USA Roadtrip Day 1 (Los Angeles, California)

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Los Angeles



It is now about 7.30am and daylight is just breaking as we walked outside the LAX terminal building and started looking for the free hotel shuttle. This place always reminds me of the movie flying high movie from the 1970’s as I keep hearing over the p.a. system “no parking in the white zone’’. We walked and walked an walked and finally found the right area. Just what we needed ! 10 minutes later the blue shuttle bus rolls in. A nice man puts our luggage in and no other passengers onboard so we have private transfer for the 5 minute ride to 4 Points Sheraton LAX and on arrival it was really quiet so we had no problem checking in. Our room was ready and in the older wing section, but did not bother us as we were only interested in one thing. Sleeping. Alarms set for 1pm so we can get around a bit and get body clocks back on schedule. After a decent nap we decided we would go and grab the local Culver City Green Bus 6 up to Westfield’s Culver City. Our original plan was to get oriented and pick up a US SIM Card for Kerry’s iPhone, and buy a local GPS device for the road trip as they come pre-installed with US maps. However due to the kind generosity of my good mate Bruce no need to buy one at ll. Thanks mate. Weather was ideal fine and sunny around 28 degrees, We had a bit of drama walking the sidewalk as I did my best to dodge standing in chewing gum everywhere as we were trying to find the nearest bus stop but after about 20 minutes we were finally onboard. Trip was supposed to be a $1- fare each but the driver did not seem interested in taking my money so the trip up Sepulveda Blvd for 20 minutes was a freeby ! On arrival the first store we saw was Macys which we have never set foot in before on previous trips here. Just as we walked in the doors Kerry trod on a big fat piece of chewing gum ! They had a 60% sale on most things (not on chewing gum) but we weren’t tempted to warm up the credit card just yet. We decided to grab some lunch so we went to a lovely little French Wine Bistro & Café called Crème de la Crepe. A lovely lady served us and once she knew we were Australian she shared her disappointment at being recently rejected to migrate on basis her skill sets were not sufficient to get work (I think she further expanded to say they don’t want over 50’s unless you are brain surgeon or similarly skilled). Kerry had a nice Omelet and I had 3 poached eggs and we each had a Latte as we try to master the US coffee culture. On this occasion it was too milky so we will try again. Lunch cost $33.84 which was bit pricey but will do better next time. Our priority however was to get a SIM Card. How simple can that be ? We heard about a place called Best Buy so we tried that first. They suggested we go to AT & T store. We go there and the salesman Darnell was really helpful in getting us a SIM Card and plan for month for $45-, BUT Sim card install failed. AT & T said phone was locked to Optus. I called Optus on my phone and they said Kerry’s phone was not locked so Darnell suggested we buy a new handset to overcome the problem. He had one on sale for $40- but locked to AT & T so he said it was best go bac down to Best Buys as they have bigger range and all are unlocked. Off we go and we find out price was about the same at $39.99 plus tax and definitely locked to AT & T ! We bought the ZTE Maven Android phone and went back to see Darnell to install and test his SIM Card again. This time install works her phone is alive. Kerry tries to call me BUT no call comes through Ouch. Darnell says this is because the plan we bought (the one he recommended) cannot make call to Australian phones. His solution is to buy the better $60- plan and upgrade to International by paying another $10 more. Now that is not upgrading from $45-plan to $60- plan but buying a new plan again. We bite the bullet and settle for what we have. Kerry can text me but not ring me and I can ring her but not text her. My mood had changed dramatically from wanting to let Darnell’s boss now how good he was at customer service to thinking of lodging a complaint at how he poorly he advised us along the way ! Over 3 hours passed sorting this out and then we had a quick walk around the center an came across some Indian vendor where we bought some water who wanted to talk to me about T20 World Cup and India’s loss to NZ but I was too tired by now so I kind of ditched him. We got the bus back around 7pm and had dinner at Brewster’s Bar. Our booking included a $25- voucher to use here. Last time we were herewith Luke & Elise we watched a Police Car chase on live TV whilst having dinner but today all 15 TV screens are fixated on sport and most on the College Basketball March Madness NCA championships. I started my USA culinary experience by acclimatising with a steak sandwich & fries whilst Kerry had a salad & steak strips option. Both were delicious with the steak being so tender and juicy. Yummy ! I washed it down with a Blonde Guinness on tap and Kerry had a Chardonnay. Off to bed early as tomorrow we are up early to fly to Atlanta for St Patrick’s Day. Flight time is 5.45am !! Message of the day, just buy a US Phone & US Sim Card and all is well.

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Photos

Welcome to California
Kerry waiting on the sidewalk for Green Bus 6 to Westfield Culver City

Shopping Heaven
Finally got to see Macys. Big discounts on offer up to 60%. Men's Shoes section had more shoe styles for sale than I have ever seen at any shop before. Day 1 bought nothing here !!

Potato Corner - The World's Best Flavoured French Fries !
Really ? With BBQ, Cheddar, Sour Cream & Onion, Chilli BBQ, Cinnamon & Sugar and Garlic & Parmesan I suppose there is one for almost each day of the week. I suppose they must be the best because who else does this ?

ZE Maven
This is what the fuss was all about !

Creme Bakery
This is where we had lunch & coffee.

Comments

[Bruce]

Enjoying the ride
Have a great trip

[Spanners]

Thanks mate.