Saturday, January 24, 2009

Los Angeles Holiday!

Hello all!

I know everyone has been waiting for this update for a long time.. Haha.. There are so many photos here that it's lagging my laptop like crazy.. I'm just gonna update on Los Angeles because adding more photos in this entry will just crash everyone's computer.. Haha.. So here it goes..

Day 1

And the air ticket to get to Tokyo first for my transfer.. As usual, I had to repack my luggage again because one of them was over the weight limit.. And this was my first ever UA flight..

The breakfast on board UA.. The chicken noodles on the right were nice actually.. Haha..


7 hours to Tokyo.. Nap time!

Welcome to Japan! Immigration is getting stricter there.. Hmm..

Shopped abit in the terminal before boarding..

The UA plane for my 9.5 hours long flight to Los Angeles..

And it bloody doesn't have any personal entertainment system for this long long flight.. Never take UA for long flights please..

After 9 hours of eating and sleeping on the plane, we have finally arrived at Los Angeles! Long queue at immigration.. We were pratically the last ones to leave the terminal on this flight..


We ended up taking a cab from the airport to the hotel which costed like US$56.. >.<

After like 1 hour of resting, we headed out to the downtown area for a walk.. We stayed in the Financial District of LA and thus you will see people so stressed till they'll bang their heads on the wall.. Haha..

The nearest shopping mall called 7th + Fig..

Makan Time! First day and I already miss Asian Food.. Damn.. Haha..

After lunch, we went to get my prepaid number from the local mobile subscriber, AT&T.. And then, our main aim was to head to this shopping centre called The Grove but 2 guys offered to take us there.. Afraid that they'll kidnap us to their den, we decided to just follow them to Hollywood and break off from there.. Haha.. And tadah, we are in Hollywood!

The famous Hollywood Walk of Fame!

The famous El- Capitan Theatre that showcases mainly Disney movies all day..

Britney Spears! Whoo Hoo!

And The Little Mermaid.. Save the ocean everybody please..

And this is the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.. Hand and foot prints of famous people marked all over the ground..

And the famous Roosevelt Hotel.. They filmed an episode of 90210 here.. =)

Hollywood Boulevard!



FOX was going to have some red carpet premiere I think cos there was like a TV Van and stuff being set up..

The Streets of Hollywood!

Kodak Theatre! This was where they hold the Annual Acadamy Awards and American Idol Finals!

Mickey Mouse in Hollywood!

After that, we took a bus down to Farmer's Market.. Reminds me alot of Adelaide's Central Market and Melbourne's Queen Victoria's Market..

So much stuff to see!

Yum..



The day turned to night and we headed over to The Grove after that which was just located beside it..

Beautiful.. Simply beautiful shopping district..


And Forever 21! Bought this super thick jacket there..

Victoria's Secret. The body lotions and perfume were on sale..



A pretty fountain located in the middle of the district and which started dancing to music after a while..

And we took the trolley back to Farmer's Market.. Lazy to walk back.. Haha..

Hello.

Dinner was some fine cut meats, potato and bread at Farmer's Market..

The Grove!

Wanted to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall after that.. Didn't know how to go so we took a taxi.. Bad choice.. The taxi driver took us on a tour of LA city and a 10 minute trip took us 20 mins.. Grrr.. Cheater..

And we sat the train home!

Met this crazy beggar on the street who scolded me and my Mum, "Hey! I'm talking to you bitch!" when we refused to give him money.. Sheesh! Weird people..

Day 2

Today would be Disneyland Day!

We woke up really early that morning.. The city was still dark.. Pretty ain't it?

And the sunrise of LA.. =)

So you can see how early woke up right? By the time we left the house, it was sunny and bright!

Took a metro train down to LA Union Station which is like the City Hall of Singapore.. All trains going out to different counties mainly originate from here..

Bought tickets down to Anaheim which is located on the outskirts of LA in Orange County..

On the platform waiting for the time to board the train..

Yes, people. This is my train! Haha..

We headed up to the second level for a different experience of riding a train..

And after 45 mins of taking the train and switching to the shuttle bus, we reached Disneyland Resort, California!

Yeah, Disneyland is up or down.. But not left and right.. =p

The ticket offices don't open till an hour later so we headed opposite for breakfast at Denny's.. My mum said that there used to be Denny's in Singapore but I've never seen one before.. Hmm..
The whole street opposite Disneyland were filled with hotels and restaurants ready to welcome the tourism business that Disneyland never fails to bring in..

Yes Papa, I know you're above 55 years old.. LOL.

