US Trip: Los Angeles

After months of planning, or lack thereof, the day finally arrived.  I was a bit unprepared for the trip, especially when I still did not know what I was going to do in Los Angeles and Denver.  When I told Sila about it, she nicely explained, "US is more your old stomping ground so you can get away with less planning."  I didn't any other choice other than winging it.

My flight was at 11am.  Since my brother offered to send me to the airport, I drove to his house in Putrajaya.  You know what, the feeling of waking up at 5am and leaving the house at six when you are not working, especially when you are about to start your vacation, is exhilarating.  One that I don't get to experience that much day in day out.

You know what's bad about watching new movies as they come out in the theaters?  You are left with very little selections in the Inflight Entertainment.  'Underworld Awakening 4'? Saw it. 'Sherlock Holmes'? 'Chronicle'? 'Haywire'? Checked, checked and checked. Ombak Rindu? Err, pass. :D  Okay, you get the idea.  In the end, I watched 'Hugo' and 'We Bought A Zoo'. 'Hugo' was alright, but I didn't expect 'We Bought A Zoo' was going to be great movie.  It also helped that Scarlett Johansson was starring in it :)

I didn't bother to rent a car in LA. The mind and body weren't prepared for driving on the opposite side of the road.  Not yet.  Plus, by the time I cleared immigration and customs, it was already 5pm so there was the rush hour to deal with.  Instead, I took the Flyaway bus to Union Station and hopped on the Metro to get to my friend's place in North Hollywood.

I knew Peter when I worked as a student worker at the Ratty's kitchen for 3 years.  He was one of the cooks there, who was (and still is) very cheerful person and it did rub off on others.   It certainly made the hours working in the shift go by quickly or unnoticed. Upon graduation, he made me promise to write him once in a while.  I may have had a brief spell of hiatus, but I must say I didn't do too badly.  A card here and a letter there each year aren't too shabby, right? :)

Just like the other friends, Peter and his family invited me to stay at their place.  I didn't want to intrude, be a bothersome to their family or disrupt their daily routines, but at the same time it was hard to turn down their offers.  I usually have 2 main questions for them - What time do they go to bed, and the time they wake up?  You don't want to wake up super late, although you can always blame it on jetlag :D

The evening was mostly spent on dinner, some NBA and catching up.  We called it the night close to midnight, but when it has been 14 years since we last saw each other, there were still a lot of ground to cover.

The next morning arrived much sooner than I would have liked.  I shouldn't be complaining though when I totally didn't expect that I'd get a good night sleep. Peter left right after breakfast for his dialysis treatment and that'd take him like at least half a day, including the much needed rest after treatment.  In the meantime, I decided to do a little sight-seeing in LA.

This was where I had some trouble with.  I've been to LA when I was in college and in '08.  I would say I've covered quite a few touristy places.  Universal Studios and Magic Mountain were up for consideration again, but I decided to give them a miss this time around because tickets were on the pricey side, especially if I were just to try out the new rides they introduced in the past 4 years.  I'll get my chances at Kings Island :)

In the end, I set off for Dolby Theatre (previously known as Kodak Theatre) and the Chinese Theatre, before making my way to Santa Monica.

The HOLLYWOOD sign seen from Dolby Theatre

Tourists!

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

I wasn't even born yet when he signed this

He forgot the "MoFo" phrase.  He ran out of space? :D

The Guvenator.  Ex-Guvernator.

Arnie has big hands.  Well, I guess I have small hands :)

Harrison Ford and Kevin Spacey.  2 of my favorite actors

The bus ride Santa Monica took an hour each way.  It wasn't so bad, especially when you were taking your time.  You can tell that you were getting closer to the beach, when you could see fitness centers after gyms after fitness centers :)

If I wasn't wrong, the temperature was in the low 80's Fahrenheit (circa 25C).  The sun was out, yet you get the very cooling sea breeze blowing constantly.  I didn't go down to the beach to test out the water, but it had to be in the 60s (15'ish Centigrade).  Too cold for my liking (like I brought my swimming attire :D), but it didn't stop others from jumping into the ocean.

The entrance to the pier

Great looking beach

It was time to head back to North Hollywood.  I wish I had more time to go and check out Venice Beach.  But I needed to go back before sundown.  Why so?  Certainly not because of zombies :)  Last night Peter showed me the outside of the house and it was pitch black except for lights from a few surrounding houses.  There weren't any street lights in the neighborhood except for the main roads.  Peter was saying, if I had arrived in the evening, I could not even see the house number :D

Stopped by Universal City Walk (outside of Universal Studios) on the way back

They changed the guitar design.  The one in '08 had a fiery flame design

That's it for LA.  We're moving north in the next post.  See you guys... when I see you :)