Sunday, 23rd March 2015
Hey. Wasn't sure if I could be bothered to start this blog again but here I am. Can't disappoint the 8 people on Facebook who might read this. But i'm doing this for myself if anything, or at least a future version of me. Would be good to look back at this when I'm older, fatter, crying and wiping my tears away with KFC, thinking to myself what went wrong. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...
So yeah, for those of you that don't know I've gone traveling again. Well I say traveling, it's more of a holiday. Well actually it is a holiday. So yeah, I've gone on holiday again. Currently in Malaysia for 2 days, then flying to Japan on Wednesday but more about that later.
Flight was from Heathrow Terminal 4 at 10pm. Didn't have much to do in the Terminal really. There was no fast food so I had to either eat expensive caviar or pay £10 for a burger and chips. Went for the burger. The 12 and a half hour flight to Kuala Lumpur was surprisingly okay. As you can imagine nothing exciting happened. Didn't see any crazy people screaming and trying to get off the plane.
It always makes me laugh when you first get on the plane you walk past the good looking, comfy, business class section. So this is what I could of had. Then you get to the economy section... To be fair, Malaysia Airlines is pretty good. Sat down and listened to the nice and relaxing evaluator music playing before takeoff. I like to think that nobody had to urge to hijack the plane and try to kill everyone because of it. Anti-Terrorist hits Vol.1, featuring the soothing sounds from DJ Air & MC Plane.
Food was alright and the in flight entertainment was good. Was going to watch the new Hunger Games but I've heard that most of it is shit. Decided to watch Casino Royale instead, which was edited a lot. At least 30 minutes of the film was cut out! >_<
Fun Fact #8: The captain was called Bob.
Slept for 7 hours and then watched Juno for the first time. Actually really enjoyed it and it's definitely worth watching if you have the time.
Landed in KL and had 55 minutes before my next flight to Langkawi. Had to rush through immigration and luckily made it to the departure lounge with time to spear. Apparently is was 29°C. Bit of a change from the UK. Even in the airport, with air con, it felt like my eyeballs were sweating.
Since Malaysia is 8 hours ahead, I really had no idea what time it was or if I was meant to be a sleep or not. Had a power nap on the hour journey to Langkawi anyway. When we landed it felt and sounded like the plane was going to fall apart. Had to walk from the plane, outside onto the airport itself. For some reason it just reminded me of GTA. Could easily have taken over a plane and got a 4 star rating.
Got my suitcase and met the parents at the airport.
Not much to say about Langkawi really. It's ridiculously hot and everything is ridiculously cheap. When I say things are cheap, I mean cheap! Had a 7 course meal of some of the best Chinese food I've eaten and it only cost £17. So cheap, in fact, that my Mum refused to pay less than £1.50 for a taxi home because it was too expensive. It's the principle she says...
So apart from the food and relaxing by the pool, the best part of my 2 days here was getting on the back of a bike and going about 55mph, holding on for dear life and trying not to piss myself. Doesn't sound all that great but being in the sun and driving to Pantai Cenang beach, seeing palm trees everywhere you look is pretty amazing. Then later I see 3 people on one bike; a woman on the back holding a kids bicycle, the bloke driving and a little kid in front not holding onto anything and I just think to myself... fuck that.
Oh and Malaysia is also a place where it is acceptable to eat curry for breakfast (roti canai).
That's all you really need to know really. Going to write more when I get to Tokyo, so expect to see updates later in the week, if I have the time.
ERMAHGERD ERMERICA #3
Part 3: Fear and Loathing
Sunday, 31 March 2013
After I went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall I went back to USA Hostels, checked out and got on a bus to Santa Monica. The buses are a bit different to the ones in the UK. Firstly there are no push buttons to stop the bus. Instead there are bus cords you need to tug. Also, if you have a bike you can attach it to the front of the bus before you get on. One thing that is the same, is the amount of crazy people on buses. On the bus towards Santa Monica, I was sat opposite this bloke who looked to be in his late 20s. Just by looking at him it was clear that something was mentally wrong with him. He was wearing dirty clothes and looked like he hadn’t had a wash in years. He asked me if I had a pen. I did but said no in fear he was going to stab me with it. A minute later he asked again. He then walked up the bus asking everyone for a pen and when he couldn’t get one he sat at the back of the bus for a while. Ten minutes later he walked back down the bus and sat opposite me again. He then asked the bus driver for a pen. He got a pen and sat back down. I then saw him take out a tiny torn up piece of paper from his pocket, write something on it and then gave the pen back to the driver. Two minutes later he asked me for a pen again ಠ_ಠ. All of this happened while I had my headphones on. Later after the pen bloke got off the bus I stopped listening to my music, took my headphones off and then heard a black man in the middle of the bus talking out loud to himself. Crazy.
Finally got to my hostel in Santa Monica, checked in and went to the room. The person who was staying in the bunk bed above me was someone from Taunton of all places. We even had a mutual friend on FaceBook. Small world and all that bollocks.
In the same room as me, there was a Japanese bloke who was about my age. He hardly spoke any English. I spoke to him for a bit and he somewhat told me he wanted to go Universal Studios. This was his lucky day because I had a spare ticket. The ticket was a print out and needed to be used as entry within the week. I tried to explain this to him but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a clue what the fuck I was saying. Regardless, I ended up selling my spare ticket and making my money back. Not sure if he knew what he was buying really and I kinda felt bad. To cheer myself up I bought a new pair of Vans with his money. Ha.
At night I fancied eating steak. I walked into this posh looking steak house restaurant, looked at the menu, saw the ridiculously expensive prices, closed the menu, turned around and left without saying anything. Went to an English pub instead and had fish and chips. The pub was called Ye Olde King’s Head. Was quite nice. While I was there, a couple was sat to the right of me in dead silence. They didn’t say anything to each other in ages until one of them said “Those flowers at the reception are beautiful aren’t they.” Really Awkward.
