An Genius Abroad

Not to rush you or anything just a friendly reminder that I'm waiting for your next post :)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:08:26 +0000

writer’s block.

A Trip Down Memorial Lane.

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:23:00 +0000

Changed the theme, still tweaking it though. My original notes ran out part way through the 25th so be prepared for a dramatic drop in quantity/quality of writing; lucky I set the bar low in terms of quality to begin with ;-). A lot of pictures in this entry, some of which are actually Michelle’s.

25 January 2011

We had set the alarm quite early but we snoozed for quite awhile and then took ages showering and getting ready so our early start didn’t turn out to be very early at all. Laura had itchy legs which made us even more worried about bedbugs (apparently it’s quite a big problem in America).

Our first stop was McDonalds for breakfast, where we all had McGriddles. A new experience for the other team members. Do you notice how AJ never seems to have caught on, unlike OJ? Feel free to use it; a gift to my fans.

Michelle’s McGriddle, hashbrown and OJ.

I had forgotten my scarf so I went back to the motel get it with a plan to meet the others directly at the bus stop. When I got to the bus stop though I noticed they weren’t there and my phone had started ringing. It was Laura, she wanted me to meet me at McDonald’s. I said ok even though it seemed like a strange request as McDonald’s was right across the road. I figured they must’ve been trying to play a trick on me, or were being lazy (we were still building up the team’s trust as you can see). After the call ended though I noticed I had 2 unread messages on my phone…

I hurried over to rescue them! (pretty much a real life white knight) There was a weird homeless guy talking in a ‘strange tongue’ while moving closer and closer to them. I had only been gone 5-10 minutes. There are a lot of crazy people in America. And homeless people, but more on this later (saving the good stuff for last).

We caught the bus to Pentagon City, then took the train downtown. I already mentioned it in a caption but Washington DC has the nicest and cleanest subway system, at least that we saw.

Michelle waiting for the train at the Pentagon City.

We got off the train at the National Mall. The National Mall is amazing as there are so many memorials, monuments, museums, and Government buildings in one highly compact, and nicely landscaped area. We headed for the Washington Monument first. It was a lot bigger (it’s actually really tall) than I had expected but other than that it seemed fairly plain. While we were taking pictures we noticed several guards and quite a lot of people queuing up so we asked one of them what it was for and it turned out that if you got tickets you could go up the monument! This was a surprise to us as we had presumed that the monument was solid. The tickets are free (first come, first served) and you have to collect the tickets from an office nearby. The tickets are for a specific time but as it was the off-season we were basically able to go straight back.

Heading to the Washington Monument.

There were a lot of flocks of birds flying about.

Michelle with Brad from the National Park Service.

To get into the monument we had to pass through security; a metal detector and x-raying for the bags, not unlike airport security. Up the top, as you step out of the lift, you can look down through the crack. Quite scary as it didn’t look like there was much supporting us.

The view from the top was amazing. It is hard to portray the view in words, and even my pictures probably don’t do it justice (and I’m an awesome photographer so that’s saying a lot). The Washington Monument is at the very centre of the National Mall (the mall is layed out in a cross shape) so it offers unparalleled views of the mall in every direction. It wasn’t the clearest day but the view was still fairly unimpeded. On a clear day though we probably would’ve been able to see the things further in the distance.

East:

Looking East you can see the United States Capitol Building as well as a lot of the museums and other government buildings. As you can see even at ground level the view would be pretty much uninterrupted by other structures. Most of the museums are in the east of the mall.

North:

Looking North you can see the White House, the South Lawn and various other buildings.

West:

Looking West you can see the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, and the World War II Memorial (foreground). In the background you can see the Arlington Memorial Bridge crossing the Potomac River. The main war memorials are all in the west of the mall.

South:

Looking South you can see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Potomac River behind it. In the distance (but not in my pictures) you can see the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

There is a map at each side so you know what you’re looking at. There is also a lot of other information inside about George Washington, and about the monument itself. Such as the problems encountered during it’s construction; there is a visible difference in colour between the bottom and the rest of it due to the hiatus in construction (this is visible in my picture of the monument above).

Such a humble man.

The monument employees also offered some facts and information. Apparently the blocks are just held together by gravity so can move, it stays together cause it slopes inwards slightly.

A lot of the blocks used were donated by various cities, states and countries. We asked if New Zealand had contributed anything towards the monument and when we found out that our nation hadn’t I offered to leave something for them on behalf of New Zealand. On the way down the elevator they slowed it down several times to show us some of the blocks that had been contributed that were visible through the glass of the elevator. On the inward facing side of the blocks writing and pictures were engraved, some were quite elaborate while others looked like not much expense was spared.

New York City’s contribution.

Not as much love from Durham.

Overall the Washington Monument was my favourite part of Washington DC and probably the best free attraction in America. In particular the view of the US Capitol Building, the White House, and the Lincoln Memorial are spectacular. If in hindsight I could only have picked one thing to do in DC it would’ve been this, although that doesn’t mean you should stop reading. There’s still one and a half days worth of DC left.

