A couch potato's pilgrimage

LA - Tickets to the Ellen Show

2013-05-06T06:07:00.001-07:00

Given this is a COUCH POTATO's Pilgrimage, on the top of the list is getting to watch a live taping of a show.

Of course, sitcoms etc would be nice too. But since those change depending on which time you travel, the Ellen show seems idea. It's taped regularly, its funny and you might get to see some of your favourite celebrities.

http://www.ellentv.com/tickets/

You can try to book for the show on the Ellen website, or you can wait for standby tickets on the day.

Have fun!

Los Angeles - Chateau Marmont

2013-05-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

So my USA trip plans have been on the back burner for a while. You know, work, family, life, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I started up my planning again, next on my list of places I must go is Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood.

A beautiful hotel will old-time Hollywood charm, built based on a French gothic chateau. On March 24, 1976, Chateau Marmont was named one of Los Angeles’ Historical-Cultural Landmarks. Situated on 8225 Marmont Lane and 8221 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California.

It's $618 a night for the cheapest bedroom. The suites are $751, with a kitchen and sitting area. The Garden Cottage is $800 a night. There are many more luxurious options, and 2 or 3 bedroom bungalows.

Apparently it is very hard to get a booking, given its growing popularity with tourists (like ourselves).

There's also a bar and restaurant that you can visit. Prices are reasonable for fine dining. I would estimate about $50-60 pp.

There are some tripadvisor comments that suggest the services is less than ideal and there's an ingrained culture of celebrity obsession. BUT, it IS Hollywood, so I would have thought it kind of comes with the territory right?

From Wikipedia:
Throughout the years, Chateau Marmont has been favored by celebrities.^[6] Director Sofia Coppola shot her film Somewhere at the hotel in 2010.^[6]James Franco created a grand scale replica of the Chateau Marmont for his Rebel Without a Cause exhibit at MOCA in 2012.^[7]
Hunter S. Thompson, Annie Leibovitz, Dorothy Parker, Bruce Weber, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tim Burton, Jay McInerney, Sofia Coppola, among others, all have produced work from within the hotel's walls.^[6]
On March 5, 1982, Bill Wallace found John Belushi dead of a drug overdose in his room, Bungalow #3 at the Chateau Marmont.^[8]

New York - watch live filming of Saturday Night Live

2012-07-22T02:18:00.002-07:00

So apparently you can get tickets once a year through a lottery system, but as a tourist, it all seems a little too hard to get the right tickets for when you'll be in the area, so maybe camp out and wait for stand by tickets?

Standby tickets are distributed at 7am on the West 49th Street side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the mornings of the tapings, being Saturdays of course. It doesn't guarentee you a place, but at least your tried. Besides, I'm sure you'll find other things to do in NYC if you don't get to watch SNL.

Extracted from http://www.nycgo.com/tv-show-tapings/

Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Ticket Info: Tickets are given out once a year through a lottery. To enter, send an email to snltickets@nbcuni.com during the month of August only. Include all contact information and do not request a specific date. One email per household allowed. Winners will each receive two tickets for a specific show date and performance (dress rehearsal or live show). You will be notified only in the event that you are selected.

Standby tickets are distributed at 7am on the West 49th Street side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the mornings of the tapings. You may choose a standby ticket for either the 8pm dress rehearsal or the 11:30pm live taping. Standby tickets are limited to one per person and are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. A standby ticket does not guarantee admission.

Show Requirements: You must be 16 or older to attend. Standby-line members must remain in line at all times (aside from minimal, necessary breaks).

Location: 30 Rockefeller Plaza (bet. Fifth and Sixth Aves. and W. 49th and W. 50th Sts.)

Schedule: On Saturdays, arrive no later than 7:15pm for the 8pm dress rehearsal and 10:45pm for the 11:30pm live show.

New York - Breakfast at Tiffany's

2012-07-19T04:53:00.003-07:00

To kick off my plans, let's start with extremely touristy, quite possibly embarrassing activities that simply must be done! What happens on vacation doesn't "count"! Unleash the inner dork!

