US of A: Los Angeles - The City of Angels!

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We have been so busy over the last few weeks I'm not sure whether this blog will be finished in America or back home. At the time of writing we are in San Francisco!! Probably be back home as this coin operated computer has no USB ports.

America has been one of those places I've always wanted to come too, simply out of curiosity. Is it like on the films? Are there really silicone barbies living in LA? Do handbag dogs exist? Are American names really as crazy as some of the celeb ones? Do we have such different sense of humour? The answers are NO, KIND OF, YES, YES (Cosmo!) and YES. I've found that Americans can be really abrupt and say things quite harshly even though it's not meant that way.

Our flight to LA was fine except for the alarms going off in Nadi airport and we all had to evacuate! Luckily, it was just a short time and we left our bags in the check in queue so nobody could push in when we were allowed back in. The plane was quite an old Boeing 747 and the in flight entertainment was rubbish, the screens hurt our eyes and kept fuzzing in and out of picture. I fell asleep before the end of Kung Fu Panda 2. We were relieved to finally land at LAX. We got a shuttle to our hotel, it was called Stay on Beverly (on Beverly Boulevard) about 10 minutes to Downtown LA. It was such a nice place. The room was a bit small, but the floor was beautifully laminated, the bed had one of those posh memory foam mattresses, we had a huuuge flat screen tv on the wall and a safe in the room. It was shared bathrooms but they were amazing! They were so clean and I just loved the decor. It was really nice to be somewhere so comfortable because I really suffered from the jet lag. I had a horrible cold that lasted until Vegas and Andy had trouble sleeping in the night.

The first proper day in LA we ventured to Downtown and discovered there wasn't much to it so caught a subway to Hollywood Boulevard. Our mission: to find celebrities! As soon as we emerged from the escalators we could see the Kodak Theater which is famous for holding the Academy Awards each year. There was the infamous Chinese Theater that had lots of stars hand and foot prints in concrete. From about 3 escalators up a shopping area we could just about glimpse the Hollywood sign far far far away. It was a bit disappointing. I started star searching on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (which takes up 15 blocks!) and found legends like Marilyn Monroe's, Steven Spielberg and Michael Jacksons!

Next we did what everybody does in LA - we went on a tour to Beverly Hills and to celebrity houses. We got a really good deal for a package that would take us around celebrity houses, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills and take us to a look out to see the Hollywood sign better. We drove around in a huge people type minivan that had no top, it was a gorgeous sunny day so it was brilliant. Our tour guide told us that LA only has 5 or 6 days of rain a year! Incredible! I was quite surprised how many celebs have their houses on view and how much they cost! Keanu Reeves house looked like a shoe box, his front door was right on the street and he bought it for $3,000,000! Leonardo di Caprio's was on the same street and didn't look that impressive either. It seemed to be that be that 3 million doesn't get you a lot in Beverly Hills. The guide showed us the house where Michael Jackson died, and where the Beckhams live. We could just see the roof and the chimneys but again I was surprised how cramped together everyone was. Tom Cruise's house was much better - you couldn't see anything - but his took up a whole street, a bit more room for $40,000,000!!

We took a drive down Sunset and the guide pointed out all the clubs and eateries where the celebs go. Rodeo Drive was brilliant! As we drove down we saw the new model from Victoria Secret doing some filming, walking up and down the zebra crossing in some fancy clothes. The shops there were amazing, wouldn't have dared to go in though - not after Pretty Woman! There was a car parked on the street that everyone was gaping at and taking pictures of. It was black and yellow - our guide told us it was a $1.7 million car! Just parked in the street! I tried to get a good picture of it but we were a bit too quick. At the end we took a drive up to the viewpoint and we got out and took some pictures. The sign was still ridiculously far away and LA seemed to be having a very foggy day. O well.

After the tour we took a walk up one of the side streets off Hollywood Boulevard and there were cameras everywhere and the street was cordoned off to the traffic. The only cars on the road were old period cars. There were white screens set up and men and women dressed in 1930's attire. After much begging from me Andy went up and asked one of the actors what they were filming. Turned out to be Gangster Squad! Out in 2013, starring Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling! Wooo! We saw two chaps filming a scene but could only see their legs so I'm just going to say it was them. Hehe.

The next day we went to Universal Studios!! We were really excited about going here after going to the Singapore one. The original studios! As soon as we got inside we ran with hundreds of others towards the studio tour pick up as they said it was best to do that first. We thought it was great that we managed to get on the first tram of the day! Not so unfit after all!

