Hello again,

I've been very busy sight seeing since my first blog entry. However i've got a lot of spare time today so thought i'd type it all up before I get things jumbled up in my mind!

The first thing to report is that Wendal doesn't seem to mind me as much. He is currently sitting next to me and when it's just me that's around, he'll sit near me, which I take as a compliment. He will only bark for 2 seconds when I appear in the morning and only growls once in a while! It's looking good! :-)

On Friday Jackie & I went to Warner Brothers Studios and took a tour. It was really fun. The tour started in a small cinema room where they showed us a medley of clips from WB films and TV shows, then we were divided into groups and were taken by our assigned guides on carts around the sets. It was amazing to hear how versatile the sets are. They just paint over them, add this, take away that, add things in the street like parking meters etc and this will cover an extensive number of TV shows and films. I think that overall, there are many things we see on screen that we honestly don't realise is situated in the studios. They really look like they are on location.

To save me describing everything in too much detail i'll list some sets that I saw (they kind of overlap because one set is used for tons of things): ER, Friends, the old Batman series, Casablanca, Million Dollar Baby, The Last Samurai, Gilmore Girls, The Mentalist, The Ellen Show (has it's own studio and it's own cat) and lots for a programme that's currently being filmed called Eastwick. There was more than that but I can't remember them all!

We also got to go into the Museum they have there but the time was far too limited. They only gave us 10 minutes! :-( Jackie & I went straight to the Harry Potter exhibition, which was excellent! They had alot of the costumes that were worn in the Half Blood Prince, like the Weasley Twins Suits & Ron's Quidditch Costume, as well as loads from previous films, like Hagrid's costume, lots of Dementor stuff, the wax figure of Hermione frozen by the Basilisk, Tom Riddle's Diary with the Basilisk tooth, loads more costumes...not enough time!!!

After WB Studios we headed to Hollywood where we walked along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with all the stars on the pavement. Along this street there were loads of what I presume to be 'aspiring' actors dressed as things like Superman, Edward Scissorhands, Marylin Monroe, captain Jack Sparrow, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Barney the Dinosaur etc. They come up to you and ask if you want your picture taken with them, then you pay them. Apparently, if you don't give them any money then they have been known to get a bit angry. Picture this: Sponge Bob Square Pants having a go at a tourist. Welcome to Hollywood!

We saw Graumann's Chinese Theatre where they have all the stars' hand and feet imprints outside on the ground, that was quite cool. By this point it was very very hot! We then went to a shopping mall type place next to this that had very large, grand and slightly odd architecture. I brought Jackie into the world of Sushi, i was relieved she enjoyed it!

When we drove back to Long Beach, we drove up Signal Hill, which is the highest point. We got a good view and it seemed a good place for people to go to get away from it all. Then Jackie, Perry & I went to eat Mexican food. The waitress made a show of it that she didn't think I was over 21 (wotevaaaa) don't worry, I got my beer. And then, coz I was so full and had to leave some, she was all like "don't you like it?". I was stuffed! It must've been funny for Jackie & Perry :-)

On Saturday both Jackie & Perry took me to San Diego, a couple of hours south of L.A. We parked in Balboa Park, next to the famous San Diego Zoo and the first part of the city that I saw was very beautiful. It was an area that had been based on architecture in Panama (which apparently doesn't reflect Panama at all) and there were big, very pretty buildings, including a massive organ which has the most pipes any organ has in the world. We had tickets to go on these tour buses that you can jump on and off as you please. The driver/guides were very animated and played clips of music to go along with the locations they were driving through. We stopped off in one area that had alot of Mexican stalls, then we stopped in the Gaslamp District where we ate lunch. After our tour we went back to the waterfront where we had passed earlier and then went to Coronado Island where we went into the Hotel Del Coronado, which is a famous large, expensive hotel. They used it to film 'Some Like It Hot'. It was built using Redwood in the early 20th century and they sent the Redwood floating down a river from up around the Bay Area (San Francisco). The wood travelled unattended all the way down California and was collected by San Diego! The hotel was very grand and the beach next to it was beautiful. I dipped my feet into the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

On Sunday I experienced the LA County Fair with Jackie. It was huuuuouge! The main things there were shopping stalls (absolutely squillions of them) with cooking demonstrations and food stalls. You can eat alot of unhealthy stuff: alot of battered stuff, frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, popcorn, and there was loads of meat. Jackie & I ate fish & chips! (And frozen lemonade which was welcomed because we were near the mountains, where it is v hot.) We also saw lots of animals and also witnessed a goat being born. I didn't bother putting on my glasses to get a clear view (it's a bit yuck) but it happened fairly quickly I think. We felt sorry for the mother goat having loads of people watching and a farmer giving all the details over a microphone. Not what you'd want is it? We went on a cable car that took us over the top of the fair which was fun.

Yesterday Jackie took me to San Pedro, which isn't too far from Long Beach. It's a more exclusive area that people aim to live in. Apparently there's alot of top bods who work in the film industry, as well as people who live in very small houses so that they can be in the prime location by the sea. The view there is beautiful. We managed to see some sea lions that are currently being looked after in a rescue centre. We tried to look at a large Korean Bell that was donated to the area by a 'sister town' in Korea but as soon as we parked and got out the car, this man who I assumed was some kind of park ranger started yelling at us and other people that the park was closed. It wasn't closed, he just wanted to go home early I think. The gate was open. LAZY!!!

At some point over the last few days a space rocket landed in California not too far from where i'm staying (it was due to land in Florida but couldn't due to bad weather). There was a sonic boom when it landed but me and Jackie didn't hear it. I think it happened at the exact same time this ridiculous man shouted BOO! at a girl in the DVD rental shop we were in because he was trying to stop her hiccoughs. So thanks alot to that man for making me miss a sonic boom.

That's got to be it for now, hope you are all well at home.

Love you loads byyeee! x