You definitely do not call these breakfast in Singapore.. Haha.. This would be considered lunch! But this is what we always call a true blue American Breakfast.. Big portions, family size juices, and service staff always refilling your coffeee..

And we walked back to Disneyland after our super filling breakfast.. I was so afraid I'll puke on the rides.. Haha..

Purchasing the tickets.. Not cheap.. Disneyland Resort consists of two theme parks- Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure Park.. Entry to both parks on the same day will cost you about US$94 each while a single park entry costs about US$69.. So obviously, we took the US$69 one.. Haha.. Cos we won't have time to shuffle between both parks.. =p

Welcome to California!

Finally inside Disneyland Park!

Main Street USA! Shopping at night!

First stop of the day, Tomorrowland!

Our first ride of the day was Star Tours which was kinda a indoor motion ride.. No queue at all! Whoo Hoo!

Next up was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster. Again, no queue! I went to Tokyo Disneyland on Boxing Day four years ago and the queueing was 1 hour plus!

And they had this really cute device located at the exit that allowed us to email our secretly taken picture to any email we wanted..

Following that was the must take, Space Mountain which is an indoor roller coaster! Super thrilling! I had to queue for like 1 hour for this ride in Tokyo's. I took 5 mins to get into this one.. =p

My daring mother pulled me to sit in the front row and hence, priceless expression.. Haha..

My very act cute parents.. Haha..

And we headed to sit in for this 3-D show- Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! I've actually watched it thrice in the other Disneylands but it was either in Cantonese or Japanese so it was kinda my first time hearing it in English..

Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage! One of my favourite rides in Disneyland!

We got to sit in a submarine for the first time!



The submarine was designed in a way whereby each passenger had their own window to look out from..

Pseudo bubbles to show that we're "diving" further deeper down.. Haha..

And the very beautiful scenery to see under the sea.. We actually went through a tunnel that brought us through part of the Finding Nemo story but it was too dark to take any pictures and flash wasn't allowed cos it'll scare the fishes and bounce right off the window..

A new ride that I've never taken before, Matterhorn Bobsleds.. Some kart like roller coaster ride..

That brought us right up the mountain and back down again..

A tradition we always follow whenever the family comes to Disneyland. We must eat the Turkey Leg! =) Damn huge.. Just look at it..

And Papa complained of a shoulder/ neck ache and therefore, I have to serve.. =(

Dunno what mountain.. Haha..

The Disneyland Castle!

Perfect Disneyland Castle picture!

Headed into Fantasyland after that for Snow White Scary Adventures.

One of the dwarves was missing.. Dunno who.. Haha..

My parents are so cute eh? Haha.. Pinocchio's Daring Journey.

One of my favourite classics..

Blur picture. But it reads Pirates of the Carribean..

Headed to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after that.. Super fun! My daring Mama even took a video on the ride..



Entering Critter Country..

Splash Mountain was closed so the only ride we rode was Winnie The Pooh.. Haha.. Some teenage boys were like debating whether they should be seen in such a childish ride.. Boys.. *tsk tsk*

The only character that I took a picture with in Disneyland and I have no idea who he is.. Haha..



Had too much time to kill cos we were going too fast on the rides since there was hardly any queue in any of them.. Haha.. So we decided to take a railroad journey around Disneyland..

Alighted at Main Street USA and they were just having the flag lowering ceremony.. I wanted to say flag downing ceremony.. LOL..


Went for our last minute shopping after that.. I just love Disneyland Gift Shops.. Too many things to see and buy..

And the sun was setting the moment we exit-ed.. My lovely purchases!

They didn't have the normal Night Parade and Fireworks Spectacular because of low attendance in the park.. So instead they replaced it with a new show called Fantasmanic! which was like a laser lightshow with Disney characters on floats and boats and ending with a beautiful blast of fireworks.. I actually have a video taken in parts so I'll get them together ASAP.. It was really nice..

And how could we have missed out the Disneyland Castle at night.. I should really start saving for a good camera and a tripod..


And finally, the magical day ended and it was time to go home.. =( How I wished I could visit the other park as well..

Jo-lynn, my polymate will be heading to do her internship in Walt Disney World in Orlando starting this Tuesday meaning I'll have another Singaporean friend in the USA! We haven't msn-ed in a long time but just ytd, we started talking about our own overseas school life, how we survived it, MM, USA etc. And she said she'll be reserving some of her comp tickets for me when I go visit her! Hopefully soon enough! =)

And we took this really long bus ride back to LA, like really long, 2 hours! Because the trains back to LA have all departed from Anaheim really early like 6pm when Disneyland closes at 8pm.. Sorta a way to help the local hotels earn some moolah.. Very clever.. Haha..

