We decided Monday night that we would give ourselves more of a lie in on Tuesday morning so decided to meet in the lobby at 11am, this meant getting up at just before 10 to get showered and take advantage of the free pancakes before they stopped at 10.30, only to find that they kicked you out of the kitchen at 10.30, just when I was in the middle of eating mine, so I quickly scoffed the rest down, then gave Andrew the pancakes that I had made for him! Following this we headed down to Malibu for the day, and after very successful navigating and driving, with very few errors apart from the usual, driving in 2 lanes and handbrake issues, we were in Malibu by midday, and decided firstly to head up into the mountains, it was a gloriously sunny day, and from the top we could see for miles, the houses in the hilltops were so nice and you can imagine most of them are holiday homes of the rich and famous as they overlook the sea and Malibu and around! The journey upto the top of the mountains is not an easy one however as the roads are quite narrow and the turnings at the corners are very sharp meaning there is little room for error especially as there are no safety barriers in some areas! So after a few hairy moments when it appeared as though Paul was going too fast for the bend itself, he slowed down just in time and we made it to a great viewing spot, after this we returned down the windy road and went to this shopping centre place, where they got some lunch in this swanky restaurant and I just sat there with some free tap water, while they feasted on their burgers and chips, then I ate my lunch when we left as they wouldnt have allowed me to in the restaurant, after this we headed down to Malibu beach where it was extremely windy and very cold, so after a short stay here, we got back in the car and went back to Hollywood after a cool day down at Malibu!
Tuesday night, I decided that I had eaten enough fast food during my time here, so I made my own meal after buying the ingredients from the local shop! I brought an onion, garlic, sausages, bacon, pasta and a tin of tomato sauce in the early evening and stored it away for later use, as first before that we played cards in the kitchen over a drink of the vile Whisky that we had left and coke! It wasnt until around 9pm that I started to make my dinner, so after having had a few drinks the lads didnt trust me to be able to make the dinner, but I proved them wrong in making this brilliant meal, that even the person working at the hostel asked me if i liked cooking as I seemed to know what I was doing and seemed to enjoy it, I take that as a huge compliment considering its the first proper meal I have cooked in my life :D I started off by putting the pasta and the frankfurters in the same pan and let them cook, then I chopped the bacon, onion and garlic up and chucked them in a frying pan, I waited for them to get a bit of colour then I put the tomato sauce in, and let it all cook together, then I drained the pasta and cut the sausages up and then chucked all the ingredients together and voila my dinner was made......for the next 4 nights, yes it made 4 meals which meant I didnt have to worry about cooking or eating out for the next 4 nights as it was already cooked so I let the other 3 bowls cool, covered them up and put them in the fridge! The total cost for all these meals was $8 so effectively $2 a meal, which is excellent value, and tasted so good even if I do say so myself, it was a very proud moment ;) After dinner, we went and sat upstairs in the bar, where they had some local bands playing who were actually pretty good to be fair to them, and Paul brought me a beer which made it even sweeter!
The following day was our final day of the 3 day road trip and for our last day we decided to head over to Manhattan beach to get things up and running, we left the hostel at 10am and was at Manhattan beach by 11am! This was Pauls last day in LA as he was flying back to England later that evening! We had a look round the beach and the town, before heading to our next beach as all the beaches we had seen looked pretty much the same, they were stunning but it was a bit repetitive! The next place we visited was Venice beach and believe me this was nothing like any of the beaches we had visited prior, after parking the car in the car park for $6, we decided to walk along the promenade and main street of venice beach, only to not have even reached the entrance and been approached by about 5 rappers who got us to listen to their music and then give us their CD's for 'free' to spread the word back in England only for them to want a donation when we were quick to give the CD back, it was then that we realised what we had let ourselves into by coming to Venice, as for the hour or so that we spent there we were in hysterics for the whole time, the place just cracked me up! If it wasnt the bloke pretending to play the guitar on rollerskates, then it was the guy in his red speedos which a beat box, or it was the people trying to sell their paintings which my dog could have made a better job of, or it was the crazy women that was high on goodness knows what, that would shout random stuff about everybody and prance about the street! It really was comical, especially when Andrew tried to take a photo of this homeless guys cardboard sign plea for money, and the guy spotted him and gave him the biggest evils going! The best sign from any homeless guy along their however was the sign that read 'I just want a cold f*** and a beer', this had us in stitches! There was also a Medical Marijuana doctors, where they were freely giving out marijuana on prescription! Paul and Andrew did decide to have lunch here though, and I employed my usual tactics of just having tap water and eating my lunch at a later stage!