To start the day, have Breakfast at Tiffany's!

Step 1: Break out that LBD. Combine with sunnies and pearls. (I'm going to skip the silk gloves and the up do hair, I intend on walking around the city afterwards and I don't want to look like I stepped out of a time machine... or am ready to go to a grand ball at 10am)

Step 2: Buy a croissant and coffee.
Since we're in the grand NYC, why not find the best croissants in NYC? The food bloggers seem to have some disagreements, but here are a few that appear in everyone's top 10. Here they are, in order of distance from Tiffany's:

Petrossian 911 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019 http://www.petrossian.com/boutique.html
Bouchon Bakery 10 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10019 http://www.bouchonbakery.com/

Ceci-Cela 55 Spring Street New York, NY 10012 www.cecicelanyc.com/
Balthazar 80 Spring Street New York, NY 10012 www.balthazarny.com/
Le Pain Quotidien 100 Grand Street New York, NY 10013 www.lepainquotidien.com/?page=/en_US/locations

I plan on going to either Petrossian or Bouchon Bakery, since they are only about 10-15 minutes walk away and you can walk around Central Park and enjoy the scenery. Based on my research, I prefer the traditional look of Bouchon, but the cafe opens rather late (11:30 am) and I'm not sure whether the bakery retail which opens at 8am will have coffee and the like. Petrossian's cafe opens nice and early at 7:30 Monday to Friday.

For some photos of the bakeries and their croissants, check out this blog: http://www.openingceremony.us/entry.asp?pid=3459

Step 3: Eat croissant and drink coffee while window shopping.
Step 4: Actually go shopping and pick up a nice Tiffany piece at a fraction of the Australia RRP as a souvenir of Breakfast at Tiffany's (Tiffany&Co opens at 10am)

Chapter 1 - New York

2012-07-18T06:02:00.003-07:00

New York is the home of so many films and tv shows I feel like I've already been there.

http://www.movie-locations.com/places/usa/nyc.html is a great website to get a detailed list of all the movies that were set in the Big Apple.

But unless you lived there, you'd never get time to see the locations related to every movie. And let's be honest, if you lived there, you probably wouldn't care. Like how Sydneysiders live right next to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but unless you're a surfie you probably visit the beach twice a year if that, but I digress.

So for my pilgrimage, I've decide to go with the following criterion:
1. Classic movies or TV shows
2. Memorable locations
3. Scenic locations

Of course, what fits in those criteria is entirely subjective. It will be based on what I watched, enjoyed and remembered. So that means for example, the fountain in F.R.I.E.N.D.S title sequence is in, but the restaurant where Helen Hunt waitressed in "As Good As It Gets" isn't. And that's mostly because I'm a bigger fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S than the oscar winning "As Good As It Gets" and I can't actually remember much of the film. I'm sure many other people will disagree with my taste and I readily admit that I lean towards cotton candy, sometimes trashy type movies. But hey, it's my holiday.

Beginnings of a journey...

2012-07-18T05:34:00.003-07:00

As a child brought up on a steady diet of American cartoons and TV shows, while living in a country on the other side of the earth, it seems unavoidable that I would begin to view the US as a fantasy land, where Mickey and Minnie, all the Disney Princesses, Elmo and Big Bird, Batman and Robin, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers lived happily ever after.

As I grew up, it became the place where Harry met Sally, where Sandra and Keanu saved the world, where the Babysitters Club flourished, where F.R.I.E.N.D.S were there for each other and the magic of LOVE was always a 90 minute movie away.

Despite the nagging voice of reason in my head, I can't help but expect that simply being in the same places my favourite TV and movie characters were supposed to exist will bring to life the alternate universe where happy endings are the norm and evil characters are either reformed or get what they deserve.

It feels like it's never been the right time to take a long trip to the USA, there was always some other location I had to be, some relative I had to visit and before I knew it, my school holidays, uni holidays and annual leave flew by. But I've decided, 2013 will be the year that I embark on the pilgrimage to the fairytale land.

This blog will record all my research and plans for my pilgrimage, and eventually it will also record my adventures and experiences.