Komida

This last week, impressively, I made it to Komida not once, but twice.  Now, I've been trying to get there for a while now. But last week, the magic happened.  

And forgive me if this post doesn't quite do it justice, as my brain still feels a little bit squished and dried out from being dreadfully sick these past four days.  Well, dreadfully might be exaggerating, but it sure felt like it.  And I only just broke through today, so I'm not sure quite where I stand in regards to the grammar part of my brain.  

It's so strange being sick when you live alone.  You're sort of rendered a child again and feel so weak and fragile, but no one's there to take care of you but yourself.  I'm good at it.  But how odd to have to mother yourself.  I made soup, then took a nap.  I ate soup, then nap.  Filled the hot water bottle, then held on to that thing under the warm covers like it was a teddy bear and I was five.  

Don't get me wrong, I guess I didn't have to go it alone.  Friends offered to stop by and bring me things, but the last thing I wanted in that state was visitors.  So I nurtured my own self like I was a child and even had to tell myself that it was ok, the fever meant my body was fighting and the fight would hurt but it would be over eventually.  It's crazy, it takes so much strength to be sick.

Well, I made it.  And am here to tell the tale of my Komida outings.

Now, Komida is a relatively new restaurant situated, peculiarly, in the Hollywood and Highland mall, but doesn't feel like it, thank god.  It's set at the end of a quiet corridor and is all brick and glass and patio.  Good setting.  I was so excited when I got the flyer on my car announcing it's opening because it is actually the restaurant version of Yamashiro's popular taco stand at their night-time farmer's market. (Again, more on that event when the time comes.)

The first time I went was with my friend Brad.  He had already eaten, but joined me anyway since he'd been wanting to check the place out as well.  Bless his heart.  For so many reasons.  That boy has been such a true friend over the years and has been through so much and I just love him.  When I met him, he was completely addicted to pain killers and just about everything and now he is clean and radiant and so very strong.  He makes it look easy, but I know it's not.  

So, he joined me while I ate my absolutely delicious vegetarian asian fusion taco and wasabi guacamole with reckless abandon.  Well, I had just come from the dentist, so I also ate the inside of my cheek with reckless abandon, but that did not stop me from enjoying that taco.  They also serve lychee sangria, which, though I wouldn't say lychee is my favorite flavor, it worked well as a complement to the food.

At lunch, Brad showed me his latest tattoo, which was a New Year's gift to himself.  And when I asked him why his tattoos are important, he explained that they remind him to never go back to how he was.  He made a good point, that I think anyone can relate to in one way or another, that it is so easy to forget how bad it was once you're through it.  So he prints visual reminders for himself to keep choosing to go the way he is going.  Because every single second of our lives, we get to choose exactly who it is we want to be and exactly what it is we want to do.  It's a good point to keep in mind.  We are choosing this.

Anyway, the second outing to Komida was with my friends Jessica and Bethany.  We first went to get manicures and pedicures together, which is not something I usually do, and I felt like we were princesses.  I swear there were about seven or eight people working on the three of us.  One of the women and I bonded over our jewelry because both of our grandfathers had been jewelers, hers in Vietnam, mine in Illinois.  I've never had that connection with someone. That was cool. Though I don't need to make a habit of it, it was pretty nice to be so pampered.  

After the indulgence, we made our way to Komida for afternoon tacos and sangria.  It was fun to go with the girls because I got to see all of the other kinds of tacos that I don't eat.  Duck and cod and short rib and chicken.  Not that I had any desire to eat those ones, but I appreciate an interesting menu and love it when people get excited about food.  And they were very excited.  

Mine was even better the second time, possibly because I actually had feeling in my mouth.  And I was prepared for the floral aspect of the sangria and the chewiness of the lychees, so I appreciated it more this time and actually really liked it.  It doesn't take long for me to adapt to new and unfamiliar things.  I think it's why I travel well, because I like that.  I don't want everything to be like what I'm used to.  I don't want to go out into the world and always find the America that I know.  I really love being introduced to new things and learning to appreciate them because they are different from what I am accustomed to.  And I like adding things to my repertoire so that they then become familiar and they become part of me and I can just keep expanding more and more, forever, hopefully.

I think some people tend to seek out the things that they are already comfortable with.  Which is all well and good, I suppose.  But not for me.  This girl, I'm so interested in finding things I have not found before.  I want to broaden my palette and extend my well of knowledge in every way all of the time.  And I try and seek it out, even if nearby.  It's nice that a little restaurant down the street can do that for me.  I am traveling, always.