Next we headed west to the World War II Memorial. It’s quite an elaborate memorial. There are two sides, representing the two theatres of the War - the Atlantic, and the Pacific. There is also a pillar with the name of each state and territory of the United States (at the time, so the Philippines is included). It also had a lot of powerful quotes; fountains (which were turned off, probably cause they would’ve frozen due to the weather); and a wall full of gold stars, each one representing 100 Americans who died in the war. There was also the names of the major battles etc.

The Pacific side of the memorial.

The California pillar.

Washington Monument from the World War II Memorial.

The Freedom Wall. The engraving says “Here we mark the price of freedom.” There are 4,048 stars, one for each 100 Americans who died in the War.

Our next stop was the Abraham Lincoln Memorial; the giant statue of him sitting in a chair that’s been immortalised in pop culture. He is just as massive as he looks but the memorial was so crowded (even though it was winter) that it was hard to get pictures without heaps of random people in them. On the walls there are two of his famous speeches. There was also an exhibition space underneath which was mainly about the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Movement, as the Memorial was a focal point; this was also where the toilets were.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Statue visible from outside.

Gettysburg Address.

Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

A Policeman on a horse in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

By this stage we were getting pretty tired from all the walking around but we kept on trucking along. We headed for the Korean War Memorial next, which like the war itself is generally overshadowed by the Vietnam War Memorial. I didn’t really know what to expect as I had never even heard of this memorial. It consisted of a wall with photos of soldiers on it; statues of soldiers in amongst the trees/bushes, and the names of all the countries that contributed towards the United Nations force as well as some of the figures from the war.

The wall at the Korean War Memorial.

The statues at the Korean War Memorial.

So true.

New Zealand was one of the nations that contributed to the UN Force during the Korean War.

From there we made our way to the Vietnam War Memorial. This consists of the famous “Wall” and a bronze statue of “The Three Soldiers” (who are conveniently each of a different race). The wall is made of a highly reflective surface. Engraved in the wall is the name of all the Americans that died in the Vietnam War. It is a bit of a shock how large of an area the names cover.

Bronze statue of The Three Soldiers at the Vietnam War Memorial.

The Wall at the Vietnam War Memorial.

The Washington Monument in the reflection of the Wall.

Washington Monument from the Vietnam War Memorial.

Our reflections in the Wall. You could say that we did a bit of reflecting at the memorial, eh?!

After that we decided we would head towards the White House, figuring that we would pass by somewhere to eat along the way as we would be going through proper streets (there aren’t really any shops on the mall). We found a little place down a side street that sold sandwiches and soup. We spent awhile sampling the different soups. I also bought an apple. It was alright, apples are a hit or miss thing; 75% of apples are either mushy or powdery and should’ve been turned into juice instead (AJ…eh?!).

Along the way we passed by a lot of Government Buildings and head offices for miscellaneous organisations. A consequence of this concentration of important buildings is the large Police presence. It would be hard to find anywhere in the National Mall where there wasn’t Police nearby. Outside the building that contained the Vice President’s Office we had a brief convo with one of the Policemen guarding the building. We found out that we had managed to walk right by the White House without realising.

American Red Cross National Headquarters

Michelle with her new Policeman BF outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building which contains the Vice President’s Office.

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

To get to the south side of the White House we had to go down a road that was blocked by a Police Car and that had Police watching the area. Despite all this you’re actually still really really far away from the White House and there’s a big fence keeping people out. Initially I was actually more interested in the squirrel than the White House as I had never seen a squirrel before. Everything they do seems to be cute! On the roof of the White House there was a man watching us with binoculars or something similar.

South side of the White House.

Close up of the south side of the White House.

Watching the man watching us.

Military helicopters flying by.

We made our way around to the north side of the White House stopping off at a gift shop where there was a copy of the Oval Office that you could pay to have your photo taken in. $5 a photo or something like that. We also spotted another squirrel.

So artistic..

The squirrel was able to reach really far into the bin by hooking his hind legs over the bin edge and stretching all the way in. Sooo cute. That’s all the squirrel photos though (for today).

Hotel Washington.

Treasury Building with statue of Alexander Hamilton in front.

The north side of the White House looks quite different to the south side. You can also get a lot closer as the gate isn’t set so far back. Tours of the White House are actually possible but have to be organised well in advance, which we hadn’t done. So the outside looking in experience had to do for us.

The Team at the north side of the White House.

The north side of the White House.

Opposite the White House there was an old lady in a tent protesting various things, namely war, nuclear weapons, and support for Israel. According to one of the signs the vigil has been there since 1981. It was kind of sad because it looks like she used to do it with her husband (I presume that’s their relationship) but he died in 2009 so now it was just her. I’m not sure how she gets food or goes to the toilet. We had a chuckle over the idea that if she ran out of sugar she could “pop across the road” to the Obama’s and borrow some. Even though I felt bad for her I was also pretty grossed out by her living situation. Michelle saw a rat inside her tent. She also was surprisingly angry and unfriendly, even though it must be tiresome for her you would still expect her to be less standoffish and happier to “enlighten” people; I’m not sure she was doing the cause much good to be honest.

The “protest” opposite the White House.

The old lady protesting opposite the White House.

The north side of the White House. Protest visible in foreground and Washington Monument in background.