From Venice we made the short trip down to Santa Monica beach which was completly different to Venice, as Santa Monica was more beautiful, had no strange people and had a pier, or be it with plenty of cheap tacky rides, and a rollercoaster that wasnt the slightest bit scary even though people on it still insisted on screaming as it slowly went around the track! After taking a stroll down to the end of the pier and back again, it was time for us to head back to the hostel, as Paul needed to get to the airport to catch his flight, so after sitting in plenty more traffic on the way from Santa Monica to the hostel, we finally got back at about 3pm, when Paul dropped us off and we said goodbye and thanks for the free roadtrip, for which I really couldnt thank him enough, then he was on his way to the airport, for which me and Andrew were hoping he would make it there ok, as Andrew had been the main navigator for the whole road trip, and was the reason we made it to and from each destination!
The roadtrip had taught me that many people have a misconception over LA, because many people had told me LA was a dump before I arrived but I would have to say that they are so wrong, as yes some parts are a little shabby, particularly Hollywood, but you cant judge LA purely on Hollywood as LA is so big and there are so many different areas to LA which are all so different, and some absolutely stunning, to really understand what LA is all about you have to see it all of it before you can base an opinion on LA, I know I was fortunate to see it all by car but most people stay in Hollywood for a few days and its not how they imagined so they leave and have a total misconception of what LA is like, I am fortunate to have seen it all and can now form an opinion on LA as a whole rather than the many visitors that form an opinion on LA by just visiting Hollywood...I thought I would stick up for LA a little bit, lol, as it gets bad press!
Anyway after returning to the hostel from Santa Monica beach me and Andrew were signed up to do the Runyon Canyon tour with the hostel at 3.30pm so after having a brief rest, we were ready to see the Runyon Canyon, where celebs supposedly walk their dogs...not that we saw any, I think its a case of celebs dogs are walked their by minders that they employ! After meeting in the hostel lobby on time, we didnt leave until about 15 minutes later, and me and Andrew found it amusing that we had the same laid back tour guide as we had for the Hollywood sign tour! Anyway after taking a good 30 minutes to walk from the hostel to the Canyon, we made it and were fortunate enough to make use of the promotional free drinks giveaway by the entrance, once inside the gates of the Runyon Canyon park we walked all the way to the top which was so tiring and took a good 30 minutes but the view from the top made it worthwhile as you could see for miles over the whole of LA, there were many people in the park that were running up and down it as a method of keeping fit, as the hike to the top is such hard work! After having a rest and taking photos of the view from the top we started our descent, and when we left the park we walked past the start of the walk of fame, and then walked along the walk of fame down Hollywood Blvd back to the hostel, it had taken a good 3 hours, but when we got back me and Andrew were wondering what we had paid our 6 bucks for as we basically took ourselves around the park as the group was so spread out, and the tour guide didnt even do anything apart from lead us in the general direction, so it was an activity we could easily have done ourselves and a good money maker for the hostel!