The first part took us around all the studio buildings, we weren't allowed inside as they were called closed sets. They were filming a CSI episode in one of them. We then travelled around their back lot which is a huge built up areas that look like a small town. We were shown clips from Bruce Almighty so we could see what was filmed and where and we even went passed the city hall in Back to the Future! They use the sets still in many different films just change the structure a bit to look different. I found it fascinating. They had also built a small scale New York which banks, pizza places and jewelery shops. It looked great.

Next we were taken into a dark tunnel and told to put on our 3D glasses. On either side were huge screens from the floor to the ceiling stretching the whole length of the tram. It was called the King Kong experience. The tram moved and jolted on the floor as the screens showed us to riding along in the jungle on Skull Island. Suddenly, a T-Rex appears and appears to shake the tram and then other dinosaurs appear! They all start fighting and the tram is wobbling, we see King Kong on the right screen jump over the tram and start fighting the T-Rex! Then the T-Rex grabs the tram and it feels like we are falling down off a cliff - you can see a tram on the screen with CGI people in! Not only was there all the wobbling, we were also getting sprayed with water - it was meant to be the T-Rex's blood. I was petrified! It was a brilliant experience but also frightening! I think I screamed a few times!

The next part of the tour took us to a Jaws set up where he comes out of the water and fire starts shooting up and he kills this mannequin in the water. All very entertaining. We also went passed the Desperate Housewives set. Unfortunately, because they were filming we couldn't drive down Wisteria Lane which I was a bit sad about. The tram took us into a studio where we experienced an 8.3 earthquake which was quite scary. It was set in a subway station and they had the road above caving in next to us and a fuel tanker flying towards us and just stopping in time and then a subway train. A water pipe burst and we all got wet again, I had to keep ducking the camera under my t-shirt! We also went by a plane crash site - similar to the one used in War of the Worlds. The studio had actually bought a Boeing 747 and smashed it up and put manequins in it. I didn't really like this bit.

After the tour we decided to go on some rides. We were a bit disappointed to find that there was only 3 rides in the whole park! The Simpsons ride which was quite fun but you didn't go anywhere as you just watched a big LED screen in front. There was the Jurassic Park ride which was a water one. The final one was the Mummy ride which wasn't as good as the Mummy ride in Singapore. It has this big build up to it and makes you think something is going to happen and then the doors open and your at the end!

There were lots of shows going on which made up for it. We went to see an animal one which was brilliant as the animals did their tricks without anyone being on the stage to coax them into doing it. I thought that was quite impressive. We also went to see the Terminator 2 3D experience. We were all sat in a huge auditorium with massive screens and half was on screens and half was actors running around shooting each other. It was actually really good.

The day we went back to the studios (3 days later) was because we were so tired and we had missed some bits out and had a free return pass. We went to the Shrek 4d experience - it was the same as Singapore but still good fun. We also went to the Waterworld show which is the number one show to go and see in California! The film was a flop but the show is really good. Similar again to the one in Singapore but good fun. We also went to see a Special Effect show where the hosts showed us how they create CGI and all these special effects on the films. It was really impressive. We also did the studio tour again. The King Kong bit didn't seem as scary this time around but what made it for me was we got to drive down Wisteria Lane as they weren't filming. It looked really good and I was busy shouting out who lived where - it was great! But I'm a sucker for American shows.

In our break from Universal Studios we decided to check out a huge LA shopping area called the Grove. Adjacent to this area is the infamous Farmers Market where tons of celebs have been papped. We spent hours walking around, it was like a little city. There were all these new shops to go around, old style trams riding up and down, and lots of cafes. The Farmers Market had lots of little stalls selling anything from fruit to gourmet pickles. Unfortunately, no celebs were spotted, I did have a good peer around. It wasn't until we were leaving that I had the highlight of my day. There was a tiny patch of grass along the sidewalk set up for dogs to use. One woman was stood there tottering on her heels saying to her poodle "Go Potty! Go Potty!" Absolute classic. I couldn't stop mimicking that for days!

Our last thing we did in LA was go to Venice Beach. We had wanted to go to the beach not to swim or sunbathe but to people watch. Venice Beach is very popular with hippies, skate boarders, strangely dressed people, pot smokers and general weirdos. We thought it was really funny, I just can't describe some of the strangeness we saw. You'll have to see if you can spot any in the photos as I couldn't just take pictures of them! Hehe.

LA was good fun. I knew not to expect much from reading other people's blogs and talking to people who had gone there. There is no glamour in LA. Maybe a touch on Rodeo Drive but not like how it used to be. Apparently, before the 1960's was the time to go to LA.

More to come very soon ...... Vegas and San Francisco! Hope you are all well!

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Photos

Rodeo Drive - $1.7 million car!
Yellow and black one

Comments

[Chris]

cool blog dude. Looking forward to vegas blog hurry up!