Statue of Andrew Jackson in the park opposite the White House.

We were pretty knackered afterwards so we headed to Pentagon City for dinner (and a few mandatory rounds of free samples), where I had Taco Bell. It wasn’t much better than the first time but this wouldn’t be the last time either. We went back to the Motel to sleep with a plan for an early start tomorrow, after all there was still a lot to see in Washington DC…

Washington Dee Seedy Motel.

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:15:00 +0000

Renamed the original posts. Also the email subscription option on the left hand side is now working.

24 January 2011

On the move again.

After one hours sleep I was still knackered. I had to pack quickly and head to the lobby where the shuttle was waiting for me. The driver was really obese. I had used the same shuttle company as before as they had given me a business card. Even though it was the middle of the night it took awhile cause we had to go around and pick up three other people (one of which he struggled to find the address for). I had a brief chat with the girl he picked up second - she lived in LA and was going to Columbus, Ohio for a business trip.

Security was a lot lesser cause it was a domestic flight but it was still really secure compared to domestic flights back home. You have to take off bulky sweatshirts/jackets and your shoes. This was pretty easy as I was wearing jandals! Most of the waiting passengers seemed to be business travellers and most things appeared to be targeted towards business/frequent travellers - eg the luggage allowances…on most US Airlines you’re allowed to carry on a laptop (or handbag) as well as your carry on bag. It was a medium sized plane…although this turned out to be the standard size plane for domestic flights.

I couldn’t sleep again even though I was tired which was frustrating.

At Washington (Dulles - which is quite far away from Downtown DC, the Airport close to the city is the Ronald Reagan Airport; which is the airport Michelle and Laura arrived at) after we got off the plane we had to get on to this bus-type thing which shuttled us to the main terminal area because the terminal we landed at wasn’t connected. It was kinda like a small room on wheels. It didn’t really seem like a good long term solution to me, especially for such a busy airport. Other than that the airport was nicer than LAX but still pretty dated looking.

It was very cold in DC (quite a contrast to California) and a lady from my flight was very concerned that I might get frostbite or something in my feet as I was wearing jandals. I was disappointed that it wasn’t snowing though as the weather for the East Coast had been on the news as it was supposed to be getting bad. The lady pointed me in the direction for shuttles and as my feet actually were really cold I put socks on with my jandals (totally classy); I had thrown out my other shoes a bit prematurely.

Inside the shuttle was freezing. One of the other passengers sitting behind me was really annoying. At first he was talking to himself for ages in a weird voice then he was talking on the phone really loudly for just as long in a foreign language (French maybe).

Most of the journey was via freeways; which resembled Auckland’s motorways (except wider). In contrast to LA’s which appeared to be paved with concrete instead of asphalt and were poorly maintained. Although LA’s city streets seemed to be even worse than it’s freeways in this regard, there were literally potholes everywhere…especially along the edge of the road, so if you’re in a bus it’s a very bumpy ride! There were however no catseyes in DC marking the roads, though apparently this is cause snowplows would rip them up. There also seemed to be a lot of work being done on the freeway(s), widening presumably. That’s enough about roads though, for now.

Michelle (my sister) and Laura (her friend - together we formed “Team Travel ‘11”) had had this idea that we could save money by booking a two-bed room for two people instead of three. So it was a tad awkward when the shuttle dropped me off right outside the Motel’s reception where they were looking at me through the window as I was supposed to be sneaking up to the room (the others had already checked in). It was a motel though so the rooms were accessible from the outside so I just made my way over anyway.

It was strange seeing Michelle for the first time in a year and I had actually only met Laura once or twice before. After a quick catch-up I busted out the hats (pictured previously) and we each chose one. I got the Leopard, Michelle the Wolf, and Laura the Panda. Michelle also unveiled the Canada Mitts as her contribution to the Team’s attire.

To be honest the Motel (“Days Inn Arlington, Pentagon” - 3030 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia; a lot of places described as in DC are actually in one of the neighbouring states) was pretty horrible; it looked tacky and cheap with the absolute bare minimum of things needed, and everything seemed old and presumably heavily used. I would have preferred shelling out a bit of extra dosh for a slightly nicer place but my fellow travellers were on a very strict budget! It still served it’s purpose anyway.

We decided to head out to have a look around, near us was a Dunkin’ Donuts/gas station and a McDonalds. We were on a reasonably main road, Columbia Pike…it isn’t really clear what the “Pike” means in this context but there are a lot of pikes and turnpikes in America. We got some hot drinks at Dunkin’ Donuts to get some change and for a quick chat with the locals who we told we were from Canada.

Me and Laura at Dunkin’ Donuts in Arlington, Virginia.

We caught the bus to Pentagon Metro, planning to head downtown. This station was literally right at the Pentagon. The building is massive and impressive but when looking at it from street level you can’t tell it’s pentagon in shape. There was a lot of security but they were nice enough and helpful. Photography was also banned but that didn’t stop Mich.

After talking to some people at the station we decided to take the train to Pentagon City instead which was a mall back in the direction we had just come from. It was just after 5 so there were a lot of people in the station, almost all in Military uniforms and fatigues. All of the people we talked to were friendly and happy to help with trains etc.

