(Days Inn, Hollywood, L.A. county)

So we've left the beautiful O.C. behind, along with the eternally happy Disneyland. After dragging the luggage trolley all the way back from the lobby back to our room, dumping overstuffed bags onto it and dragging it to the entrance, Auntie Mae arrived. She has two sons, one in Stanford University and the other in Columbia. 0_0

We went to a nearby Denny's for a delicious breakfast- some dude was walking around twisting balloons into various shapes for the kids- we had buttermilk pancakes and ham & mushroom platters. We cleaned our plates.



We later drove to South Coast Plaza for some shopping. Rode along the many freeways again- just driving along the freeway is one of my favourite activites. L.A. is extremely flat and you can see mountains and buildings miles and miles away all around you. You just have a feeling of how infinite the universe is, pardon the cheese factor. And the numerous tall skinny palm trees to constantly remind you you're in California, here we comeee...

South Coast Plaza was pretty crowded, it being a Saturday, with lots of families milling around. I hear Spanish and foreign-accented English more than regular American accents. The Plaza was slightly frustrating at first due to the ridiculous prices and high end boutiques, but we later found some more affordable shops after limping around (yes, from walking around Disneyland too much), and purchased a purple top and South American influenced skirt. Abercrombie and Fitch has nice, not so affordable T-shirts. By the look of it, turquoise is in this summer because it is EVERYWHERE. And the kind of long crinkled flowy skirt. You could probably find a turquoise long crinkled flowy skirt in any decent clothing store in the mall. There are large signs around the mall with quotes on them- I love the way they are there simply for art's sake.




We have taken to taking pictures of things we cannot afford to buy, which is rather satisfying.



Oh and guess what we saw in a shop window for Ermenegildo Zegna [stylo men's brand that I had to dig up the South Coast Plaza directory in order to spell]? Diego Luna, [just the picture, not in the flesh, unfortunately] modelling. While his best friend is busy prancing around Hollywood making stuff like Babel with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, he's modelling. Oh well. At least it's not Baleno. And we were very happy and snapped away, while the store staff [in their snappy suits] looked wordlessly on. I'm very glad they didn't rage on about copyright infringement like they did in Korea, and elsewhere. Another funny thing is how cars actually give way to pedestrians- they literally slow down and stop when they see that someone wants to cross the road. I'm worried we'll forget when we get back and get knocked down along Orchard Road or something.



Angry!Diego.



I couldn't resist putting this one up from the Ermenegildo Zegna site, even though it has nothing to do with our trip. Why didn't they put this one up in the shop window? I'm sure they'd sell more suits.

Guess! has especially beautiful (and pricey) clothes here. Everything is so Indian influenced, my mum says we should just go to Little India and shop instead. And what's with all the Latin America promoting clothing? It's just the stereotype of how they spend all their time dancing and drinking tequila.



We had lunch at Yujean Kang's Asian Bistro, which had surprisingly good food especially with a name like that. Our Chinese waiter understood Mandarin but pronounced "Mapo Tofu" with an atrocious American accent- the way it is spelled. We had a nice meat free meal with cooked vegetables. And the fortune cookies! What a joke. First sign of the angmo interpretetion of a Chinese restaurant. Mine said something like, "A sudden change of events will bring good luck in the future." Well, I certainly hope that doesn't come true. And this!



We walked a very long distance to Borders (I think the mall was the size of Singapore) where they had very pretty journals, though over the years I don't really see the need to buy expensive blank books that I can't bear to use. Saw a very pretty version of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, while Ning was happy to find respite in the graphic novels section.


Viggo Mortensen. He acts. He writes. He... introduces.

We headed back to the car to take a one hour ride to dinner. Zooming along the freeway was another experience. The combination of fluffy clouds and setting sun really made it look like the gateway to heaven. And Road Signs. Lincoln Avenue, Santa Monica. Odd buildings along the road fading into the horizon, such as crab restaurants and a gigantic football stadium. Huge green hills surrounded us as we headed further to the L.A. county, straight out of LOTR. It makes one feel so tiny and so massive at the same time. Really wished we could have stopped along the freeway to capture such beauty- it'll have to remain in our own memories then.




We reached Monterrey Park after an hour of wide-eyed gaping- we expected to fall asleep but there was just too much to see- it's a very Chinese district. Pretty houses, though it isn't supposed to be a safe area. We saw a Hispanic(?) dude selling flowers randomly along the road, sticking his head into passing cars when they stopped at the traffic lights. The income gap here is questionably large. When we were looking for a parking space some junior street punks on skateboards zoomed by, one almost crashing into our car.

The seafood restaurant we intended to go to was absolutely packed, so we went to a little noodle house instead. Being slightly ill we couldn't really finish our food, but it was nice to be among some Mandarin-speaking people again. (And NOT Cantonese.) An American Chinese girl took her black and Hispanic friends to eat there.

We went to a nearby Chinese supermarket to buy fruits to cleanse all the oil and grease away. Church posters are pasted on lamp posts around the area. I was delighted to see that they sold Hello Panda there! Halfway across the world. Saw a Chinese guy with a haircut that would look more appropriate on a Singaporean secondary schoolgirl. I suggested going to the Mummy Museum the next day since it will be Mother's Day. Mum isn't amused. We see Seoul Raiders and Kungfu Hustle movie posters in the shop windows.



And it was time to head to Hollywood! We passed the county jail on the way. It looks pretty good for a jail. Creative graffiti and murals on the city walls. We pass the CNN headquarters, filming studios and the Hollywood sign on the hill. It's a pretty seedy area but nonetheless fascinating. Carson Daly is due at a show according to a theatre signboard along the way. We see more budget inns, and the Nickelodeon studios.

Days Inn Hollywood is rather grubby compared to its predecessor. No Asians whatsoever, which makes for an interesting stay. The counter ladies look on mildly as we tug our luggage up the steps, sans ramps. A fire truck wails by. We later discover that there are no shuttle services to the places of interest, so we'll have to wander around on our own. We removed our luggage from the trolley and dragged them one by one up more steps- while I was holding the door open so Mum and Ning could drag the luggage through a woman in orange overalls outside a nearby room started talking to me in gobbledegook. She was probably drunk.

As we attempt to arrange our luggage around the room, there are bangs and thumps from above as well as the adjourning room. People conversing in ghettospeak routinely walk past our window. This entirely alien setting will have be confronted- and explored thoroughly- tomorrow.