The next day I went for a long walk to Venice beach. Took a lot of photos and saw the world’s smallest front yard.
Santa Monica is a lovely place and I would love to go back. Definitely recommend everyone to go there if you have a chance.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Time to go the Las Vegas! Flight was in the morning. Somewhat unsurprisingly I ended up getting on the wrong bus and getting lost. Was a nightmare. Not entirely sure how I managed to get to the airport on time.
On my flight I was sat behind a little kid who was trying to get attention from his mum. I’m pretty sure he said “Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy” about 100 times. Annoying little shit. I also heard him shout out “We’re going to crash!” when we hit a bit of turbulence. Actually found that quite funny.
Flight landed safely and the first thing I noticed were the slot machines at the airport!
The hotel I was staying at the Circus Circus hotel, which brings me to...
Fun Fact #6: In the novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the sixth Reich. The ground floor is full of gambling tables, like all the other casinos . . . but the place is about four stories high, in the style of a circus tent, and all manner of strange County-Fair/Polish Carnival madness is going on up in this space.” When the book was adapted to film in 1998, the fictional “Bazooko Circus” was a thinly-veiled stand-in for the world-famed resort, which had refused permission for the filmmakers to shoot on their property.
And now we know. (And knowing is half the battle. G. I. Joooooeeee!)
When I got to the hotel I did what anyone else would do and started to gamble. The very first bet I made was on the roulette table. I put $1 on black 12 or something like that and it landed on black 12! What are the fucking chances. Ended up winning like $40. Stayed playing and I ended up with about $100. At this point I should have left. Kept on playing and lost about $10 then thought okay I can make that back by betting another $10. Lost again and before I knew it I lost about $70. Such a bad gambler. Thing is, it doesn’t feel like real money you’re playing with. In my mind I was playing with monopoly money so it was easy just to keep on betting.
Later that day I took out $100, went back to a roulette table, put it all on black and lost it all....
I was only in Las Vegas for one night to see Penn and Teller. Because I booked my tickets months in advice I was lucky enough to be sat in the front row. Still haven’t got a clue how they do most of their tricks. The bullet catch was particularly impressive and was great to see in person.
Walking back after the show I was kinda sad because I knew my time travelling was almost over. Had an amazing time and I’m glad I did it. One question I get asked is, was it lonely to go travelling by yourself? Thinking about it, I don’t think it was. There is always something for you to do, so you don’t really think about being lonely. And if you’re staying in hostels you will always meet a lot of lovely people, so you will always have someone to talk to.
Wednesday, 3rd April
Time to leave Las Vegas and go back to the UK. Had to get up at 5:50am and check out. On my flight back to London I ended up falling asleep during take off. Heard an air hostess talking to this really rude passenger. She had to apologise for something she didn’t do and say shit like ”Sorry about that sir, yes sir.” I know it’s her job but I bet she was tired of acting and just wanted to say “fuck off” to the bloke.
Ended up sitting next to a lovely French women called Juliette. Was nice to have someone to talk to during the long flight back home.
Got back to England and of course it was pissing it down with rain. Heard someone in the airport say it was a “delightfully cold day” I smiled, left the airport and got on a bus back home to Exeter and a year later I finally finished my travel blog! Hope you enjoyed it.
I will leave you with one last fun fact.
Fun Fact #7: I travelled a total of 26,257 miles around the world in 31 days and spent 60 hours+ on a 10 different planes, 1 train and a number of different buses.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
After I went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall I went back to USA Hostels, checked out and got on a bus to Santa Monica. The buses are a bit different to the ones in the UK. Firstly there are no push buttons to stop the bus. Instead there are bus cords you need to tug. Also, if you have a bike you can attach it to the front of the bus before you get on. One thing that is the same, is the amount of crazy people on buses. On the bus towards Santa Monica, I was sat opposite this bloke who looked to be in his late 20s. Just by looking at him it was clear that something was mentally wrong with him. He was wearing dirty clothes and looked like he hadn’t had a wash in years. He asked me if I had a pen. I did but said no in fear he was going to stab me with it. A minute later he asked again. He then walked up the bus asking everyone for a pen and when he couldn’t get one he sat at the back of the bus for a while. Ten minutes later he walked back down the bus and sat opposite me again. He then asked the bus driver for a pen. He got a pen and sat back down. I then saw him take out a tiny torn up piece of paper from his pocket, write something on it and then gave the pen back to the driver. Two minutes later he asked me for a pen again ಠ_ಠ. All of this happened while I had my headphones on. Later after the pen bloke got off the bus I stopped listening to my music, took my headphones off and then heard a black man in the middle of the bus talking out loud to himself. Crazy.
Finally got to my hostel in Santa Monica, checked in and went to the room. The person who was staying in the bunk bed above me was someone from Taunton of all places. We even had a mutual friend on FaceBook. Small world and all that bollocks.
In the same room as me, there was a Japanese bloke who was about my age. He hardly spoke any English. I spoke to him for a bit and he somewhat told me he wanted to go Universal Studios. This was his lucky day because I had a spare ticket. The ticket was a print out and needed to be used as entry within the week. I tried to explain this to him but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a clue what the fuck I was saying. Regardless, I ended up selling my spare ticket and making my money back. Not sure if he knew what he was buying really and I kinda felt bad. To cheer myself up I bought a new pair of Vans with his money. Ha.
At night I fancied eating steak. I walked into this posh looking steak house restaurant, looked at the menu, saw the ridiculously expensive prices, closed the menu, turned around and left without saying anything. Went to an English pub instead and had fish and chips. The pub was called Ye Olde King’s Head. Was quite nice. While I was there, a couple was sat to the right of me in dead silence. They didn’t say anything to each other in ages until one of them said “Those flowers at the reception are beautiful aren’t they.” Really Awkward.