The Pentagon.

The Pentagon up closer.

Subway Station in Washington DC. The nicest and cleanest subway that we saw throughout our travels.

We went to a store called Marshall’s first where I bought a backpack and shoes. I wasn’t too sure about the shoes but the others insisted they looked good.

any good?

We then went to the Best Buy to have a look at laptops but they didn’t have any good deals. The Geek-Squad (similar to the Nerd Herd in Chuck) guy came over to talk to us for awhile, he tried to tell us that Virginia wasn’t technically a State because it’s full name was the “Commonwealth of Virginia”…I say tried because I was pretty quick to point out he was wrong. Please. This brings me to another annoying thing about the USA (this was actually how the state thing came up); prices never include VAT which means you have to estimate the actual price whenever you’re purchasing something. VAT also varies substantially between states and/or cities (presumably one of the reasons why retailers don’t include tax in pricing) so if you’re planning on buying something expensive it might be worth buying it in the lowest tax area.

Me teaching the Geek Squad guy at Best Buy geography.

We headed over to the main mall afterwards, which was pretty massive. As we were wearing our hats we had a lot of people looking at us and/or talking to us. Instant convo starter. Walking around the foodcourt I found out about the phenomenon the Americans call “sampling”. Basically, a lot of food places will let you try their food before you buy anything if you ask and in this case several of the stores had people standing out front giving out samples to people walking by. Naturally, we ended up looping around about 3 times, collecting samples, before we were able to decide on what to eat. I had BBQ chicken with mac and cheese, and curly fries. It was pretty good, especially the fries - they had some kind of special coating on! Another good thing about eating out in America is Fast Food places have free refills by default instead of the other way around.

On the floor near the foodcourt there was this small screen projected on to the floor which interacted with people’s movements. Balls you could kick, balloons you could pop, fish you could disturb etc. It was very random but also pretty cool. It entertained us for quite awhile.

Afterwards we had a look around for a coat/jacket for me, I didn’t have one as I had never really needed one before. We couldn’t find a good one and instead bought a wool-lined Abercrombie & Fitch hoody (see pic above of me in the subway) which was half price ($50).

Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

Interactive game at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

funtimes.

We caught the bus back home and pretty much just went to sleep, planning to get up early so we could get as much stuff as possible done tomorrow. As it was a cheap motel I was a bit worried about bed bugs etc. It also didn’t feel that safe as the room is accessible from the outside and our curtain wouldn’t draw shut properly. It didn’t really help that walking back to the Motel we had seen some dodgy guy staring at us. The room was also slightly too hot cause the heater was blasting on full…

Star-Struck-Out.

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:07:00 +0000

Click “Read More” at the bottom of each post to see the full post, enjoy :-)

23 January 2011

I had a really good night’s sleep but was still tired cause it was early and I hadn’t really slept the previous two nights. I ended up getting up too late for the bus tour I had planned on going on so instead was just going to grab some of the complimentary breakfast! When I got to the lobby though there was a man picking up people for a different tour bus company so I hopped on there instead. Very convenient…but would’ve been even more convenient if it had of been after I had had breakfast instead of before.

Up the front of the bus there was a sign saying that a 30% tip for the driver was “customary”; wasn’t too happy about this as you can imagine. This is a good illustration of what I hate about the “tipping” system in America, if you’re socially obligated to tip regardless of the actual service level then it’s self-defeating?

Anyway, back in the bus…I was having trouble taking pictures from the bus due to my camera not being that flash hot, the reflection from the glass and the bus moving too much (annoying I know). The weather was amazing though.

Heading downtown.

We went downtown (CBD) first and he pointed out a lot of LA’s tallest and most famous buildings, it is hard to remember them by name though. LA’s skyline isn’t really that impressive compared to other cities though anyway. I got the impression that there was a rivalry between LA and New York by the way he embellished on how many scenes supposedly of NYC are actually filmed in downtown LA. For example apparently King Kong was shot in LA and instead of the Empire State Building they used the Los Angeles City Hall Building and apparently they also film most of CSI:NY in LA and just switch the California numberplates for NY ones. We saw a partially closed off street where we could see an Audi commercial being filmed, apparently this isn’t an unusual sight in LA. It was Sunday though so downtown was fairly empty.

Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Audi Commercial being filmed in downtown LA.

Los Angeles City Hall Building, it does bear resemblance to the Empire State Building. Chinatown entrance in foreground.

Typical urban freeway in Los Angeles with atypical amount of traffic.

First glimpse of the Hollywood sign.

After that we headed to Hollywood, where we disembarked from the bus and were free to wander around for awhile. I had already seen most of it although it looks quite different during the day. And as I mentioned earlier you are unable to see the Hollywood sign at night. The view of the Hollywood sign from Hollywood Boulevard is really cool because there is a perfectly positioned hole in a building just to preserve the view. They were setting up for the premiere of Gnomeo & Juliet at the El Capitan Theatre so part of the street was blocked off; this is also not an unusual sight in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Sign from Hollywood Boulevard.