Once the tour to the Runyon Canyon park was over me and Andrew made a trip to the local alcohol shop, where we stocked up after finishing the nasty Whisky and coke the night before! I got 18 budweisers for $12, which is excellent value as in the hostel bar they charge you $3 a can for the same drink, so I brought the same cans as the hostel sells so that they cant tell the difference! Once we got back to the hostel I had a bud with me dinner that I had made the night before, and then we went and sat upstairs in the bar, before Andrew went out clubbing and I sat with another 19 year old on his gap year from England called Tom, and this German guy called Eike, who I was to go to Universal Studios with the following day! There was a comedy show on in the bar, but Tom had seen it a few days prior and said it werent funny so we went and sat downstairs and played cards, where there were people that worked in the hostel that were trying to get people upstairs to the comedy show as there was virtually nobody up there, so it proved Tom must have been right, after a few games of cards it was time was bed as it was to be an early start to make the most Univeral Studios!
So it was 8am on Thursday and I was getting up to have a shower and my breakfast before meeting Tom and Eike so that we could go to Universal Studios! This is where another element of my luck came in while I was in LA, because, Dave who I had met in San Francisco, who was working Monday to Friday back in San Fran and staying in a hotel, decided that he liked to go and stay in a hostel at weekends which is how I met him in San Fran, and fortunately enough he decided to come down to LA the same weekend as I was there so we met up again, and he went to Universal Studios on the Saturday that he was down, only it happened to rain, so upon leaving he was given his ticket back as in California they have a money back guarentee if it rains so that you can go to the attraction again when it isnt raining, so he was given this ticket but was flying out the next day and there were other things he wanted to do so he couldnt go the next day he passed the ticket onto me, and I couldnt believe my luck as it would have cost $69 for the ticket which I couldnt have afforded to do, so this was a great bonus as Universal Studios was amazing
Anyway, so after leaving the hostel at about 9.20am we headed for the metro station, which was about a 10 minute walk away, and got on the metro for one stop and then we were there, so it was only a 5 minute train journey, Universal Studios was effectively on our doorstep! The day cost me $2.50 in total as the metro was $1.25 each way which is unbelievable and I am so grateful to Dave! Once we arrived at Universal City station, it took us a couple of minutes to work out the direction we needed to head in but eventually we made it to the shuttle bus stop which took us up the hill to Universal Studios! After the usual touristy thing of a picture outside the Studios sign, Tom and Eike got in the queue to get their $69 ticket while I waited for them with my freebie! Anyway this was the point that I started to get worried as they took every guests name and DOB, and when you gave the security guys your ticket they took your fingerprints so nobody could use your ticket, so I started panicking that I wasnt going to get in and was going to have to pay, so as I walked over to the security guys and gave them my ticket he just scanned it and let me through, to my damn relief! Because the ticket was a rain money back guarentee ticket there were none of Daves details on the ticket so they didnt have to take my fingerprints which meant I got in for free!
The first thing that we did once we were inside was head straight for the Universal Studios tour and the was brilliant, it lasted about 45 minutes, and we were sat on a tram for the whole time but we were shown right around the Universal Studios complex, and got to see all the studios, where they were filming CSI in one of them so we had to be quiet as we went past, then we got into the 3D sets that they use for filming which was great as I got to see how some streets and towns in movies are actually the same streets and towns used in many movies they just change some of the scenery, and it also gave me an opportunity to see how the houses were not real, and it was just the front of the house that was created, and they were made out of fibreglass even though it looks like cement! We also got to see Wisteria Lane but werent allowed down there as they were filming an episode of Desperate Housewives, we also saw the filming of an advert in this makeshift western style street! On the tour we were also given an opportunity to see how the new Fast and Furious is being made, as we got to see how the cars used are attached to metal poles which allows them to be spun about in the air and sprayed with water whilst being filmed without the poles being in view, it was pretty cool to see, we then got to see how King Kong was filmed and told that most of the time it was filmed on a 10 metre by 5 metre backdrop as most of it was computer generated and the movements of King Kong where computer generated by someone having sensors attached to them and then making movements that they could put into the computer and attribute them to King Kong so it looks as though he is making the movements! Following this we got to see how Jaws was filmed, with a fake shark in the water which came right up to the tram and created waves, we also got to go into this makeshift underground train station where we were shown how they can get massive tidal waves to come down the steps in a matter of seconds and also shown how things are set alight and how big metal barrels are chucked about in orderly fashion, whilst on the tram in the darkness the tram rocked side to side whilst the electricity was going funny with water streaming down the steps so this was pretty cool! Our final stop was to see how the Mummy was filmed, where we went through this tunnel with all these creepy crawlies falling on us!
