Jet-off to Los Angeles - The City of Opportunities

24th August 2007 - The day i jet off to Los Angeles, the city of opportunities, especially for those who aspire to be leading stars of the century! Yes, it's the place where anybody aspiring to be somebody goes to. N yes, pple will just ask u 'Are u an actress'? More on that later...

Flight (SQ flight thanks) at 5pm. Endured like 17hrs of cramped economy seat. Luckily, the seat beside me was empty from Taipei - LA, hence i could sorta lie down n rest. Didn't sleep much (i was on the plane for god's sake!)

Touched down in LA at ard 8pm (LA time, which is 15hours behind us), and the bloody customs took more than 1hr to clear. Ended up reaching my hostel ard 1130pm (cos the bus ride from airport is ard 1hr). Yes, LA is BIG BIG BIG. Not like SG. Airport to anywhere is far far far...

1st nite of hostel (at WEst Hollywood Banana Bungalows) is just a stop over cos the next morning, i'm off to San Diego... 3hours by Greyhound bus ride.. Smooth ride over. Forgot to mention, due to jet lag, i DID NOT sleep at all the nite b4.

Met a traveller from Singapore on the bus but he was heading to Las Vegas. Made an appointment to meet up when we're both back in LA..

Checked in USA Hostels in San Diego and started my tour immediately. Bought a 2-day Bus pass for USD9 (unlimited rides for 2 days) SG should consider having this option! Esp for tourists... In SD, their fare is based on per ride, not distance. So u pay USD1.75 each time u board a bus or trolly n u can take it as far as u want! Actually, trolley rides seem to be FOC, cos no1 checks when u board it, but they put signs at the trolley station that u must have a valid ticket...Hmmmm

Went to Old Town, but it's disappointing. Nothing much to see there... So went off to Balboa park instead. Basically, it's just a park of museums, nothing much there... Alot of 'free' performances by the roads. "free" in the sense that u don't have to pay entrance fee, but tips are welcomed.

Trolly in SD. Well, u can actually board it for free cos no1 checks.

Group of students dancing in Balboa park

Juggling performance in Balboa park

Next stop, Coronado island. Yes, rushed there to watch the sunset but in the end missed it cos i had to wait bloody long for the bus. But anyway, the weather was not good for sunset tat day, so it was alrite. Reached there n toured ard the famed 'Hotel Del Coronado'. Nice hotel by the beach n it was bloody freezing by the beach! Must have been the jet lag, cos i fell asleep on my way back to the hostel on the bus. Dangerous thing to do, esp in a foreign plc. Due to jet lag, i slept like a pig tat nite, for abt 14hrs straight...Which caused the next fatal mistake...

Hotel Del Coronado.. If i had $$, i'll stay 1 nite here

Which is, i woke up at 3pm the next day. Yes, a damn fatal mistake! Half a day gone, n disrupted my plan! Wasted half a day sleeping..could have gone somewhere in that half a day, but well what's done cannot be undone. I jumped off my bed when i saw the time. Yes i reali jumped! N quickly settle off my cleaning n washing up within 15mins (the fastest time ever) n rushed off to the beach! Again, the wait for the bus alwz kills me..Ended up reaching the beach at ard 445pm (the beach is not near) Rushed to find a bike shop (which is surprisingly not a common sight there) but too bad, came too late, no more bikes available. Damn it!

So, i started walking along the beach. Yes, i thought, why not walk instead of bike (not knowing the consequences). So happily, i started walking along the beach. Quite a nice walk initially, until i past the beach onto the roads & La Jolla estate. Again, i continued walking along the roads, admiring the high end estates & houses... Weather was good, cool & windy, so u don't feel hot while walking. This went on for 1.5 hrs and i was no where near my ultimate destination - La Jolla Coves for the sunset. Time was already 630pm n i cldnt risk missing it. So i took the bus. Luckily i made tat choice cos the bus took another 15-20mins to reach La Jolla Coves. Imagine how long that would take me if i were walking...

I reached La Jolla b4 7pm, enough time to walk ard n admire the caves & cliffs... Reali nice plc to live.. But reali cold! Waves hitting agt the cliffs, reali a spectacular sight! There was this man (crazy but entertaining) who was standing on the edge of the cliff, waiting to be washed by the waves n he did! Many many times! Drenched he was, but it was a fun sight to watch! Hahah...e'ryone was cheering him when he did it! I was entertained too!

The guy who was drenched by the waves..Fun to watch great to capture on film

Amazing sunset

Sunset took plc aft 7pm n it was beautiful! Just stunning! Glad i did not miss it. By the time i was done with the sunset, it was almost 8pm, so i took the bus back to hostel...N prepare for my departure the next day.

Next morning, i woke up as planned at 830am. Yes, i cannot afford to miss the time again. After checking out, i headed out to Cabrillo National Monument. It's on top of a hill, n the view if just stunning! Overlooks the Pacific Ocean...Cool! There's a College (Pt Loma University) that is just there overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but I did not go there (no time). Imagine how cool that is! Everyday when u go to school, u get to look over the ocean wow! Walked over to the cemetary just down the road.. How nice to be buried with the Ocean as a view...

Cabrillo National Monument

View from the top of Cabrillo

The cemetary that overlooks the Ocean

Rushed back to the hostel, collected my bag n went to the station for my 310pm bus back to LA. Wished I had 1 more day in San Diego so that i can go over to TJ (Mexico) but well, next time!

Reached LA at 7pm n coincidence, i was on the same bus as Winston (the guy I met on my bus to SD). After checking in to my hostel (Banana Bungalows Hollywood), went to meet Winston for a walk n dinner...

To be continued in the next post