The next day I went for a long walk to Venice beach. Took a lot of photos and saw the world’s smallest front yard.
Santa Monica is a lovely place and I would love to go back. Definitely recommend everyone to go there if you have a chance.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Time to go the Las Vegas! Flight was in the morning. Somewhat unsurprisingly I ended up getting on the wrong bus and getting lost. Was a nightmare. Not entirely sure how I managed to get to the airport on time.
On my flight I was sat behind a little kid who was trying to get attention from his mum. I’m pretty sure he said “Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy” about 100 times. Annoying little shit. I also heard him shout out “We’re going to crash!” when we hit a bit of turbulence. Actually found that quite funny.
Flight landed safely and the first thing I noticed were the slot machines at the airport!
The hotel I was staying at the Circus Circus hotel, which brings me to...
Fun Fact #6: In the novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the sixth Reich. The ground floor is full of gambling tables, like all the other casinos . . . but the place is about four stories high, in the style of a circus tent, and all manner of strange County-Fair/Polish Carnival madness is going on up in this space.” When the book was adapted to film in 1998, the fictional “Bazooko Circus” was a thinly-veiled stand-in for the world-famed resort, which had refused permission for the filmmakers to shoot on their property.
And now we know. (And knowing is half the battle. G. I. Joooooeeee!)
When I got to the hotel I did what anyone else would do and started to gamble. The very first bet I made was on the roulette table. I put $1 on black 12 or something like that and it landed on black 12! What are the fucking chances. Ended up winning like $40. Stayed playing and I ended up with about $100. At this point I should have left. Kept on playing and lost about $10 then thought okay I can make that back by betting another $10. Lost again and before I knew it I lost about $70. Such a bad gambler. Thing is, it doesn’t feel like real money you’re playing with. In my mind I was playing with monopoly money so it was easy just to keep on betting.
Later that day I took out $100, went back to a roulette table, put it all on black and lost it all....
I was only in Las Vegas for one night to see Penn and Teller. Because I booked my tickets months in advice I was lucky enough to be sat in the front row. Still haven’t got a clue how they do most of their tricks. The bullet catch was particularly impressive and was great to see in person.
Walking back after the show I was kinda sad because I knew my time travelling was almost over. Had an amazing time and I’m glad I did it. One question I get asked is, was it lonely to go travelling by yourself? Thinking about it, I don’t think it was. There is always something for you to do, so you don’t really think about being lonely. And if you’re staying in hostels you will always meet a lot of lovely people, so you will always have someone to talk to.
Wednesday, 3rd April
Time to leave Las Vegas and go back to the UK. Had to get up at 5:50am and check out. On my flight back to London I ended up falling asleep during take off. Heard an air hostess talking to this really rude passenger. She had to apologise for something she didn’t do and say shit like ”Sorry about that sir, yes sir.” I know it’s her job but I bet she was tired of acting and just wanted to say “fuck off” to the bloke.
Ended up sitting next to a lovely French women called Juliette. Was nice to have someone to talk to during the long flight back home.
Got back to England and of course it was pissing it down with rain. Heard someone in the airport say it was a “delightfully cold day” I smiled, left the airport and got on a bus back home to Exeter and a year later I finally finished my travel blog! Hope you enjoyed it.
I will leave you with one last fun fact.
Fun Fact #7: I travelled a total of 26,257 miles around the world in 31 days and spent 60 hours+ on a 10 different planes, 1 train and a number of different buses.
ERMAHGERD ERMERICA #2
Part 2: Nicholas Cage mode
Friday, 29 March 2013
When I was planning my trip to America, way back in February 2013, I knew I wanted the go the Warner Bros. VIP Studio Tour and on Friday 29th March I finally got to go.
I had to get there before 10am, but the only problem was I didn’t really know where I was going or what bus to get. It was inevitable that I ended up missing the bus, so I had the get a taxi instead. From what I can remember the taxi cost a shit load of money. Got the Studio and managed to get on an earlier tour. Needless to say the tour was amazing. I got the visit the Friends set and sit on the Central Perk couch. Went to the Big Bang Theory set and saw Sheldon’s Doppler Effect costume. You weren’t allowed to take any photos because you probably would be shot and killed by Elmer Fudd. However, I did manage to sneak a blurry photo of the set and costume with my iPhone. Didn’t get to see any actors or filming because it was half term when I went and they all had the week off.
Got the see where Spiderman and Mary Jane had that upside-down kiss, which brings me on to.....
Fun Fact #4: While hanging upside-down in the ‘rain’, Tobey Maguire needed to have his nostrils completely sealed with wax to prevent him drowning.
Highlight of the tour was seeing the Frickin’ Batmobile (Holy Awesomeness Batman!).
At the end of the tour, our guide took us to a small museum. Saw some of the costumes from recent Warner Bros. Movies and TV shows, including the Batsuit and Heath Ledger’s Joker costume. The top floor of the museum was all Harry Potter stuff. Got to wear the sorting hat and was sorted into Gryffindor.
After the tour finished I had to get a bus back. I somehow ended up at a bus stop with a crazy lady. Heard her muttering stuff to herself and occasionally swearing. She look liked the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons but with no cats.
Think this is a good time to explain why this blog post is called ‘Nicholas Cage mode’. While I was in Melbourne, my mate Tom messaged me at 4:40am saying “Ey up, I’ve set a signature challenge for you when you visit California. If you can collect at least ONE of these signatures, I’ll buy you all your drinks for the next time we meet”
These were the names of celebrities I needed to get to sign a piece of paper, or better yet a photo of me and (select) celebrity...
Recruit mode : any “where are they now celebrity” eg. Matt LeBlanc, or Duey from Malcolm in the Middle.