Setting up for the premiere of Gnomeo & Juliet at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

I decided to use most of my time to go to McDonalds for breakfast since I had already been here, done this. I ordered a McGriddle, this is basically a McMuffin but with maple syrup all through the muffin bun. It’s really good but almost too sweet, almost. I headed back to the tour bus after a quick stop at the toilets at the Roosevelt Hotel!

McGriddle; my first but certainly not my last.

He took us to Sunset Strip next (it was actually reasonably far from where I was on Sunset the night before). Most of the clubs looked fairly exclusive and a lot were owned by various celebrities.

Sunset Strip.

Entering Beverly Hills it was apparent how much nicer the city was…even their roads, footpaths and signs seem to be nicer and there seemed to be a bigger visible Police presence (Beverly Hills has it’s own Police force). The homes were all very large and nice and most of the homes had sprinklers going despite the water restrictions, they would rather risk paying the fine than have their garden not looking immaculate apparently.

He showed us a lot of celebrity homes, but for the most part they were too far back from the road and they nearly all had very tall walls and/or hedges (often elaborately sculptured though) and large gates so you could barely see anything at all. It’s almost like they don’t want us looking at them 24/7, almost being the key word. We also went through Rodeo Drive which has a lot of very expensive shops. Didn’t see any celebrities :-(.

90210.

Pretty sure this is Tom Cruise’s house, he had the highest fence.

After that we headed to the Farmer’s Market, where there is loads of restaurants and stalls as well as a mall. According to our driver it’s also a “celebrity hotspot”. This would be a good place to have lunch. This was pretty much the end of the bus tour, he directed me and another girl to go with another bus instead for our ride back because the other guy was heading out that way. The girl gave him a tip and I could tell he was hanging out for one from me but I just pretended to not realise. I did feel bad afterwards but was hardly in a generous mood at the time.

The second driver had a really thick accent and was hard to understand, I’m glad he wasn’t the one doing the actual tour! I fell asleep on the way back to the hotel, it took ages to get there. When I finally got back I was really thirsty but didn’t have enough change to get something from the vending machine.

I had left a $2 tip for the chambermaid, I knew to leave one thanks to the knowledge I had gained from watching Seinfeld, but she still hadn’t been when I got back so I used the money to buy myself a drink! She came in later while I was there but I told her the room didn’t need cleaning anyway.

After lazing around for awhile I decided I would head to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I used my phone to figure out which bus to catch and from what stop, it was easy enough because Santa Monica Blvd was right near me and this led all the way down to Santa Monica.

When I got onto the bus though I found out that there’s no change available, you just put money into a pillar type thing (presumable for security reasons, this turned out to be the norm overseas). I had $10 and three quarters. The bus driver seemed very surprised that I didn’t have “a buck fifty” and after my initial confusion she told me to just put the three quarters in. There was no tickets which was also a bit strange. I saw her also let on two kids that said they had no money.

I noticed that nearly all the people riding the bus (or any of the other buses I caught in LA) were from a minority group which is perhaps a reflection of the socio-economic situation. There were several “gangster” looking people but everyone seemed to just mind their own business and when there was interaction it was pleasant enough (this seemed to be another running theme across America). Two deaf people got on the bus and sat near me so I could see them talking to each other in sign language. The male was dressed up like a “Wigga” and was getting a few funny looks from some of the other passengers; I wondered whether he decided to dress that way on his own or if it was someone else’s influence, it’s not like he could listen to rap music anyway, although I guess he can still watch TV…how would you go about explaining stuff like that in sign language? I mainly just listened to my iPod, occasionally checking my phone’s GPS to see how far along we were; part way through though I realised how much more relevant it was listening to 2Pac in LA.

The journey took a lot longer than I had expected, I guess I didn’t pay attention to the estimate my phone had given me. It took me almost an hour and a half to get to Santa Monica Pier despite it looking like it was just down the road on my map. Another good illustration of how massive and spread out LA is; I would hate to think how long a bus would take from one side of LA to the other. Although, I had transferred to an “express” bus part-way through which (ironically) probably slowed me down a lot as well as costing me more money (cause there’s no tickets so I had to pay again); I went into a gas station and bought a Milky Way bar to get change. The wrapper was quite different to ours and it turned out to be exactly like our Mars bar instead. It’s strange how companies do things like this.

By the time I got there it was fairly late and I could tell it was going to get dark anytime soon so I decided to just head to the pier and give the boardwalk a miss. The beach is massive and the actual sand part seems to be about 5 times wider compared to our beaches. There were people packing up heaps of small white crosses that had been arranged in rows like a graveyard, I assumed it was some form of war protest - apparently it’s called Arlington West and they set it up every Sunday, one cross for each American killed in Iraq. The pier looked cool, it was basically like a small carnival with loads of little rides, games and a few restaurants. I had Taco Bell for dinner, it tasted alright but not as nice as I had hoped…pretty much all the taco filling (including the meat) seemed so liquidy that it all just seemed to merge together. It’s really cheap though! This was around the time that there was a lot of controversy (and law suits?) over the meat Taco Bell uses and whether it was actually meat or mainly other stuff. I also tried Hi-C Fruit Punch, but that wasn’t very nice…it’s not a fizzy drink.

Santa Monica Beach.

Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica Beach at sunset, Arlington West visible in foreground.

