couldn't blog last night because i was tipsy~~

woke up super early in preparation for cherry's arrival
checked my email and website and stuff
then finally, there was the click of our door opening and YES! CHERRY ARRIVES!!!!!
quick hug and then back to sleep
LOL

after cherry got settled, first thing we did was have breakfast
at cherry's shuttle bus driver's recommendation, we went to mother's cafe
me and cherry shared a egg white omelette, grits and a bowl of fruit
we gota free biscuit cos the waiters stuffed up so that was a good start to the day
the grits was...really bland porridge that tasted very shell-y
can skip eating that ever again...lol

Then we went to our hotel to regroup and as we were leaving again we heard one of the hotel patrons ask one of the film crew what they were filming
Turns out they were filming twilight Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Dies.
But the other three pulled me away so I wouldn't waste the day. So much for thinking it was Killer Joe. Shouldve stayed up and stalked the set but apparently, it was the volturi and not robsten so that's...a little bit better

We booked a swamp tour and then got recommended to catch the free ferry over the Mississippi river to Algier. Yeah. Don't do that.
It's really dodge and has close to nothing there. And then cherry got propositioned by a group of black people. They were all like hey shawty! So anoushka was like are you talking about Janice? But no they were talking about cherry. 
Then it was half scary half awkward as we had nothing to do but had to walk toward the ferry terminal where thus group of young hooligans were. Not cool.

Anyway, we made it safely onto mainland and proceeded to walk inside the rivercenter. Bought a watch and the saleslady recced us a few places for food.

Ended up at johnnys po'boys. We ordered a fried oyster one and a crawfish one. So so good. Like so good. Also got some sweet potato fries covered in cinnamon. They were okay but very potato-y 
 
Then we walked along the river a bit more before getting entranced by the sound of music. Turns out the rangers at the jaz musuem were giving a historical lesson, music performance included. It was so good and very educational in terms of learning about the origins of jazz music.
Afterwards we did a little bit more walking around the French quarter before going back to the hotel.

Fell asleep and napped so late that when we finally got up and went out to eat dinner at another recced place, Primo's it was closed. But it was cool cos we ended up going to Cafe Maspero again and had the best beef. The sirloin burger and steak were just SO GOOD FLKDASAFA

We were all pretty determined to experience some live music because come on new Orleans! (even at the detriment of our safety lol) so we went back down Decatur Street and went to the HOuse of BLues except we got rejected cos some rnb artist was performing and we needed tickets. 
While we were there, some moron guys were walking behind us propositioning us again. Except this group wasn't scary and just plain dumb. They thought me and cherry were underage and Japanese and just yeah. Not cool.

After we got rejected, I suggested that we go back to bourbon street despite the fact that it had looked dodgy during the day time. J and A were pretty sceptical that a dodgy place could be better at night but touristy bourbon street did good and proved itself quite awesome. 


We walked down the strip and saw heaps of clubs and bars with awesome live music, lots of drinking and partying.
The one we ended up in was almost empty and filled with old people. And it was soooooooooooo awesome. Everything you would want from a NOLA blues club.
We had to order a drink and I got a hurricane cocktail which was pretty tasty. The waiter was super touchy feely but not in a violating way. Like in a sassy gay friend way. Lol.

We stayed there a couple of hours and watched a few sets. P
It was so fantasically surreal. the saxophonist was super awkward but amazingly talented. Like ridiculously talented. Like this little young geeky white kid taken in by alot of black uncles. He was my favourite. And he totally smiled cutely at me when we said bye (and tipped them). Lol! 

The drummer and piano player and the bass dude and the trumpet dude were all soooooo cute and just feeling the music. 
I was so happy. So so beautiful to see.

Ended the night with giggly anoushka because she somehow ended up drinking 1.5 cups of drinks. 
Horhorhor 


awesome awesome night

i'm really hungry right now -.-

planned to wake up early
but as usual, we noobed it and ended up waking at 10am
had a lot of...what are we doing next? moments today LOL
went downstairs and walked back to the riverwalk to try cafe "morris" maspero  for brunch like our taxi driver recommended
went via the (in)famous bourbon street, which is half dodgy and half charismatic
did it to avoid a tour seller from last night xD
so weird. a lot of rundown buildings but i really love the colours and the doors hahah
we're still yet to catch a live band which i'm sad but hopeful for

it was so funny when we thought we saw the tour seller across the street, even though we'd gone out of the way to avoid him
anyway, finally reached cafe maspero and had an INTENSE brunch
ordered the three favourites available on the menu, which i can't remember the names of but there was a sandwich that had, no joke, 15 layers of meat; a shellfish meat rice and redbeans and rice
not a fan of the last dish, but the other two were pretty good!