Normal Mode: any TV/ B-movie/ celebrity from the past 5 years eg: Conan oBrien, Bryan Cranston
Hard Mode: any Film star/ Comedian/ Rockstar/ Director eg: Marilyn Manson, Bill Murray.
Hardcore mode: Jerry Seinfeld, The Fat guy from Lost, Courtney Love, Bill Gates
Insane/ Legendary mode: Chuck Norris, Tom Hanks, Jackie Chan, Neil Patrick Harris
Impossible mode : Steve Jobs
Nicholas Cage mode : Nicholas Cage
And that’s why this post is called Nicholas Cage mode.
So did I see any famous celebrities while I was in America? Short answer is No. Long answer is I could have seen Simon Helberg a.k.a Howard Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory. Basically when I got back from the Warner Bros. Studio, I was talking to my hostel room mates and they meet him at Amoeba Music in Sunset Boulevard, while he was having the day off from filming at Warner Bros. Studio.....
Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. I did see someone wearing a glitter suit, playing a guitar and wearing roller blades though. That was pretty special.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Had a lay in on Saturday morning and woke up at 9am. I was thinking of calling Michael the tour guide and going to the Hollywood sign then to Beverly Hills, but I kept on changing my mind on what to do. Some times I really hate being indecisive but I just can’t help it. In the end, I decided to go on the hostel Hollywood sign tour. Only cost $7, so it was much cheaper than any other street tour. On Friday they had a Beverly Hills tour, which I would have gone on if I hadn’t already booked the Warner Bros VIP Studio Tour.
The Hollywood sign tour started at 10:30am and lasted for 2 hours. Before we left it didn’t look very sunny outside so I decided to wear jeans, which was a mistake. Was stupidly hot when we were hiking up the hill. Bought a Kit Kat in the shop halfway there, and it melted by the time we got to the sign. Outside the shop I saw a stereotypical American couple. There was a bloke who looked like he was on steroids and a Paris Hilton like women who had a small dog. The dog was being dragged across the floor and wasn’t moving its legs, which I found funny.
Fun Fact #5: Just before the Hollywood sign is a hidden garden called The secret Garden of Oz. Apparently the Dalai Lama has been there before. Look out for it if you ever go to the Hollywood Sign.
When I got to the sign it didn’t look real. It looked like a post card. You could see people climbing all the way up to the sign. They looked like little ants next to the 50ft sized letters. So I got to the sign, took a lot of photos and then left.
Being in Los Angeles has made me understand why everyone in America is so over weight. Yes the food portions are big but the main reason is that everything just tastes amazing. Every time I’ve ordered something, halfway through I’ve felt full but I can’t stop eating because the food is ridiculously tasty.
Later in the afternoon I decided to go to Beverly Hills because that’s were I wanted to be...
So anyway, while I was there I got lost, really lost. Couldn’t use Google maps on 3G because, as I’ve said before, it would have cost a fortune.
Top Tip #2: Make sure you have a smart phone with Google Maps or you will get lost. And look for directions while you have access to free Wi-Fi!
After walking around in circles, I eventually found a small pizza place that had W-Fi. Looked for the next bus back to Hollywood and left. While I was at the bus stop I was really cold and desperately needed a piss. I could see a public toilet across the road but was worried if I left I would have missed the bus. Didn’t know when the next one would be so I just held it in. Was painful but luckily I didn’t piss myself.
Got back to the hostel at night and I had new room mates. This time I was in a room with a group of Argentina lads, who all smelt of weed. They were also singing ‘I’m all out of faith’ by Natalie Imbruglia and whipping each other with towels. I left before it got any weirder and went for a walk to see the Hard Rock Cafe and the TCL Chinese Theatre. I ended up in a much nicer, ‘tourist’ area of Hollywood. I take back what I said in my previous post about there being no glamour or street performers. This ‘tourist’ area is what I expected Hollywood to be like. I realised then I was just staying in the shit part of Hollywood. Outside the Chinese Theatre, there were people dressed up everywhere you looked. You couldn’t take a photo without giving them a tip. They would just cover their face if you didn’t give them money. While I was walking around some random person put a CD in my bag. He immediately asked me for a tip. I gave him the 3 cents change I had in my pocket. Needless to say he didn’t look happy and took the CD back off me.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
In the morning I went to the TCL Chinese Theatre again. This time to look at the famous hand prints. Spent fucking ages trying to find Jackie Chan’s hand print. Little did I know I couldn’t find it because it wasn’t there when I went in March 2013. (Today I learned that Jackie Chan was honoured at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 6th, 2013)
Later that day I got a bus to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was amazing to see it in person. Such an incredible building. After that I went to another China Town. Lost count of how many China Town’s I went to in the month I was travelling.
In my 3rd final blog post I will be talking about my time in Santa Monica and Las Vegas.
One last thing... The photo of this bloke below was on almost every advertisement I saw in Hollywood. The first person to tell me what he does for a job gets a free pint from me. I will give you one clue. On the ad poster they called him a “Super ..........” Answers on a postcard please, or better yet in the comments section.
Friday, 29 March 2013
When I was planning my trip to America, way back in February 2013, I knew I wanted the go the Warner Bros. VIP Studio Tour and on Friday 29th March I finally got to go.
I had to get there before 10am, but the only problem was I didn’t really know where I was going or what bus to get. It was inevitable that I ended up missing the bus, so I had the get a taxi instead. From what I can remember the taxi cost a shit load of money. Got the Studio and managed to get on an earlier tour. Needless to say the tour was amazing. I got the visit the Friends set and sit on the Central Perk couch. Went to the Big Bang Theory set and saw Sheldon’s Doppler Effect costume. You weren’t allowed to take any photos because you probably would be shot and killed by Elmer Fudd. However, I did manage to sneak a blurry photo of the set and costume with my iPhone. Didn’t get to see any actors or filming because it was half term when I went and they all had the week off.
Got the see where Spiderman and Mary Jane had that upside-down kiss, which brings me on to.....
Fun Fact #4: While hanging upside-down in the ‘rain’, Tobey Maguire needed to have his nostrils completely sealed with wax to prevent him drowning.
Highlight of the tour was seeing the Frickin’ Batmobile (Holy Awesomeness Batman!).
At the end of the tour, our guide took us to a small museum. Saw some of the costumes from recent Warner Bros. Movies and TV shows, including the Batsuit and Heath Ledger’s Joker costume. The top floor of the museum was all Harry Potter stuff. Got to wear the sorting hat and was sorted into Gryffindor.
After the tour finished I had to get a bus back. I somehow ended up at a bus stop with a crazy lady. Heard her muttering stuff to herself and occasionally swearing. She look liked the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons but with no cats.
Think this is a good time to explain why this blog post is called ‘Nicholas Cage mode’. While I was in Melbourne, my mate Tom messaged me at 4:40am saying “Ey up, I’ve set a signature challenge for you when you visit California. If you can collect at least ONE of these signatures, I’ll buy you all your drinks for the next time we meet”
These were the names of celebrities I needed to get to sign a piece of paper, or better yet a photo of me and (select) celebrity...
Recruit mode : any “where are they now celebrity” eg. Matt LeBlanc, or Duey from Malcolm in the Middle.
Normal Mode: any TV/ B-movie/ celebrity from the past 5 years eg: Conan oBrien, Bryan Cranston
Hard Mode: any Film star/ Comedian/ Rockstar/ Director eg: Marilyn Manson, Bill Murray.
Hardcore mode: Jerry Seinfeld, The Fat guy from Lost, Courtney Love, Bill Gates
Insane/ Legendary mode: Chuck Norris, Tom Hanks, Jackie Chan, Neil Patrick Harris
Impossible mode : Steve Jobs
Nicholas Cage mode : Nicholas Cage
And that’s why this post is called Nicholas Cage mode.
So did I see any famous celebrities while I was in America? Short answer is No. Long answer is I could have seen Simon Helberg a.k.a Howard Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory. Basically when I got back from the Warner Bros. Studio, I was talking to my hostel room mates and they meet him at Amoeba Music in Sunset Boulevard, while he was having the day off from filming at Warner Bros. Studio.....
Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. I did see someone wearing a glitter suit, playing a guitar and wearing roller blades though. That was pretty special.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Had a lay in on Saturday morning and woke up at 9am. I was thinking of calling Michael the tour guide and going to the Hollywood sign then to Beverly Hills, but I kept on changing my mind on what to do. Some times I really hate being indecisive but I just can’t help it. In the end, I decided to go on the hostel Hollywood sign tour. Only cost $7, so it was much cheaper than any other street tour. On Friday they had a Beverly Hills tour, which I would have gone on if I hadn’t already booked the Warner Bros VIP Studio Tour.
The Hollywood sign tour started at 10:30am and lasted for 2 hours. Before we left it didn’t look very sunny outside so I decided to wear jeans, which was a mistake. Was stupidly hot when we were hiking up the hill. Bought a Kit Kat in the shop halfway there, and it melted by the time we got to the sign. Outside the shop I saw a stereotypical American couple. There was a bloke who looked like he was on steroids and a Paris Hilton like women who had a small dog. The dog was being dragged across the floor and wasn’t moving its legs, which I found funny.
Fun Fact #5: Just before the Hollywood sign is a hidden garden called The secret Garden of Oz. Apparently the Dalai Lama has been there before. Look out for it if you ever go to the Hollywood Sign.
When I got to the sign it didn’t look real. It looked like a post card. You could see people climbing all the way up to the sign. They looked like little ants next to the 50ft sized letters. So I got to the sign, took a lot of photos and then left.
Being in Los Angeles has made me understand why everyone in America is so over weight. Yes the food portions are big but the main reason is that everything just tastes amazing. Every time I’ve ordered something, halfway through I’ve felt full but I can’t stop eating because the food is ridiculously tasty.
Later in the afternoon I decided to go to Beverly Hills because that’s were I wanted to be...
So anyway, while I was there I got lost, really lost. Couldn’t use Google maps on 3G because, as I’ve said before, it would have cost a fortune.
Top Tip #2: Make sure you have a smart phone with Google Maps or you will get lost. And look for directions while you have access to free Wi-Fi!
After walking around in circles, I eventually found a small pizza place that had W-Fi. Looked for the next bus back to Hollywood and left. While I was at the bus stop I was really cold and desperately needed a piss. I could see a public toilet across the road but was worried if I left I would have missed the bus. Didn’t know when the next one would be so I just held it in. Was painful but luckily I didn’t piss myself.
Got back to the hostel at night and I had new room mates. This time I was in a room with a group of Argentina lads, who all smelt of weed. They were also singing ‘I’m all out of faith’ by Natalie Imbruglia and whipping each other with towels. I left before it got any weirder and went for a walk to see the Hard Rock Cafe and the TCL Chinese Theatre. I ended up in a much nicer, ‘tourist’ area of Hollywood. I take back what I said in my previous post about there being no glamour or street performers. This ‘tourist’ area is what I expected Hollywood to be like. I realised then I was just staying in the shit part of Hollywood. Outside the Chinese Theatre, there were people dressed up everywhere you looked. You couldn’t take a photo without giving them a tip. They would just cover their face if you didn’t give them money. While I was walking around some random person put a CD in my bag. He immediately asked me for a tip. I gave him the 3 cents change I had in my pocket. Needless to say he didn’t look happy and took the CD back off me.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
In the morning I went to the TCL Chinese Theatre again. This time to look at the famous hand prints. Spent fucking ages trying to find Jackie Chan’s hand print. Little did I know I couldn’t find it because it wasn’t there when I went in March 2013. (Today I learned that Jackie Chan was honoured at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 6th, 2013)
Later that day I got a bus to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was amazing to see it in person. Such an incredible building. After that I went to another China Town. Lost count of how many China Town’s I went to in the month I was travelling.
In my 3rd final blog post I will be talking about my time in Santa Monica and Las Vegas.
One last thing... The photo of this bloke below was on almost every advertisement I saw in Hollywood. The first person to tell me what he does for a job gets a free pint from me. I will give you one clue. On the ad poster they called him a “Super ..........” Answers on a postcard please, or better yet in the comments section.
ERMAHGERD ERMERICA #1
Part 1: The flux capacitor
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight to LA. Got on the $16 Air Shuttle bus. Somehow I stupidly got off at the domestic terminal stop. Went inside the terminal, wondered around lost & confused for a bit, then realised I was in the wrong place. After walking for 10 minutes I got to the international terminal. Had to wait in line for an hour just to check in. Was near the front of the line and I noticed a New Zealand Maori family skip the queue and go straight to the front. I just laughed that they managed to get away with not waiting line, like the rest of us.
Had my sun cream taken off me at the security checks. Forgot it was in my hand luggage.
Got on the plane at 7pm. They make you walk through business & premium class and you get to look at all the lovely and comfortable seats you can’t afford. Great way to start a plane journey.
Sat down and I was a metre away from a baby that wouldn’t stop crying. My headrest was also broken and the little kid behind me kept on kicking my seat. Fantastic ಠ_ಠ. On the bright side, I was sat next to an elderly women who gave me her ice cream that she didn’t want. She was really friendly because she was from New Zealand.
Managed to get some sleep during the 12 hour flight. I dreamt that I nearly got run over by a bus, which freaked me out. When I did wake up, it felt like I was fully paralysed for a bit, because I was sitting still for ages and not moving.
When we were arriving in Los Angeles, I heard the little kid in the seat behind me say “the cars below look like different coloured ants”. This made me smile.
Travelled back in time and got off the plane at 11:30am on Wednesday 27th, 8 hours before I had left Auckland. Because of the time difference I had to relive the same day again. Really fucked up.
Waited for an hour in the immigration line. When I was near the front I had to move to an even longer line for some reason. I was too tired to even care.
When you get to the front and start taking to a member of staff, they ask you a lot of questions.
Where are from? What are you doing here? Where are you staying? How long are you staying here for? What’s in your bag? Did you pack the bag yourself? What do you do? And so on. I understand they’re just doing there job but the whole thing is just a bit shit really. Apparently you can’t trust anyone anymore.
After making it through immigration I somehow needed to make it to my hostel in Hollywood. I asked the staff at the information desk and got some directions. Needed to get the free bus to the Metro station, then from there I had to get on the blue line, then change to the green line and change again and get on the red line, then I should arrive in Hollywood. Needless to say, I was confused.
When I got off the free bus, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I found out I needed to get a ‘TAP’ card, but I didn’t understand what a ‘TAP’ card was. I’ll explain what it is now, for anyone who might go to Los Angeles in the future. You need a tap card to pay for public transport. It will cost you $1 for the card, which you can top up again and re-use. A one way journey will cost $1.50 and using the card all day on either a Metro bus or train, will cost you $5. It is basically the same as an Oyster card. Really easy actually, but I didn’t know this at the time.
The machine to get a ‘TAP’ card wasn’t accepting my notes for some reason, so I decided not to buy one and managed to get on the train for free.
When I sat down on the train the person to the left of me was rapping out loud badly. Later someone walked onto the train with a suitcase. He open the case and it was full of food and drink. He started walking down the train saying:
“Cold water, Sneakers, Twix. One Dollar”
I was tempted to buy a bottle of water but I decided against it for my own well being.
Got off at the next station to change but there was a ticket machine man, checking tickets. I didn’t have one so I had to use the complicated ticket machine. For whatever reason I ended up putting a $20 note into the machine and getting a shit load of coins back as change. American coins are really confusing. It is really difficult to tell apart which coin is which, because they all look the same. There is also three different types of one dollar coin! A gold one and two different shaped silver ones!?
After getting on another couple of trains, I somehow arrived in Hollywood. In my mind I expected to see lots of street performers and glamour, however when I got off the Metro at the Hollywood and Vine station and walked outside, I soon realised that Hollywood is in fact a very dirty place. There was no glamour and instead of street performers there were homeless people. It was a lot to take in. Completely different atmosphere to New Zealand.
Took me a while to get use to it all and not feel intimidated by random crazy people who are very in your face.
One of the main attractions in Hollywood is the walk of fame. If you ever go to Hollywood you will soon realise that the walk of fame is pretty shit. I walked out of the station and it was just there. Most of the names I had never heard of, so to me, it really wasn’t that great.
So yeah I walked out of the station and I was lost. However, this time I was lost, tired and desperately needed a piss. I didn’t want to use 3G to find out where the hostel was, because it would cost me a shit load of money. I ended up using the Starbucks for Wi-Fi. Thank god for Starbucks!
Somehow I still managed to walk down the wrong street after looking on Google Maps. I blame the Road signs, and not me being idiotic. To be fair the road signs are confusing but whatever.
4 hours after the plane landed in America, I finally arrived at the hostel and the bloke who worked there looked like Skillix. I checked in and went to my room. The first thing I noticed was the shower. It was 10 times better than the shit shower in the Auckland hostel. The hostel is called ‘USA Hostels’ and I would highly recommend staying there because they have free breakfast. Not cooked breakfast unfortunately but free bread and a toaster. If you wanted you could make your own pancakes (but I never did because I’m far too lazy). Found out by Skillix that the tap water was safe to drink. Always good to hear.
Put my stuff away, FaceTimed my family to let them know I had arrived and then went out looking for food.
Had no idea where I was going. I crossed the road and this crazy black man wouldn’t get out of my way. Ended up going to a place called Juicy Burger and OH MY GOD! It was the best burger place I have ever been to. The burger I ordered was the size of my face. It made the Baconator burger I got from Wendy’s in New Zealand look like shit and I loved the Baconator burger. The fries were amazing, the burger was incredibly juicy and the sauce was amazing. Everything was just perfect.
After eating the best burger ever, I tried to walk to the Hollywood Sign. I soon found out that this was pretty much impossible to do by yourself. You can’t just see the sign in the distance and try to walk towards it because you will get lost. After walking around in circles I ended up walking down Sunset Boulevard. There is a really cool comic book store there and also a place called Amoeba Music, which I highly recommend you check out if you do ever go to Sunset Boulevard in the future.
Later at night, after a lot of walking, I was hungry again. Went to this Italian place and ordered a calzone and was given plastic cutlery to eat it with. The only problem was the plastic knife wouldn’t have been able to cut through butter, let alone a calzone. While eating, this bloke sat next to me starting talking to me. To my surprise he wasn’t a murderer, rapist or a drug addict. He was a man named Michael and was the owner of Red Carpet Tours. He seemed friendly enough. Chatted to him for a bit and he gave me his business card. Said he would give me a discounted tour. I said I would think about it and left.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
The next day I went to Universal Studios! If you ever go to Universal Studios I recommend going on the Universal Studios tour first. Got to see a shit load of cool stuff, like the Psycho house and the Desperate Housewives Wisteria Lane set. After the tour I went on The Simpson ride and it was brilliant. Went to the gift shop afterwards, or the Kwik-E-Mart as it was called. They had your typical key chains for sale with names on. Was going to buy one but they didn’t have Dean as a name. Just reminded me the episode of The Simpsons when they are in Itchy & Scratchy Land and Bart tries to buy a license plate with his name on.
“Cool! Personalized plates! Barcley, Barry, Bert, Bort…come on…Bort?”
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vWQKbrmOACTkApWZ13gDYdi_V1_VstqJMp_DhFdJgizSUAAsV47BDa6WSkLaaf-neIGTAflxCgVZ-aDAmo8Mr47_8bzynECBBu0MvFWyLhmT_fEEts-p-P2dWAjlMoU9ocm9tjCkpx8bIcd8qz5OLG=s0-d)
Went on the new 3D Transformers ride next. Outside they had people dressed up as Optimus Prime, and Megatron! Needless to say it was awesome. Managed to skip the long queues by going on the single rider lines. Must have saved myself half a day by doing this and I’m not even over exaggerating. Two hour wait on the normal queues and only 15 minutes on the single rider line.
Had lunch in the Jurassic Cafe. Paid $14 for the driest piece of chicken I have ever had the misfortune to eat.
The scariest ride I went on was the Mummy ride. I nearly shit myself. Fucking terrifying.
Later I got to see the original DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future!
At night after an amazing time at Universal Studios I went on the Universal CityWalk. I bought a hot dog to eat and I somehow managed to pour all the sauce on my hand :/
Five things I have learnt so far:
It is impossible to eat any fast food without making a mess.
Most places in Hollywood smell like weed.
Almost everyone on the street is crazy and talks to themselves
Sign posts are confusing and you are going to get lost
Hollywood is a very dirty place.
Part 2 coming next year....
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight to LA. Got on the $16 Air Shuttle bus. Somehow I stupidly got off at the domestic terminal stop. Went inside the terminal, wondered around lost & confused for a bit, then realised I was in the wrong place. After walking for 10 minutes I got to the international terminal. Had to wait in line for an hour just to check in. Was near the front of the line and I noticed a New Zealand Maori family skip the queue and go straight to the front. I just laughed that they managed to get away with not waiting line, like the rest of us.
Had my sun cream taken off me at the security checks. Forgot it was in my hand luggage.
Got on the plane at 7pm. They make you walk through business & premium class and you get to look at all the lovely and comfortable seats you can’t afford. Great way to start a plane journey.
Sat down and I was a metre away from a baby that wouldn’t stop crying. My headrest was also broken and the little kid behind me kept on kicking my seat. Fantastic ಠ_ಠ. On the bright side, I was sat next to an elderly women who gave me her ice cream that she didn’t want. She was really friendly because she was from New Zealand.
Managed to get some sleep during the 12 hour flight. I dreamt that I nearly got run over by a bus, which freaked me out. When I did wake up, it felt like I was fully paralysed for a bit, because I was sitting still for ages and not moving.
When we were arriving in Los Angeles, I heard the little kid in the seat behind me say “the cars below look like different coloured ants”. This made me smile.
Travelled back in time and got off the plane at 11:30am on Wednesday 27th, 8 hours before I had left Auckland. Because of the time difference I had to relive the same day again. Really fucked up.
Waited for an hour in the immigration line. When I was near the front I had to move to an even longer line for some reason. I was too tired to even care.
When you get to the front and start taking to a member of staff, they ask you a lot of questions.
Where are from? What are you doing here? Where are you staying? How long are you staying here for? What’s in your bag? Did you pack the bag yourself? What do you do? And so on. I understand they’re just doing there job but the whole thing is just a bit shit really. Apparently you can’t trust anyone anymore.
After making it through immigration I somehow needed to make it to my hostel in Hollywood. I asked the staff at the information desk and got some directions. Needed to get the free bus to the Metro station, then from there I had to get on the blue line, then change to the green line and change again and get on the red line, then I should arrive in Hollywood. Needless to say, I was confused.
When I got off the free bus, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I found out I needed to get a ‘TAP’ card, but I didn’t understand what a ‘TAP’ card was. I’ll explain what it is now, for anyone who might go to Los Angeles in the future. You need a tap card to pay for public transport. It will cost you $1 for the card, which you can top up again and re-use. A one way journey will cost $1.50 and using the card all day on either a Metro bus or train, will cost you $5. It is basically the same as an Oyster card. Really easy actually, but I didn’t know this at the time.
