The strangeness never stops. While we had breakfast in a little room in the hotel, mum gapes at the amount of cream cheese the couple at the next table are slathering on their bread, and the African American group nearby wear their sunglasses to breakfast and ghettospeak to each other. When all we see of their culture is in music and movies, albeit extensively, it's quite a shock to hear it in real life. Y'know what I'm sayin'?

Ning has completely lost her voice. She now croaks.

The same Armenian driver who first picked us up the day before arrived to drive us to Universal Studios. He had told us yesterday that there's a large number of Armenian immigrants in California. He can speak seven languages, but still gets stuck with the chauffeur job here because his qualifications aren't recognized.

It's cold and rainy again (and this is supposed to be California), making our driver grumpy. "I hate this traffic!" He proclaims twice. Mum suggests coming to Singapore. "I like hot." he says agreeably.








Very varied window-shopping

When we arrive it's windy and freezing, and it was perfectly ridiculous to walk around in three layers of clothing in the summer. We have to whip out our brollies. The first attraction we visit is a Van Helsing horror trail, where we get to walk through the sets of the movie. It's dark and creepy and people in unpleasant get-ups keep jumping out from behind corners and scaring the bejabbers out of everyone.



We next went for a Shrek 3D show, which involves a side story of Lord Farquaad's ghost chasing after the happy couple and kidnapping Fiona again. We got attacked by spiders, sneezed on by Donkey, fell through a waterfall and bumped around on a dragon. Great times.




The highlight of the visit was definitely the Studio Tour, even though the guide told really bad jokes. We rode through a street set used for several movies including Bruce Almighty, went past a studio where they were setting up to shoot an episode of CSI, met King Kong who really had banana breath, experienced a flashflood created using gallons of water which is pumped back up for use again, drove through rain, thunder and lightning (really special lights and sprinklers), rode through a Mexican set used in Big Fat Liar, visited the set for the Mummy, saw the exact town set which got attacked by Capt Barbossa and his pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean and where they're also filming Pirates 2, Jurassic Park, and- the War of the Worlds set! It was just a disaster area with a destroyed plane and lots of scrap metal, but it was surreal. It's a really good way to promote the movie, I reckon. I'll be finding myself drawn to the cinema when it gets released in the next month or so, just to see the set again. We pass Wisteria Lane (Desperate Housewives, which we most unfortunately do not watch!). There's even houses in the studio area where important crew members can stay when they're filming, complete with their personalized parking spaces. I spy Sam Mendes' (American Beauty) lot. Cool!







Before...

After!

A cabin miniature

Whosville



War of the Worlds set!

Part of Wisteria Lane



We had a quick lunch at a Flintstone themed food kiosk of turkey, hotdogs and nachos. Then a special effects show- bluescreen, miniatures and stuff, which isn't really a surprise to us after watching every single LOTR behind-the-scenes DVD extra that exists, but the part where Fluffy the mechanical monster came to life [his actions were suspiciously life-like] and killed off one of the hosts rocked. Fluffy later killed one of the sound effects volunteers as well.






Was apprehensive about going on the Jurassic Park ride at first because of the huge warning signs everywhere proclaiming its danger, but it was really nothing! Pretty slow moving except for the drop at the end. I felt rather cheated. Haha. Really not one person screamed.



Making fools of oneself for a living is commonplace.


Then it was time for more shopping at the Universal Citywalk. Shopping in theme parks is always extra good 'cos there's stuff you really can't find anywhere else- Tim Burton artwork tees, original Emily posters, and more Johnny! Fossil here rocks, they sell wallets, T-shirts and bags aside from watches. We wandered into an art gallery with paintings of Montmartre and flying books, and found the Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack in Sam Goody. CDs are pointlessly expensive here- they cost exactly the same as in Singapore, only in U.S. dollars! So it's like 1.7 times the price? But the thing they have is variety- Y Tu Mama Tambien is widely available, and there's a lot of ancient, and downright strange titles like Viggo Mortensen's Boiling Point, way back from 1993, which I really don't know why they're still carrying.













We eat dinner at Shanghai & Mein, which has ridiculous Chi-Am decor ("traditional Shanghai setting", according to the website) and angmo waiters. Mum converses with the Chinese cook in Cantonese, asking him to make our food less oily and salty. We have a tasty dinner of chow mein (ugh- I mean cao mian) and wanton mee.


The unavoidable Chinese takeout cartons.

We walk past another Abercrombie & Fitch on the way out. They have tees on sale (US$15, which is still a pricey S$25.50 for just a T-shirt, but already quite a steal in this place)! We find our driver waiting for us at the entrance, who is slightly crabby and thuggish-looking in his leather jacket, and a lot less friendly than our first driver, but he gets the job done and we get a nice car to sit in.



We're off to the East Side tomorrow. *Makes gangsta hand signals*


(All photos from L.A. here and here)