And the city lights of LA near my hotel.. =)

Day 3

Today would be exploring Hollywood Day! We came to Hollywood on the first day of our arrival but had no time to fully expore it though..

First stop was to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to purchase the Citypass..

Lucky students who got to travel with the school..

And we bought 3 sets of Citypasses.. It was really worth it cos it allowed you into 4 tours/ attractions for just half the price of what they would normally cost for general admission..

Some really fancy Limo and a really ugly Spiderman.. These "characters" are not employed by any company and it is not illegal to pose as some character in Hollywood.. But to take a picture with them, it'll cost you.. Sorta like tipping.. So better don't.. There are prettier characters in movies..

We first booked a tour called "Movie Stars Home Tours" where it actually brings us to the homes of famous movie stars living in Hollywood and Beverly Hills.. Did you know that Brad Pitt used to dress up as a chicken to work at the restaurant called El Pollo Loco on the top left.. Haha.. And those are some of the famous reataurants that the stars visit regularly..

I didn't know you had to valet park to buy a cup of coffee from Coffee Bean.. Haha.. Oh well, this is Hollwood..

And we enter Beverly Hills! The world's most popular postal code, 90210! =)

The following pictures will be of the homes of stars.. There were actually more than these but I seriously couldn't remember which belongs to who.. Haha.. So I just picked out the ones I could..

And the first house that we saw was of the famous chef, Wolfgang Puck!

And this is one of the prettiest and grandest houses in Beverly Hills.. Guess who it belongs to? Will Smith.. =)

And this house with the United States flag at the top belongs to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes..

And I think this was the house of Tom Cruise before he married Katie Holmes..

This house belonged to a member of The Beetles but I forgot which one..

This is the house of the original 007 star, Sean Connery..

And a comedian lives in this really tall bushed up house.. We had to go around the back to catch a glimspe of his house.. It is the house of Jumanji's Robin Williams..

A really huge house for a really romantic man, Richard Gere..

And this house under construction belongs to a very famous heiress.. Guess who? Haha... Ms. Paris Hilton.. The Hilton family is known to love rocks on their houses..

This not very pretty house belongs to National Treasure's Nicholas Cage..

This beautiful little cottage once belonged to a very famous sex symbol in Hollywood.. Guess who? White skirt, blonde hair. Bingo. Marilyn Monroe!

And after the very scandalous breakup from her husband, this is where Jennifer Aniston now stays.. The tour guide told us that paparatzi once had helicopters and cars chasing her all the way up to her residence.. Poor thing..

And this is the Greystone Mansion.. Nobody famous lives here but it was used to film many movies inclduing Spiderman 3, XMEN, The Holiday, The Prestige, Rush Hour, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle etc. It was once owned by a very rich man who bought it for his son as a gift..

And whenver you buy stuff from Guess, just remember it goes to its boss, Georges Marciano who happens to be in the car and his mansion plus all his different Ferraris for the different days of the week.. LOL..

And this is the old house of George Clooney and his aunt..

And this hotel houses a penthouse at the top that belongs to famous singer, Elton John..

And this well covered up house with the funny grass belongs to a funny man.. Mr. Eddie Murphy..

See if you can try to kick a soccer ball up, maybe David Beckham will kick it back.. Yes, it is his house..

This pinkish house used to belong to someone famous but now it belongs to Christina Aguilera..

This quaint little house has a bittersweet story behind it. It used to belong to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston before they split.

And those are the homes of the famous movie stars.. We could drive past the homes but it would be illegal to go up to them and trepass on their property in any way.. Even ringing the doorbell on any unofficial business will land you in a very sorry position..
And we drove deeper into Beverly Hills heading towards Rodeo Drive.. We were sitting in this open air car that brought us down this very famous scene in movies.. Ooh.. I love Beverly Hills..

Rodeo Drive.. Beverly Hill's most famous shopping district.. And all the Tai Tais out there, please prepare yourself for the next few pictures.. All your favourite lovely brands are coming to you all soon.. =)




All the branded of all branded goods in the world are available in Rodeo Drive.. Haha.. I can imagine some Tai Tai's eyes lighting up already..

Another famous landmark, Melrose Ave..

Our tour next went up to a peak where a very popular Japanese restaurant stood.. It was used to film a movie too.. Guess which one? Memoirs of a Geisha.. =)

Overlooking the whole of LA.. It should be real pretty at night..


And of course, the most famous landmark of all in Hollywood, the Hollywood Sign!

Well, yeah.. The previous picture was a zoom-ed in one.. We were that far away from it becos it was illegal to go anywhere near it..

