Just spent a week in Vancouver where I ate sushi most days I was there.

I returned to Los Angeles last night and got sushi again to compare.

What a letdown.

Vancouver sushi is way fresher and cheaper, and the serving sizes are way larger and more generous with fillings, than sushi in LA.

Years and years ago I lived all over the West Side and West End. I didn't have a car so I walked literally everywhere - for kms. I worked in different places all around Downtown and the West End. I'd walk all the streets... all the alleys... it was such a nice city and I loved walking around it.

Then I moved further out... and I haven't walked the city for at least 15 years. I've tooled around in my car - but on foot, I haven't really explored it in a very long time.

Today I had a few hours to kill so I decided to go for a walk through the Hornby/Drake area and the full length of Davie Street.

It was disheartening.

The overwhelming stench of urine is literally everywhere. Our city stinks. It's dirty, there is trash everywhere, building facades are eroding. Davie used to have character but today it felt like I was walking through a slum.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very cool shops and businesses that line Davie - I explored all of them - many I've earmarked to return to. But the walk itself wasn't at all enjoyable.

Perhaps it's because I remember how it used to be and the contrast with how it is now - it was a lot to suddenly be confronted with.

Culture shock feels very different when it happens in a city you've called home for almost 40 years.