After finishing our tour we headed for the Simpsons ride and after a short wait we were on it! There were no long queues throughout the whole day as it was a weekday and it was March so everyone was at school or work, so there were plenty of people at the Studios but not enough to create long queues which was nice as in summer I can imagine its hectic and the queues stretch for miles! The Simpsons ride was great, we got in this rollercoaster cart, and had to strap ourselves in, but the ride was a simulator so we were watching this screen in front of us as we ventured through life with the Simpsons, the cart reacted to what we saw on the screen so we were chucked about in every direction in the cart and it actually felt as though we were on a rollercoaster, then when we went into Maggies mouth there was a bad smell, so it was a cool ride, as it felt very real even though it wasnt!
After this we went to the lower level of the studios and onto the Jurassic Park water ride which was also quality as we got up really high then at the last point of the ride we saw this dinosour then went straight downwards, with a drop of about 50 metres into a pool of water, the ride was awesome, from here we went on the Mummy rollercoaster and this was also brilliant, and about as much as I could manage as im not one for rollercoasters, but after completing the track facing forwards you then go into reverse where you complete the same circuit!
After this we went to watch the special effects show, which again was so good, the two presenters were very funny and interacted with the crowd well, they also got many of the crowd up to help them perform some various special effects! It was great to find out how many of the special effects in films are carried out and now when I watch a film I will know exactly how they were able to film it! After this we went into a studio to see how they filmed backdraft which is a fire based movie and we saw how they control fires on a set, and how they create the start of a fire in a small room in a studio and then get it to turn into a full blown fire in a controlled manner and then they are able to turn off the fire when they want! We got to see this happen in front of us and the heat was phenomenal!
After this we went up to watch the show waterworld which is based on the film, this show was also great, and what was funny was the actors from the show were squirting all the latecomers into the arena with water from the pistols! The show as you could guess was based on and around water and the biggest stunt was probably when the flying helicopter came over the fence and into the water whilst on fire, the show had many famous actors in it from various dramas series such as CSI! There was also an actress in it from Twilight....not that I would know who it is! After this show we went to watch a short 20 minute film of shrek in 4D, it was unbelievable as you go into a cinema type arena and are sat in seats that move to what is happening in the film, we also had to wear 3D glasses so that we could enjoy the 3D element, and whenever donkey sneezed or they had an excuse to make the audience wet they did, also when they dropped spiders on the floor in the film, we got stuff touching our legs in the seats, so it was a great experience! From here we went to Terminator 2D & 3D which was also superb as was everything throughout the day! After leaving Park for a brief while for which we were given a stamp so that we could re enter, we had a look at the bars and restaurants and shops in the village that surrounded the studios, before going back into Universal Studios to go on our last attraction of the day which was the walk of horror, where we had to walk around this haunted house for 10 minutes, and constantly being jumped on by these people in such scary outfits with swords and stuff, I was absolutely petrified! That was the end of a amazing day at Universal Studios, all for free! Once out of the studios we were back on the shuttle to the metro station, then we had the short metro ride before we walked back to the hostel! Once back at the hostel, I had my dinner and said goodbye to Tom and Eike as they were heading to the airport as they both had flights to catch, then I spent an evening chilled out in the bar watching a couple of films as it was movie night in the hostel!
