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Leaving Perth at 5:45am the flight to Sydney took just under 5 hours where I had an hour stopover and then another flight of 13hours 15minutes to Los Angeles. The flight was VERY long due to the fact that I didn't sleep one wink and the man next to me was ultra annoying (taking up half of my seat as well as his own). The meals were good (they offered a continental breakfast option which I got instead of lukewarm scrambled egg!)Arriving at LAX I stood in immigration for 1.5hours as two flights had arrived at the same time (both jumbos) and they had 3 people serving at the immigration desks so it took ages! Halfway through the queue they called my name over the loud speaker and I had to go and talk to a lady called Sue as soon as I was through immigration?I knew something had gone wrong with my bags. Sure enough I went to talk to Sue and Qantas had lost my bags?.GREAT! Had not showered for 2 days, was in trousers and a long-sleeved top in 32degree weather as well as intense humidity! Had to go and see lost baggage department and file a lost baggage form where they said I would get it at the earliest noon the next day!! Went outside and caught the primetime shuttle to my hostel (Hostelling International Santa Monica) where I checked in and went up to my room with only hand luggage in hand. A lady in my room very kindly lent me a short-sleeved top - it was way too hot to go walking around with long sleeves on! I went to the local supermarket called Vons (which is pretty expensive - but I think that's because of the area) and bought a prepaid cell-phone and some fruit for dinner that night. I walked down to Ocean Blvd and had a look at the beach. It is HUGE but very very busy!! There were 1000's of people. Think Umhlangha in April x10000. The pier was pretty cool with little stalls selling various items, a little theme park (mainly for kids I think!) and food, food, food (think grease, oil and more!!) Americans sure like their doughnuts!!! Haha?Went for a walk along 3rd Street Promenade which is a pedestrian outdoor shopping mall. There were lots of street performers (there was a little black girl who must have been about 10 and she had the most amazing voice!) and lots of shops, which were mostly designers. I was just about ready to fall asleep on my feet so I headed back to the hostel and had my strawberries for dinner and then went up to my room. I had a shower (managed to buy a disposable towel from reception for the not-so-cheap price of $5 and borrowed some body wash from a girl in my dorm) and then at about 7:30pm fell asleep. It did not end there! About 2 hours later two Asian girls in my dorm came in turned on all the lights and proceeded to talk and giggle really loudly. My telling them to "please be quiet because I haven't slept in 2 days" plead only led to more giggling and talk so I gave up and read for an hour before falling asleep again. This time I woke up and it must have been about 5am because the sun was just coming up. My back was drenched in sweat because it was so hot. (The rooms don't have aircon). I managed to sleep in until about 7am and then got up for breakfast. This hostel has FREE breakfast!! Score!!! Haha? Breakfast was a selection of tinned fruit, frosties cereal or bagels as well as orange juice and coffee. Had a big breakfast so I wouldn't need lunch. Am now waiting at the Hostel for my bags so I can have a shower and put some shorts and a t-shirt on and then am going to walk to Venice Beach this afternoon, which should be good! Going to go to 'Muscle Beach' where all the bodybuilders work out and maybe even have a swim in the sea!!! Am planning on doing Hollywood tomorrow, Beverly Hills on Tuesday and then going to Universal Studios on Wednesday. Then off to Las Vegas on Thursday!
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