after lunch we went back to the hotel via magazine street
AND BUMPED INTO THE TOUR SELLER LOOOOOOOOOOOOOLS
we also saw a lot film crew and catering vans outside
we joked a bit about the possibility that breaking dawn was filming at our hotel; even though i know they're filming in baton rouge (which is about an hour away SO CLOSE YET SO FAR)


decided that we'd go visit the famous garden district, which the map said was basically just down our street (only we're at 315 and garden district begins at 2000 xDDD)
walked by some pretty dodge areas and some bohemian/antique areas before we reached the suburbs
we're deduced that the hurrican reached pretty far back since we still saw some houses under construction
lots of cute little terraces that looked like the charmed house

just as we got too tired to move, we saw a starbucks and sought refuge there
it was when we sat down that i really grasped the cultural divide between the two districts
the french quarter is very much indundated by african americans, whereas the garden district is pretty WASPy. very strange but also, unsurprising.
after our coffee run, in which i consumed the most intense ice coffee ever (felt like 3 shots), we tried to visit lafayette cemetery on washington avenue, but it had closed half an hour before.
i was very sad.

took the street tram back to canal street
and janice did some pretty intense shoe shopping
girl has been corrupted
after that we went back to the hotel for awhile, before deciding to go back and explore the french market place
turned out to lead to very dodge and dark areas so we turned around and ended up at cafe du monde for ~dinner
ordered some of their famous beignets and some hot chocolate
not particularly exciting but still quite tasty; reminded me a lot of an asian pastry
while we ate, a random guy on the street sang the most beautiful rendition of amazing grace
i almost cried, so i had to give him some cash

after ~dinner, we went into urban outfitters and i saw my ~dream bag
so i'll probably end up getting it :P
when we finally got back to the hotel, got a call from cherry saying she'd been delayed
and she was stuck in atlanta for the night :(
i hope she's super sage right now <3



i'm really really hungry right now
(it's 1am)




donna.
woke up early
went downstairs to check out and saw the taxi there
turns out taxis arrive when they want to
had a quiet drive to the airport and tipped him appropriately!
had dunkins donuts' munchkins for breakfast before boarding the plane at san antonio
had a stopover in houston after 30min of flight, but we didn't have to get off so that was fine
then it was another hour of flight before we got to new orleans

first impression is that it's not what i thought it would be
i was expecting a lively cobblestoned main street
but it's pretty modern
we walked around and ate some gumbo and huck's puppies at a local restaurant
also had afternoon tea at IHOP
walked a bit along the mississippi river (also not what i thought it wold be...much wider and less muddy)
it was super windy and super chilly
so after the other two drew out cash we went back to the hotel

[INTERMISSION: just ran out for supper in flipflops to IHOP again in 5 degree weather. YAY]

so yeah now we're back to doing what we were doing before
and that is watching all the real housewives there is to watch
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL




waiting for ccherry to arrive.
so excited!


donna.
lol woke up really late
to janice sneaking back into the room with breakfast
poor child has to bring us free breakfast from downstairs cos we sleep too late
she brought us yoghurt, orange juice and cinnamon roll

caught the 42 bus after a bus driver stopped by us, since we looked lost (i guess?) and gave us directions
i swear, the people here are soooooooo creepy nice
he just drove up as we were walking around and asked us where we were from -.-
anyway, we bussed it down roosevelt until we got to San Jose Mission
SO DODGY
i got semi-freaked out cos it was like an empty-ish highway where it looked like people would dump dead bodies
we walked over to the mission visitor centre, got shuffled into a film about the history of the mission
and then we walked around San Jose taking photos and giggling around for a bit before we headed across the road for 2 pieces of fried chicken, chips and jumbo sweet tea for $3.99!!!

then what was supposed to be a day trailing missions turned into a Walmart expedition
i got a 3 pairs of socks!!!
it was fun.
then we bussed it back downtown before deciding we should go the non-tourist route and have tex-mex somewhere NOT on the riverwalk
ended up walking down a dark empty dodge street to get back to the market square from the night before
we had a HUMUNGOUS meal...like should be feeding 10 people with it (exaggerates)
and anoushka paid musicians to sing to us
it was awkward

after that it was back to the hotel to do the laundry
it took HOURS. because the dryer didn't dry our clothes the first time
as a result, we didnt end up sleepingg until...3am or something like that
YAY for early flight!


