I hate American polictics, George Bush, and everything their Government stands for. But I just love coming to this country! This is the 6th time I have visited the land of the idiots, or should I say the obese, or the tunnel visioned, or obnoxioulsy loud and grossley over confident? There are plenty of reasons why this (in my experience) is the most hated country in the world, but lets face it, there is heaps to see and do in this country. Plus, coming here makes me (and I'm sure I'm not the only visitor) feel a heck of a lot smarter, thanks to the average American dummy, who tends to suffer from some of the above adjectives.

However, we shouldn't tar all Americans with the same brush. My friend Thu (pronounced 2) certainly doesn't fit into any of the above categories, no, she is incredible. Thu is originally Vietnamese, but moved to the States when she was about 12. I met her in South Korea teaching English and kept in touch with her. So when she heard I was flying from OZ to Seattle for New Year, she suggested I fly to San Francisco instead, so she could drive up from Los Angeles and join me. OK. Excellent! So I flew to San Fran, which wasn't a problem, because I love the city so much. It was freezing when I got there, or at least it seemed freezing, considering I'd just left Australia and 40 degree heat. So I splashed out on some much needed warmer clothing and met Thu, her brother Kao and her friend Kim. Kao was closer to my age and was really cool, despite looking like he was a member of the Triads. And Kim? Well, she was hot!

So we hung out together for a few days in San Fran checking out the sights such as Fisherman's Wharf, which is an incredible place to spend a day or two, or three, or four....just go there, you'll see. We also walked across the Golden Gate Bridge and even managed to spend a day in San Jose, which is 1 hour south of the city. There is a massive population of Vietnamese people there and when they took me to the Vietnamese mall, it felt strange, in a funny but nice way, being the only white person there.

Anyways, we had a great time in San Fran, for New Years, but on New Years morning Thu had to go back to LA. I was sad that I would have to say goodbye to her, and so was she....so she suggested that I just come back with her and stay with her family for a while. My response? "Ok!" Travelling alone and having no set itinery allows me the freedom to make impulse decisons, and this was certainly one of the better ones I've made on this trip. So off the 4 of us went, down to LA. It's a city I never really wanted to visit because it's too big, but as Thu had recently returned from travelling and didn't have a job, she was able to drive me about each day and give me the local info.

And her family are lovely. I'm sure her mother was trying to get me fat. Every opportunity she got she was trying to get me to eat platefuls of food, constantly giving me more, regardless of how much I'd already eaten. And her dad was the same, except he was pouring alcohol down my neck. Gin. I hate Gin! But I felt obliged to drink it because he kept pouring me half gasses of the stuff and expecting me to drink it neat. I did my best to keep him happy! Thu lived in San Fernando Valley, on the other side of the mountain from Beverly Hills. LA is massive though, it takes forever to get anywhere even with a clear freeway and no hold ups.

But it was great being back in an authentic Vietnamese scenario. Great home cooking and customs made me feel like I was back in Vietnam again. Thu also introduced me to a bunch of her friends (all Vietnamese) and we spent several nights in their company, either at house parties, poker nights or out bowling. Turns out Thu has some very, 'very' attractive looking female friends...sweet!

Anyways..... on my first full day I went to the Pasedena Rose Bowl which is the biggest annual float parade in the world (I think). Now, I'm not the sort of person who particulary likes floats, in fact I think they are a right waste of time, money and effort, but having seen them on TV, I wanted to check them out. All of them were made from organic materials, like flowers, seeds and grass. Even I was amazed at the scale and detail put into these floats.

Thu, Kim and I also went to see the Venice Canals, which is a small, but beautiful little neighbourhood built around a series of man made canals. The people who own homes here are very lucky, and probably very rich too! Plus, it's less than a 5 minute walk to Venice Beach. This is where you might have seen pictures of steroid popping freaks, publicly showing off their oversized biceps for the public. Unfortunatley it was a tad too cold for them to endure, so the poor wee lambs stayed indoors. A shame though.... it would have been funny to talk trash to them and laugh as they tried to run after me. Anyways, Venice Beach is great. There are all sorts down here. People just walking about, chilling out, musicians and people selling all sorts of products on the walkway. I saw one black guy who only communicated with his customers by rapping into a microphone...awesome. I also found a baywatch tower and took advantage of the photo opportunity by scaling the tower and acting like the 'Hoff'. That also applied to the run I did along the beach.

