Kitchen
7168 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles
California
CA 90046
USA
+1 323 857 1882
Www.bulanthai.com
Some dishes have egg and some dishes can be made gluten free.
I would definitely recommend the hot wings, absolutely awesome!!
Afterwards we had to try some ice cream so went to Scoops:
Scoops
712 North Heliotrope Drive,
Los Angeles,
California
USA
+ 1 (323) 906-2649
Mon-Sat 12-10pm
Sun Closed
Afterwards we went shopping on Larchmont and then the customary trip to Babycakes!
After all this food we needed a walk to burn it off! So we went shopping at The Grove!
The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, California, built, owned, and operated by Rick J. Caruso and his company Caruso Affiliated on parts of the historical Farmers Market.
The host we are staying with Harkirat Singh, manufactures and sells clothes, as he has already made his money this is more of a pastime then having to earn more, to survive.
We went to the shop which he runs with his son, Hargobind Singh.
The shop is pretty big and had some modern looking clothes, the clothes would sell very well to the yoga market.
Afterwards we went with Harkirat to where the clothes are dyed and tested:
The dye factory is based in the area called Coldwater canyon. There is a Wholefoods there so we stopped there for lunch, Wholefoods generally sell a lot of organic produce but is very expensive!
When we arrived home, Sangeet and I took a walk around the area and saw some amazing houses, Beverlywood is a fantastic area.
Beverlywood is bordered by Century City on the northwest, Cheviot Hills on the west, Palms on the southwest, Culver City on the south, Crestview on the east; South Robertson on the north. The district’s boundaries are roughly Robertson Boulevard on the east; the Culver City limits on the south; Beverwil Drive and the Hillcrest Country Club on the west; and Monte Mar on the north. Beverlywood’s principal thoroughfares are Venice, La Cienega, and Robertson Boulevards; Beverwil Drive; and Cadillac and Cattaraugus Avenues; as well as Pico Boulevard.
Neighborhood
Largely residential, Beverlywood is one of the centers of Jewish life in Los Angeles. Renowned Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal’s Museum of Tolerance is adjacent to Beverlywood, in Los Angeles (and not, as is commonly thought, in Beverly Hills). The neighborhood is also home to a modest Persian population (many of whom also adhere to Judaism) as well as a notable Israeli American population.
Almost all of Beverlywood’s inhabitants live in single-family homes built between the 1920s and the 1950s, with the oldest homes in the areas near Beverly Hills. Beverlywood contains very few apartment buildings. Contained within the district’s area is the Beverlywood Homes Association. The association is considered one of the most powerful in Los Angeles, having successfully fought off the 1960s up-zoning that occurred in areas such as Palms and West Los Angeles. Homes located within the boundaries of the association generally sell for higher prices than those outside of it, perhaps due to the strict enforcement of restrictive covenants by the association. The boundaries of the association area are roughly Robertson Blvd. on the east, Airdrome St. on the north, Rancho Park on the west, and Cattaraugus Avenue on the south.
Sangeet was reading from the Guru Granth Sahib at 6pm, so we went to the Guru Ram Das Gurdwara, whilst Sangeet read, I tried to fix the blog email issue, still not fixed!!
Today we had another great relaxing day. Sadhana was attended by us both……sorry about being vague, as I was asleep during the whole thing!! Well they say attending even if you are asleep still gives you 80% percent of the benefit!! Please note it does not mean that when I teach a class I expect you all to be asleep!!
Afterwards we came home and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood with Harkirat Singh, he told me about how he came from India overland via Pakistan, Afghanistan….travelling overland then to England and setup a business with very little money, he is a fantastic guy and so devoted to Sikhi, Harkirat Singh and Simran Sat Sangeet Kaur do a lot of seva for the community and the Gurdwara. It was great to walk and talk.
Once we got home Sangeet and I went to the Gurdwara and then to Cafe Gratitude, a fantastic vegan restaurant on Larchmont.
Cafe Gratitude
639 Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
I AM OPEN Juice bar and breakfast 8am – 11am
Lunch and Dinner 10am – 10pm
Tel: + 1 323 580 6383
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaygoat/8080343246/
Afterwards we did the usual laundry run, we dropped it off and then went back to the Gurdwara. The peace and tranquility you experience in Gurdwara is amazing!
In the evening, Hatkirat Singh, Simran Sat Sangeet Kaur, Hargobind Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Sangeet and I went to Vegan Glory, it was great to have good food and great conversation.
Hargobind mentioned that the Space Shuttle Endeavour will be escorted from Los Angeles Airport to the science museum, this will be sometime during the night.
After the meal we came home chatted and then Hargobind and I headed towards LAX. We waited until 3am!! Then we saw the shuttle in the distance, as we had got there early we had very good viewing spots.