donna.
highlight of today: san antonio spurs vs. portland trailblazers basketball game

woke up late
went to brekkie at SIPs opposite the bakery from yesterday
had a cinnamon scone and chai tea latte
both were pretty bad -.-
like...hmmmm....let's not ever consume that much cinnamon in one go ever again, eh?

after that we went by walgreens to buy a large bottle of water
returned to the hotel to put that down before walking across the street to Houston St to catch the 24 bus to the AT & T centre to watch my first basketball game EVER

at the beginning, the spurs were losing pretty quickly and there was a bit of a moment where you think you're going for the losing team
but they quickly caught up and maintained their lead throughout the game
we had nachos and popcorn and a jumbo dog (that was the normal size) and soda
completely healthy game food!

it was pretty cool, very stereotypical american experience which was part of the fun
they had games during time out
the mascot running around and being mischievious
the camera on the crowd and the kiss cam which was sooooo awkward when they showed a non-couple and they refused  to kiss LOL
very fun and very high on team spirit
americans are really really into their sports

then we bussed back downtown to the riverwalk for some dinner
ended up  at some lounge, landry lounge where we had some pretty mediocre calamari, fish taco and some mexican dish
i had a mango mojito which was SUCH an improvement from the margharita from last night and the other two got mei tai. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
their faces were so hilarious. anoushka couldn't even finish hers.
and seriously, janice...that girl had such a high alcohol tolerance it's like O_O
we realise we're super super giggly when tipsy

anyway, now we're back home
got here at 7:30pm
we're really party animals, no?



donna.
day 1 of san antonio proper.
woke up late. didn't end up leaving the room until after noon. LOL.
(had to shower, you know?)
we slowly made our way to a food place
ended up eating brunch at a bakery down the road from the hotel
it's so strange, hot coffee iin america's pretty disgusting, but ice coffee is wonderful
it was super super windy

had nothing to do so we just kind of slow walked around
went to the visitor's centre and grabbed a map
ended up deciding to go to the mexican market down commerce street
very country stall-like with bboys next to the hay and all
after that we went into goodwill for no reason and picked out ridiculous pieces to make stories about

somehow ended back at the cathedral we passed on the way to the market
had our first funnel cake, completely not what any of us thought it would be
it was like a supper good flat churro
me and anoushka thought it was a sponge cake with a hole in it xDDD
then when we were getting it, the guy asked if we wanted hot chocolate with it
we asked what he reccommended with it and he said, hot chocolate
so we got it
turned out he meant the drink and not like...fudge sauce xDDD

after we spend awhile slowly eating funnel cake we made our way to the rivercenter mall
walked around the shops a bit
sat down on benches a bit
watched janice stand in a hurrican simulator for a bit
lol

then we watched tangled and it was pretty good
like really quite good
it was so fun, and heartwarming and just good ol' disney fun
like cliche plot but awwwwwwwwww moments
lots of quick humour
and pretty moments
and epic score
lol this isn't a very good review
and the characterisation was pretty awesome - i even felt bad for the evil witch, which confused me a bit 
songs were a bit forgettable but still disney fun and the evil witch was soooo good and mandy moore and zachary levi were sweet. need to get my hands on the soundtrack, i have a feeling it's one of those ones that will grow on me
i was teary for a few moments in the film and was about to cry in the end
when i heard someone sniffling and that made me laugh
as the credits were rolling, i realised that person was janice
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
and then anoushka was tearing as well, cos apparently she cries when she sees mob scenes
anyway, it was really cute
and yeah, it helps that the main guy is pretty good looking, in that cartoon type of good looking
many things reminded me of anastacia so maybe that's why i liked it :)

then afterwards it was off to dinner
we ended up at some irish pub and ate a lot of things with potatoes
me and anoushka ordered margharitas, and janice was like ME TOO
i have a feeling we can get her too drink anything LOL
and that girl can hold her liquor!
i ended up quite a bit tipsy but made it safely home soo it was all good
little bit of hilarity a long to way
pretty sure i talked to my mum in a pretty giggly way since she was quite amused LOL

miss my family a little bit <3
my mum's so cute with her take care and i love you too in english
so so cute <3


ETA: i was busting to go to the toilet as we were walking back
and when we got back to the hotel i fell into the seat as janice went into the bathroom
before the shower began running i walked up to the bathroom and was like...are you showering, i need to pee.
janice was like...lol i'm naked, go downstairs
but that was too far so i just sat in my seat
a few minutes later, janice was like...are you still there?
and i'm like yeah
so she comes out in her towel
and hence i left her in her towel with anoushka and it was awkward city
so we must remember this moment. :D


donna.
woke up early to shuttle it to the airport in time for our 10:20am
was leaving the room when janice realised she couldn't find our return shuttle ticket
express checked out off the hotel and ended up JUST missing our shuttle bus
ended up catching the one half hour later, and paying for the trip again
needless to say, janice got super emo at her newbness
poor child~

ate breakfast at the airport
got a two sausage and egg burrito combo from wendy's
it was really...powerful
the flight ended up delayed until 11:15am
janice was still feeling guilty
even though, me and anoushaka loled at her angst (even though that's mean xD)

apparently i was so tired, i managed to fall asleep between taxi-ing and takeoff
lol
the funniest thing was i woke up about five minutes later
and looked out the window, to find us in the sky
was so suprised

arrived in san antonio safely
decided to catch a cab from the airport to holiday inn express, north riverwalk
it was the loliest/scariest experience
turned out our cab driver was some lady who had to see psychologists because she battered her husband, and she was also fascinated with serial killers
when she said the battering part, janice very subtly grabbed onto my arm and it was soooooooooo funny/scary
so when we pulled up into an empty parking lot, we got freaked out
turned out the street that lead  to our hotel was just blocked so we decided to pull over
when janice handed over the cab fare, i told the lady to keep the change because i thought it was a twenty and a ten; it  was actually two twenties
looooooooooooooooooool janice was like WTH?????

sorry xD

we checked into our hotel
where everyone was supppppppppppppppper friendly in a creepy truman show way
the room's pretty awesome and big
better than i expected
after we settled in, we went out for a walk and dinner
basically, just explored the riverwalk and the alamo
the alamo's pretty underwhelming, just a random small spot in the city
the pace in san antonio is so much slower than the past few cities we've visited
but a much welcome change of pace, considering how tired vegas has made me

had dinner at lone star before returning to our hotel room
we started watching one of those lifetime documentaries on missing prostitutes
i was so indignant i'd be able to watch the end
but i ended up falling asleep with my socks and glasses on because i was so tired
ended up not waking up until 11:30am
felt totally disgusting. ack!




donna.
highlight of today: premium shopping!

lol emailed supervisor in the morning to tell him i wasn't doing forensic interview
(i was supposed to call him at 2pm my time)
found out at 9pm that i sent the email to myself -.-
anyway....

today we woke up
caught the las vegas bus to the las vegas outlet center
didn't buy anything

bussed it to the other end to las vegas premium outlets
spent about $500
-_______________________________________________________________-
didn't even buy that much
sigh.
need to reconfigure my suitcase :P

then we bussed back to mgm
and had dinner at wolfgang puck bar and grill
had really good organic chicken on a bed of golden mash potato xD
lol moment of the day when janice spilt her drink on me

back in our room now
packing for san antonio tomorrow
we just drew eyeliner on janice's eye
i fail.
lol.




ready for some slow pace



donna.
today is today!
super super lazy day.
took us about 2 hours to get ready today.

left the hotel around 11am
first thing we did was go on the rollercoaster at NEW YORK NEW YORK
it was $14USD
but is was  sooooooooooooo good
janice almost died of a heart attack, she freaked me out
but aside from that, it was a really good rollercoaster, partialy because there's more to it than meets the eye
after that we went to the bellagio for lunch buffet
ate for a ridiculously long time
we all ate about 2 plates of food, 1 plate of dessert and a plate of fruit
the dessert was INTENSE.

after that we just explored the strip at a leisurely pace
visited so many hotels i've basically forgotten where we went
but we walked until my legs wanted to be cut off -_______________________-
highlights included paris, venetian, wynn, the dodginess of circuscircus and the jamaican banana etc
so sad that treasure island's show is undergoing maintenance

got back to MGM around 11pm after taking photos of me eating ice cream for anita
(haagan daaz chocolate peanut butter)
ate a soft pretzel  for dinner. it was covered with the saltiest salt ever.
EVER.
now in room watching tv. feeling really really tired.



night.





donna.
lol i give up on explaining all my late entries; i'm just super lazy
yesterday we woke up at like 5:30am
got downstairs at like 6:05am and were very promptly picked up by grand tour adventures
we were the first to be picked up and then we went to the desert rose and picked up a family of four  (coincidentally from blue mountains, australia), the family had a 18 year old boy and 21 year old girl.
the boy was super social but the girl was super quiet
and finally, a black couple from the gold nugget
we actually never learnt their names LOL even though we all got to know each other really well

we drove for awhile and stopped at maccas for complimentary breakfast
then we drove for awhile and ended up on route 66 and passed heaps of ghost towns
we met angel, who was the man responsible for restoring route 66
i slept for a lot of the time
would randomly wake up and we'd all talk about the differences between aussie and US culture
we stopped at hoover dam and took pictures
took us about 4 hours to get to the grand canyon (past arizona!)

in short it was fantastic
nothing pictures or words can capture
it's mindblowing when you think that's its a natural wonder
it looks cartoon-ish and it's kind of hard to wrap your head around the fact that it's real
i think the fact that the Californian smog had settled in made it look cartoon-ish
we spent a good few hours walking around the rim
watching the sunset and the cold come in
by the time we left, it was close to freezing

took us a couple of hours to get back
the returrn trip only had one pit-stop and it was really long
(and i slept)

when i got back to the hotel i got an email from unsw org
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
we went out to ~celebrate but it was already 11 so we ended up ordering room service
lol
still have to wait for news from the GRS before i can finalise
maybe that's why i'm not excited yet, since nothing's been set in stone
can't wait until things are done. done. done.




donna.
i'm currently sitting in a small room in mgm grand, las vegas
watching janice blow dry our shoes from yesterday because we're heading to the grand canyon tomorrow

today we woke up about 8am and checked out of the hostel at around 8:50am
5 minutes later, our shuttle to SFO arrived
we're getting to be quite proficient at checking in and getting past customs in the US (knock on wood)
in my own words, i am a ninja
i'm like one of those asians in up in the air who are ready to go through the gates before i get there and already finished putting on shoes before i reach the end of the line hahahah 
SFO domestic is quite quaint, with a few small food outlets and not enough seats
we had breakfast at some asian fusion bistro in the airport
omurice with a fruit compote - the other two tried american jelly and were seemingly quite taken with it
our plane was delayed by an hour and a half
i was so tired from sleeping at 3am that i was really looking forward to sleeping on the flight
it was not meant to be
the landscape proved to be too fascinating as we flew low and i could see the geography change from california to nevada

anyway, the delay proved to have been a good thing
since we arrived at mgm, via shuttle, at precisely the time we were meant to check in
awesome awesome stuff.
we hung out in our rooms, marvelled at the fact we had a safe that was well, safe
and just rolled before we got too hungry and made our way downstairs

i had my chilli lovers combo, the exact same as the one i had five years before
las vegas in general has been one big nostalgic area
so many things are familiar and nothing much has changed
we made our way up the strip and got as far as caesar's palace
checked out the sights at m&m's world, watched janice get freaked out by an elvis "statue" and heard anoushka make some lame joke about LVPD (i.e. louis vuitton police department)

we ended up eating again at the cheesecake factory
ordered the biggest salad ii'd ever seen in my life
ordered sheila's cashew chicken salad, magarheita pizza bites, crab bites and a 30th anniverday fudge cake cheesecake.
heart attack just thinking about it again.
but the food was really quite good. and pretty decent priced (or maybe that's because the dollar is high-ish *shrug)

so excited about the grand canyon tomorrow
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~~
"un-delay, un-delay"



donna.
highlight: golden gate bridge, getting lost

hello.
I'M STILL ALIVE!
so yes, this is another day-late entry. let us go back in time to yesterday~

woke up around 10-11am and had breakfast up the street at what a grind
it was on the recommended list for coffee and bagels
i got a salmon spread bagel and cappucino
bagel was so good, the smear was light and fluffy and heart-attack causing
the coffee was really really bad -.- half the cup was foam and yeah, i'm yet to find mid-way decent american coffee
after breakfast, we went to walgreens to buy ponchos, since it was forecasted for rain before we took the F street car to fisherman's wharf and found the bicycling store on taylor street to hire bicycles
keep in mind that of the three of us, zero of us are good cyclists
so...yeah LOOOOOOOOOOOL
the two people working at the store LOLed at us as we wiggled onto A FREAKIN' ROAD.
WE HAD TO RIDE BIKES ON A ROAD.
IF CHRIS MOORE CAN FALL OVER RIDING ON A ROAD, WE CAN DIE!!

anyway, we rode about 3 blocks on roads...WITH CARS!!!!
and at this time, the weather was cloudy but not raining yet
it was a nice ride and we detoured to fort manor (read: we got a little lost)
by the time we were three-quarters to golden gate bridge, it was rianing lightly so me and janice donned our bright yellow ponchoes
IT. WAS. HILARIOUS.
we were yellow batman.

By the time we got onto the bridge it was raining hard.
My hands were so cold, they were red from the blood rushing forward to bring warmth.
My jeans were so wet, that everytime I completed a cycle, I could see the water getting squeezed out of the denim
My shoes were completely soaked
and we were riding both uphill and downhill as well as on a bridge that was known for gusty winds...
JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY.
it was hilarious though.
i couldn't stop laughing/crying/laughing

our aim was to get to sasileto to catch the ferry back
we never made it
we got lost
we ended up at some bay area musuem  which we later found out was quite close to our end point
you know, just a few kilometres up a 45 degree hill...lol
we ended up being joined by a group of 5 cyclists from spain who got lost as well
probably due to the stupid signs that pointed in the wrong direction!

anyway, long story short there was a mix up with the cabs
so we ended up waiting 45min, by which time we were so cold my butt couldn't stop shaking and anoushka's teeth couldn't stop chattering
one of the guys in the spanish group  (who was concidentally really really hot) told us to catch the txi first and even went so far as to help us put the bikes on the racks
he got yelled at by one of the spanish girls but omgosh he was so hot and so nice
fdlksajfsafsalk;a

we got back to sanfran, dropped our bikes off and then taxi-ed it back to usa hostels
where we all took turns taking showers and introducing warmth back into our lives

such an epic. journey.

afterwards, we went down the street for japanese
i had tempura udon which was just so good, in light of the day's events
then we ended our last night in san fran with some good ol' fashioned shopping at macy's.
where i bought two more pairs of jeans.
yes.
i know.
sigh.




donna.
we're the laziest travellers ever.
woke up at 10:08am and didn't leave the hostel until...11am
LOL.
but we stay out late!

highlights for today: lombard street, fisherman's wharf, alcatraz

started off the day in an awesome way with breakfast across the street at paris cafe
i got a breakfast bagel and a latter - bagel was ridiculously good, just a simple egg and ham and cheese but soooooooooooooo good. the coffee was bad.
then we walked up the hills past the main city, past chinatown, past little italy
all the way to lombard street, home to the most crooked street in the world
and what must have been one of the world's steepest suburban streets because man, i tell you, i have realy sore thigh and calve muscles right now -__________________________-
took a few pictures before we made our way to fisherman's wharf
this whole walk must have taken us 1.5 hours because it was so ridiculously hilly

at pier 39, we saw the sealions
those are some lazy buggers, i tell you but they were pretty cute
fisherman's wharf was also pretty cute
had a few carnival things, kind of like a part of disneyworld with the stores and the junk food
we stood for a couple of minutes watching a juggling act
this old man with a tummy and good jokes
he was also really
for lunch, i had mini donuts and a cup of tea
we walked around a bit before heading over to pier 33 for the alcatraz cruise
alcatraz is an island of the shore of sanfran, where they used to house prisoners who had commited crimes within other correctional facilities

it was cold, we had cloudy weather the whole day
tomorrow's supposed to be epic rain and we were supposed to bike the golden gate bridge so i don't know how well that's going to work tomorrow :(((((
anyway, the alcatraz cruise was pretty cool, we got some history and an audio walking tour as we walked through the jail cells on the island
since we did the night cruise, the sun had set by the time we were doing the tour and it was pretty eerie and haunting
especially since the audio tour had all these different sound effects and stuff
pretty good for $33~

when we got back to the mainland, we walked around for dinner
and ended up at hooters. that's right! HOOTERS!
contrary to what people think, it's a family friendly restaurant but lol, when we first entered janice looked so completely scandalised. LOL
we ordered boneless buffalo wings (don't order these, just get the normal wings) with ranch and hot sauce, curly fries, and this really really awesome BBQ pork burger which was like the meat off pork ribs or something but it was really really good. we also had key lime pie for dessert but had trouble finishing.

then it was back home via the F street car which took like 20 minutes compared to the 1.5 hours it took to get us there. LOL.
we stopped near macy's and walked into the madness
it was still open at 10pm LOL
went up and found REALLY CHEAP LEVIS, then the lady gave us AN EXTRA 25% with the friends and family card and now i have two pairs of levis for $25 each.
AMAZING.

what a great way to end the night?
yes, if you can't tell, that was a really exciting part of the day for me.
LOL.
not that the other parts weren't relaly exciting as well, but WOW that's really cheap levis.
LOL.


ok i go now.


donna.
one; if donna thinks your shirt is on inside out, it probably is
two; if donna tells you she thinks the punnet of grapes you're buying is too big; it probably is
three; if donna tells you that the bus is on the other side of the road; it probably is
four; misc


donna.
i'm tipsy right now.
but that's not the point.

today we woke up at 8:30am to get shuttled to LAX
with all the rumours of the nightmares there, we decided to leave at 9am to catch out 12:50am
you know, 1 hour to get there (for the traffic) and two hours to get through security
we ended up three hours early
traffic annd security were a breeze~
GOODBYE LA, i'm not really gonna miss you that much xD

now i'm using the free wifi at usa hostels in san francisco
and loving the hills and architecture
we caught the tram from the airport to the BART station and then took the train/subway to powell street station. janice was pretty much impressed all the way throughout. To cherry, it's really similar to HK xD
we struggled to get our stuff up the three blocks to the hostel because, dagnabit, sanfran is really hilly
got stopped by a black dude who gave us directions and tips. turned out he wanted tips.
when will we learn?
anyway, finally gott our stuff up to usa hostels and YAY no TV and it's supposed to be a shared female dorm for 4; but right now, we only have the three of us. good stuff.
at least there's a heater and we have our own ensuite!

after we settled in and locked everything away, in case a fourth female got stuck with us,
we headed back down to union square. took a few pictures but not that much, since i got warned not to show albus all over the place. (i.e. by the black dude who wanted a tip)
we walked around a bit, finally got our mobiles set up, and window shopped a little
ate dinner in the food court below Westfield SanFran - SO SO SO much bigger and brighter than our westfields. just...wow. if i had limiteless luggage and a personal chaffeur to the airport...yeah.
had some nice soup and cobb salad from the supermarket where you can just...buy ready to eay food.
was fascinated.

then we got a flyer for a comedy club night but when we walked past there, it was SOOOOOOO dodge
like homeless people all over the place
so we decided to skip it and just go back to the hostel
we went karaoke night instead
there was one flamboyant filo dude in green who was SOOOOOOOOO into karoake and really quite a good singer. but lol, he was sooooooooooooo into karaoke, he brought his own DVDs to karoake night at the hostel. i mean, wow.
sang a few songs. for each song sung, we got a beer.
i drank one whole beer.
hence, the tipsyness.
pretty sure janice has my red face on her camera.




yay.



donna.
lol this is a day late
yes. three days in and i've already gotten slack with my entries.

moving on...

so yesterday's highlights were: rodeo drive, farmer's market and jimmy kimmel

started off day around 10am again
went down for cheerios, minus the toast because we learn from past mistakes
got a day pass from the metro station because we wanted to be pro
then we set out towards the Vine to catch the 704 again
down santa monica boulevarde we went, but we got off after abour 20 minutes at canon drive
walked towards the BEVERLY HILLS sign and took photos
there was a woman there taking photos with her dog, it was a dog show dog, it was really obvious it was a dog show dog.
then down rodeo drive we went and omgosh, we seriously SPOKE quieter since it was so high class -.-
went down the street basically just mispronouncing the names of brands
got to the little european street and bumped into the famous ambassador there, he was fluent in japanese and knew over 100 different languages - IMPRESSIVE!
walked around a bit but there wasn't really anything to do so basically we just walked back up and had ice cream on the way - janice had pumpkin and i had my favourite chocolate peanut butter. it was good.
then we went back up and caught the 704 back to Fairfax for the farmer's market
had a philly cheese steak and fish tacos for lunch - philly cheese steak was INTENSE
and did some shopping at forever 21 in The Grove
then it was the 217 back to Hollywood Blvd since we had Jimmy Kimmel tickets (almost caught the wrong bus cos Janice is directionally challenged, but thankfully she was smart enough to ask the bus driver first)
waited in line to get in, i swear Jimmy Kimmel had higher security than LAX domestic airport
sat down in our seats and got a  runthrough for how we were supposed to fake laugh and fake clap
was supposed to have guest star Alyson Hannigan but got a really pleasant surprise when they announced JAMES FRANCO instead.
so freaky, since roughly five years ago, I saw him close up on Hollywood Blvd after his premiere for Annapolis. It's  like O_o LOL AGAIN?! Anyway, he tried to be funny but ended up a bit weird and pretentious. He seemed high for a lot of the time.
Quite fun watching how they film it. But not the most exciting thing ever.

For those interested, this is the show we were studio audience for:


Got to watch a mini-concert with some black dude turned country singer. Liked the christmas carol more than their main singles.
After the show, we walked back down Hollywood Blvd and finally found Patrick Swayze for Anoushka to take home xDDDD
We were soooooooooooooooooooooo buggered  after the long day, we just stayed up watching TV until 2am.