I was also lucky enough to see some guys playing half court Basketball. These guys were good, real good, hitting baskets from all over the place in a game of 3 on 3. There was one point though where a heated arguement broke out over a disputed foul, and I thought there might be a fight between both teams, before a gun was pulled and someone got blown away....yada yada yada. Luckily that stuff mainly happens in the movies, and not ten feet in front of me. Still, I did feel a little apprehensive, being as how I had my big camera zoomed in on them the whole time, which they were well aware of! Thu and Kim soon took me away.

From Venice Beach we drove a short distance along the road to the famous Santa Monica Pier where we hung out for a while. I also did a bit of shopping here, even though this is a posh part of town. It's great shopping in America though...everything is so cheap compared to back home.

Another one of the things I got up to (and in my top 10 of things I've done since travelling) was a trip to Compton. Who cares about Universal Studios and Disney Land? Lazy, unimaginative tourists can go to see Mickey Mouse and an old movie set if they want. Not me....give me the murder capital of America any day! Thu and Kao thought I was mad (not far from the truth really) but took me along anyway and dropped me off a block away from the convenience store I had spotted. So I walked through the hood, looking so out of place in my new clothes and white skin that I'm surprised nobody said anything to me, and went into the store.

Now let me tell you about my Compton experience. So.... I enter the store and there are two black females waiting to be served at the counter, by the Korean owners, who are behind, what I presume, is a bullet proof wall of transparent plastic. There is a massive, fat, 30(ish), black guy and an old drunk black guy behind him. These two blokes seemed to know each other and were laughing loudly about the days events and their health (or lack of it). So I pick up some candy and join the queue behind them.

As the females walk out the fatty takes a liking to them and tries to chat them up. The conversation goes like this (and remember, this is in an LA, poor neighbourhood, accent).

fatty: hey...are you two sisters?
mom: no......she's my daughter!
fatty: heeeyyy....I think I know you.
daughter: uh uhh, I dont think so.
fatty: hahahaha
drunk: hehe, hey, what about the mother?

It was dead funny....the fat guy then gave the old guy a tin of beer and they left the shop together. I then bought my candy, and when I walked outside the fatty was taking a pee right outside the door. Quality.

So I quickly took my photos in the area, being careful not to draw attention to myself, then left, feeling very satisfied that I'd gone there. Nice one.

I did succumb to some of the typical touristy stuff though...such as going to Hollywood Boulevard to see the pavements with the stars names on them. I was keeping a particular lookout for Wesley Snipes, but didn't find him. He's there somewhere though. But I cheered myself up with a photo of Chuck Norris' star... legend. We also took a drive through Bel Air, but there was nothing really much to see here, because all the houses are behind massive gates, stopping nosey parkers like me from getting anywhere near them.

Another highlight from LA though was attending class at UCLA. I have always wanted to experience going to an American University, but we failed at Harvard when we were in Boston because of the tight security. But Thu was an Alumni of UCLA so she took me along and we sat in a class on Gender and Biology. Quite interesting actually. When I took my camera out to take some shots at the end of class, the hot chick sitting next to me was asking 'are you a photographer for the UCLA paper?' I replied 'No, I'm an International Journalist'. At this point the girl is all wowed, impressed and eating up everything I'm telling her (dumb broad). But then Thu steped in and blew my cover just as I was making it sound so ridiculous that only an American would actually believe me...boo.

Anyways...I was over the moon that I'd attended class at UCLA, one of the most famous schools in America outside of the Ivy League.

Another night I met Thu's sister, her husband and some other relatives who were about my age and we all went to a restaurant in the OC (Orange County) where I think I had one of the best meals I've ever had in my life. I can't be bothered giving details, but basically it consisted of unlimited portions of what had been ordered, for all three courses. Even when we had eaten more than we thought possible, the desert was so light it practically evaporated in our mouths. I had plenty of that as well. Plus Thu's sister paid for it all...sweet.

