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Published: October 9th 2005
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*note- there was a bit of a delay in publishing this entry, I've been back in the Netherlands since 14/9/05 Hey everyone...
So we made it from the east coast over to the west coast! What a difference...We got to LA around midday, our shuttle bus driver told us all the stuff we had to know about staying in Hollywood (places to see, places to absolutely avoid), drove us all around the city too (OK so he had to drop off a few other tourists but still, we got the tour) Our hostel, the 'Hollywood International Hostel' was bang in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, opposite the Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are) and the Chinese Mann's Theatre. And the stars were on our doorstep (the stars in the sidewalk that is).
We decided to explore the area that day and leave the big trips for the next days. We met our roommate Caroline in the hostel, who joined us the next day at Universal Studios. I'd been there when I was 12 with my family, and 11 years later there were things I remembered, like the 'Back to the Future' ride. Most of the rides
had changed, so it was definitely still worth going. Compared to the other studios we went to (Warner Brothers)Universal is definitely more of an amusement park out of the two, the focus is more on spectacular rides than showing how movies/shows are actually made. We drove through Wisteria Lane (from Desperate Housewives) and saw some cool sets from "The Grinch" and "War of the Worlds", so those were some of the cooler things we saw.
After checking out the different rides and shows we had a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (tourists- US?) and headed back to refresh at the hostel. We wanted to check out a premiere that was happening just down the road at the Egyptian Theatre. There were hardly any people around, just a few members of the press, but some stars were announced to arrive, so we waited around to see if we could catch a glimpse. First, Justin Chatwin arrived. We weren't really sure who he was (we were then told he plays Tom Cruise's son in War of the Worlds) and we chatted to him for a while and got our picture taken with him. Not too long after that we saw
Us girls
l to r:me, Remy, Katie, Caroline Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt, Hector Elizondo and a few other familiar faces(and unfamiliar) arrived in their limousines. Quite a strange experience, this must happen there on an almost daily/weekly basis but to us it was obviously pretty cool!
As the excitement died down we decided to head back to the hostel, but two girls we had met at the hostel were lining up for spare tickets to the premiere so we joined them. We were led towards the theatre where we waited for a while until a rep told us they had run out of tickets but we could come to the afterparty. So we went back to the hostel, freshened up and put on our best clothes (considering I had just spent 3 months in Costa Rica and 3 months at camp, the choices weren't great..)
At the party the front entrance to the theatre had been transformed and now had bars with food tables set up. Our second day in Hollywood and we couldn't help being pretty pleased with ourselves 😊
Justin, who we'd met before was pretty surprised we were there and then introduced us to the cast. Keanu wasn't there anymore (darn) but we
had a great time just taking it all in and enjoying the free drinks! When the party was over we moved next door to a bar, and they happened to be having Karaoke night (how perfect!). Me and Remy took this opportunity to treat everyone to our performance of "Big Spender" (classic!). After that, a group of around 10 of us went to another after-after-party in Beverly Hills. We got about 3 hours of sleep that night so much of the next morning was spent in bed just catching up on sleep. Only one night out in Hollywood, but I think we did well!!!
The next day we had gotten free tickets to see a preview of "The Corpse Bride" in Chinese Mann's Theatre (you get invited to all sorts of events just walking along Hollywood Boulevard) so obviously we took that opportunity and I loved the movie. Creepy, funny and sad too (I think I was the only one who actually cried though, I must've still been tired from the previous night).
On Thursday we left early to head down to Santa Monica Beach. Public transport in LA is a nightmare, no wonder everyone drives a car.
Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin with Eve and Avril It took us about an hour and a half to get there because we chose a bad route too which meant we had to change buses in a seriously sketchy area (we were sure we'd be killed in a drive-by any moment) but we got there in the end! We spent a few relaxing hours lying on the almost deserted beach. That is, until we were approached by the one other person on the beach who happened to be Tammy the transsexual who asked us the time. And then continued to talk to us for the next half hour about how he/she wanted to really be a girl. An experience to say the least.
We decided to walk down to the pier and check that out, and we saw some signs which directed you to a movie set, so we thought we'd follow them, of course....and it turns out Justin Timberlake is filming his scenes of a new movie "Southland Tales". Watched him for a while, quite entertaining, because he was in army clothing next to this huge ferris wheel on the pier. I'm assuming that will look different in the movie 😊
That night we caught a glimpse
of Reese Witherspoon as she went into her huge premiere of "Just Like Heaven" at Chinese Mann's Theatre, quite a different affair than the one we experienced, everything was closed off and it was difficult to see over all the heads in front of us. So we just had a nice dinner at Hamburger Hamlet, which is just opposite. We actually ate there 4 out of 7 nights, because it was not too pricey and food was excellent.
On Friday we had our big day out at Warner Brothers Studios. We did the full tour around the studios which was a lot more enjoyable than the one at Universal. There were only about 7 people on the "cart" and our tour guide personalised the tour, stopping at places we wanted to see. So we got to see the inside of the ER waiting room, we walked through the Gilmores house, all of Stars Hollow (we made it clear we liked Gilmore Girls). And we also got to sit in Central Perk!!! Saw a lot of props etc. Saw them shooting 'Cold Case'. After that we went to the parking lot where we had to wait for the Joey show.
We had booked tickets on the internet during camp already, but we wanted to be on time so that we'd get in for sure. There was a lot of waiting around but finally around 6pm (4 hours later?) we got into the studios again. We saw Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) cycle past, another highlight 😊 The taping of Joey was great, we had great seats and it was hilarious. Especially when they messed up on scenes it was really funny to see their responses. The taping lasted til 2 in the morning, talk about long working hours! Our day at WB was great, probably the best day we had in Hollywood.
Saturday we just did a bit of shopping and packed our bags. Saw the Nip/Tuck cast, as their season premiere was next to the hostel. By this point we were pretty ready to go home. Hollywood is fun but to be in the middle of all the Hollywood 'craziness', surrounded by a lot of strange people, being harassed on the street, you start missing home!
Next time I go to California I would definitely want to rent a car and see a bit more of the coast
too. But all in all we had a great time of course, all of the things we did were very movie-related, but that's what else can you do in Hollywood?
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jenny!
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DUDE!
Hey Floflo! Dude! Okay look at that picture of Santa Monica pier. You see beyond the pier that big white building with the two small tower things right on the beach? That's where I was conceived! It's called the SeaCastle and my mom and the BioDad lived there in the 70's! My friend Jack lives a 10 minute bike ride up the boardwalk from right there. I'm moving to 7 miles away inland. COME VISIT ME!!!