Los Angeles in a (Slightly Bigger) Nutshell...(US Trip Recollection, Part III)

...sucks.

Yes, really, Los Angeles for the most part was a let down. At least, Hollywood was a big let down. Just a strip of road with pavements full of stars. But still, I'm happy to say that I've been there.

I and two colleagues of mine went to Los Angeles around the end of May. A friend of mine, who lives in Orange County which was about 30 minutes from Los Angeles, agreed to let us stay over at his parents place there. They happened to have 2 spare bedrooms that we could use. So, on a bright Friday afternoon we drove to Orange County. The drive from Pleasant Hill took about 7 to 8 hours. The road are straight and quite monotonous, and as I was riding shotgun, I made sure that my friend who drove was kept awake. So, we traded stories and listened to the radio.

Los Angeles, Here We Come!

We arrived in Orange County at around 10 in the evening. My friend was waiting for us right in front of his house. We first drove to one of the mall there to have a bit of a dinner and take a look around. After taking care of our stomach, my friend took us to his parents' place. It was good to see them again after so long. After a bit of a chit chat, we went to our bedroom to rest for the night.

Yeah, Hollywood Baby

On Saturday we went to Hollywood. The first order of the day was to obtain ourselves a tour pass. The pass gave us access to some of the attractions near and around Hollywood. The first one we came to was the Wax Museum. The wax museum there was okay, it was not Madame Tussaud's though. Outside, we took pictures on the Star Walk and on the hand-and-foot prints of famous actors and actresses right in front of the Chinese Theater. We also went inside the Kodak Theater, but too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. All we get is a postcard of the inside of the theater, thank you very much. We also went on a guided tour inside a tour car, going around Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard.

Star Walk

On the whole, Hollywood was quite of a let down. Nothing much special there, except for the blings and, well, that's about it. Even the bling was only so-so. We went to Santa Monica place in the evening. There were shops lining the left and right side of the strip there, and it was there that I fell in love for the first time with Banana Republic. Bought two t-shirts there, and wore one of them straight away. No, it's not because I couldn't wait to look good in it, but because it was so damn cold and I needed another layer of clothing on me. The fabric was so nice on the skin, and that almost made up for the disappointment that was Hollywood. Almost. Aside from the stores, there were street performances as well. Dancers, singers, pantomimes, these were actually more interesting than Hollywood was.

Walking Down Santa Monica Place

Sunday was Universal Studios day. We had a Mexican breakfast with my friend, his wife, and his older sister along with her two sons before we went there. The many rides were quite fun. Shrek 4D was fun, they combined on-screen 3d effects with real-life effects like shaking seats and water sprays. Back to the Future ride felt a bit old, even the screen started to look a bit brown-ish. Terminator ride was fun, almost like Shrek 4D. The best one there was Jurassic Park boat ride. Even though the dinosaur robot animation felt rather stiff, but the atmosphere the ride created was excellent.

Universal Studio Hollywood

Because we were having so much fun that day, we didn't manage to go to a steak restaurant my friend has booked for all of us. We were much too late to make it on time. The steak was supposedly really good there. Instead, we had dinner at a nearby In-N-Out Burger (BTW, they have one of the best burger I ever tasted). Good stuff.

Well, we did manage to meet up with my friend and his wife. He then took us to the area around Disney World. We did some shopping in a Disney shop. Bought a couple of fridge magnets, just for fun. Maybe next time, we'll go there again and see how Disney World is.

The Hunny Lovers

In the morning of our last day there in LA my friend took me to a nice place called Orange Circle. I guess it's called Orange Circle because it's in Orange County, and there's a round park complete with a fountain and some sitting benches in the middle of a round-about. Turned out that it was there that they shot the scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest was sitting waiting for a bus and a feather came floating down. Took pictures there, feeling like Tom Hanks himself. Around the Circle, buildings with architecture dating back to the 50s and 60s could be found. The whole place felt like an old-fashioned town. We had breakfast at a diner. When I said diner, I really mean diner, like those you'd see in movies about the 50s and the 60s. In fact, the diner we had breakfast in was the diner featured in the movie 'That Thing You Do'.

That Thing You Diner

I came away with a white chicago hat. And yes, it looked good on me. A remembrance of my visit to Orange Circle.

That Monday we drove back to Pleasant Hill. This time, the ride wasn't as smooth. Our car was running in the fast lane, about 70 mph, when a car hit us from the right side. The car almost went out of control, but my friend managed to straighten it up and we managed to stop our car without hitting other cars. The other car, the one who hit us, went out of the road. Luckily, nobody got hurt. The cops came, took our statements (yeah, just like in the movies), a mechanic came to check on our car. The car was heavily dented on the right side (both the front and rear right doors couldn't be opened), but otherwise still operational. We finally had an uneventful drive back to Pleasant Hill after that.

Yep, on the whole, LA was okay. Hollywood was quite a let down, Universal Studio was fun (though I suspect Disneyland might have been a better choice) and Orange Circle was a nice surprise. For those who wants to visit LA, don't put Hollywood in your main list. It's just not worth it.