Santa Monica Beach and Pier at sunset.

As it got dark the rides on the pier began to light up in bright colours and looked cool. I walked down to the beach, on their beach they have a wooden path so you can walk along part of it without getting sand on your feet/shoes. I had a deep moment (briefly) thinking about how this was the same ocean lapping the shores back home.

I was having a quick peek under the pier when right in front of me a guy walked out from underneath the pier in a Department of Homeland Security uniform and what looked like a metal detector. He continued walking up the beach scanning the sand with his machine. I was curious about what he was up to. I had read that a lot of small boats try to circumnavigate the US border by coming ashore in Southern California although this almost certainly isn’t related. There was a big sign warning people against swimming which seemed strange for such a popular beach. Most signs in LA are also in Spanish.

Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

No swimming at Santa Monica Beach.

I caught the bus back home but stopped off at Target along the way (I was disappointed to learn that there were no Walmarts within the city). While waiting for the bus home I was holding my $2 and a black guy started walking towards me, I presumed he was going to ask me for money but instead he offered to break one of my $1 into quarters so that I wouldn’t have to waste 50c. I felt really bad for misjudging him :-(.

At the hotel I decided to do a load of washing even though I hadn’t been gone long as I didn’t know when I would next be able to use a washing machine. In the laundry room there was a lady waiting for her stuff to dry…I asked her how to use the machine but she replied in Spanish. It was strange for me at the time because I wasn’t used to encountering white people that couldn’t speak English.

I had to book my airport shuttle for 3am as my flight was early the next morning…

The City of Angels and Demons.

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:23:00 +0000

22 January 2011 (still - cause I’m going backwards across the international timeline)

In the air to Los Angeles.

I ate the exact same meal again, but didn’t drink as much as I had two people sitting beside me this time so didn’t want to have to go to the toilet too often (it’s always a massive inconvenience squeezing past).

Tried to sleep for ages but can never get into a comfortable enough position to sleep on a plane…managed to sleep for maybe one hour or so.

Over the voice over they told us that because it was a US bound flight US Federal Law applies and that congregations of 3 or more ppl on the plane were illegal. So later when I got up to go to the toilet and saw 2 people already standing in line I made a joke that it “looked like an illegal congregation”; didn’t get a single response…tough crowd.

Most of the passengers were either American or Canadian which was quite a stark contrast to the first flight.

I had a good view coming into LA - I was able to see Catalina Island, Long Beach and the port. Our plane had to do a massive loop around the city before landing so I also was able to see a lot of the city. From the air it becomes apparent how ridiculously large and sprawled out this city is. The tall buildings in downtown LA can be seen from ages away because they’re the only tall buildings in the region. The suburbs seem to go on forever - the freeway system seemed equally extensive and endless, interconnecting the entire city in a grid that resembled the standard roads in other cities. The city seemed perfectly flat (sortof like Christchurch…and as opposed to Auckland) and most of the roads appeared to be perfectly straight and perpendicular to each other. The American usage of the word “block” seemed to make a lot of sense in this context. The general look and feel of the city was well captured by GTA: San Andreas…heaps of palm trees all over the place, alleyways connecting the streets behind houses, big billboards on massive poles, chain fences etc.

It took awhile for our plane to get to the terminal cause the plane had to be towed to the gate instead of driving there itself. LAX seemed alright but well used and well past it’s prime (this will turn out to be a common theme for America), it lacked the modern feel that Auckland and Sydney have. Even though it’s old…surely it could’ve been renovated by now seeing as it’s one of the main gateways to America?

When I got to the immigration checkpoint I was nervous because of the stories I had heard about my sister and her friend’s experience at LAX. I noticed that the Canadians (of which there were many) had to queue up with all the rest of us ‘foreigners’. I had presumed that they would get preferential treatment similar to Kiwis in Aus. I noticed that all the Feds were carrying guns which didn’t do much to ease my nerves. Most signs seemed to be in English only except the sign explaining how to use the fingerprint machine which also had Japanese, Spanish and Chinese.

When it was my turn he asked me how long I was planning on staying and then if I was visiting friends and family, then fingerprinted me and took my picture. That was it…none of the grilling I had been expecting and didn’t need any of the paperwork I had printed off.

The customs queue was really long but I ended up getting fast tracked, although I was nervous so I stuttered that I had prescription drugs…he asked what ones and as I was telling him he cut me off by saying I could go through.

On the other side I went to the Foreign Exchange Bureau where I could change all my NZ money except for the coins but none of the Fijian money (even the note I had).

On my way outside to catch a shuttle I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going and nearly wheeled my luggage through the middle of a guy being busted by the Airport Police; when I looked up a big Police officer who was standing watch gave me a look and shook his head at me. There was a guy sitting down with handcuffs on with two other cops talking to him.

My first glimpse of America - two Police cars and a Police bike.

Even though it had been Summer in Auckland and it was Winter here in California, it was a lot warmer and sunnier here in LA.