Nice family photo!

And with our very charming tour guide who is a part time movie extra and commercial writer or something like that..
And this was our ride for that morning..

The tour ended so we headed to some Mexican fastfood joint for lunch.. Food was super good but we ordered too much.. =p

We headed on to the Kodak Theatre for a tour that we couldn't take any pictures of but it was such a fascinating tour.. You really get to go behind the scenes of how the place is managed for important events like the Academy Awards etc. A must see place if you ever visit LA. And this is just a shopping centre located beside the Kodak Theatre..

They were actually giving out free Coke Zero.. Being kiasu Singaporeans, we took 5 cans.. And I still have 2 cans with me unopened.. Haha..

Red Line Tours which provided a tour which brings you on a walking tour to explain the depths and insides Hollywood..

And this is the price of Citypass.. 4 Famous Attractions for One Low Price!

We were the only ones on the tour as it was the last one of the day.. And the tour company provided us with these wireless headphones set that we have to wear on the tour.. It will allow us to hear what the guide is saying even if the streets are noisy etc. Therefore, the guides don't have to use that loud hailer and we can all listen comfortably.. Very good..

A blank star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. Maybe it's for you or even me.. =p Anyway, it's not easy to have your name on the star.. There are a few conditions you have to meet before you can put your name down.. Firstly, you have to be recognised in one of the 5 categories including flim, TV, recording, radio and live theater.. Secondly, you have to agree to attend a presentation ceremony within 5 year of selection. And finally, you'll have to pay a fee of $25,000 for your star to be there.. Haha..

And this is the only person to be honoured with all five possible stars, Gene Autry.

Next up was Grauman's Egyptian Theatre..

Did you know Sid Grauman was the guy who started the red carpet tradition? He invited some people to watch a movie at te Egyptian Theatre and he didn't want people to be walking on the dirty ground so he ordered for a red carpet to be made for them to walk on and tadah, a new tradition has been created!

And the one legged guy one the ground is the official cleaner of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. He cleans all the stars and is paid for it..

Scientology.. Mr. Tom Cruise.. Haha..

My No. 1 Idol- Walt Disney..

And poor Marilyn Monroe had her star placed right outside Mcdonalds. So glam eh?

How did Winnie the Pooh get the $25,000 for his star? Weird.. Haha..

And it was a tour back to Kodak Theatre where the guide explained more about the wall panels that surround the stairs.. Did you know these are the stairs that the stars walk on?

The guide told us to go find out what was the best movie of the year that we were born in.. 1988 was Rain Man.. 2008's best movie was No Country for Old Men.. Now everybody's guessing who would win 2009's best movie.. Haha.. It's a tough fight between The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire..


Next up was a visit into the El Capitan Theatre..

And this is my tour guide.. He used to be bodygaurd of the Queen of England on special occasions if not he's normally like a tour offiical for tourists visiting the palace in England.. During one of this tours, he met his wife from America and fate pulled them together and brought them to American now.. Aww..

Anyway, he's pointing out that the Hollywood sign used to read Hollywoodland..

And this was how the Hollywood Sign would look at night..

The cheapest B&B in Hollywood.. LOL

Our last attraction was the Hollywood Wax Museum..

Peter Parker is ugly here..


The Titanic song kept playing on and on wherever near the ship..

And after that we made our way down to Universal City..

And we were lucky enough to catch the last shuttle bus up.. But it means that we had to walk back.. =(

Saw this Ifly thing.. Really cool..


And the really bright streets of Universal City..

Dinner was Chinese Food again.. Haha.. Very nice actually..

And the Universal Studios gift store..
And the spinning Universal Studios ball..

Universal Studios Hollwyood!

Night lights of LA..

Day 4

We were leaving for Jackson Hole that afternoon so we still had time in the morning to walk around..

Spikes placed on ledges on buildings to prevent people from sleeping on them..

We wanted a space wagon for all our luggage (we had 3 huge ones!) but the Concierge made a mistake and ordered a limo for us.. -.-' Luckily it didn't cost more.. So comfy too.. =)

Flying over the frosty mountains of Denver..

We almost missed our connection to Jackson Hole from Denver because our flight got delayed bout 30 mins in LA.. Luckily we didn't.. I don't really like UA thus far.. Haha.. Their service standards and flight delays are quite annoying actually.. Oh well.. Every penny for every kind of service..

Ok! This is the end of my LA post! At long last! Hehe.. Sorry for letting everybody wait so long.. Wait up for my Jackson Hole post ok? =)

And a Happy CNY to everybody back home!

No comments: