Us of A (Day 5)

Day 5: San Mateo - Hollywood Boulevard - Walt Disney theatre - Hol Inn (LA Marinda)


On Tuesday Morning (5th June), we got up at 7ish to prepare for our road trip to LA. GEGE dropped us at San Mateo which was the pick up point about 20 mins drive from home. He was kinda excited to have the house back to himself again since we'd be gone from Tuesday to Friday.

Life in LA is more similar to SG as compared to San Francisco. The afternoon sun is more lethal and it's warmer in the day. Temperatures go up to 35 deg which is kinda similar to what we have in SG, just that it's no where as humid so it was bearable. As well, half of America's population resides in LA which makes it pretty densely populated with human and cars. There's crazy traffic jams almost throughout the day. On this note, people in LA are very sharp looking in the sense that they dress to the latest fashion (in fact, they are the fashion) and that they have nicer features. I know Beverly Hills is known to be the city of cosmestic surgeries but this does not naturally indicate that everyone is in general better looking because they've all gone through some sort of surgical corrections.

Us hippies setting off for LA in the tour bus

First of a series of stopovers next to a fruit market where there was a carousel and small park 

Second stopover where we had BK for lunch nearby a cattle farm. 

Nice landscape coupled with overpowering smell of live products.

I think we made about 3 to 4 stopovers in total. After a long 8 hours journey by road, we finally got to LA and the first stop was Hollywood Boulevard with the famous walk of fame. True to what the tour guide had mentioned, it is a city abuzz with activities and (good looking) people. 

Greeting tourists outside Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Hollywood 

Kodak Theatre. Seems like that's the last anyone will see of the sign since Kodak has declared bankruptcy earlier on this year. 

Will Smith

Donald Duck

Along the streets are people who dressed up as celebrity icons from cartoon animations to movie stars. The only difference between them and those we see in Universal Studios/ Disney land is that we need to pay for their photos because it is essentially what they do for their living. After careful deliberation, M and myself each chose one character we would take a photo with.  

Optimus Prime!

We were walking along that stretch and were pretty fascinated by his costume. And it's true that people are won over by good services and warm greetings. So as we stopped and deliberated, he approached us and started talking to us. Both of us were captivated (yes, I believe this is the right word) by his robotic voice and his mesmerizing eye (you can actually see through the opaque box to see his eyes). And upon our request, he actually turned off the voice box after warning us that all the magic will be gone so we got to hear his real voice. To bring it a note higher, he took off that robotic head and beneath it was a really good looking hispanic guy *_* He obviously won M over who decided that this shall be the character she'd have a shot with.

As for myself, I chose

Mr Incredible!
(and the character from Star wars. I really dont know his avatar name because truth be told, I was never a Star wars fan)

My choice was purely diplomatic. I was not prepared to have any photos with these people but as we walked along that particular stretch thrice, I guess I was won over by Mr Incredible's cheekiness and part thereof, looks. As to why Star wars was in the picture, it still remains a mystery and joke to M and myself. For the rest of the trip, Mr Incredible was always the topic of our jokes because let's just say, as a character from a child movie, his personality certainly didn't match the innocence you would expect from his avatar.

After having enough fun at the walk of fame, we proceeded down to Walt Disney Concert Hall.

That's the Disney theatre behind which houses about 2200 people and is worth billions of dollars to date.

Thereafter, we were brought for dinner at a Hong Kong restaurant (which tasted surprisingly nice) before we headed back for our hotel at Holiday Inn La Mirada. My stereotype of holiday inn hotels was challenged because what greeted us in the hotel room were 2 Queen sized beds and an almost impeccable toilet that we could ask for.

OOTD: White Jacket: HnM Hong Kong || Yellow dress : Cotton on USA || Necklace : Flea Market from San Jose