There was a choice of two shuttle companies so I just picked the closest one. It was $16 which seemed pretty cheap considering how far away Hollywood was from LAX. While I was waiting for the next shuttle the guy from the other company approached me and asked me if I wanted a shuttle, when I said I was already going with the others he asked me how much I was paying and then offered me a shuttle for $1 less; I didn’t really care that much about saving $1 so I didn’t accept although by this point the original shuttle guy could see what was going on and was beckoning me back over to him.

I shared a shuttle with an Australian couple and their 2 kids and one other Australian girl. We talked quite a lot as it was a long journey. They all agreed that I didn’t sound like a Kiwi.

The family had been to San Francisco, Anaheim and the Grand Canyon. The wife was a police officer and apparently he also used to be as well as a bouncer. The son talked about the theme parks they had been to a lot and seemed to have had a lot of fun, cute! Other topics of conversation were age, police chases, tipping and how much was expected and also where to buy illegal drugs in San Francisco.

The girl was 20 and travelling around America with her Mum but was alone in LA because she didn’t want to go see the Elvis stuff in Tennessee with her Mum. She had been to America and the theme parks when she was younger; was going to a basketball game that night and had apparently done one of the Hollywood/Beverly Hills tours already (so not sure what she was doing on a shuttle from the airport?). She was planning on going to Venice Beach the next day…maybe I should’ve asked to join her.

The ride was long and nearly all through urban freeways. The area I was in wasn’t too far from Koreatown so passed a lot of Korean signs, the other passengers seemed to think it was a dangerous area but the driver said it was alright

When he dropped me off at the hotel it was awkward when it came to the paying stage as I knew I would have to tip but I didn’t know how much was “normal” so I ended up asking him how much he usually gets and gave him that.

I stayed at the “Hollywood Hotel” (1160 North Vermont Ave - http://www.hollywoodhotel.net/) which was actually pretty far from central Hollywood, bit misleading really. There was a subway stop nearby though apparently but I never used it. The room was nice enough and it even had a sliding door that led to a courtyard. It felt amazing to finally take my shoes and socks off and put on my jandals!

I set out pretty soon to get a SIM card, although even that turned out to be a more complicated trip than I had anticipated. Internet on your phone while travelling is really useful cause you can use Google Maps (which in a lot of cities can even access public transport information - in San Francisco it even had pricing information!) and look up things etc although a lot of non-American phones won’t work in North America due to the different frequencies they use.

After looking at things to do in LA I decided to head to the Griffith Observatory as it was open till 10. So after taking forever to get ready I was ready to leave at 7, the hotel had called a taxi for me but it was a really fancy one. The driver was from somewhere in Eastern Europe and had a really strong accent, he seemed nice enough but the accent combined with him driving me in a fancy car made me feel like I was in a mafia car or something.

We got to Griffith Park but the road was closed, he said it was cause the observatory must be closed but in hindsight I’m pretty sure he just took the wrong route.

After that he took me to Hollywood Boulevard instead, it cost me around $25 (with tip) which seemed like a lot considering the short distance covered; I got the feeling that people rip off tourists…especially with the tipping. Did I mention how much I hate tipping?

I took heaps of pictures while here. Saw a lot of the stars and all the bright lights from the signs. The Hollywood sign however isn’t lit…which I thought was weird, so it’s not visible at all at night time.

The famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I was being overly-cautious because of how everyone says America (and especially LA) are so dangerous, so when near the Chinese Theatre a guy in a Barney costume asked me if I wanted a picture taken my first thought was that it was a trick to take my camera so I said no. Not long after that four youths coming down the road towards me started harassing him and hitting him through his suit. He began walking off in the other direction as fast as his suit would allow him to but they followed him and continued (they’re all going in the same direction as me) till we got around the corner where an LAPD Officer was standing watch…as soon as they saw him they bolted.

At the Chinese Theatre I realised that there were loads of people paid to (or working off tips?) dress up as characters from TV Shows/Movies and that he wasn’t trying to steal my camera! In front of the Theatre is where the hand/footprints of famous people are. I also went inside the Kodak Theatre.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

People dressed up outside the Chinese Theatre.

Foot and handprints outside the Chinese Theatre.

There were so many shops selling T-Shirts and other souvenirs. I had Mexican food for dinner, the shop was cool but I didn’t really like the food, mainly cause it had a lot of avocado in…which I’m still not sure if I’m allergic to or not.

Two different people had tried to force me to buy their rap CDs by giving me their discs (as if it was free) then wanting money. One guy even asked my name and where I was from so he could write it on the CD (it was just a cheap homemade disc), I guess so I would feel more obligated to buy it.

Spiderman posing!

I bought three animal hats from a street peddler, I asked three seperate peddlers how much their hats were…the first said $8, the second $10 and the third $15…they all would pause before naming their price as if they didn’t’ have a standard price and instead were just trying to figure out how much I was willing to pay. As I went to walk away from the third he said “Ok…$10” but I kept walking so he reduced it to $8. I offered him $20 for all three and he said it was too low but that he would do it for $22 which I accepted. I was pretty chuffed with the haggling and the hats would turn out to be a massive success ;-).

The team with the hats on later at American Eagle in Washington DC.

I noticed signs saying “Xing” all over the place and wondered what they meant, thinking it was strange that there were Chinese signs in America. I found out much later that they stand for “Cross-ing”.