The following day was Friday, and this meant that I had been in LA for a week! Me and Andrew both signed up to do the Beverly Hills and Bel Air tour of celebrity houses this morning, and we met the tour guide down in on the patio at 10.30am, this tour guide did not work for the hostel and you could tell, he was a proper guide and knew what he was going on about, and we felt that our money was well spent unlike the last tour to the Runyon Canyon! After walking to the bus stop we got the bus to Beverly Hills which took about 30 minutes, then from here our tour began, we were shown some of the most expensive houses in LA, like Walt Disney's old home is worth $200 million, and there are other houses around the area that were worth almost $300 million, we were shown houses of stars from present day and were also told who used to live in a few of the houses we saw, for example Elvis lived in the same house as Micheal Jackson, we also saw where Marilyn Monroe lived, as well as Walt Disney and many more! We also saw where Jack Black lives plus Nicholas Cage as well as many others, I forget which stars homes that we saw as we saw so many! The one that I do remember however was the house where Micheal Jackson died, we got to go right up to the gates of the house and look through, plus I got a photo of me outside the gates, I was standing in the same spot which I had seen on TV when they took Micheal out of the house in the ambulance and it felt strange! The day we were there it was so quiet, and there was nobody around, so I couldnt get to grips with what it must have been like when he passed away as the tour guide said that it was so crowded and there were so many paparazzi outside the house that the police were keeping everything under control day after day, I just couldnt imagine what it would have been like as when we were there you could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet! We also had lunch on the street next to rodeo drive as part of the tour but we had to pay for lunch! The lunch was so tasty though, I had a BLT sandwich which they grilled the bread and it all tasted so fresh, I also got fries with it, but when they brought the bill out to me they only charged me for the BLT sandwich and not the fries, but I didnt tell them, dont be silly, this was another example of my good fortune in LA, alright it was only a couple of dollars but still I couldnt believe my luck in LA...if only I was old enough to have done the lottery, I would have done lol, I felt quite lucky in LA! After lunch we walked down Rodeo Drive which was full of designer shops selling the most expensive gear going, the tour guide took us into one of the shops, so we could have a look at the price tags, we were drawn to this cardigan which looked hideous, and was made with an awful colour scheme, yet they were charging $2,750,000 for it, so we all tried to take a picture, but the security werent impressed by this so they chucked us out! Then we just walked along the Drive and browsed at the over priced designer goodies from outside the shops, we also saw this Burgatti parked on the side of the road which cost a cool $100 million, and we saw this limited edition Californian car which also cost a fair bob! After our trip looking at stuff none of us will ever be able to afford we caught the bus back to Hollywood, where we all went our separate ways, and from here me and Andrew went to check out the Chinese Grauman's Theatre and the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars were held, we didnt go inside any of these as it costs money, but we took pictures from the outside, it is a little touristy around these areas, as tourists come to see the handprints and footprints on the floor which have been engraved in the cement when it was wet and all the celebrities from down the years all the way back to 1930 have done this and also written a little message on it! After this we went back to the hostel where I went on the internet before my dinner, when Andrew was off out clubbing again with his mate who had just flown in from Australia, this was the last time I saw Andrew as he was flying to Cancun early the next morning, I think they came home from a night on the lash then went straight to the airport without any or much sleep! So that night I sat in the bar and chatted to these Japenese guys!
The next day, Saturday was my first day since I had been in LA that I was a little stuck with what to do but I soon figured something out after looking through my Lonely Planet, I had been so busy the first week in LA and things just seemed to fall into place that there was no need for me to look up what I was going to do for the day as I was presented with different opportunities everyday! But today I decided to go and visit Ameoba music shop, and then I went to have a look at the Hollywood Forever Cemetry, which from what I understood from my Lonely Planet was where many famous people had been buried, but I didnt spot a single name on any of the plaques that I recognised, so I found it a little creepy walking around this huge graveyard, and was glad it wasnt nighttime, so was quick to leave! I brought some postcards on the way home, and wrote them while I waited for my laundry to wash and dry! That night I had to cook another meal for the next 2 nights, as the previous meal I had cooked had run out, so this time I cooked the same thing as previously but with no bacon and less pasta and tomato sauce! This easily served up 3 meals which is more than I expected so I gave one bowl to the Japanese guy I had been speaking to the night before and he seemed to appreciate my cooking, lol! That night after I had finished me dinner, I went to get a beer out of the fridge and noticed that they werent there, there was 4 in there and they were all gone, so I spoke to the staff and they said that a member of staff has probably chucked them away when they were cleaning or someone had drunk them, either way I was quite annoyed as I was looking forward to having a beer as I watched the Paquiao fight upstairs in the bar, as the hostel had paid for the fight to be shown as it was on pay per view, but I refused to pay the $3 for a beer from their bar especially as one of them had chucked mine away :( Paquiao won the fight easily, he won every round and the other guy didnt get near him, once this finished I just chilled out in the bar as usual!