Hargobind runs LA Active Adventures his site is www.laactiveadventures.com:
“Los Angeles Tours and Sightseeing by LA Active Adventures
Welcome to LA Active Adventures, a unique Los Angeles tour company that organizes unique sightseeing experiences! Our Los Angeles sightseeing tours are not your typical “sit and see the sights from a bus window” tour. At LA Active Adventures we get you out exploring and interacting with the sights … you might even get your feet wet!
When visiting a city as large as Los Angeles it is impossible to see everything in a limited time span and as a tourist you may be missing out on many of the unique sights and features which define the LA personality. So, after you have seen the amusement parks and Hollywood Studio Tours, come on an Active Adventure with LA Active Adventures and let us show you some of our city’s rarely seen natural beauty and a few of it’s hidden treasures.
We provide transportation in our comfortable and safe crossover, the Taurus X, and most tours include snacks and beverages as well. You’ll feel like you’re getting a tour of Los Angeles from a close friend. Whether you choose the Hidden Treasures, Beach Adventure, or create your own adventure LA Active Adventures guarantees you a Los Angeles sightseeing tour like no other.
Our tours are great for first time visitors, frequent visitors, as well as locals! Read on to see what makes us so different! “
Today we were very lucky to be able to participate in the Akhand Paath, Sangeet and I read from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from 10am until 11am.
AKHAND PATH (akhand = uninterrupted, without break; path = prayer) is the non-stop, continuous recital of the Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end. Such a recital is normally completed within 48 hours. The entire Body of Writings, 1430 angs (limbs) comprising divine poetry, is read through in a continuous ceremony. This is considered a very holy practise and is said to bring peace and solace to the participants and the passive listener of the recitation.
For it to be classified as a “Akhand paath”, this reading must go on day and night, without a moment’s intermission. The relay of reciters who take turns at reading the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji must ensure that no break occurs in the reading. As they change places at given intervals, one picks the line from his or her predecessor’s lips and continues. When and how the custom of reciting the canon in its entirety in one continuous service began is not known. Conjecture traces it to the turbulent days of the eighteenth century when persecution had scattered the Sikhs to far off places. In those exilic, uncertain times, the practice of accomplishing a reading of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji by a continuous recital is believed to have originated.
The beautiful doors entering the ashram:
Afterwards we walked over to Yoga West, where we browsed the store and checked the schedule of the yoga teachers.
Sangeet and I came back to the ashram to have lungar. Well Sangeet had lungar I cannot eat spicy food!…..have you ever heard of an Indian not being able to eat spicy food – this is a first!!!
The shop selling treats:
After lungar we just had to make another trip to Babycakes – I have said it before but will say it again, this place is FANTASTIC!
We then went to the Beverly Center…..”located at the cusp of Beverly Hills and WeHo, this eight-story monolith has been one of the LA area’s prime shopping destinations since it opened in 1982; notable for its exterior escalators and high-end stores (Bloomingdale’s, Burberry and Louis Vuitton, among others), it also offers over a dozen restaurants and a rooftop terrace for private parties; in short, it’s the indoor equivalent of nearby Rodeo Drive – with better parking.”
Sangeet needed to pick up some items from The Bodyshop, I enquired about purchasing the new iPhone, the apple shop is always amazing when you enter it feels like you just need to buy something. Apple’s marketing is spot on. Afterwards we took a wonder around the other shops spending around three hours there. Some shops had free wifi which kept me entertained.
So as you can imagine all this walking made us hungry!! We said we would not go back to Vegan Glory, but as it was close we just had to go. Again the food was amazing!
The crispy ‘chicken’ tasted amazing!!
In the evening I had arranged to participate in Muay Thai:
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Burma and muay Lao from Laos.
Unfortunately the class was for a higher level and full combat. They asked me just to sit and watch. It was amazing to see and I really want to take this up.
On the way home, I passed by the Gurdwara, there I met Saheb Singh, he came to the states eight years ago and was telling me his life story. What was supposed to be a five minute visit turned out to be one hour!
In the evening we went to the Gurdwara, at the Guru Ram Das Ashram, LA their timing is spot on, at 6pm they start Rehraas sahib “The Rehraas Sahib is the evening prayer of the Sikhs. It is recited at the end of a working day. Its purpose is to add energy to one’s being and living environments.”
At 6:30 Kirtan was performed by Bhai Anantvir Singh from Riverside Gurdwara, along with Bhai Jaswinder Singh (tabla) and Bibi Kamaljeet Kaur (on the Santoor – and a fellow Brit!) They were fantastic.
Afterwards we had fantastic lungar which was donated and cooked by a local family.
Where we are staying they have a son staying with them, called Gurmukh who I had a chat with a couple of days ago at the house. I mistook a guy at the Gurdwara for Gurmukh! Well they did look alike! After I had eaten I sat down next to him and said do you not recognise me we are room buddies!! It is only at the end of the conversation when he gave me his name did I realise it was not Gurmukh!!
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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