I had originally planned on having a Hong Kong desayuno before going to bet on the ponies, but I remembered that there is something slightly awkward about eating dim sum alone. It's not being wedged in with a table of strangers so much as the lack of dumpling diversity that you get when in a group. Subsequently, I took another approach and decided to invoke the spirit of Senor Chinaski, alter ego of Charles Bukowski and transgressive fiction antihero. I swung by Billy's Deli and ordered up a No. 1 triple decker (sliced turkey, pastrami, swiss, dressing, served hot on rye). Accompanied with potato salad and fresh pickles, I stayed true to Chinaski's character and only ate half of the colossal sandwich in order to save room for cerveza at the track. While I refrained from smoking, listening to opera, and insulting people; I did manage to lose money, something our ill-fated friend knew well. For those of you who have never been to Santa Anita, I will be so bold as to say that it's truly a wonder of the world (albeit a bankrupt one). I would place it somewhere between the temples of Angkor Wat and Space Tourism on a must-do list. Pretty extreme I know, but I get a lot of mileage from that monotone British voice (which seems to be the same at every track) echoing over the loudspeaker: "The horses are at the gate---and awaaay they go!"
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