BUT hopefully, if you decide to man up and keep reading I promise it's enjoyable. So grab a coffee and condiments, and nice warm snuggie (order it off an infomercial if you have to) and turn off the lights.
Thank you pilgrims, for Thanksgiving. I knew November was gonna be awesome. And now that it just flew past, I can look back and say: 'Yes, November was awesome.' I'd barely recovered from the shenanigans in Hawaii before I was hit by the lights of LA. Hollywood Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Avenue, Rodeo Drive, shit...everything was in OVERDRIVE.
My mate Andrew (who lives just down the hall from me) and his family were kind enough to take 8 of us exchange students in over the break and share the love and warmth that we all know the Americans have in them. Now, Andrew's family doesn't just live in LA - they live in Hollywood. But, no matter how hard I searched and used my uber Paparazzi skills, I didn't see any A-lister's. Or B-lister's. Or anyone for that matter.
Anyway, so much happened on this trip that I think I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking and I'll just throw in a few comments here and there. There are way more up on facebook, but they're in my friend's albums so I'm not sure if you can see it.
Thanksgiving exodus - all the kiddies leaving for home, and warmer weather.
Shit I forgot my Ipod. No worries, I'll just get one from a vending machine. But damn I wish I could buy what Phil, Sas, Guz and Gowri can get in Japan.
Universal Studios
The rides were pretty lame, but you don't go to Universal for the rides. You go for all the delicious behind the scene action. We spent the best part of a whole day checking out different movie sets, special effects and theme park scenery.
The rides were pretty lame, but you don't go to Universal for the rides. You go for all the delicious behind the scene action. We spent the best part of a whole day checking out different movie sets, special effects and theme park scenery.
A lot of you guys back home are movie buffs, so you'll enjoy this. In fact, think of it as a game. Have a look at each picture below (it'll be of a scene, or a special effect) and see if you can work out what movie it's from. The answers will be in the captions, which you can highlight to check. You get 1 point for each correct answer, and 1 point off for each incorrect answer. Some even have bonus points! Tally up your score and the winner gets a gold star and one of those giant turkey legs that I had at Disneyland (see below...way below).
This is the scene from King Kong, where the ship reaches Kong's island for the first time through the mist. Special effect? Well, the 'scene' you see there can fit on your desk. The ship is about the size of a basketball.
Bonus! (There is more than one correct answer). 1) The flooding scene in Big Fat Liar (with Frankie Muniz & Paul Giammati. 2) Heroes - the scene in Mexico with the chic who has that power where her eyes go dark and people just die.
This should be easy. It's not exactly from the movie, but its a demo of the special effects from the Fast and the Furious series. V-DUB! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aaaaz_XPwHI)
The airplane crash site scene from War of the Worlds. Unlike the King Kong scene, there were no special effects here. That's a real Boeing 737 that they dumped into their scene. Then they released 15 angry Scientologists with sledgehammers.
There's a bonus point in it for this one, its the hardest. The end scene in Backdraft with Kurt Russell where the fireman makes his sacrifice.Thanksgiving Dinner
They may be Asian, but Andrew's family are as American as you can get. But they still have good ol' Chinese cuisine to go with the bird. Thanks Mr. & Mrs Poon! (I know, killer last name).
They may be Asian, but Andrew's family are as American as you can get. But they still have good ol' Chinese cuisine to go with the bird. Thanks Mr. & Mrs Poon! (I know, killer last name).
Black Friday Shopping (for the ladies)
In the States the two big days to mark on your calender if you're a shopperholic are Boxing Day (like in Aus) and the Friday after Thanksgiving. Black Friday shopping is crazy. It's so crazy, it starts on Thursday night at 9:00pm at big outlets (midnight at most malls) and goes on 'till as late as 11pm on Friday. Don't worry though, it caters for all, from those of you who shop only on '5th Ave' you can have your Chanel, YSL, LV etc, to those that want to hit up Nike, Adidas, and Converse. Then you've got insane deals on electronics, and even Walmart is packed to the brim.
We drove out of LA basically to Palm Springs (more than half way to San Diego) straight after dinner to make sure we got to the biggest outlet in SoCal on time after 1.5 hrs of driving. Two comments: 1) RIDICULOUS prices (e.g. Nike shoes average price was about half that you can find on eastbay); and 2) 95% Asian shoppers.
So if you're in the States around Thanksgiving, and you feel like working off your Thanksgiving dinner, just make sure you go shopping afterwards and take advantage of the exchange rate.
Santa Monica Beach & Hollywood Blvd
When I saw the beaches in LA I couldn't help but hear the theme song from 'The O.C.' play in my head.
We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for #1
California here we come
Right back where we started from
We weren't quite at Newport beach (the O.C. is the next county south of LA), but Santa Monica beach is actually one of the real filming locations for the TV show - in fact none of it is actually filmed in Orange County.
Yeah, I did check out the little lifeguard hut to see if Marissa was on one of her late night binges. Then I remembered that she's dead. Aww.
They have these sweet rope courses on the beach. Doing these rings is a lot harder than it looks, they're about 3 m apart from each other and it takes a lot of body language to get through it. Some pro guy was doing the rings whilst hula hooping - some serious ass twisting action.
He's alive!
"Quick, he not dead! Take photo - wait no no, look there, wahhhh transformer bumblebee! Take that, take that!"
