Hollywood Baby!!

I had my first couch surfing experience in LA. It was heaps of fun hanging out with Josh and his roomies - Billy and Eric. His friend Lydia from Boston was also in town and crashed his place for a couple of nights. I remember one night we tried copying each other's accents and I thought I was doing a pretty good job until Josh asked when I was going to put on the American one when I already was! But hey, it was better than the BRITISH one they had. Seriously, why does everyone put on a British accent when they try to copy me??
Speaking of accents, I was pleasantly surprised about how receptive Americans and Canadians were towards the Aussie accent. I never really thought I had an accent - it was everybody else that had one. But apparently I do on this side of the world.

Being my first time in the States, I discovered many new things including words I should and shouldn't use:

Americans                                                  Australians
Raisins                                                         Sultanas
Peppers                                                       Capsicum
Shopping Cart                                              Trolley
Sweaters                                                      Jumpers
Pop                                                              Soft drinks
Flip flops                                                      Thongs
Restrooms                                                    Toilets

Is there anything else you can think of? It's still a learning process for me. Learn from my mistake, don't go around saying thongs. You will get awkward silences.

What surprised me about LA was how open and friendly Americans are. I totally did not expect that at all. Not that I thought they'd to be mean and rude, but it was so easy to strike up a conversation with just about anyone. From the guy lining up behind me in Starbucks to the usher at the movie theatre. And it wasn't just a shallow 'hey, hows it going', some of these conversations would go on for half an hour. Most of the time, I'd end up with a number and a  'call me if you ever need anything' - and no, it wasn't just coz the guys were trying to chat me up. I really believe that Americans are genuinely friendly!

Ohhhhh...another first for me was experiencing a 45 degree day!!! I don't ever remember it getting that hot in Perth. LA welcomed me with the hottest temperature ever recorded...so hot, it broke the city thermometer in downtown. I had to walk six blocks to get to Hollywood that day. Actually eight blocks. I walked one block in the wrong direction and had to backtrack.

Longest.walk.ever.

I sat down in Starbucks for an hour just to get airconditioning but someone took my seat after I went to use the bathroom so I forced to head out into the heat again.

Anyway, I thought I'd be smart and purchase a Hollywood CityPass which is meant to save money and allows admission to:

• Red Line Behind-the-Scenes tours: A 75 minute guided walking tour around Hollywood. The last thing I want to do when its 45 degrees is walk so I didn't even use this.
• Star Line Tours of Hollywood: A 2 hour narrated movie stars' home tour. This was the real reason why I purchased the pass, so I can sit in an airconditioned vehicle for two hours. Best plan ever, aside from the fact I fell asleep through the whole tour and only woke up coz the tour guide was making fun of me. Jetlag sucks.
• Madame Tussauds Museum: Here I fell asleep on the couch for another 2 hours while escaping the heat.
• Kodak Theatre Guided Tour: A 30 minute tour of where they hold the Oscars. I think I got the most out of this one, possibly because I didn't fall asleep. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos.

OMG, It's really JT!! What, you don't believe me?

Does this look familiar..Its from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air

I can pretty much sum up my first day in LA as catching up on sleep and escaping the heat. I wasn't much more productive on the second day, waking up at 2pm. So I decided to hit up Santa Monica beach.

Sorta looks like Perth beaches

Home to the stars.

Later that night, Josh took me to In-and-Out, a Californian franchise. It was pretty good. Next time I'm LA, I know where I'll be going.

Then he showed me around UCLA. It's a beautiful campus. Can't really tell from my photo taking skills though but the views were awesome.

Pigging out on a big tub frozen yoghurt, everything is super sized in America. And they wonder why Americans are obese. 

A home cooked meal of cold soba noodles. Yep, first time I had cold soba noodles too!



All in all, LA is a great city, busy and bustling but you really need a car to get around. Catching the bus to downtown took almost an hour. Public transport is OK and pretty cheap, it only costs $1 per ride - twice as much for me since I'd normally miss my stop or get off at the wrong one then had to pay again to get on the correct one (jetlag remember!). Staying with Josh and his roomies also made the trip more enjoyable, it was nice to come home and chat with them. They were really easy to get along with and really accomodating, Josh even sent me to the airport. But yeah, I'd totally go back again if I had the opportunity to. Oh wait, I do! When I fly back to Australia..I mean, if I fly back..