Arrived at LAX at 2.20pm Saturday, was so weird having to go through the day again because of time difference between US and Fiji. Had a good flight with little turbulence, although we were sat on the plane for an hour before we went anywhere. Got carted off to be grilled some more when I arrived in LA because my finger prints didn't match (drama number 1), then managed to get my bags and find my shuttle to go to the hostel in Santa Monica where I would be staying.

Drama number 2 happened when I arrived at the hostel to find that my bank card was refusing to work, I had no US money on me and no way of getting any, and 350 Fiji dollars which were pretty useless to a closed money exchange and myself. Cue frantic call home at 1.30am UK time (thanks Dad - life saver!! xx) so I could at least check in to my hostel. It is really nice here, great location (close to shops and beach!) and a really nice clean and friendly place. Didn't really do much on Sunday and Monday apart from have a walk about the area and decide which trips I wanted to do, oh I went to Ripley's believe it or not museum which was pretty cool, as I was still waiting for my bank card to decide to work again. Although on Sunday night I went to the cinema and there was an earthquake, people started getting up to run out which was pretty exciting!

On Tuesday I had a trip booked to Universal Studios, this was a great day, I was so glad I went. I was initially a bit daunted by going around a theme park by myself, but I had to rush about a bit to fit everything in so I kind of forgot about being on my own after a while.
Got my photo taken with all the characters, Spongbob, Beetlejuice, Scooby and Shaggy and went on all the rides, my favourite probably being the Simpsons animated ride.

On Wednesday I went along on a free hostel tour to Malibu, we all went there on the public bus, and had a picnic on the beach which was really nice. Malibu beach is where they filmed Baywatch, and many celebrities have homes here, although we didn't spot any one famous it was still a great day and good to get chatting to some of the other people at the hostel.

Thursday I had my Hollywood and movie star homes tour, I was really looking forward to this. When I got on the bus I noticed a Danish couple called Pia and Anders who I had got chatting to on Tuesday on my Universal tour, they said if I liked I could go around with them for the day and they'd take photo's for me which I thought was really lovely. We went around districts such as Palisades, Brentwood and Bel Air and saw stars homes including Adam Sandler, Kate Hudson and Bill Cosby. Although many of the homes are surrounded by massive trees and hedges and gates so you can't actually see much. We then had a stop off at Rodeo Drive, this place drips money and I felt quite out of place and a bit of a tramp walking up and down here! The street is packed with designer stores like Prada, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton, but the best part was, at the end of the street was the hotel from Pretty Woman!!! Just HAD to get my photo taken under that. We also saw the 'shop' where Julia Roberts got kicked out of for well...looking like a prostitute, which was quite cool. We then went and saw some more homes, and the Playboy Mansion, JLO's $60 million mansion and the Spelling mansion which is up for sale at $160 million, think I'll have to save for a bit first!! From here, we went to Hollywood and the Walk of Fame, Graumann's Chinese theatre and we could see the Hollywood sign from here. We went further up into the hills to get a closer look but you can't get very close to it nowadays as the city officials got pissed off with people doing stuff to it like painting it pink and changing it to read Hollyweed and stuff. One woman actually commited suicide off the sign because she was an aspiring actress and wasn't getting anywhere in Hollywood, and the most ironic thing about it was a week later her dad got a telegram to say she had won the lead role in a movie about an aspiring actress who commited suicide. How spooky!! This day was probably one of my favourite, we ended it with a half hour at Universal's city walk with all the different shops, and Hard Rock cafe. I loved seeing all the sights and would definitely recommend this tour to anyone coming to LA.

On Friday I didn't have any plans, so I just did some bits of shopping, had a walk down to the pier and sat about in the sun for a bit. I treated myself to some fish and chips (but looking forward to some good old proper British ones!) before going to see the new Terminator film at the cinema. This week has gone so quickly and it's weird and a little surreal to think I'm going home tomorrow. Not too sure how I feel about it, have really mixed emotions, but I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family again and having my own room and bed! This last 8 months has hands down been the best 8 months of my life, and I'm so glad I came and did this. When I think about all the places I've been, the sights and things I've seen and experienced, and most of all the people I've met whom I'm sure many will be life long friends I don't have any regrets at all.

Thanks to everyone who has read my blog and posted comments over the last few months, and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Over and out.

Lyndsey
xx