I had an absolute blast in LA. A week I'll never forget (hopefully)...I guess that's why this particular blog is so long. I played poker, scored 223 at ten pin bowling, drank heaps at parties, sang karaoke all night, played nintendo wii, ate heaps of authentic Vietnamese food and met loads of cool people. Unforunately though it had to come to an end and I had to say cheerio to Thu and her friends. Thu is one of those special people in my life, and I reckon she'll be on my christmas card list for a long time. We were even plotting our return to South Korea together for later this year. So it was a sad farewell to my Vietnamese friend at the airport . Thu is a great friend, and I know I'll see her again one day.

But I was off to Seattle next, where I have wanted to go for years, if for no other reason than to visit the apartment featured in 1992 film 'Singles'...one of my all time favourites. Now I knew it was going to be cold in Seattle, because I'd been freezing in San Francisco, but it really was a different kettle of fish up in Washington State. It was freezing here….and windy! Thank goodness I'd bought my warmer clothes already. Anyways, I checked into the Green Tortoise Hostel, the sister hostel of the one in San Francisco where we had all stayed over 1 year ago. This was another great place to stay, where it was really easy to speak to people and make friends.

I suppose Seattle's biggest tourist attraction is the Space Needle, which was built for the World Expo Fair in 1962. So I went up there on my first day, even though it's only one third of the height of the CN Tower in Toronto. It's quite a nice view though. I also went to the Experience Music Project (EMP). It's a museum of sorts, of all things musical in Seattle. Most people know that Seattle is famous for its music scene and history, but I didn't realize that Seattle's differing music history stretched back to the 1930's with jazz and swing. Needless to say I had to catch some live music while I was in town and went off to small venue called 'The Pit' to listen to some local live Punk Music. Some of the bands were pretty good I suppose, although I was a little more entertained by the two girls punching lumps out of each others faces right in front of me. Some guy was on the ball and managed to get some quick photos in before one of the girls noses exploded from a right hook and she ran off to the toilets. Quality chicks and quality entertainment!

Anyways, as I said before, Singles is one of my favourite movies, and I wanted to check out the apartment where it was filmed. So I hopped on a bus and made my way out to the address. When I found it, I simply sat in the bus shelter, directly across from it for about 10 minutes, just thinking about scenes from the movie which were filmed right in front of where I was sitting. I was happy. I was where I had wanted to be for years. I guess achieving even the small, silly dreams in life can make us very happy. We just have to have these dreams though, whatever they may be…or else what do we have to look forward to in life? However, I digress. So I had a wee wander about the garden, took some photos, then left, before someone started pistol-whipping me for loitering around outside their front door.

Time for a coffee? I reckon, maybe a few. Seattle is also famous for its coffee shops. They love drinking the stuff here. We actually have to thank Seattle for Starbucks, as this is where the company was founded back in 1971. I also made it out to the suburbs to see a floating bridge, which strangely descends towards the surface of the water, instead of conventional bridges which rise above the water. I took a bit of time here just enjoying the peacefulness of the lake that the bridge crosses, and the surrounding tranquility. Seattle really is a great city. I can certainly think of plenty places in America where it would be worse to live. I liked it here. It has a good vibe. I met a few people from different parts of America who were migrating here to live because of the same reason. Perhaps the music and arts scene has a big part to do with that…..as good a reason as any I guess. Seattle definitely has something about it that's appealing ( to me anyway) and I reckon I'll make it back there one day, providing I survive long enough! I think I was here about 3 or 4 days, and then I decided it was finally time to get myself up to Vancouver and check out Canada. Back on the old Greyhound Bus it was then. Thankfully there were hardly any people on my bus up, so I wasn't seated next to some halfwit for the duration, as was often the case when I was travelling on the East coast of America in 2006 (and I'm not just talking about Chris and Barry).

However, customs seemed to want to make things difficult for me because I had no onward flight out of the country. They were asking all sorts of questions relating to my projected whereabouts, my finances, my employment status at home…yada yada yada…you get the idea….they were being awkward. No doubt they figured I might be a potential threat to their precious country. But I managed to fool them, because I'm smarter than the average border security guard you see! You all knew that though, eh? So I slipped their net and made my way into Canada, the final destination of my trip…and what better place to end it all?!