17th February 2011

This day - round two! Feels weird going back in time...

The flight was great! I watched Due Date (disappointing), ate some airline food which wasn't too bad and fell asleep. When I woke up there was only two hours of the flight left so I watched a documentary on the Topp Twins (Kiwi lesbian comedians), ate my breakfast then it was time for landing! All in all a very painless experience!

I arrived in LAX at about 2pm and had to wait for Sarah, whose flight was due in a 3.05pm but from a different terminal. I ambled my way over to her terminal and found out her flight was delayed :o( It ended up coming in after 4! When she came through the gate it was so cool and we had a big hug :o) I was so glad to see someone I knew!

We got a shuttle to our hostel (Orange Manor) on North Orange Drive, just off Hollywood Boulevard. It smells like poo. We had a strange twin room with one single and one double bed and one of them was round a corner....hmmmm.

We went for a walk around Hollywood Boulevard and tried to look for a tattoo shop as Sarah wants a tattoo but they all sell bongs and she doesn't really feel comfortable with that - and who can blame her!

We went for pizza at a really nice place called California Pizza Kitchen and on the way back we saw Bugs Bunny rummaging through the bins. We went back to the hostel and slept like logs!

18th February 2011

TODAY WAS THE BEST.DAY.EVER.

This morning we got up early (go us!) - and the showers in the hostel are like STEAM instead of water. And quite dirty. *shudder*

We went to McDonald's for breakfast and I had a sausage and egg mcmuffin - nom nom nom. There was a strange man wearing a waist length black wig and black lipstick with the torso of a mannequin (with GIANT boobs) dressed the same as him. Every time he walked away from her he put a fringed cushion on her head. Sarah, embarrassingly, thought the mannequin was real and was getting annoyed because she thought it was staring at her!

We went shopping and found a Hot Topic shop which I was in my element in! I bought a Super Mario hoody for myself and a few presents for people then went to the post office and posted them back along with some other stuff I didn't need - it was a weight off!

We had lunch of hot fudge sundaes at the Disney Fountain and Soda Store and left there with massive sugar highs! We were walking to get sim cards and I spotted a tattoo shop on the way past. I said, "Oh look Sarah, there's a tattoo shop. Hang on....that's LA ink". We went and stood outside and took photos of us next to the building then Sarah said "if we don't go in there and have a look, we will always regret it." I totally agreed so we went in!

We were having a look through the books when the guy behind the counter said hi and asked what we were after. Sarah said she was thinking about getting some cherry blossom tattoos and before we knew it John, the tattooist, had drawn some up and they looked AMAZING. She decided she wanted them behind her ear and he placed them and got down to it! We couldn't believe that we had managed to just walk in and get one done but he said that it was the quiet season so we were lucky. It didn't take long to finish, only about half an hour, and Sarah was nearly falling asleep!

I decided that I wanted one too but couldn't decide what to get so we went to buy sim cards and Starbucks while I had a think about it. I decided to think of things I liked (other than unicorns!!) and came up with the perfect solution - SUPER MARIO! I have loved that game forever and decided it would be fun to get some of the characters tattooed on my wrist :oD

We went back to the shop and John drew up the design - two mushrooms and a star and we got down to business! Again, it only took about half an hour. We paid up and left and couldn't believe what we had done!

We decided to celebrate by going for tea at the California Pizza Kitchen (again) and then went to watch Unknown at the Chinese Theatre. When we got back to the hostel, we were still so buzzed from the day that we went on Facebook and then stayed up till 2.30am!

19th February 2011

This morning we checked out of our twin room and moved to a double ensuite which was so much nicer. The hostel still smells of poo though.

We had to go and sort my phone out as I couldn't get it to work and then we went for lunch at a place called Carls Jr. The burger was really nice but, just as we finished, I noticed a sign in the window...

"WARNING. Chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm may be present in food or beverages sold or served here"

It made me feel sick. I told Sarah. It made her feel sick. We decided we would not visit that place again.

We went back to the phone shop as my phone STILL wouldn't work so they gave me a new one. About time!

After, we went back to the hostel and booked a 7 day bus tour to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas etc so we just have to wait for confirmation of that. We also booked a trip for 2 days to San Diego from tomorrow so that's exciting!

We went to California Pizza Kitchen again!!

20th February 2011

This morning we packed, checked out and left our luggage at the hostel. It was the first day of nice weather so we used it to take photos of the sights. There's a lot of hustle and bustle in Hollywood right now as they're preparing for the Oscars - how exciting!

We went for lunch at the Disney shop again and Sarah had chilli in a bread bowl that was shaped like Mickey Mouse's head! HOW CUTE!

After lunch we went to Madame Tussaud's and Ripley's Believe it or Not - they were both cool and took up the afternoon. I also saw Super Mario and had a photo with him!

Oh - we booked a taxi to the Greyhound bus station for 3.45pm and Sarah got a phone call at 2pm saying that the taxi was outside. She told them that we had booked it for 3.45 and the guy said "but it's 4pm now". Sarah said, "no, it's only 2pm" and he said "whoops, my apologies" and hung up! Haha!

We got the taxi at the right time in the end and got our bus without a hitch. :o)

San Diego here we come!

x