The next day, Sunday was my last day in LA, as I had a really horrible flight time as I was flying to the Cook Islands at 11.15pm that night so I had to check out of my room in the hostel by 10 am and keep myself amused until 7.30pm when I was picked up by the supershuttle to take me to the airport! I was allowed to keep my luggage in the storage room in the hostel however! So after checking out I went and had my last free pancakes for breakfast, which if the truth is known I was probably getting sick to death of by now! As I was sitting their eating them I was chatting to this Australian girl and she started talking about how the clocks had changed, this was something I wasnt aware off, the clocks had gone 1 hour forward for daylight saving time, and im glad she told me as I could set my watch to the right time as the clock in the hostel was still wrong! I still managed to wake up and check out on time however because I set my alarm on my phone, which changed to the correct time automatically thankfully, meaning I still managed to get up at the right time even though it was an hour advanced without realising! Whilst at breakfast I also saw the Japenese guy called Hiro again and we were chatting about what we were going to do today and again I hadnt a clue but Hiro had the intentions of going to a art museum which I werent too keen on, but after speaking to the hostel receptionist I learnt that there was a farmers market on just down the road so I suggested that we go to that, so we did! It was only a 5 minute walk, and was heaving with people, there were so many stalls, but they were all selling the same thing pretty much which was locally grown fruit and vegetables or some homemade jewellery and clothing, it was good to have a wonder round as it passed some time and was free but I didnt buy anything! After this we walked back onto Hollywood Blvd and headed towards the Kodak Theatre area which is the liveliest area on the Blvd, and Hiro still had the intentions of going to this art museum so I told him that it werent my scene, and he went on his own and from there I went and explored the local shoping centre and just generally pottered about, before trying to change some US Dollars into New Zealand Dollars as that is the currency used in the Cook Islands, but I wasnt able to because a few of the places I went to only changed NZ$ into US$ and not US$ ito NZ$ which is what I required, and a few of the other places were shut as it was Sunday, and then when I did finally find a bank that was open, they wouldnt change my money because it was a Sunday and the currency exchange didnt operate on a Sunday, so I had to wait until I got to the airport and exchange my money there! After this I returned to the hostel and went on the internet until it was time for dinner, for which I microwaved the meal I have cooked the day before, then I went and got my luggage out of the storage room, said my goodbyes to a few people and then went and sat outside the front of the hostel in the patio where I waited for the shuttle for about 10 minutes before it arrived, I was the last person they picked up, and was in the shuttle with 5 other people, so we went straight to the airport from USA hostels, where I was ready to the leave the United States after having a thoroughly enjoyable month here, and couldnt work out where all the time had gone, my time in the states seemed to fly by, and all the cities that I went to were completely different to each other, yet they all had their own charm, but if I had to pick a favourite city San Francisco might just get the nod ahead of New York, not that I disliked any of the cities! the month was totally unbelievable and an experience I will never forget, I always had this perception of the US but after seeing it ive been blown away and loved the place....now to see the rest of the world, next stop is paradise also known as the Cook Islands, one sixth of the journey complete....see you in 5 months guys :D
Missing everyone more than you can imagine,
Love you lots back home,
Toby,
XXX