"Are you getting a bit of chaffage man?" "No, I wear mine on the outside"
In the States the two big days to mark on your calender if you're a shopperholic are Boxing Day (like in Aus) and the Friday after Thanksgiving. Black Friday shopping is crazy. It's so crazy, it starts on Thursday night at 9:00pm at big outlets (midnight at most malls) and goes on 'till as late as 11pm on Friday. Don't worry though, it caters for all, from those of you who shop only on '5th Ave' you can have your Chanel, YSL, LV etc, to those that want to hit up Nike, Adidas, and Converse. Then you've got insane deals on electronics, and even Walmart is packed to the brim.
We drove out of LA basically to Palm Springs (more than half way to San Diego) straight after dinner to make sure we got to the biggest outlet in SoCal on time after 1.5 hrs of driving. Two comments: 1) RIDICULOUS prices (e.g. Nike shoes average price was about half that you can find on eastbay); and 2) 95% Asian shoppers.
So if you're in the States around Thanksgiving, and you feel like working off your Thanksgiving dinner, just make sure you go shopping afterwards and take advantage of the exchange rate.
Santa Monica Beach & Hollywood Blvd
When I saw the beaches in LA I couldn't help but hear the theme song from 'The O.C.' play in my head.
We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for #1
California here we come
Right back where we started from
We weren't quite at Newport beach (the O.C. is the next county south of LA), but Santa Monica beach is actually one of the real filming locations for the TV show - in fact none of it is actually filmed in Orange County.
Yeah, I did check out the little lifeguard hut to see if Marissa was on one of her late night binges. Then I remembered that she's dead. Aww.
They have these sweet rope courses on the beach. Doing these rings is a lot harder than it looks, they're about 3 m apart from each other and it takes a lot of body language to get through it. Some pro guy was doing the rings whilst hula hooping - some serious ass twisting action.
He's alive!
"Quick, he not dead! Take photo - wait no no, look there, wahhhh transformer bumblebee! Take that, take that!"
"Are you getting a bit of chaffage man?" "No, I wear mine on the outside"Disneyland
You have to go to Disneyland once in your life, do all the rides, get all the princesses signatures, and take a photo with Mickey. You just have to. When I first walked through the gates, I imagine what I felt would've been similar to what Dorothy felt when she fell through the rabbit hole, but probably not as violated as what Neo felt when he took the red pill.
Disneyland probably deserves it's own blog post or two, and it's a couple of photo albums - but here a few of the highlights:
Roscoe's
Last day in LA, and still no sight of any celebrities. So we got a tip from some locals and apparently sometimes they hang out at Roscoe's Fried Chicken and Waffles. You know, natural habitat and that sort of thing.
Anyway, as the name suggests, they only have fried chicken and waffles combo meals. Glancing through the menu, it looked kind of like a cross between KFC, Nando's & Gelare. I know Nando's don't do fried chicken, but Roscoe's list it by the 1/2, 1/4 chicken sizes like Nando's do, as well as individual 'pieces' like KFC. Now, I should know by now that US servings are huge. I think that must have slipped my mind when I ordered.
I mean, I was thinking back to a Nando's 1/2 chicken, which is a good sized meal. But uhh...
Oh and everything comes with butter. Not cream, ice-cream, syrup or chocolate sauce. Just butter. Mmm filth.
You have to go to Disneyland once in your life, do all the rides, get all the princesses signatures, and take a photo with Mickey. You just have to. When I first walked through the gates, I imagine what I felt would've been similar to what Dorothy felt when she fell through the rabbit hole, but probably not as violated as what Neo felt when he took the red pill.
Disneyland probably deserves it's own blog post or two, and it's a couple of photo albums - but here a few of the highlights:
Roscoe's
Last day in LA, and still no sight of any celebrities. So we got a tip from some locals and apparently sometimes they hang out at Roscoe's Fried Chicken and Waffles. You know, natural habitat and that sort of thing.
Anyway, as the name suggests, they only have fried chicken and waffles combo meals. Glancing through the menu, it looked kind of like a cross between KFC, Nando's & Gelare. I know Nando's don't do fried chicken, but Roscoe's list it by the 1/2, 1/4 chicken sizes like Nando's do, as well as individual 'pieces' like KFC. Now, I should know by now that US servings are huge. I think that must have slipped my mind when I ordered.
I mean, I was thinking back to a Nando's 1/2 chicken, which is a good sized meal. But uhh...
,
Apparently that's half a chicken. OK well technically when you order half a chicken you get to choose the 4 pieces that make up your chicken. 2 breasts and 2 thigh's please! Not 2 whole bloody chickens!
Apparently that's half a chicken. OK well technically when you order half a chicken you get to choose the 4 pieces that make up your chicken. 2 breasts and 2 thigh's please! Not 2 whole bloody chickens!
Oh and everything comes with butter. Not cream, ice-cream, syrup or chocolate sauce. Just butter. Mmm filth.
Back to Berkeley
And now I'm back in Berkeley, getting ready for finals...and I can't wait for Phil and Sas to get here!
Things are still the same here. It's getting cold, and people are still driving into open manholes.
And now I'm back in Berkeley, getting ready for finals...and I can't wait for Phil and Sas to get here!
Things are still the same here. It's getting cold, and people are still driving into open manholes.
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