The machine to get a ‘TAP’ card wasn’t accepting my notes for some reason, so I decided not to buy one and managed to get on the train for free.
When I sat down on the train the person to the left of me was rapping out loud badly. Later someone walked onto the train with a suitcase. He open the case and it was full of food and drink. He started walking down the train saying:
“Cold water, Sneakers, Twix. One Dollar”
I was tempted to buy a bottle of water but I decided against it for my own well being.
Got off at the next station to change but there was a ticket machine man, checking tickets. I didn’t have one so I had to use the complicated ticket machine. For whatever reason I ended up putting a $20 note into the machine and getting a shit load of coins back as change. American coins are really confusing. It is really difficult to tell apart which coin is which, because they all look the same. There is also three different types of one dollar coin! A gold one and two different shaped silver ones!?
After getting on another couple of trains, I somehow arrived in Hollywood. In my mind I expected to see lots of street performers and glamour, however when I got off the Metro at the Hollywood and Vine station and walked outside, I soon realised that Hollywood is in fact a very dirty place. There was no glamour and instead of street performers there were homeless people. It was a lot to take in. Completely different atmosphere to New Zealand.
Took me a while to get use to it all and not feel intimidated by random crazy people who are very in your face.
One of the main attractions in Hollywood is the walk of fame. If you ever go to Hollywood you will soon realise that the walk of fame is pretty shit. I walked out of the station and it was just there. Most of the names I had never heard of, so to me, it really wasn’t that great.
So yeah I walked out of the station and I was lost. However, this time I was lost, tired and desperately needed a piss. I didn’t want to use 3G to find out where the hostel was, because it would cost me a shit load of money. I ended up using the Starbucks for Wi-Fi. Thank god for Starbucks!
Somehow I still managed to walk down the wrong street after looking on Google Maps. I blame the Road signs, and not me being idiotic. To be fair the road signs are confusing but whatever.
4 hours after the plane landed in America, I finally arrived at the hostel and the bloke who worked there looked like Skillix. I checked in and went to my room. The first thing I noticed was the shower. It was 10 times better than the shit shower in the Auckland hostel. The hostel is called ‘USA Hostels’ and I would highly recommend staying there because they have free breakfast. Not cooked breakfast unfortunately but free bread and a toaster. If you wanted you could make your own pancakes (but I never did because I’m far too lazy). Found out by Skillix that the tap water was safe to drink. Always good to hear.
Put my stuff away, FaceTimed my family to let them know I had arrived and then went out looking for food.
Had no idea where I was going. I crossed the road and this crazy black man wouldn’t get out of my way. Ended up going to a place called Juicy Burger and OH MY GOD! It was the best burger place I have ever been to. The burger I ordered was the size of my face. It made the Baconator burger I got from Wendy’s in New Zealand look like shit and I loved the Baconator burger. The fries were amazing, the burger was incredibly juicy and the sauce was amazing. Everything was just perfect.
After eating the best burger ever, I tried to walk to the Hollywood Sign. I soon found out that this was pretty much impossible to do by yourself. You can’t just see the sign in the distance and try to walk towards it because you will get lost. After walking around in circles I ended up walking down Sunset Boulevard. There is a really cool comic book store there and also a place called Amoeba Music, which I highly recommend you check out if you do ever go to Sunset Boulevard in the future.
Later at night, after a lot of walking, I was hungry again. Went to this Italian place and ordered a calzone and was given plastic cutlery to eat it with. The only problem was the plastic knife wouldn’t have been able to cut through butter, let alone a calzone. While eating, this bloke sat next to me starting talking to me. To my surprise he wasn’t a murderer, rapist or a drug addict. He was a man named Michael and was the owner of Red Carpet Tours. He seemed friendly enough. Chatted to him for a bit and he gave me his business card. Said he would give me a discounted tour. I said I would think about it and left.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
The next day I went to Universal Studios! If you ever go to Universal Studios I recommend going on the Universal Studios tour first. Got to see a shit load of cool stuff, like the Psycho house and the Desperate Housewives Wisteria Lane set. After the tour I went on The Simpson ride and it was brilliant. Went to the gift shop afterwards, or the Kwik-E-Mart as it was called. They had your typical key chains for sale with names on. Was going to buy one but they didn’t have Dean as a name. Just reminded me the episode of The Simpsons when they are in Itchy & Scratchy Land and Bart tries to buy a license plate with his name on.
“Cool! Personalized plates! Barcley, Barry, Bert, Bort…come on…Bort?”
Went on the new 3D Transformers ride next. Outside they had people dressed up as Optimus Prime, and Megatron! Needless to say it was awesome. Managed to skip the long queues by going on the single rider lines. Must have saved myself half a day by doing this and I’m not even over exaggerating. Two hour wait on the normal queues and only 15 minutes on the single rider line.
Had lunch in the Jurassic Cafe. Paid $14 for the driest piece of chicken I have ever had the misfortune to eat.
The scariest ride I went on was the Mummy ride. I nearly shit myself. Fucking terrifying.
Later I got to see the original DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future!
At night after an amazing time at Universal Studios I went on the Universal CityWalk. I bought a hot dog to eat and I somehow managed to pour all the sauce on my hand :/
Five things I have learnt so far:
It is impossible to eat any fast food without making a mess.
Most places in Hollywood smell like weed.
Almost everyone on the street is crazy and talks to themselves
Sign posts are confusing and you are going to get lost
Hollywood is a very dirty place.
Part 2 coming next year....
Was impossible to take a photo of the Universal Studios Hollywood sign without anyone getting in the way so I ended up taking a photo of this family instead (and no I am not related to them)
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