As you do when you're buggered.


donna.
woke up at 8:30am in our dingy hotel in LA and it was really hot
turned off the heater and went back to sleep
woke up again and it was like..10am
went downstairs to tiki kitchen for breakfast - YAY for FREE cheerios and toast
hahaha
chatted for a little little bit to another hostel-er from melbourne
she was one of those types that chatted up everyone LOL
then it was off to santa monica pier - EPIC adventure
walked back up Hollywood Boulevard to the Vine
while walking up to the intersection, we saw a whole heap of people and paparazzi
turned out someone was getting a star on the walk of home
lol who?
reese witherspoon! (image credits to LA times)




then we proceeded down the Vine until we got to Santa Monica boulevard to catch the 704 down to santa monica pier
took like...over an hour -.- stupid widespread LA
santa monica beach and pier was really pretty
and we spent a lot of time just walking around taking photos; janice had her UOW interview
went on the ferris wheel because we're tourists - so hilarious that janice forgot she had vertigo until we got onto it
then we walked down the beach, past south beach, to venice beach
SO MUCH POT AND STONED PEOPLE AND MARIJUANA.
DID NOT KNOW THEY WERE SO OPEN.
then we got lost trying to find out way back
THE SUN WAS SETTING
WE THOUGHT WERE WERE GOING TO DIE
AND WE'D BEEN WALKING ALL DAY
(felt like we were in danger when it was really just 6pm)
-.-
went all the way down to washington boulevarde because some dude gave us the wrong directions -.-
ended up walking back up to venice boulevard and taking the 733 back to fairfax
then when we got to fairfax the 217 JUST arrived so we quickly  jumped onto that to get back to hollywood boulevarde
so hilarious that anoushka thought i was paying for her and just walked passed the bus driver without paying LOL
and got back to hollywood boulevarde and you'd think we'd go sstraight back home but NO!
got off near kodak theatre and had fast food mexican
then did a little bit of browsing aorund H&M, didn't get anything :P
then slow walked back home


YAY
so here we are
another night watching mtv horhorhor
outside is karaoke night
would go and join but...too many drunk guys
lol
such is LA


also, forgot to mention that yesterday on the shuttle bus
a really hot girl was sitting next to janice
turns out she was mode/actor...as they are in LA
she looked like a prescription glasses model (maybe cos she had glasses on)

yeah that's about it


janice is too lazy to transfer photos so...hahah later


donna.
it's been more than a day since i left kingsford-smith airport
wow. mindblown.

sitting in a dingy hostel/motel right now in a halfway dodgy part of downtown LA
yesterday
 aussie time - 8am 30-november - i hugged isaac goodbye
spent the morning packing
and left the house with mum around noon
got to the airport around 1:30pm and was super smart so skipped the line and just bag-dropped by 14.3kg bag with united airlines instead of waiting an hour in line
i got frisk searched at the first security check -.- must look too dodge.

left sydney around 4:49pm and flew for hours and hours/
over which i basically just ate and drank alcohol and slept  for 14 hours lol (sidenote: don't drink the white wine; it's really bad)
united service was so much better than last time. thumbs up!
the three of us got nicknamed as the "drinking ladies" for this one flight attendant with crazy hair xD
got to san francisco and went through customs
not too bad, the customs officer was like, why are you going to LA? there's nothing to do but get shot!
LOL
then got on another one hour flight from San Fran to LAX. Basically, just walked out of the airport. Good thing we went into America via SanFran.
took the Primetime shuttle to Hollywood and it took 2 hours; got a little tour of  how dodge LA is while we went around and around.
when i first got onto the shuttle bus, the driver was like you can't sit there, that's a two person seat so he made me sit up front. so i walked around and got half into the seat before i realised that where the passenger seat usually is, is actually the driver's seat!!!!! everyone LOLed and were like where you from?!

when we finally got to our hostel and checked in it was like YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
even though it was like lit with green lights
and looked a bit like a dodgy motel
hahahhaha
i can't concentrate because outside there's comedy night and people are laughing
we've got our own kitchen and shower though!
will update when i'm not completely jetlagged :|

we had dinner at a thai restaurant,, ordered three mains and was way too much
now we have three take away boxes in our little fridge waiting to be microwaved
then we  walked down the dodgy part of hollywood blvd before going to ask the petrol station and realised we were walking the wrong way so we went back the other way and walked for i don't know how long (a half hour?) to get to the walk of fame and mann's chinese theatre
my legs are so tired
now we're watching tv and catching up on emails
gonna shower and sleep soon (it's 6:09pm aussie time and 11:09pm LA time the day before)

LA "sightseeing" tomorrow!

can't wait until we get back to sanfrancisco :D


donna.