I decided to walk to Sunset Blvd cause it was close by and the taxi driver had mentioned that there were lots of “girls and clubs” there. I walked down a side street to get there (it’s parallel to Hollywood Blvd) and noticed how much darker it was and how few ppl were walking this way, it definitely didn’t feel as safe as the main road.

I got to Sunset and was standing on the corner trying to figure out whether to go up or down the street (neither way looked like it was heading towards anything noteworthy) when a LAPD car went by with it’s lights on! A total of 10+ cars went by in succession…it seemed more extreme compared with NZ due to the number of cars involved but also the fact they were going so much faster and they were using some cars to keep the intersection clear for subsequent cars. Above me a Police Helicopter was circling around with it’s spotlight shining down in the direction I had just come from. I briefly considered trying to go look at the action but realised that that probably wasn’t the best idea.

I ended up walking back to Hollywood Blvd and looking around a little bit more before taxi-ing home, although this time in a cheaper cab! There were nice cars everywhere including plenty of stretch limousines and plenty of hot girls too! At the hotel I looked through a few brochures and decided I would do one of the bus tours tomorrow so set my alarm early…

The famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Parked Limos.

Nada in Nadi.

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:44:00 +0000

22 Janurary 2011

This is when it all began - flying from Auckland to Los Angeles via Fiji.

Talked to a guy in the boarding queue, when he heard I was going to LA he asked me if I had been on holiday in New Zealand (awkward) because he thought I sounded American. He was Fijian, I was impressed by his English though as I assumed it wasn’t the main language in Fiji.

The plane ride was mainly uneventful although there was A LOT of turbulence. The plane looked very old both inside and out; the entertainment system wasn’t really usable due to the flickering etc and looking out the window it looked like part of the wings near the engines had been burnt?! (always a good sign) I regretted not flying with a better airline (I flew with Air Pacific as they were the only airline that did a good one way price to LA at the time). The guy in front of me had his seat leaned back too far the entire time which was annoying. I did feel a bit sad when I realised I wouldn’t be seeing my family for a very long time, briefly anyway.

I was the only one sitting by myself which I thought was odd considering the plane was nearly full (747), perhaps I was the only one flying by myself. The majority of the passengers were Indian (presumably Fijian Indian). The cabin crew were friendly living up to the company’s motto about the airline being the friendliest.

I had the chicken meal with coke and tea; the alternative was corn beef, I wondered how popular the corn beef would be on this flight considering the majority of the passengers were Indian and if the airline takes that into account.

I switched seats to the empty window seat to get a better view during landing.

Flying over the island, I was surprised at how green it was. Lush green grass and trees. Heaps of farms…although I couldn’t see any livestock at all which was weird and also very different to NZ. The roads all looked unsealed, I guess there isn’t much vehicular traffic. And there were heaps of palm trees everywhere.

This is what I imagined South America looked like. To be honest, I had expected it to look more like a deserted tropical island - the type immortalised by fiction - not covered in farms, rivers, trees and grass.

The young girl behind me talked to me briefly after we had landed, she was from Suva and had been on holiday in NZ. She was very nice but looked far too young to be travelling just with her even younger still brother.

When I got off the plane I was instantly taken aback by the humid heat; I felt like I was getting into a car after it had been sitting parked in the sun all day.

The airbridge led to a balcony on the terminal not into the terminal itself. The look and feel of it makes it seem like a prison compound and not an airport. I also found out the temperature and stuffiness that I had felt wasn’t greenhouse effect from the glass in the airbridge, it was just that hot in Fiji. Would’ve much rather been in shorts and jandals at this point.

I had a 6 hour layover and originally contemplated leaving the airport to have a look around but I would’ve had to pass through immigration so it wasn’t really worth it.

There was some form of air conditioning or fan inside but it was doing a mediocre job at best. Worse than that though there was no wifi and the only internet available was quite expensive.

I was really tired as I hadn’t really slept at all (due to leaving packing to the last minute) but I didn’t want to risk sleeping as I was paranoid about having my stuff stolen. I had tried to read the book I brought a long but couldn’t get into it…protip: make sure the book you bring to kill time is one you will actually like.

The food “court” was actually just one unit right in the centre of the waiting area (there was quite a few normal shops though). I decided to order the overpriced fish curry and an overpriced soft drink, they accepted my NZ money which was good but gave me useless Fijian change in return (which I would end up throwing away in the UK). The food came in a polystyrene plate wrapped in glad wrap - it looked like it had just been re-heated in the microwave (although this might’ve actually been an improvement if that’s not what they were doing already…are you even supposed to heat polystyrene in the microwave?). Naturally, it was disgusting.

I had a look in a few of the gift shops, there were some *very* sexually explicit Fijian souvenirs in several of the shops - depicting things like very large penises and doggy-style sex.

A lot of the women working at the airport looked strangely similar (inb4 racist). And everyone at the airport spoke English well.

The nicest part of the terminal was the bathroom, they were surprisingly modern and tasteful - definitely out of place.

Boarding time finally…

TLDR: Fiji’s airport was the worst I’ve been to and Air Pacific was the worst airline I’ve been on (even in hindsight). Didn’t take any pics here.